Bugsy Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Passport Renewal........................Passport enquiries: As from Friday 25 April 2008, our passport information line will be provided by ABTRAN. The number of this new service is 0892 23 01 75.I've just rung them 09-42 hours.Their answer (automated) "This office is open Monday to Friday 09-00 to 14-30 hours. This office is now closed, please call back during open hours.Are they in a different time zone to the rest of us I wonder ................[:D][:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqui Too Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 [quote user="Bugbear"]Passport Renewal........................Passport enquiries: As from Friday 25 April 2008, our passport information line will be provided by ABTRAN. The number of this new service is 0892 23 01 75.I've just rung them 09-42 hours.Their answer (automated) "This office is open Monday to Friday 09-00 to 14-30 hours. This office is now closed, please call back during open hours.Are they in a different time zone to the rest of us I wonder ................[:D][:D][/quote]BB if you posted this at 8.46 then you were ringing them before 9.00!!!Which time zone are you in? [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 BB is in France (GMT+1) and it would appear your forum time setting is GMT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share Posted April 25, 2008 [quote user="Jacqui Too "]BB if you posted this at 8.46 then you were ringing them before 9.00!!!Which time zone are you in? [:)][/quote]France - and posted at 0946.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacqui Too Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 [quote user="Bugbear"][quote user="Jacqui Too "]BB if you posted this at 8.46 then you were ringing them before 9.00!!!Which time zone are you in? [:)][/quote]France - and posted at 0946..............[/quote]But where were you phoneing, UK ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share Posted April 25, 2008 I can see what you're saying JT and you could be right. The number was from the Paris Passport Centre and I dialled it to france. That means little today of course, it's probably Mumbai [:D]I'll try again later me thinks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 [quote user="Bugbear"]I can see what you're saying JT and you could be right. The number was from the Paris Passport Centre and I dialled it to france. That means little today of course, it's probably Mumbai [:D]I'll try again later me thinks [/quote]Not Mumbai, Bugsy, it was Bangalore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilko Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Apologies if ths has appeared before but it made me smile in these trying times.Rgds WilkoSubject: Passport ApplicationDear Minister,I'm in the process of renewing my passport but I am a total loss to understand or believe the hoops I am being asked to jump through.How is it that Bert Smith of T.V. Rentals Basingstoke has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a satellite dish from them back in 1994, and yet, the Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date?How come that nice West African immigrant chappy who comes round every Thursday night with his DVD rentals van can tell me every film or video I have had out since he started his business up eleven years ago, yet you still want me to remind you of my last three jobs, two of which were with contractors working for the government?How come the T.V. detector van can tell if my T.V. is on, what channel I am watching and whether I have paid my licence or not, and yet if I win the government run lottery they have no idea I have won or where I am and will keep the bloody money to themselves if I fail to claim in good time. Do you people do this by hand?You have my birth date on numerous files you hold on me, including the one with all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30-odd years. It's on my health insurance card, my driver's licence, on the last four passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the planes and boats over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms that are done every ten years and the electoral registration forms I have to complete, by law, every time our lords and masters are up for re-election.Would somebody please take note, once and for all, I was born in Maidenhead on the 4th of March 1957, my mother's name is Mary, her maiden name was Reynolds, my father's name is Robert, and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and the day I die!I apologise Minister. I'm obviously not myself this morning. But between you and me, I have simply had enough! You mail the application to my house, then you ask me for my address. What is going on? Do you have a gang of Neanderthals working there? Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to activate the Fifth Reich for God's sake! I just want to go and park my weary backside on a sunny, sandy beach for a couple of week's well-earned rest away from all this crap.Well, I have to go now, because I have to go to back to Salisbury and get another copy of my birth certificate because you lost the last one. AND to the tune of 60 quid! What a racket THAT is!! Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day? But nooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe make sense. You'd rather have us running all over the place like chickens with our heads cut off, then find some tosser to confirm that it's really me on the goddamn picture - you know... the one where we're not allowed to smile in in case we look as if we are enjoying the process!Hey, you know why we can't smile? 'Cause we're totally jacked off!I served in the armed forces for more than 25 years including over ten years at the Ministry of Defence in London . I have had security clearances which allowed me to sit in the Cabinet Office, five seats away from the Prime Minister while he was being briefed on the first Gulf War and I have been doing volunteer work for the British Red Cross ever since I left the Services. However, I have to get someone "important" to verify who I am -- you know, someone like my doctor... who, before he got his medical degree 6 months ago WAS LIVING IN PAKISTAN...Yours sincerely,An Irate British Citizen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Coeur de Lion Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Saw that on another forum, and somebody pointed out that governmental departments are not allowed to share information like that apparently.I've just noticed how much it costs to renew a passport. I nearly jumped through the roof on how much they want. Got to renew both ours this summer.[:(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gluestick Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Many government departments share data all the time: HMRC for example, share data with DWP.Office of National Statistics plugs in to various other departments in the course of its work.The core problem is probably that although they have tried to share, the data keeps vanishing between offices.......................[Www] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham & Brenda Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Judging by all the stories of lost laptops and Cds, it seems that most departments are sharing personal data with just about anyone and everyone [8-)]!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nell Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 My OH's passport is ready for renewal, but as we now live in France we have to send the renewal to Paris. Not only do they want 158 euros, they want another 6 euros to post it back. They will not accept a personal cheque (Why I ask myself????). So I have to go to the post office and get some kind of money order. What a pain in the back****. Oh the good news, they will process it within 10 working days (At the prices they charge, it should be processed in 10 minutes!!!)Oh I did enjoy that rant.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugsy Posted April 25, 2008 Author Share Posted April 25, 2008 You can now pay with a credit card Nell. Print the form off their website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 [quote user="Nell"]My OH's passport is ready for renewal, but as we now live in France we have to send the renewal to Paris. Not only do they want 158 euros, they want another 6 euros to post it back. They will not accept a personal cheque (Why I ask myself????). So I have to go to the post office and get some kind of money order. What a pain in the back****. Oh the good news, they will process it within 10 working days (At the prices they charge, it should be processed in 10 minutes!!!)[/quote]Needed to apply recently for Certificats de Coutume for our son & fiancee, who are getting married over here shortly. We sent off the necessary documents to Paris when they came over. True to the Embassy's word, the forms came back within 10 days, but they were really only a 'templated' format, in to which the originator plugged name, dob, place of birth, then stamped and signed the printed document. This isn't a contentious form - it simply tells the Mairie that the person concerned is British, above the age of majority and no banns need to be placed in the UK. €184 for the 2. A bit naughty, to say the least.I can accept that a Passport needs more than a bit of checking (though how much do they really do?), but with this form, it's money for old rope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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