Thousands of Christmas holidays could be put at risk as the Passport Office’s courier service appears to be struggling.
Hundreds of people are going online every day to complain about delays at TNT, which has an exclusive contract to provide official travel documents.
Customers reported delayed delivery dates several times, some saying their passports were stuck with the US-owned company for up to a month. Some visitors, due to be away in the coming days, have become so desperate that they have driven from one warehouse to another in search of their passports.
TNT’s customer service helpline appears to be overwhelmed, with calls going unanswered for hours.
Delivery delays in addition to long processing times at the Passport Office. The government website warns applicants should allow “up to ten weeks” to obtain a passport.
Some customers have become so frustrated with the delays that they have started an online petition demanding an investigation into the TNT failure. The petition reads: “In recent months, thousands of us have experienced significant delays in the delivery of our passports. Many people had to cancel their travel plans. . . and lose hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
“TNT does not appear to offer real-time tracking, nor can you provide delivery instructions. Some people have experienced multiple failed deliveries, others have their delivery dates continuously pushed back without end. Some have even lost their passports or application supporting documents. ”
TNT, owned by FedEx, has been awarded a three-year, £77 million contract to supply new passports and to renew it in July 2019. The petition calls on the government to investigate the due diligence. made prior to the transaction. It asked why TNT’s failures were not reviewed by the government or another designated supplier.
The Times has confirmed that in some cases, the Passport Office is turning to postal companies instead. A ministry source acknowledged that in the event that TNT lost its passport, the company reprinted the document and sent it using Royal Mail instead.
Yesterday Twitter had dozens of messages from people desperately worried they would miss their trip abroad.
Marina Dane says she’s afraid she’ll miss out on her honeymoon. She posted: “Three hours on hold with TNT and two unanswered emails, and a useless live chat canceled for me. Several calls to the HM Passport Office and all they could say was it was TNT’s fault not theirs. Was supposed to travel on Monday. Help!”
In another post, Debra Michael wrote: “TNT failed to give me my passport 3 times. They’ve had my passport for a month and I still don’t know where it is.”
TNT said a spike in passport applications as Covid-19 restrictions were eased had caused a backlog. “We are taking additional steps to provide timely deliveries by adding additional resources to the operation,” the company said.
“We apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
The Passport Office said: “We are aware of several additional issues reported from customers regarding our delivery partners’ missed deliveries and are working closely with our partners. me to identify the root of the problem.”
