Passport photo rejected even after using check and send!

[Deleted User]

Archergirl wrote: »

The Post Office check and send is a waste of money, you just need to read it through VERY carefully, get some one else to read it also, hay ho, free check, and send it yourself. They don't (as you found out) guarantee anything so I fail to see the point of it.

Yep. They've offered me a refund which is all well and good but its like offering car insurance for £100 then if someone has an accident giving them a refund instead!

benjus

I still use Check and Send - it's a convenient way to pay for the passport for one thing, and only costs £2.53 when you consider that the cost of Special Delivery is included in the price. Personally I wouldn't be happy sending supporting documents such as a valid and uncancelled passport in normal post.

savemon3y

benjus wrote: »

I still use Check and Send - it's a convenient way to pay for the passport for one thing, and only costs £2.53 when you consider that the cost of Special Delivery is included in the price. Personally I wouldn't be happy sending supporting documents such as a valid and uncancelled passport in normal post.

Yes, using special delivery is the best route.
However, I think the point is that the "check" part of the "check and send" should only be offered by people that have been trained in it. Otherwise, like other people have said - what is the point of paying the £2.53 if they don't guarantee everything is correct (and I'm sure a lot of people get caught out by the photographs - especially if you are a parent with VERY active kids and are shattered all the time!)

For the majority of people this fee is for "piece of mind" and should come with the guarantee of an urgent repost free of charge at the fastest rate - paid for by the post office!

benjus

savemon3y wrote: »

Yes, using special delivery is the best route.
However, I think the point is that the "check" part of the "check and send" should only be offered by people that have been trained in it. Otherwise, like other people have said - what is the point of paying the £2.53 if they don't guarantee everything is correct (and I'm sure a lot of people get caught out by the photographs - especially if you are a parent with VERY active kids and are shattered all the time!)

For the majority of people this fee is for "piece of mind" and should come with the guarantee of an urgent repost free of charge at the fastest rate - paid for by the post office!

However well you train the PO staff, they are NOT the people that ultimately decide whether to accept or reject a passport application. For me check and send is a useful extra check after going over the application yourself (for example, I checked with them whether or not I should get my renewal countersigned, as I look rather different to my old photo) but I don't see how it could ever give a guarantee that it will be accepted by HMPO. And for £2.53 I don't really expect more than that.

marsman802

I just renewed mine.

Went to Post Office and got the guy to take my photo.
Then I got all the stuff signed etc.

Went back to PO and asked the person serving to check my application as part of the check and send.
They did and pointed out something on the signature box that wasn't right (the smallest pen mark had touched the side). I said thank you and asked if anything else was amiss? They said no, get it corrected and come back and they can send off.

I got it amended and sent it off myself seeing as they'd done the checking part.

Nice free service from PO there.

InsideInsurance

marsman802 wrote: »

Nice free service from PO there.

Hows it free?

marsman802

They did the check but I did the send myself once I've corrected the piece they told me to. Essentially I didn't pay them any money for doing all the checking part.

However I did assume there was some sort of guarantee with the service so i've learnt something here on that.

photome

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Check and send provide no warranty on the checking element and really is just a cash cow for the post office. You can use the complaint form http://www.postoffice.co.uk/contact-us-complaint and probably get the fee back but dont expect much more.

You can use the Fast Track service for a childs first passport for £87 which will get it to you within 1 week of the application being accepted. See https://www.gov.uk/get-a-passport-urgently

I have been trying to tell anyone who listens that....I still do not understnd why so many people pay for something that can easily be done themselves at no cost

mgdavid

photome wrote: »

........I still do not understnd why so many people pay for something that can easily be done themselves at no cost

Because a huge number of people are lazy and/or wont take responsibility for themselves.

cottyh24

Having worked for the passport office I would never waste my money on check and send. The number of applications we received from the post office that were missing items or incorrectly filled out was unbelievable. Like others have said, if you read the instructions carefully there's no reason why you would need to pay someone else to check it for you.