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Married in Greece, no wedding certificate & problems with First Choice. Desperate!
nw2505
Posts: 4 Newbie
I've been recommended to post here by a few people in the hope of getting some advice or thoughts. This may be long, and confusing but I'll start by posting my original email that I sent to First Choice :
This was originally sent 31 days ago
Myself and my partner booked our holiday and wedding through First Choice along with 18 other family members. We booked on a group booking, paying approximately £17000 for our trip. Additionally, we then spent £1100 on Wedding Extras through First Choice. At present we have been back in the UK for nearly a fortnight and received word a few days ago that Lindos Town Hall have refused to release our Marriage Certificate. At present I am unsatisfied with the way this has been ultimately handled by my Wedding Coordinator and the additional hassle and stress this is causing is completely unacceptable. This is what has happened :
On our initial meeting our Wedding Coordinator informed us we would need to go to Lindos Town Hall to collect our marriage certificate ''the next day''. I have written evidence of this.
After a few other stresses, the main one being that we arrived at our meeting to be given the new price list, which had massive price increases when we had been provided two different Price lists within the UK. First Choice agreed to meet most of the prices, although the ones they would not I had to arrange elsewhere whilst in Greece.
On our wedding day ( Thursday 26th September) everything went fine. As we were leaving in the Bridal Car the wedding coordinator said to us just as the car pulled away ''Remember go get your certificate in the morning''. No actual emphasis on any time frame.
The following day, we went to get the bus into Lindos at 11am, however we later found out the hotel had given us an old timetable and the bus stop was elsewhere, every two hourly.
At 13:36 or Wedding coordinator informed us that the town hall actually shut at half past three, but might just open early in the morning for us. ( It wouldn't)
We arrived in Lindos just before 4pm.
A series of calls took place between me and Laura. In one she told me the town hall was expecting me about half eleven, which had never been mentioned to me.
I was then told to find the police station to ask for a form to sign that would allow Laura to collect our certificate. I did so but the man on the desk spoke no english, and myself no greek so he told me to return in the morning.
The next suggestion was the Laura would get the solicitor to draw up a document which I had to sign allowing her to collect them as we returned to the UK the following day which was fine and she'd done a few times before. I prepared to return to the hotel from Lindos ( an hour away) to sign but then there was another solution.
In the end, Laura faxed the document to the hotel for us to sign and she would collect from there. In turned out I wasn't allowed to sign and only my partner was so previous advice had been wrong. If I had returned to the hotel and left my partner in Lindos with family I wouldn't have been allowed to sign anyway.
On Saturday 28th September we met with Laura who reassured us it would be sorted on Monday. She did inform us that Lindos were one of the strictest Town Halls in Greece but that it would be fine as it's not the first time shes had to collect and post somebody's marriage certificate. We were informed she would contact us on the 30th September.
On Monday 7th October I received a voicemail from Laura informing us that the Town Hall refused to release the document even with permission and it HAD to be my partner, which is obviously unfeasible. She told me that I would now have to go to a Solicitor's in the UK but would hear from the aftercare team by the end on the week.
It is now Friday and I have not heard a thing. Laura emailed again this morning with a brief outline of what is involved, from getting a Power of Attorney from a solicitors, to getting that legalized then various things needing done in Greece. There is a time frame of 40 days to do all this and we have 25 left. I emailed her back asking some general questions but now I honestly believe this needs to go out of her hands as I want to take this further. My main complaints are :
Why was I reassured all would be fine for our wedding coordinator to collect when clearly this is not the case?
Why did it take eight days from leaving Greece to be told Lindos Town Hall won't accept the declaration the her Solicitor had drawn up?
If the Town Hall shut so early why was I not clearly told of this, either in person, or more importantly in writing?
Why was I informed I could sign the document when luckily my partner discovered it had to be him? Or that the Town Hall would open early on the Saturday morning and then told it wouldn't?
Who is expected to foot all these additional costs?
It most definitely will not be me. I have two young children and have already paid about £20000 for a holiday and wedding through first choice. You go with a tour operator expecting everything to be easier but this absolutely has not been the case.
These are my additional points since sending the above email :
Further to this, on 16.10.13 after I once again asked why I hadn't heard from Aftercare regarding the ongoing saga Laura stated ''The after travel team are aware of the situation'' in an email yet from my phone calls and lack of response it appears that they were not. Also, on the same day I emailed to ask Laura what the absolute maximum time frame to declare your wedding is, considering this would take a while to be resolved and received no response which I think is despicable.
On 25/10/13 I phoned the aftercare team to chase up this issue. I was told the email had been on the system for eight days and was being dealt with and I should hear back soon, most definitely within 28 days.
On 11/11 I phone and spoke to the Aftercare team once again. A man named Ashley told me they have no record of me previously phoning two weeks prior and that I would definitely not have been told this issue had been passed to be dealt with. I was. Once I explained the severity of the issue the man said he would try to help and began typing on the computer. A minute or so later the line was cut. I phoned back and spoke to Nico who said my experience so far sounded appalling and apologised profusely for the lack of customer service so far. He sent an email to the manager that deals with Holidays to Greece explaining the severity of this issue and said that once it is recieved things should get moving.
This whole situation is a nightmare and I have no idea what to expect? Would have been so much easier to get married in this country!
Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks for reading! I appreciate much of this may not make sense to an outsider.
This was originally sent 31 days ago
Myself and my partner booked our holiday and wedding through First Choice along with 18 other family members. We booked on a group booking, paying approximately £17000 for our trip. Additionally, we then spent £1100 on Wedding Extras through First Choice. At present we have been back in the UK for nearly a fortnight and received word a few days ago that Lindos Town Hall have refused to release our Marriage Certificate. At present I am unsatisfied with the way this has been ultimately handled by my Wedding Coordinator and the additional hassle and stress this is causing is completely unacceptable. This is what has happened :
On our initial meeting our Wedding Coordinator informed us we would need to go to Lindos Town Hall to collect our marriage certificate ''the next day''. I have written evidence of this.
After a few other stresses, the main one being that we arrived at our meeting to be given the new price list, which had massive price increases when we had been provided two different Price lists within the UK. First Choice agreed to meet most of the prices, although the ones they would not I had to arrange elsewhere whilst in Greece.
On our wedding day ( Thursday 26th September) everything went fine. As we were leaving in the Bridal Car the wedding coordinator said to us just as the car pulled away ''Remember go get your certificate in the morning''. No actual emphasis on any time frame.
The following day, we went to get the bus into Lindos at 11am, however we later found out the hotel had given us an old timetable and the bus stop was elsewhere, every two hourly.
At 13:36 or Wedding coordinator informed us that the town hall actually shut at half past three, but might just open early in the morning for us. ( It wouldn't)
We arrived in Lindos just before 4pm.
A series of calls took place between me and Laura. In one she told me the town hall was expecting me about half eleven, which had never been mentioned to me.
I was then told to find the police station to ask for a form to sign that would allow Laura to collect our certificate. I did so but the man on the desk spoke no english, and myself no greek so he told me to return in the morning.
The next suggestion was the Laura would get the solicitor to draw up a document which I had to sign allowing her to collect them as we returned to the UK the following day which was fine and she'd done a few times before. I prepared to return to the hotel from Lindos ( an hour away) to sign but then there was another solution.
In the end, Laura faxed the document to the hotel for us to sign and she would collect from there. In turned out I wasn't allowed to sign and only my partner was so previous advice had been wrong. If I had returned to the hotel and left my partner in Lindos with family I wouldn't have been allowed to sign anyway.
On Saturday 28th September we met with Laura who reassured us it would be sorted on Monday. She did inform us that Lindos were one of the strictest Town Halls in Greece but that it would be fine as it's not the first time shes had to collect and post somebody's marriage certificate. We were informed she would contact us on the 30th September.
On Monday 7th October I received a voicemail from Laura informing us that the Town Hall refused to release the document even with permission and it HAD to be my partner, which is obviously unfeasible. She told me that I would now have to go to a Solicitor's in the UK but would hear from the aftercare team by the end on the week.
It is now Friday and I have not heard a thing. Laura emailed again this morning with a brief outline of what is involved, from getting a Power of Attorney from a solicitors, to getting that legalized then various things needing done in Greece. There is a time frame of 40 days to do all this and we have 25 left. I emailed her back asking some general questions but now I honestly believe this needs to go out of her hands as I want to take this further. My main complaints are :
Why was I reassured all would be fine for our wedding coordinator to collect when clearly this is not the case?
Why did it take eight days from leaving Greece to be told Lindos Town Hall won't accept the declaration the her Solicitor had drawn up?
If the Town Hall shut so early why was I not clearly told of this, either in person, or more importantly in writing?
Why was I informed I could sign the document when luckily my partner discovered it had to be him? Or that the Town Hall would open early on the Saturday morning and then told it wouldn't?
Who is expected to foot all these additional costs?
It most definitely will not be me. I have two young children and have already paid about £20000 for a holiday and wedding through first choice. You go with a tour operator expecting everything to be easier but this absolutely has not been the case.
These are my additional points since sending the above email :
Further to this, on 16.10.13 after I once again asked why I hadn't heard from Aftercare regarding the ongoing saga Laura stated ''The after travel team are aware of the situation'' in an email yet from my phone calls and lack of response it appears that they were not. Also, on the same day I emailed to ask Laura what the absolute maximum time frame to declare your wedding is, considering this would take a while to be resolved and received no response which I think is despicable.
On 25/10/13 I phoned the aftercare team to chase up this issue. I was told the email had been on the system for eight days and was being dealt with and I should hear back soon, most definitely within 28 days.
On 11/11 I phone and spoke to the Aftercare team once again. A man named Ashley told me they have no record of me previously phoning two weeks prior and that I would definitely not have been told this issue had been passed to be dealt with. I was. Once I explained the severity of the issue the man said he would try to help and began typing on the computer. A minute or so later the line was cut. I phoned back and spoke to Nico who said my experience so far sounded appalling and apologised profusely for the lack of customer service so far. He sent an email to the manager that deals with Holidays to Greece explaining the severity of this issue and said that once it is recieved things should get moving.
This whole situation is a nightmare and I have no idea what to expect? Would have been so much easier to get married in this country!
Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks for reading! I appreciate much of this may not make sense to an outsider.
0
Comments
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have you tried to contact the town hall registrar department in Lindos yourself? Thats what I would do, if theres absolutely no way your partner can get to Lindos to collect your marriage certificate.0
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No we haven't. Although maybe worth a desperate email, didn't even think of this.
We plan to go back to Greece next September but not even sure if we could collect our certificate then, seeing as the wedding coordinator didn't reply to my email when I asked.0 -
<shakes head in amazement>
am I alone in wondering why on earth one would use a holiday tour operator to arrange a wedding?The questions that get the best answers are the questions that give most detail....0 -
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looks to me like the issue is that you were supposed to collect in the morning but you turned up at 1600. (i may have missed something though).
The issue now is with the Town Hall. if they refuse to hand over to anyone else other than you or your partner, nit sure what else FC can do.
Either you need expert advice in this country, email the town hall yourself although of course there maybe language problems (google translate could help)
Or get married again in the UK at a registry office0 -
As it's Greece stop trying to go the official route and start offering bribes......it will work.0
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You've had your romantic wedding and are just missing the certificate. I would cut your losses and have a cheap registry office wedding here - no need for guests or any expense beyond the fee.
You then have the certificate you need, which might well be better practically. I can just imagine the problems you might have from officialdom here if you present a sheet of Greek writing as evidence of your marriage.0 -
I,m not sure it would be a problem as the greek marriage certificate may be an international document, already translated into english as well as in the orifinal greek.
i was married in turkey and my marriage document is in turkish, english and french.0 -
I think you'd be better off booking in for a simple ceremony at a registry office here. At lest you'll know you're legally married then with all English certificates etc. No hassles with translation a whole lot cheaper and no stress. Just put the rest behind you.0
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I have lived on Rhodes for many years, and married here. I continually am amazed by how useless tour operators, and how much they rip off their customers off for weddings.
Contact The British Vice Consul on Rhodes via their website, or call 22410 22005, they are in Rhodes Town. They should be able to retrieve the certificate for a small fee, or advise further.
What I dont understand is why you personally have to go to the Town Hall. I married on Rhodes, not in Lindos and when I needed a copy of my certificate for Greek purposes. My Rhodian neighbour got it for me!0
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