I recently applied for a passport renewal and this was processed quickly by HM Passport Office.
Now it is with its courier, TNT, to deliver, I have come to a dead end. For a week I have been trying to arrange delivery through the tracking service but it keeps pushing the date back by a day at a time. I have called the deliveries number three times, and waited an hour to be connected before being disconnected.
I then tried speaking to it via the online chat service but it has told me it cannot help. When I tried to complain upwards, I was given another number to call that goes through to FedEx.
Looking online, it seems a huge number of other people are having similar problems.
I haven’t been able to go away on holiday and I also need to open a new bank account and register as self-employed – none of which I can do without my passport.
WR, London
What is going on at the government agencies? We have already reported on the shambles at the DVLA. Readers are also emailing to say that it is increasingly difficult to get information out of HMRC if you have a query that is not standard – and now this at the passport office.
The problems appear to be with the passport office’s contracted delivery firm rather than delays within the department.
But the reports on Trustpilot from people trying to get passports delivered by TNT will not make for happy reading at passport HQ.
Posters claim to have been waiting up to 12 days for a delivery. Rearranged deliveries that fail to arrive and the inability to talk to anyone is the repeated complaint.
Happily, after I contacted the Home Office, your passport was delivered.
It says: “Her Majesty’s Passport Office and its suppliers are committed to delivering the high standards of service that our customers rightfully expect, and we work together to make improvements to help meet our customers’ needs.”
It has apologised for the delay and explained that you were directed to FedEx because it is the parent company of TNT.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions
