Passport-uk.co.uk website query

debsleypig

My husband needs to get a passport for the first time for a job he is starting in the summer (uk border agency requirement). Unfortunately, he was trying to sort out a passport application by himself very quickly, was very tired at the time, and made the mistake of doing an application on the passport-uk.co.uk website, who charge you a lovely £69 to just fill out the form on your behalf. He did this on 8th Jan, and we have not heard anything from them since. I have tried phoning them, and they seem to have a permanent 'sorry, all our staff are busy dealing with calls at the moment..' message on. I have emailed them and will see if I get a response.

What I want to know is, will this 'company' actually complete their end of the deal and send us a completed passport application, or shall we just give up now and obtain a passport application ourselves and start again?

claire16c

Even if they do send it to you, as you've discovered it wasn't the proper site anyway so I wouldn't waste anymore time just go to the official site, full in the info & get the printed form sent to you for free, for you to sign, attach photo etc

Or get one from the post office and hand write it

InsideInsurance

Also speak to your card issuer about doing a chargeback as the vendor hasnt provided the promised goods/ service and arent responding to queries/ complaints

peachyprice

claire16c wrote: »

Even if they do send it to you, as you've discovered it wasn't the proper site anyway so I wouldn't waste anymore time just go to the official site, full in the info & get the printed form sent to you for free, for you to sign, attach photo etc

Or get one from the post office and hand write it

This.

If you do the online official passport office forms they only take a few days to come, or you can do the handwritten ones today.

https://passports.ips.gov.uk/epa1r1a/index.aspx?c=1

The benefit of doing the online ones is that it takes you through and only gives you the boxes to fill in that you need, rather than you having to work out which ones you need to fill in on the handwritten ones.

debsleypig

Thanks everyone. That is all super helpful! Cheers.

dannny_2

see

http://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2013/12/IQ-Channels-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_242630.aspx

We were concerned, however, that that information was included in the body copy of the ad and users had to scroll down the page before they were presented with a full explanation of the service. In addition, we noted that bold headline text at the top of the page stated "Complete your passport application online ..." and was accompanied by a number of "Apply now" buttons. We considered that a number of consumers, particularly those who had clicked through from a sponsored link, might have accessed the application form without reading the text further down the home page, and would therefore be unaware of the true nature of the service. Because of that, we concluded that the ad was misleading. On that point, ad (b) breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising).

Complain to ASA.

The whois

Domain name: passport-uk.co.uk Registrant: IQ Channels Ltd Registrant type: Unknown

debsleypig

Yes, will deffo be making a complaint, thanks. Can't really believe that my husband fell for it, as it should have had a home office web address. But, I am sure that he is not the first, nor the last to fall for it, and they are obviously making money out of something which is actually free to do!

Biffer

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Also speak to your card issuer about doing a chargeback as the vendor hasnt provided the promised goods/ service and arent responding to queries/ complaints

This is what I did, as I didn't receive anything in the post from passport-uk.co.uk . My credit card company just issued a refund to me.

However, I don't think the card company got the money back from passport-uk.co.uk, as they said it was a courtesy payment. Probably due to the fact that these scammers stalled the investigation for so long with their lies and misinformation.