Passport not arrived - Travel next week!

gadjo

Poor systems, poor processes and no commercial competition therefore no (or limited) need to improve. I'd say public ownership isn't working out too well either.

Ps- How is Brexit involved?

onashoestring

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-passport-office/about/complaints-procedure

There is probably a backlog of complaints too ! 

photome

gadjo said:

Poor systems, poor processes and no commercial competition therefore no (or limited) need to improve. I'd say public ownership isn't working out too well either.

Ps- How is Brexit involved?

Because Brexit changed the rules on the passport expiry date, so people are now renewing passports before the printed expiry date adding to the backlog 

gadjo

I think that's scraping the barrel somewhat to blame the Passport office fiasco on Brexit. The very minimal amount of people impacted by the new EU rules will have next to no impact on the overall demand into the system.

gadjo

onashoestring said:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-passport-office/about/complaints-procedure

There is probably a backlog of complaints too ! 

Yes. I'm still waiting for a response from the complaint I raised a month ago. SLA is 3 days!

daveyjp

Not sure how widespread the actual delays are and whether some offices are worse than others.

If you are affected by severe delay and need to travel it is obviously an issue, but I applied two weeks ago for a first adult passport for a family member and the new passport is now out for dispatch.

I'm also picking up similar timelines from other travel forums I read.

gadjo

That's an amazing timeline!

Interestingly, here's a press release from HMPO today...

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/passport-processing-times-and-unprecedented-levels-of-demand

photome

gadjo said:

I think that's scraping the barrel somewhat to blame the Passport office fiasco on Brexit. The very minimal amount of people impacted by the new EU rules will have next to no impact on the overall demand into the system.

I am not blaming Brexit enitirely ,what i said was a combination of Brexit/Covid both adding to a huge increase in demand along with staffing  levels still being affected. 

Not sure why you think the new EU rules will have a next to no impact, most people renew every 10 years, this year you have those that didnt renew in last 2 years, those that would normally renew now, plus those who have had to bring their renewal fwd

I also added they should be doing better but you cant just discount any one factor

gadjo

Here's another example of how crap they are. I finally received a call back at 5:10pm today from a voicemail I managed to leave 2 days ago. The agent couldn't find the details on the system so transferred me to someone else, they found the details and stated the application was withdrawn on 19 April but didn't know why, they also didn't know why the letter wasn't sent nor what it said. They then transferred me to someone else, which is where in currently on hold... Here's the screenshot, 35 minutes and counting... I've actually given up hope on the holiday. They don't even answer their complaints.

onashoestring

Have you read this thread an the posts by @Rony today ? The poster turned up in person and there is a way of getting an “upgrade” service if your application is delayed - maybe worth a visit to Passport Office , Victoria ? 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6352829/help-passport-less-than-3-months-left/p4