AIBU not knowing what to do about holiday debacle (child passport renewal)...

[Flockameanie]

I've been posting about our debacle of trying to renew DS's passport on the Holidays board.

In short, we're due to go on holiday in 8 days. DS's passport renewal may, or may not, arrive on time. We have no way of knowing. Flights are on EasyJet, accommodation is indepenently booked. Up to the end of today, I can change the date on the flights for no fee. From tomorrow onwards it will cost £350 to change them. I can change them up to 2hrs before the flight. We've paid a deposit on the accommodation (Abourt £300) that we'll lose if we change or cancel.

My AIBU is that I don't know what to do and I'm so bloody stressed. Mostly about potentially having to tell the DC, who are so excited about this holiday, that it's cancelled.

Options:

1. Sit tight and hope passport arrives. Do nothing. If by the night before it hasn't arrived, change flights (for £350) for some random date in future. Lose deposit on villa
2. Cut our losses now. Change flights to some random date in the future. Cancel villa. Only loss is villa deposit.

What do I do?? I'm so stressed about it all I can't think straight...

@AtillatheHun

Mine turned up 3 days after they acknowledged receipt of the application (which, from post office tracking, they’d had for over a week). They hand deliver so make sure someone is there to answer the door all the flipping time - I don’t think they can just leave it if you’re out.

They will post if you have a letter box into your property. They won't post if it's an outside mailbox, or flats or whatever and they can't get to your actual front door.

@MurmuratingStarling.

Did you post on the wrong thread? That isn't the OPs situation at all, and is really unhelpful

Have you booked directly with a villa owner ?
When I was in this business, if a client contacted me & explained I would have said, I would refund deposit if I managed to get a new booking.
Worth a try ?

I checked my recent hold passport renewal dates for the timeline. Docs received: 23/2, Approved 3/3, posted 6/3, arrived 7/3. X

A few years ago we had a problem with DDs passport. There were massive hold ups at the time. I contacted our MP, 24 hrs later she contacted us to say they had located the paperwork and it was being fast tracked. The following morning we had a message to say the passport was being printed and the next day it arrived. If you have a good MP, our was very good, it might be worth a try.

Good luck OP

We had the same problem last year with a first passport for DS1&2. Applied in July for a September holiday, thought it would be fine.
DH basically turned calling the passport office into a full time job. I dont understand how they can operate with so many inefficiencies- they also told us they don't work through applications in the order they are received.
For anyone saying that applying with 6 weeks notice is idiotic- we spoke to the passport office when submitting the application and were actively told NOT to book a fast track appointment and that the passports would be ready- booking a fast track for departures more than 3 weeks away screws with their system apparently.

Eventually they helped us- Passports turned up an hour after the flight left though! We bought new flights for the same evening (£250, which actually wasnt too bad when you think of it)

We’ve just renewed ours Peterborough office. Applied 14th Feb, arrived 14th March. Fingers crossed for you!

I would change flights and cancel villa and tell kids now, personally but I can't stand that kind of down to the wire scenario.

Not read the FT but why not change the flights, as they're free to do so, keep everything else, then if the passport turns up change the flights back again, free of charge? That way you might salvage the holiday, if it doesn't turn up you lose the money that you may lose anyway

you can call the passport office and ask them to help, maybe offer to pay the extra for fast tracking?

@SpiderinaWingMirror

I would change flights and cancel villa and tell kids now, personally but I can't stand that kind of down to the wire scenario.

@SpiderinaWingMirror - I'd do the same.

I would cancel! I’ve last minute got some time off and we are hoping to travel eater Sunday. My husbands passport had expired.
Application submitted and received on the 20/3
Documents recorded on the 23/03
Application approved on 28/03

Still waiting on printing and delivery. We’ve not booked anything as waiting for passport and given it until 13th until we look for U.K. holidays instead of it’s not here. I think it is taking approx a week to then print and then there is delivery on top.

If yours hasn’t been approved yet then I would def cancel, get your money back and have a look on the U.K. for an alternative

Good idea about OP contacting her MP. It is not good enough that the passport offices are so slow - I don't know what the reason is, but MPs should raise this.
Same for driving licenses, the delays have been unacceptable.

Same for NHS, the delays are unacceptable.

I am not saying this is the fault of any individual who works in these departments of course and I'm grateful to them. But the public is suffering.

Good luck OP, I would have done the same as you.

Don't count on getting that call-back from the passport office, stay on the line and insist on speaking to someone who knows something or is capable of doing something.
Also don't count on ever getting that tracking info from TNT - my child renewal just turned up without ever getting that info.

Who did the application? Mum or dad? Apparently if a dad applies for a childs renewal now they will very likely be asked to send in birth certificate again as proof of having parental responsibility, which adds additional delay.
My child renewal took nearly 6 weeks but time was lost sending in additional docs (birth cert) plus having to redo ID verification, that I am still waiting for a call back to explain what was wrong with the first one [was person unsuitable(they've done others)/did they answer wrong(it's all yes or next options)/was it an error on their part (first person i spoke to said they had had a lot of ID repeats recently and think they had an error on their side)].
The tracking was useless - documents only seemed to show as arrived when someone sat down to look at the application, not when the postman would have delivered them.

Good luck OP.

We've just done similar. It was 12 days between "received" to "printing passport" then 7 days after that to passport arriving.

You might just make it.

Is losing the villa deposit a certainty? There might be a change the owner would transfer your deposit to another booking

We've done 3 passports recently and not one of them had a TNT tracking number provided.

Thanks again for the stories of hope!

Of course HM Passport office did not call DH back within the promised 24 hours! And subsequent attempts to get through to them have failed.

It's not looking good. Yes, we're kicking ourselves for not doing this differently. You live and learn. And they've still got 5 post days to get it to us. Unlikely, but you never know...

Good luck, OP.

My friend is currently at home, with her flights to Italy having departed last Saturday, and a £5,000 loss (on flights, and the accommodation was all non-refundable having changed it twice before due to Covid), and passports still nowhere to be seen and currently on week 10 since they were submitted!

Your friend must be so fed up @TokenGinger

I am trying to reconcile myself to it not coming. But the emotional rollercoaster is something else!

She's so upset. I really feel for her. It's such a lot of money for them to have lost with no right to claim back.

I really hope it turns up for you xx

I applied for DS renewal on 1 March and just got it back...

So ours arrived today, just one day after being told it was being printed and to wait for notification from the courier. It came via normal first class post! 3 weeks and 4 days.

Fingers crossed!

That’s amazing @regularbutpanickingabit

Finally got a call back - approx 30 hrs later. They couldn’t give any information or say anything other than what we already know from the online tracking - that documents have been received. This is 4 weeks and 2 days after the application was submitted. They were apologetic though.