UK-passport.net

shaun_from_Africa

This is the first page that wealdroam referred to, and they make it clear that you are only paying them for the service of completing the paperwork and that you can go to the official government site where no service fee is charged. (and they give a link for this).

CKhalvashi

wantmemoney wrote: »

The UK-passport.net web site is duping people into believing they are supplying the actual passport.........they are not legally authorised to supply passports.

However they aren't in reality, are they?

My English is as good as native, as I've lived in the UK for 22 years, however for my OH, that's not the case. The service is designed for looking through the application and forwarding it, and whilst I wouldn't benefit from this, someone in my OH's position would.

They make it perfectly clear that they're not the passport office, and this should be checked by the consumer before entering into a contract.

Truepat

Just replaced my passport.
Filled in the forms on the web;
got the printed forms a few days later and checked;
got a photo and some arbitrary person to sign and witness it;
read the pamphlet, filled in the remaining bits on the form;
filled in the page to pay by credit card;
Sent it all back last weekend.

Hey presto, got my new passport on Thursday.
All dead easy, not sure why others have problems with this and need checking services etc.

The_Deep

Once again Buxby you fail to grasp the thrust of a thread and go off on a tangent. The people gulled into using this service did not "explicitly", (look it up), use this service, they were gulled into doing so, by clever marketing and manipulation.

In another life I was British Consul in a large city in the U.S.A., issuing about 8,000 passports a year.

Earlier this year I renewed my passport, I googled "passport renewal", first up were these scammers so I started reading the site. I knew the cost of renewing a passport, and wondered why if had suddenly become cheaper, further reading made me realise that this was a con.

I read somewhere that The Passport Agency are concerned, but can do little, there being apparently no laws being broken.

Do not assume that the great unwashed as intelligent and as superbly well-informed as your good-self, they are not. On the whole they are pretty thick, (and getting thicker), that is why they need to be protected from their own stupidity. posting mis-information on message boards does them no favours.

The_Deep

Buzby wrote: »

Whilst I'm sympathetic, the fact remains the user of the service explicitly chose to use the services offered by a non-original supplier.

No, they were gulled into using the services of a parasite by clever marketing and manipulation of search engines. I have read that The Passport Agency are concerned about this, but apparently it is not illegal.

mo786uk

There quite clearly is duping going on - then umber of complaints speaks for itself - whether it is done to the extent that it would be illegal is another matter.

The site has changed a few times - certainly there have been times when it could have been considered illegal - such as when it was using a crown and the word official.

I find it odd that so many people are willing to side with a website that is quite clearly taking advantage of people - yes people are thick or not savvy but it seems like one too many just want to be smug.

shuze

Disappointing to see so many folks adopting the caveat emptor defence for what are obviously at best "semi-scam" websites. The Guardian ran a campaign against them a while ago.

Looking into one of these companies, they make an interesting detour to attempt to get around the distance selling regulations:

"You have the right to cancel your order for services within a statutory 7 working day cooling-off period except where the provision of such services commences within the cooling-off period. In these circumstances your right to cancel under this provision shall end as the said service will have deemed to have been provided.
If you are contracting as a consumer, you may have a statutory right to cancel a Contract at any time within seven working days of making your order under the Distance Selling Regulations. However, due to the nature of the Service which we provide, we will begin to provide the Service to you much before the end of this seven working day period.
By making your order with us and completing the Application form you are therefore providing your authority to us to begin providing our service straight away which means that you will not have the right to cancel your contract with us once you have made your order.
"

I don't think a reputable business would operate like that. Has anyone challenged this clause in court?

George_Michael

shuze wrote: »

I don't think a reputable business would operate like that. Has anyone challenged this clause in court?

Many businesses (both reputable and some not so reputable) have terms like this, and there would be no point in wasting time and money trying to challenge it in court as it is a totally legal term and is in full compliance with the distance selling regulations.

Exceptions to the right to cancel

13. (1) Unless the parties have agreed otherwise, the consumer will not have the right to cancel the contract by giving notice of cancellation pursuant to regulation 10 in respect of contracts—
a)for the supply of services if the supplier has complied with regulation 8(3) and performance of the contract has begun with the consumer’s agreement before the end of the cancellation period applicable under regulation 12;

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/2334/regulation/13/made

arkit

I was taken in by this scam by Passport Direct. I googled 'passport renewal' and the first link was to their website, claiming in the site description (on google) to be the 'official' site for applying and renewal of passports. A recent search shows that these sites have been made to remove the misleading term 'official' from their adverts.

The Terms and Conditions of these sites are not particularly unusual. However, reading through the Distance Selling Regulations I found that Terms and Conditions must be provided to the customer in writing (by letter or email, but not on a website). Passport Direct had not done this and eventually, after several emails, a letter and finally opening a small claim with Money Claim Online, they refunded me (plus the court fee).

In short; if you have been caught by one of these websites then check the confirmation email they sent you. If Terms and Conditions were not included in the confirmation email (only on their website) you probably have legal grounds to demand a refund.

vacheron

Well you can now add my family to the list of those who have unwittingly paid out to these unscrupulous parasites.

Although I was well aware of these "helpful sites", my wife was not, and this being her first British passport was not aware of the "official" charges as much as I am.

She took the initiative in an attempt to save me the trouble and filled out her application through http://www.passport.uk.com/ who have charged her £69.50 for the privilege. Unfortunately I didn't notice this until today (10th of December) when I was filing one of her bank statements and saw the charge from the 31st of October, upon which my heart immediately sank.

Sadly, today was the same day her first British passport arrived in the post as she has just been nationalised as a British citizen which itself is a long, stressful and expensive process and she rang me at work this morning hugely excited to tell me of its arrival. This has now turned a very happy and exciting day for her into one where she feels quite ashamed and embarrassed.

No chance of a refund as they have done what they promised (and by that I mean next to nothing) and we have her passport, so we will just have to chalk it down to experience.