Pointless Gimickry and similar!!

[mickthemaverick]

Changing the subject to another of the pointless things I have come across today. I bought an item which was despatched to me by Royal Mail using their tracked service. As it was supposed to have arrived yesterday or today and hasn't I thought I'd use the tracking to find out where it is. This is what I got when I entered the tracking number:

Number obscured for security

If that's not pointless I don't know what is, when they try to deliver it I'll know where it is!!!!!!

[GiveMeABreak]

Yes, that's a common one - the sender hasn't paid for tracking info / tracked service, so that's the standard response for these items. Typically used by eBay sellers as it's cheaper than a tracked solution.

[Michel]

Pointless Gimmickry - no. Ridiculous f@%%ery, yes.

Mrs. Michel needed to renew her British passport recently. We filled in the online form, sent the photos, and on the form it says "send in any other passports you have if you are dual nationality for checking". Yes, we did that too, just like last time.

Three weeks later Mrs. Michel gets a letter from the UK passport authority saying , so shorten it all - "Sorry, no British passport for you. Your name is different on your Colombian passport. They now have to be the same on all passports". It didn't matter last time. I had a discussion with a nice Welsh chap, the outcome of which was yes, they have to be the same. Rules changed 5 years ago apparently. Doesn't say this on the form.

Lets say, for example she's called ... Lady Sugarboo Michel on her UK passport. This is the name on everything, including her British Citizenship paperwork. On her Colombian passport, she is Lady Sugarboo Montoya Perez .
To correct this, she has to go and change her name by deed poll to the name on her Colombian passport, get letters from bank etc to show it's been done, and send these to the passport authority. Or, she can change her name on her Colombian passport to Michel. Utterly ridiculous.

So, in desperation we call the Colombian consulate and ask for their help. Mrs. Michel spoke to some chap who said he'd sort it out. Turns out it was actually the deputy ambassador she was talking to, anyway, I digress. Within 2 hours, we had a letter that said, to paraphrases "Oh, not this again. How many times do we have to send you this letter!?"

Colombian women don't take their husband's name when they get married. It is also only permitted to change your name ONCE, and then only under exceptional circumstances. It has to be done by the judiciary, approved by various authorities and takes around 9 months. This was all explained politely in the letter.

We call UK passport authorities once this letter arrives. "Oh, er, yeah, yes, send it in, if you've not got your British passport by 14th March call us again, but it'll be done".

WTF?! 4 days of intense stress (her and Sammy's tickets are booked and paid for already!)

NB: Made more difficult by the fact her Colombian passport is only a couple of years old, and because we didn't ever think we'd need the "leave to remain" and "permanent leave to remain" visas stamped in her old one, we'd destroyed it. So, if she'd turned up at Heathrow to leave the UK with her Colombian passport, with no stamps or visa in showing how she actually got in....

[CitroJim]

All that just shows there's not much hope for the human race any more Mike... I fear we're on the slippery slope to oblivion and slide just a bit further with ever passing day... That bit of fu&*wittery you describe above nicely proves it

Sadly, that's just one of a whole multitude of examples we see every single day

[myglaren]

Could she just revert to her maiden name?

[Michel]

Could she just revert to her maiden name?

Yes, but it has to be done by deed poll, with the associated hassle - driving licence, banks, pensions, the lot. It's their issue to sort out anyway, as it's clearly a known problem that the Colombian embassy is aware of.

Legally, it's none of the UK passport authority's business what she's called in another country.

[myglaren]

I can see why they might want to do it but it is an extreme intrusion.

My two eldest often hit snags as they were both born in Sweden. Eldest was married but has reverted to he maiden name after her divorce, doesn't make it easier.

She needed to supply her details for a recent job application and is having real problems as it is online only and her birth certificate is too big to scan in one piece. Seems to be an AI on the receiving end that can't come to terms with it and the humans are no better.
This is the British Embassy certificate, the Swedish one is only A5.