Leaving passport applications until last minute

[Sunny]

Perhaps they do. My point is that the Passport Office provided a fairly high standard of service relative to that which might have reasonably expected. That it's now being stepped back is discomforting for many but it doesn't necessarily mean they're not providing a (still) reasonable of service. As I mentioned earlier, demand has peaked out of panic and this is making a bad situation worse.

They charge for passport express where you are supposed to have your passport within 10 working days. They weren't doing it from the goodness of their heart. They are not providing the service that they promised.

You speak like we should applaud them for providing a 'fairly high standard of service' to their customers.

 

[RonanC]

They charge for passport express where you are supposed to have your passport within 10 working days. They weren't doing it from the goodness of their heart. They are not providing the service that they promised.

You speak like we should applaud them for providing a 'fairly high standard of service' to their customers.

from www.dfa.ie

The 10 day guarantee for receipt of applications submitted through the Passport Express service provided by An Post and the Royal Mail is suspended until further notice

 

[Sunny]

from www.dfa.ie

So? Now people know that but they weren't honouring the 10 day turnaround before the suspension.

 

[Howitzer]

Change of topic slightly, but I do think there is a bit of a "bank run" mentatlity at the moment.

It's just like the water shortage during the snow. As soon as it was announced that there might be a shortage you had oul wons filling their bath tubs and instantly crippling the system.

As a nation we really do have a massive herd mentality.

I look forward to the day when it's announced that the women of Ireland are running out of unattractive nerds, then, POW, they'll be all over me.

 

[RonanC]

They are not providing the service that they promised.

Because the service has been suspended as per my last post.

If you have an issue with the turnaround time, foward your issue to Joe Nugent, Head of the Passport Office - He and his colleagues in the DFA promised this service, not the clerical officers at the counters.

 

[shnaek]

If I did, I'd take extra care to ensure my passport was up to date without the requirement to make an 11th hour run to Molesworth Street.

It is this attitude that shows you haven't worked for such a company, because companies can, at the drop of a hat, require that you go abroad for a time. This would never happen in the public service, but it does happen in the private. Literally, the drop of a hat. You could be in in the morning, and suddenly be requested to go abroad in a day or two, even though you may never have worked abroad for the company before. This is the nature of flexibility, something certain sectors of society are unfamiliar with And as a small open economy, flexibility is something we need.

 

[Sunny]

If you have an issue with the turnaround time, foward your issue to Joe Nugent, Head of the Passport Office - He and his colleagues in the DFA promised this service, not the clerical officers at the counters.

Ha ha

I must go into my boss today and say 'you promised the customer that we would have it done, I didn't so it's your problem'...

 

[Caveat]

Because the service has been suspended as per my last post.

Can you be specific? Do you mean the 10 day turnaround guarantee has been suspended (which has been the case for a while now) or that the service itself, passport express, has been suspended? because 2 people have actually told me this, that the entire service is suspended.

I don't trust web announcements as they are rarely up to date.

 

[RonanC]

Ha ha

I must go into my boss today and say 'you promised the customer that we would have it done, I didn't so it's your problem'...

It is his problem if the system put in place by management is not working. If printers are broken and not replaced, if the building has been flooded and staff are asked to work around builders, if An Post themselves cannot deliver post ontime. You cannot put the blame on someone who is working on a public counter, in lets be honest here, a very stressful environment.

But typical, blame the lazy civil servnants on the counter for taking their lunch break, or taking a days annual leave or god fobid being out sick.

 

[Sunny]

But typical, blame the lazy civil servnants on the counter for taking their lunch break, or taking a days annual leave or god fobid being out sick.

And that is typical public sector trade union hysteria...Who is blaming them for any of those things?

Why are they blocking the employment of 50 temporary staff to deal with normal seasonal demand?

 

[thedaras]

Why should a lack of reasonable foresight on the part of an individual become the responsibilty of the passport office to resolve?

It is incredible,this attitude.
Lack of reasonable foresight??

Where does in say I must have a passport,an up to date one at all times just in case?

Quote from the passport express website;

How does it work?
Call into any one of our automated post offices and complete your application which we will deliver to the passport office for priority handling. Within 10 working days your new passport will be sent to you.


Since when where the employees given the power to say we must leave a certain amount of time to apply for a ten day passport?

Are you telling us that it is a condition of travel and/or it is a condition of applying for a passport that we must take into account the fact that the employees may at anytime go on a WTR and/or on strike?

Are you forgetting that this is a service supposed to be provided by the passport office? Including late applications?

Should we rename the passport office,to ;

Passport for those only who apply way in advance,know when they will travel, haven't lost, had stolen, going on business urgently, booking a holiday when a bargain or a present may arise,and when we tell you when you should apply office?

It is not up to the employees there to say when we must apply for a passport,get on with the job you are supposed to be doing ,rather than blaming those who require a passport which is your job.

If everyone had an up to date passport for the next ten ,twenty years, then there would be no jobs at the passport office!!

 

[RonanC]

Can you be specific? Do you mean the 10 day turnaround guarantee has been suspended (which has been the case for a while now) or that the service itself, passport express, has been suspended? because 2 people have actually told me this, that the entire service is suspended.

I don't trust web announcements as they are rarely up to date.

Caveat,

I think my post is quiet clear,

The 10 Day Guarantee has been suspended. Passport express is still in operation and I have it on good authority that it is currently taking about 15-20 days to process an application received through this system.

 

[RonanC]

Who is blaming them for any of those things?

Read post 11 and countless others on this website

 

[Caveat]

Passport express is still in operation and I have it on good authority that it is currently taking about 15-20 days to process an application received through this system.

Thanks - good to know that you appear to have insider knowledge.

No offense, but simply quoting whatever they put up on the website doesn't particularly assure me.

 

[RonanC]

Thanks - good to know that you appear to have insider knowledge.

No offense, but simply quoting whatever they put up on the website doesn't particularly assure me.

Im honestly not quoting any website on that time frame. And those updates posted on the DFA and passport.ie websites are generally put up by senior management or with authorisation from senior management.

 

[Caveat]

As a nation we really do have a massive herd mentality.

I look forward to the day when it's announced that the women of Ireland are running out of unattractive nerds, then, POW, they'll be all over me.

Lol

 

[thedaras]

It's just like the water shortage during the snow. As soon as it was announced that there might be a shortage you had oul wons filling their bath tubs and instantly crippling the system.

As a nation we really do have a massive herd mentality.

I look forward to the day when it's announced that the women of Ireland are running out of unattractive nerds, then, POW, they'll be all over me.

Who are the "oul wons" you speak of?

Would they be Mothers who have young babies who maybe NEED to have water?

Where did you get the stats from that it was" oul wons" filling their bath tubs they caused a crippling of the system?

Perhaps some Fathers ( not oul fellas) may have done the same thing? or was it just the women or "oul wons" as you like to call them.

 

[Howitzer]

It's a Shooting the Breeze thread so I'm sticking with my assertion. Lighten up.

 

[shnaek]

A good piece on this in the indo:

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/c...-they-got-us-into-join-the-queue-2110680.html

 

[Staples]

It is incredible,this attitude.
Lack of reasonable foresight??

Where does in say I must have a passport,an up to date one at all times just in case?

Whether you want to have an up-to-date passport "just in case" is clearly your own business. However, if you choose not to, it's unreasonable to assume that State services primary function should be to respond as necessary to your last minute panic. In my earlier posts, I was referring to people who look for a last minute accommodation and not those who may have applied in good faith through the post, allocating the required time.

It is this attitude that shows you haven't worked for such a company, because companies can, at the drop of a hat, require that you go abroad for a time.

My earlier response refers. If you work for one such company, why not just make sure you have a passport?

This would never happen in the public service, but it does happen in the private. Literally, the drop of a hat. You could be in in the morning, and suddenly be requested to go abroad in a day or two, even though you may never have worked abroad for the company before.

Notwithstanding the challenge to the laws of physics presented by the two-day drop of a hat, there is often a requirement in the public service to travel at short notice. For the same reasons, those for whom this may be a possibility take it upon themselves to have a valid passport.

This is the nature of flexibility, something certain sectors of society are unfamiliar with And as a small open economy, flexibility is something we need.

No, this the consequence of poor planning on the part of the individual who didn't consider it necessary to have a passport.