newportbeech

Hello all,

Looking for some sage advice please. I sent my kids UK passport applications to Washington via UPS. They were delivered and signed for at the front desk on 23nd August 2012.

Unfortunately, my app package seem to have vanished. I have called the UK helpline twice. They arranged for me to be contacted, last week, by a consular employee....He asked for the tracking number, which i replied with........and no reply from him since. I am not very reassured by the silence tbh.

To say i am cheesed off..........is a big understatement!! Anyhow, comment or ideas for resolution, would be most welcome.

Here's hoping, and thanks in advance.

newportbeech

Just a follow up to yesterdays post.....

Called the UK helpline AGAIN...I was promised this rarely happens, my case is being escalated to an even higher level. I will definitely be contacted in the next 24 hrs.......Once again NOTHING. Truly unbelievable lack of service from British Embassy.

I am going to have to ASSUME stolen docs from embassy, because my enclosed credit card details have been used to make calls to India. Therefore, i am about to start the process of calling 3 major credit bureaus, and place fraud alerts on my, my wife's, and my 1 and 3 years old credit. I say 'assume', because no one at Washington, has the brains to communicate with the affected party.... So i am just trying to be proactive.........A word consulate staff have no understanding of.

Apologies for the slight vent.....Just really really peeved with the whole debacle, lack of human contact, obvious lack of security at embassy, and lack of accountability. A very British farce for sure.

Mummy in the foothills

Wow your stuff was signed for and now theres some use on your card in India, I'm shocked that this has happened from inside the the passport office. I hope they can get it sorted very quickly. I'm sure they will be able to see who has signed for your paperwork and go from there.
Did you let them know that there have been calls to India charged on your CC since the papers were accepted and signed for?

newportbeech

Hi Mummyinthefoothills,

Yes. Fraud on the c card. But with calls to India from USA. The card with Chase was cancelled this morning. So no big deal there. Obviously, the fraud, maybe total coincidence, and a c'est la vie event, with no correlation to my passport app.

The Embassy e-mailed me, soon after my second posting here, on expats. All pretty casual...."We do not have your application at this facility.....Please don't hesitate to apply again". No response at all, to my "who signed for my package at the front desk question". I replied to their e-mail asking for a phone call with a consulate staffer. I doubt it'll be granted though.

On reflection, i cannot 100% prove the UPS guy delivered it. But, i have
instigated a tracking investigation with them. Also, UPS believe in human interaction/communication. Therefore, luckily for me, they do speak on the phone.

What can i do?? Absolutely nothing, but just suck it up!! Really does make you realise, how vulnerable, and unsafe, passport apps can be, even with a signature at the other end.

I want to document my experience here, simply because it may add some gravitas, to another non delivered/lost/stolen case down the line. Afterall, it cannot be against the realms of possibility, that some type of id/document theft is occuring at British Embassy's, around the world.

Have a good evening.

Mummy in the foothills

Maybe you can ask the Florida consulate guy who posts on here sometimes, he might know the next step to take, seeing it was signed for I don't see how they can just blow it off.

Bluegrass Lass

This situation would freak out my OH. I hope this is some kind of weird, one-off occurrence? Surely if packages and apps disappeared all the time, we'd have heard about it?

So sorry you're going through this hassle, OP. I hope somebody contacts you about this, and gets to the bottom of it. And hopefully all your original documents can be replaced.

RICH

Was your card ever charged for the Passport fee? I guess not. Unfortunately now you cancelled the card, if the PP docs do turn up, the payment will bounce.

newportbeech

Thank you for the kind words. I obviously do not know the Florida Consulate poster. If he were to offer advice...that would be great.

I filed an online Police report in Cal yesterday. Apparently, this is necessary, as i can no longer produce original Birth and Marriage certificates for future passport apps. Hence, a copy of police report should suffice, along with the relevant legitimate copies.

Mine, and wife's credit have fraud alerts in place...kids socials are being monitored, all for free, which i thought was great.

My email reply to Rachael at the DC British embassy, requesting answers to my questions, was once again ignored. I think at least a phone call, would be pretty decent of them. Where have the good manners of the diplomatic world disappeared to??

It appears i am waiting on the UPS investigation results. If they can prove unequivocally, that my package entered the consulate....Then i can structure my angle of complaint. Until then, i just have to be patient.

Once again, thanks for your concern, and i will update my progress, or lack of it.

Regards

newportbeech

Hello Rich,

Just caught your post. No...I was never charged on my enclosed cc details. Strangely, when i downloaded the required cc details form. It occured to me, what an antiquated way of payment processing. We all love to pay online, in a secure environment......And here's the UK embassy, embracing a procedure, that has fraudsters licking their lips...Madness.

Regards.

RICH

http://britishexpats.com/forum/member.php?u=93085

This is the consular guy being invoked!

newportbeech

Thank you so much Rich. That's a great contact. I'll await the UPS findings, before i make my pitch.

Much appreciate you taking the time.

newportbeech

Thanks Rich.

A prior thanks is awaiting moderation. Me being a newbie and posting links.

newportbeech

Hello all,

Just an update.......UPS have sent me a confirmation sheet, with a signature comparison. It shows the same signature for my app on 23 Aug, as having signed for TWO previous UPS packages in the first and second weeks of Aug 2012. It leaves NO doubt, that UPS did deliver my package.

I will be using the embassy complaints procedure, which seems pretty long winded. I am open to ideas, for how to proceed further/quicker, from astute
ex-patters.

I will contact the embassy guy on here, as recommended by Rich and others.

TIA.

newportbeech

Hello all,

Just a final update....I am finally in receipt of my daughters UK passports. Yipee....My letter to FCO in London, finally raised some eyebrows, and my complaint was handed over to the brilliant Mr Nicholas Roscoe, at the DC Embassy.

After 90+ days, a DC Embassy Manager was admitting to me personally, what i'd already assumed.... My original application had gone missing. In fact, he told me it was lost between Reception, and the Mail room....Alas, CCTV, doesn't cover this "corridor of uncertain delivery". I will argue that flaw, in another letter to FCO London, in the near future.

But for now, i would like to say a big "thank you" to all contributors of my thread.. Thanks to FCO, in London...And the real "star" at DC....Nicholas Roscoe.

Cheers.

RICH

Glad you finally got it sorted, but what a saga.

Just a follow up - was there ever any evidence the credit card fraud was related to the loss of your application?