Just Pay the State $60 Instead
This summer I was going to take my daughters to see their father abroad. Two months before the trip, I realized that my passport was expired and wanted to use such a service to be safe. What a joke! First, they tell me the picture is no good. I have FedEx make another, and the day it arrives at their office, I call to make sure that they have it. The rep assures me that all is well, and the time frame to receive the passport is June 18. Also, I am assured that no news is good news, i.e., if this new photo isn't up to scratch, they'll let me know. I stupidly trust them and wait until June 18. I call and get an extremely rude woman who knows nothing, can apparently check nothing, but says I'll get a call the next day. I don't. I call the day after and the rep (all the male reps are actually polite), basically admits that the photo I sent wasn't checked. THEY HAD HAD IT FROM MAY 23 TO JUNE 18 AND HAD NOT EVEN CHECKED IT! On June 24, they finally send it on to the State Department. I got the passport far too late to go anywhere, and guess which photo is in the book? THE FIRST ONE THAT THEY TOLD ME WAS UNACCEPTABLE. So what did I pay $200 for? For some people to falsely critique FedEx's first photo, sit on their hands for several weeks, and then send it on? I am looking into avenues to make more serious complaints about this "business". P.S. You know how there's an automated message at the beginning of these phone calls asking you to stay online to rate their service? Yep, I got hung up on all three times.