General Chat

A payment by credit card IS cleared funds.

Crazy....they seem to think that we don't know what we're talking about.

I have got my ID card from when I was born, it was valid until I was 16. Not sure whether they are acceptable now as ID.

when my auntie betty died
Middlesbrough registry office said she didn't exist to
but I went and got her war id card
and proved she did

and they issued her death cert

Sorry I didn't mention that they took his money...senior moment
He didn't give too much info as he only has one name and one surname.

I have had loads of certs from them before and not all this trouble .
I'm sorry but I find a lot of businesses these days lacking in customer service.Had my fill of it.Been waiting for a roofer to come to fix a leak.keeps promising,I stay in and not even a quick phone call.
Regarding the certs...I did expect an apology after spending time filling in the form one day and a whole afternoon trying to apply again.
I was an office manager a few years ago and the customer was always right.

Rant over...I'm normally very patient,but although had a lot more problems wanted to help this chap,just chose a day that was a maintenance day.

Oh and just because they answer the phone quickly does not mean they are not busy.

Most government departments and businesses will have a minimum ring time.

When I was working no phone was meant to ring more than 3-5 times before it was answered. And then you did what you could to help the person and if you could not you would take their number, details of enquiry and pass on to the appropriate dept. Common practice.

Another reason for the refund is that you may have put too much info in and the info you gave did not match the records

i.e . Paul Smith (this is on the register)
but he is known as
Paul William Smith

No matter if you put the vol. nos. etc. in, if you ask for Paul William Smith they cannot provide as the details are incorrect. Odd I know but that is how it works.

Brenda, You never said in your OP that your freind had money taken over the phone,

When ordering anything over phone it is normal procedure to take all details including card details then the payment to be taken and have to be cleared funds before the application can be prosessed that is normal procedure for thousands of companies, If they then cannot provide the goods then they issue a refund,

Its not the same as going to your local supermarket where you have the goods in your possession first then go to the checkout,

Roy

Why did they take my friends money when he did it on the phone. That wasn't automated.... at Salford and then told him later he wasn't registered.They refunded him..eventually..loads of valuable time was lost trying to get this one request.
He did get to the right dept after pressing many buttons.

The GRO system you used was the online system so it was "automated" and so it was the system that thanked you for Payment ...then refunded back to your account

"GRO were doing a maintenance so I did it online"

It's not only humans who make errors, Automated systems also come with errors

People do answer phones in officers even when they are busy carrying out other duties, Its called multitasking but not all tasks can be carried out whilst at ones desk

Roy

What I find hard to believe is the fact they took my order...this was Southport....thanked me for Payment ...then refunded back to my account.and wanted me to go through the rigmarole of putting all my details ...card no etc ...didn't work again.
In the end I had to ring up and wait for half hour to talk to someone.
I put the rest of info on to help people to get their certs through Southport after finding out vol,page no etc themselves.and not to pay the fee for quick delivery.
As for the Salford registry .got though right away,so wasn't that busy,and the point was my friend was told he didn't exist on any register and he must have been born in Manchester not Salford.

Local regs fit finding and copying certificates around their other duties, ie actually registering births and deaths and performing marriage ceremonies. The GRO references are not the same as those they use.

£20 from Southport would be for a 'rush job' - 3 weeks if you don't have the references sounds not unreasonable as they have to look and check that its the right one. 3 days to the date of despatch (2nd class) @£9.25 with the ref sounds pretty good - they have been known to take longer than that.

Registry office tells my blind friend that he doesn't exist when he applies for his lost birth cert!
He needed a copy,so when his cleaner was there,he got in touch...not to Southport,but Salford where he was born.Knew his d.o.b and area and mothers maiden name etc.called me to say they couldn't find I him registered,so I said I'd do it as on his own he can't see or write anything down.
I immediately went on Free b.m.d and found it.

The only unfortunate thing was it was a day the GRO were doing a maintenance so I did it online..got a thankyou for payment...told him all done...then yesterday,the day after got a message to say they'd had problems and they refunded money back into my account and had to reapply.

I called Salford and told them ,...not interested in me saying it was easy to find.asked how much it was if I knew the numbers etc and they said £11.i said its £9.25 from Southport.the answer was they all set their own rates.

Called Southport and £9.25,but a 3 week wait unless you pay £20.odd pounds I said I have the page vol etc so it was still £9.25 but only 3 days just cos I'd got the details.
Wonder why it costs so much more when it's so easy to look up....and why are regional areas able to charge what they want?.... :-S