Posts
Round 1:
A friend from Germany was recently applying for British Citizenship and - being a diligent individual - had followed the instructions to the letter. All the appropriate forms were completed and the whole lot sent off with instructions to pay the amount listed on the Borders Agency Website.
What my friend did NOT know was that the amount payable had been changed a month earlier. Nobody at the UKBA seems to think that they should have updated their website at the same time. Consequently the whole bundle of papers was sent back with an instruction to pay the correct amount.
Now if this was a retail business the Trades Descriptions Act would apply and the supplier (in this case UKBA) would be bound to provide the service at the advertised price. Try telling that to someone who simply follows their internal rules and has no sense to see the issue.
Round 2:
Having decided that there was nothing for it but to pay the revised fee - all the papers were repackaged and sent off with a NEW payment instruction for the higher amount.
Of course that should have been the end of it and a new British Citizen would shortly be celebrating the fact.
Needless to say further incompetence has intervened. UKBA seem not to have received the payment instruction because the whole pile of papers came back again, with a letter telling him to pay the correct amount and minus the payment slip that had been included two weeks previously.
You would think that in this day and age that a Government Agency was capable of opening its post without losing stuff - especially when it is sent Special Delivery.
Overall my friend is no further advanced with his application and has so far spent £5.50 on each occasion with Royal Mail and UKBA are incurring courier fees with DX for sending the papers back again. And all because someone in their administration cannot (a) update the marketing material in a timely fashion; and (b) cannot open the mail without losing slips of paper.
Given the focus on cost saving in Government - it is about time that this kind of incompetence was eradicated. Ultimately the British Taxpayer is footing the bill at both ends. I suspect that the issue here is far from uncommon and in most instances the recipients of this treatment are hardly in a position to make a complaint. They simply have to shrug their shoulders and go round the loop again and again ...
The problem ultimately stems from building rigid systems that have not been thoroughly thought through and tested. There can be no legitimate complaint from the Civil Servants that they are overworked. This is a foolhardy approach to procedure that is costing everybody time and money.
If YOU were hiring people to operate a business for you - would you let this type of attitude prevail?
A friend from Germany was recently applying for British Citizenship and - being a diligent individual - had followed the instructions to the letter. All the appropriate forms were completed and the whole lot sent off with instructions to pay the amount listed on the Borders Agency Website.
What my friend did NOT know was that the amount payable had been changed a month earlier. Nobody at the UKBA seems to think that they should have updated their website at the same time. Consequently the whole bundle of papers was sent back with an instruction to pay the correct amount.
Now if this was a retail business the Trades Descriptions Act would apply and the supplier (in this case UKBA) would be bound to provide the service at the advertised price. Try telling that to someone who simply follows their internal rules and has no sense to see the issue.
Round 2:
Having decided that there was nothing for it but to pay the revised fee - all the papers were repackaged and sent off with a NEW payment instruction for the higher amount.
Of course that should have been the end of it and a new British Citizen would shortly be celebrating the fact.
Needless to say further incompetence has intervened. UKBA seem not to have received the payment instruction because the whole pile of papers came back again, with a letter telling him to pay the correct amount and minus the payment slip that had been included two weeks previously.
You would think that in this day and age that a Government Agency was capable of opening its post without losing stuff - especially when it is sent Special Delivery.
Overall my friend is no further advanced with his application and has so far spent £5.50 on each occasion with Royal Mail and UKBA are incurring courier fees with DX for sending the papers back again. And all because someone in their administration cannot (a) update the marketing material in a timely fashion; and (b) cannot open the mail without losing slips of paper.
Given the focus on cost saving in Government - it is about time that this kind of incompetence was eradicated. Ultimately the British Taxpayer is footing the bill at both ends. I suspect that the issue here is far from uncommon and in most instances the recipients of this treatment are hardly in a position to make a complaint. They simply have to shrug their shoulders and go round the loop again and again ...
The problem ultimately stems from building rigid systems that have not been thoroughly thought through and tested. There can be no legitimate complaint from the Civil Servants that they are overworked. This is a foolhardy approach to procedure that is costing everybody time and money.
If YOU were hiring people to operate a business for you - would you let this type of attitude prevail?
