Avoid Passport Shyster Sites

Daisy666

I am such a d*ck and just got shafted.

I needed to apply for my passport renewal quickly due to unforeseen circumstances and I asked the post office and they said I can go online and the info would be there as they had run out of forms. They said I could arrange an appointment and pick a passport up on the same day. I looked online found the number and called. I assumed I had found the official number.

They booked an appointment for me and I asked how much the passport would be after I gave them my details and they quoted a price of £117.00 and asked me to pay straight away, so I did. I received another call 3 days later to make sure I was going to make the appointment, and if I had filled out the relevant forms, and they asked me to bring the payment to the office.

I explained that I had already paid and they then told me that yes actually they can see that I have paid, so I wouldn't need it.

When I got to the Passport Office there was no appointment and I showed them my paperwork I had received and they then said that they had seen this before and that it was a website or SCAM site, (I never used that word). That is what the Passport Agency told me!

The site passportagencyservices .co.uk is fundamentally dishonest and is targeted at those seeking to urgently apply for or renew a UK passport.

This Service is clearly a very slick way of posing as something they are not. Is there any way that I can warn others? They stole from me, did not arrange any appointment (even if they did they have taken advantage of my lack of understanding that these sites exist). They have taken £117.60 from me and are still asking for the bill even though it has been paid! Now they are threatening me with solicitors. I did not even get an appointment! I really am not sure what to do, Or who to go to.

I feel like such a tw*t!

Upset33

This is a very clever website intended to defraud. It charges £92.50 and pretends to renew your passport application. It doesn't. The telephone number quoted does not allow enquiries. They also don't reply to the one email address listed.
I realised within 1 hour of giving them my card details and immediately tried to cancel with them and have had no response. I contact my bank HSBC to stop any payment but they tell me they can't stop it. This seems daft as it encourages these fraudulent websites.
These websites need to be banned and Google should ensure that the correct website comes out as the first search.

Back to paper for me :mad:

Pollycat

What did you put in as your search on Google?

I searched for 'passport renewal' and the first 6 links were all the GOV.UK (official) website.

The government has apparently been working with Google to get rid of these links that are not the official website.

There used to be loads of them a while back.

fermi

Important info here for the britishpassportservices issue

---> http://legalbeagles.info/consumers-still-caught-misleading-passport-websites/

fermi

Today on 'You & Yours' - Radio 4 - 12:15pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b053c3p8

Shari Vahl has investigated a website that charges for passport appointments, and explains why it is suing many of its customers.

fermi

Britishpassportservices / ukpassportservices / uk services and support ltd

Lose in court

Twice

fermi

‘Passport Profiteer’ loses in Court

http://legalbeagles.info/passport-profiteer-loses-in-court-over-copycat-website-fee-claims/

zagfles

Excellent news!

titchy

As this is the 60 second renewal page and not only about being ripped off I though I would bring up the subject of Photographs for Passports.
A while back I found a web site that for £2 delivered 4 checked passport photos and they did most of the checking before I paid then did a check.

I have not found the site again but it made photos cheap as there was no trip to make to get them.