California Department of Motor Vehicles [CA DMV]

I purchased a used SUV in March and went in person to my local DMV on the following Friday to begin the transfer of title. Within 5 minutes the title was transferred and I was issued a incomplete registration until I got the vehicle smogged and returned to pay the fees. The same day the SUV was smogged and the following Monday all offices were closed. Knowing the registration would be up in April, I called numerous times to speak to a human, to no avail.
When the virtual office finally opened, I submitted a case for the SUV, as well another transfer for a car, and renewal for my truck. The response I got were three separate emails with case numbers, but no reference to which vehicle was assigned to which case number. After an email or two, a phone call to someone finally who told me they could not accept my payment, and the process of elimination I thought I had figured out which case was for which vehicle.
The car that I was transferring needed a smog as well, but I was immediately given a link to pay the registration fee, done.
I then continued to send requests for a link to pay for the SUV since it was then overdue. In return, I received over and over, emails repeating the same thing about contacting the DMV and so on and so forth, and that I had "Information missing", and some even referred to an email I was sent in June. Yes, this has been an ongoing, tedious, absolutely ridiculous ordeal. At this point, the DMV had a copy of the title, insurance, paperwork stating incomplete registration, as well as the smog certificate, and I only needed to pay the fee. The bounce back emails continued, the case number, as confirmed by the one individual I spoke to on the phone, was the correct one for the SUV, yet I continued to receive replies for the car.
Just this week, my husband took time off work to go in person to the DMV to resolve this issue, as I was working.
He wanted to briefly explain to the employee what we have been dealing with, and she was rude and abrupt, not giving him a chance to talk as she told him how much we owed. It was an additional 50% in fines. I feel this is an unfair advantage, we tried numerous attempts while the offices were closed, including over the phone, which the operator told me officers weren't expected to open until the end of August. It is not our fault their offices had to close, nor that they seemed to one case number to two vehicles, as well as one vehicle apparently listed under two. I cannot believe this, we are expected to be understanding during this pandemic. Is the DMV exempt from giving the general public the same?