San Francisco DMV Sucks!

So we received our registration renewal in the mail for our car yesterday.  And as we were trying to figure out why it was so expensive, we discovered that there was a charge for $115 for a parking violation in San Francisco from 7/2/10.  Fabulous, we were in Laguna Beach over 4th of July last year.  In fact we have never driven that car anywhere near San Francisco.  So I called the DMV this morning.  I was on hold for 20 minutes before I hit the button to have them call you back.  They called me back to inform me that I'd need to contact the San Francisco DMV.  So I go online to look up their number and guess what?  They only reference the main 800# that I'd already called!  I called back and went through the same circus.  When they called me back this time she informed me that they should have given me the number for SF in the first place, duh!  After calling them, I was told that was the license number the officer had written down and that I'd have to write a letter to protest it.  The DMV also told me that if SF doesn't take it off by the end of September, we'll have to pay it in order to get our registration and fight them later.  Really??  What a pain in the butt for something that we absolutely have no responsibility for!  I understand it's a great way to get people who evade parking tickets, but it's a really flawed system for those of us that follow the rules!