Money Moral Dilemma: Should I charge for countersigning my friends' passport photos?

george4064

maman wrote: »

They say that these daft mse generated threads are sent in by people who would rather not post themselves.

With a ridiculous question like this I'm not surprised. Surely the clue is in the word friend.

Perhaps we should press Spam on all these mse pointless threads. There can be no discussion. Do you think Jack Cork works for mse?

I am suspicious that a lot of these are fake and purely made up by MSE to get people to read it, 99% of them are laughable!

PasturesNew

If a police officer can't make this simple moral judgement, god help us all.

It's simple. Sign for free for friends. Refuse to sign for those who you don't know. To do differently could be the route into coercion, corruption and finding yourself out of your depth with this and an escalating set of similar scenarios... you'll get "creep" of your boundaries and the expectations of others.

It's black and white and no charge. Really know this is the person/friend, sign; who? don't sign. Never take money or favours.

roddydogs

Is this daft rule still in? Its daft and can be easily by passed. Anyway its only the first time, only ever done it once with the doc years ago.

DUTR

YES you should charge! The free loaders are taking advantage of you, friends? You don't need friends like that, they can seek a verifier elsewhere.

gloriouslyhappy

I recently was able to claim a very small private pension, for which I was sent multiple forms all needing my signature to be witnessed and that witness had to sign as well. If my obliging friend had charged me each time I turned up with the forms - they were sent to me in batches over several weeks - the pension would just about have been used up!

No, you shouldn't charge.

Turkington

You should be ashamed of yourself. On joining the police you’ll have been told that you must at all times behave in a manner that doesn’t bring the force into disrepute, and that you must not benefit (beyond your salary) from your position as a police officer.

Either fill in the forms as a favour, or don’t, but don’t abuse your position.

Over and above that, what sort of friend are you if you want to charge a friend for 2 minutes paperwork?

Perky_Bexhillian

In your situation I would be so embarrassed to ask for payment.

the_right_stuff

Cathharrison wrote: »

“I'd be surprised if people didn't know at least a few people of those professions” - I don’t. I’m 36 and have never had a passport (or drivers license).. because of absolutely stupid laws now, I am in desperate need one for ID purposes. I haven’t seen my GP for years and years and it wouldn’t make any difference if I had because GP’s at my local surgery have all changed a few times since I last went and no one knows me anymore. I haven’t seen any doctor or nurse in years and I don’t seem to know anyone else on the list who can counter sign. Its a real real problem for me at the moment. I don’t get out much - certainly not in the last few years. I’m self employed/freelance which means I don’t know anyone through work..Not really in touch with anyone personally from when I was at school either who is now an ‘upstanding member of society’ - yes they are on my Facebook but I don’t know who they are now. Even my dentist, I haven’t seen in a few years. Like I say, a real problem.

Genuinely interested in this post. Have you never been abroad?
Do you not have any friends or contacts nearby?

Paul_Leahy

I am surprised at the question.
As a former police officer this was a service I carried out dozens of times for family and friends. I also lived in a small village and regularly had a knock on the door requesting help with passports and other things, although I was not a community officer. I signed many passports for neighbours too and was bought many a beer in the local as a result, sufficient payment for me.
I considered this as part of the job and cultivated much support for the police in the community as a result.
Secondly. I think it may be wise if you do decide to charge to consult your Proffessional Standards department first.
Regards.

NeilOHiggins

You say you are recently warranted as a Police Officer, part of your training & your probation will have answered this question unless you were otherwise engaged in other money making schemes.

Ask your local Police Federation for advice and remove this quesion, you appear to have no idea about your professional responsibilites to never ever make any money outside of work, from your warrant.

I cant believe I had to answer that question, are you sure you are a Police Officer???:cool::rotfl: