should I ask for a refund?

[Crawling]

Aibu to ask for a refund my gp filled out the countersigning part of ourvdc passport application. She did it wrong I paid £45 for this. On one hand she did it wrong but on the other she did spend her time doing it. So should I ask for a refund or not?

I think its ridiculous that you have to get someone from that list to sign your photo. What happens if you dont know anyone from that list?

Isnt that unfair?

Benjamin it is quite an extensive list!

The odds on you not knowing anyone from that list are astronomical! Unless you're a hermit. Are you a hermit, Benjamin?

I got a plumber to sign my DD.

It really is anyone as long as they have a british passport, live here, have known you for more than 2 years and don't have a criminal record.
Seriously - anyone can - I got a secretary I used to work with to sign mine a while ago.

Hellsbells that have to be in a listed profession now. As a countersignatory you have to list your profession. They phone and check your qualifications if you do countersign. I countersign all the time.

£45 is an outrageous amount to charge!

Years ago when i worked in a bank people used to come in and demand the manager sign their passport applications. Some of them used to kick up a right stink about "paying your wages" and the like when it was pointed out that the bank manager had to know them personally for 2 years. As a compromise for those 'special' customers we would agree to sign it if they could point out the branch manager. It was very amusing watching them looking around trying to work out who looked the most bank managery. Especially because I was the manager I never did have to sign one but I know colleagues who did who got phone calls from the passport office. They had to describe the applicant and answer personal questions about them so not something to fiddle.

No i am not a hermit. That question was quite rude.
I know many people however the only people i know on that list are family either blood or through marriage and u cant get family to sign it.
I cant get my dd a passport because i dont see the same gp, dentist, optician every visit and we dont go very often. I did ask my DDs teacher who was my old school teacher but she refused. They are about the only people on the list that i know who are not related. And could confidently answer the questions if required.

I qualify on about three of those criteria, and have countersigned lots. Never been called with questions though, how odd.

I countersigned a couple and never been called either. I signed my first one for a friend when I was still at school but taught private drama classes so thought that qualified me - not sure how it would have done under scrutiny...

I'd get your GP to do it again if you paid her x

I think where we were and when meant passport applications were more likely to be scrutinised ( roughest bit of NW London just after 9/11). I know that they also do random checks as part of their control processes. Makes sense - you can do a lot of fraud and money laundering with a fraudulent passport.

Don't you know any teachers or anyone who runs their own business january?

I think in the last 18 months there have been a lot more checks. I have been several times recently asked to confirm my full name date of birth and date of membership of my professional body.

I live and would be signing for people in a relatively low risk area. I get asked most often on first passports rather than renewals.

We got a friend who's a photographer to sign ours, not entirely sure what makes photographers of greater standing than any other small business proprietor

It's good that they have expanded the list but I can still think of reasons why you wouldn't know anyone on it.

When I was a student I needed to renew a passport and needed guarantors from a similar list (I'm not British) and it was surprisingly hard. All my friends were students, my professors didn't know me for two years (or at all), I banked online, and never saw the same dentist or GP twice. In the end I had a priest sign it, and the only other option would have been a friend of my mom's who barely knew me.

I just got my boss to do DD's!

The post office man who took the photos signed mine, thought it was abit odd seeing as he didn't know me but it saved time so let him do it

When I got a passport for DS2 as a baby we had recently moved, so I posted forms to previous GP. He refused to do the counter signing due to the requirement to give his own passport details - I didn't object to this, but instead of passing it to one of the other Drs in the practice he sent it all back to me. Cue another set of postage and delays to get signature from another Dr in the same practice.

At my GP's, I asked to register for their texting service, and was told I had to bring in some ID. I pointed out that the surgery had known me for 20 years and that as I had just seen the GP under my name it was unlikely I was pretending to be me. The receptionist said I still needed ID. I said, "like a passport?" and she said "yes". And I said "But the GP is the signatory for my passport photo!" She admitted this was exactly how it worked and could see it was a little bit circular!

Bumbly I wonder what his problem was with providing his passport details? Do you think he wasn't really a qualified doctor (conspiracy theory beginning) and that would all come out if a passport number made it obvious to the Passport office that he was a David Brown who was not a doctor rather than a David Brown who WAS a doctor???........

Note the "e.g." at the start of that list. It means for example. The list is not a finite list of who can sign. You will notice that "doctor" is missing from the list.