VFS Global, a complete disgrace and a burn on taxpayers money.

[ignis]

Used VFS in Bangkok last month. would say 1st class service, easy straight forward and fast...  last time had to send it to Hong Kong

 

Hong Kong what a performance with DHL to get it back, would NOT deliver to home, ended up having to drive for 2 hours into Bangkok then try to find them....  DHL have a depot on the main road just 7 km from my Village !! never did understand the reason why it could not go there ? then they wanted my Passport to collect the package  ha ha ha I told them to open the package if they wanted to see my Passport..

 

So for me VFS is a million times better

[NoshowJones]

On 1/16/2020 at 9:12 AM, Orton Rd said:

Never bother with them, always get a new passport at home. Same day service if you want and no embassy letter needed when you want to transfer stamps from old to new at Thai immigration.

Same day service at home???? Two years ago I applied for a passport nearly three weeks before I was due to return to Thailand, it took one week to arrive and my old passport with my required stamps on it never arrived before I left to return to Thailand, and I had to start all over again and was done by the agent I used in Pattaya, I also had photos of my old passport in my phone, and Thai immigration would not accept it, no wonder I have no love for Thai immigration. 

[PGThompson1]

I do sympathize with the OP. VFS was originally and perhaps still is, an INDIAN company.

 

My gripe is that the British government farmed out the work to them to process the paperwork for visas and then submitted it to the British Embassy for a decision. What the hell are the people who work in the Embassy doing, apart from twiddling their thumbs.

[samsensam]

13 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Same day service at home???? Two years ago I applied for a passport nearly three weeks before I was due to return to Thailand, it took one week to arrive and my old passport with my required stamps on it never arrived before I left to return to Thailand, and I had to start all over again and was done by the agent I used in Pattaya, I also had photos of my old passport in my phone, and Thai immigration would not accept it, no wonder I have no love for Thai immigration. 

 

yes you can get same day service, it's straight forward; my mum was going to australia and fortunately realised her passport was due to expire; i simply got on the website, booked an appointment, availability dependent on time of year but i got one within a few days, drove to the local passport office and she got a new passport on the same day. easy. yes you pay a little more for this service but, in my opinion, it's worth it.

 

the moral being; be organised and keep on top of your life, if you're living abroad plan ahead regarding passport renewal.

[NoshowJones]

4 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

yes you can get same day service, it's straight forward; my mum was going to australia and fortunately realised her passport was due to expire; i simply got on the website, booked an appointment, availability dependent on time of year but i got one within a few days, drove to the local passport office and she got a new passport on the same day. easy. yes you pay a little more for this service but, in my opinion, it's worth it.

 

the moral being; be organised and keep on top of your life, if you're living abroad plan ahead regarding passport renewal.

Yes I get what you are saying, but my biggest gripe was my old passport was not returned to me before I left for Thailand more than two weeks after I received my new passport, and I had to get a friend to send it on to me, though by this time it was useless.

[007cableguy]

I shame them on Twitter they soon reply back!

[jimn]

OP your racist rant with proposed terrorist threats have no place on Thai Visa. The problem is obviously with yourself not following the process. Try reading some of the responses in this thread and stop your accusations when the problem is obviously closer to home

Edited January 17, 2020 by jimn

[BazzaJames]

Email sent to VFS Helpline yesterday

 

I can not believe this website is connected in any way to the Australian Government. Its embarrassing as an Australian to think that the Australian Government would let this farce continue.

 

I have tried countless time to book an appointment but have not been able to logon..a web search strongly suggests I'm not the only one who thinks this site is part of a broader scam to extract money from hapless people wishing to visit Australia.. a crime in progress the only way to describe

[gearbox]

2 hours ago, mfd101 said:

So the cost of an Aussie passport is VFS's fault?

 

I think not. Just the Oz governments of the last 10 years or so working, perfectly sensibly, on a 'user pays' basis. (Why should non-travelling citizens have to pay for your travels & travails?)

You seem to have a problem with your reading comprehension. Where did I say that the price of an Aussie passport is related in any way to VFS? I implied that if we pay through the nose for passports we can expect a bit better service.

 

And why should the "user pay" for a public services like issuing a passport? I wouldn't mind paying for myself just like I pay for any private service, just want the govt to give me back the massive amounts of tax I pay every year. I don't receive OAP, unemployment benefits and have no kids in school, why the users don't pay for these themselves?

 

[NanLaew]

38 minutes ago, PGThompson1 said:

I do sympathize with the OP. VFS was originally and perhaps still is, an INDIAN company.

You sympathize with the OP solely because company he has to deal with has Indian links? Why sympathy? Why the upper-case INDIAN?

 

[NanLaew]

It's fun reading about all these old fogies nursing their 20 year-old Pentium-3 computers that are running on Windows XP and using IE 6 browser who complain about not being able to make a booking and not getting any confirmatory emails either.

[NanLaew]

22 minutes ago, BazzaJames said:

I can not believe this website is connected in any way to the Australian Government.

I think somewhere on the VFS web pages, there's the clear, legal disclaimer that they are indeed not "connected in any way to the Australian Government."

 

Amazing eh?

[Dazinoz]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

You sure that was the VFS office and not some local airline?

Seriously?

[4737 Carlin]

I used VFS Global in Phnom Penh to get my daughters first British passport a few years ago. The process couldn't have been more difficult and frustrating. The staff barely spoke English and were totally incompetent. I share the OP's anger at this amateur service. The UK government getting these idiots to do what they should be doing just shows the contempt they have for their own citizens.

[BazzaJames]

Taken directly from the VFS homepage

 

Welcome to the website of the Australian Visa Application Centre in Thailand. VFS Global is a commercial entity working in partnership with The Commonwealth of Australia to provide Australian visa application services in Thailand

[Jumbo1968]

I had very expensive and frustrating dealings with VFS Global when applying for a UK Visitor Visa for the my Thai G.F. recently. Completing the Visa Form was no problem, no change from the previous applications but when it come to the payments section there is now a long list of ‘add ons’ which has been added since her last application in 2019

I was on the net for over 5 hours and at the same time the site froze or crashed a few times. I tried to remove several of the add ons but it wouldn’t let me, I ended up paying through sheer frustration for Premium Lounge Services and a couple of others totalling over 4000 baht not including the Visa Fee.

 

On arrival at VFS in January we went to the Reception on the Ground Floor to be told my G.F. wasn’t listed for an appointment, I showed them the printout with the date and time of the appointment. They eventually  allowed us to go ‘upstairs’, same again you are not on the list for today. I then explained the appointment was for the Premium Lounge service, they then asked for a document which turned out to be the receipt for the Premium Lounge albeit I had the appointment document indicating Premium Lounge Service. 
 

It’s hard to distinguish what’s free and what’s not and if you only pay for the Visa online I think you have to pay for the scanning service when you arrive. I am not exactly sure what you receive the Premium Lounge Service  ( we were given some water and biscuits) albeit for some reason 350 baht was credited to my CC. MY G.F. was in the ‘Lounge’ for an hour, no idea what for, no one spoke English yet they were going through all the documents in English ? It’s hard to believe a company employed by the UK where no one can speak English ?

 

The other thing is if you want to contact UK Gov you have to pay for the email £5 or just under £1.40 a minute to speak to anyone. VFS Global site is a ‘cash cow’ preying on people to try and remove some of their hard earned money from them with all the unnecessary add ons.

 

The good news was my G.F. Passport arrived the other day with a U.K.

 

[PGThompson1]

59 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

You sympathize with the OP solely because company he has to deal with has Indian links? Why sympathy? Why the upper-case INDIAN?

 

 

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Agreed. If the OP knows there are Indians involved, then he's obviously googled more than is good for him. If he feels the Indian involvement is worthy of mention and blames that for the situation, then he is simply showing his own prejudices.

I sympathize with the OP because I've dealt with them 3 times and they are so incompetent. I stated Indian in uppercase for your benefit, whats wrong with that? Or are you going to play the race card?

[captpkapoor]

No matter what the OP went through, or did not; what confers on him the right to say "Indian bastards"? Are there no moderators to delete these kind of expletives?

I deal with VFS for the various countries that I need to apply visas for, and the staff is always local - at VFS France in Bangkok, for instance, the staff is 99% Thai. 

Yes, VFS Global is owned by an Indian. 

I think the more he rants, the less progress he'll make anywhere in his life.

[a10ams]

On 1/16/2020 at 12:30 PM, worgeordie said:

That's why I sent my passport back to my daughter in the UK

and she did it for me and sent it back.at the time it would

have meant two trips to Bangkok

regards worgeordie

Luckily you didn't need to return anything to Thai Watsadu in that period. I bought a 'white' fan from them last week. When I got it home and opened the box it was black. I took it back right away to swap it, and despite having the receipt, they wanted to see my passport! 

[natway09]

The representation in Thailand for UK nationals is being eroded by the Foreign Office to a dismal level.

To sell their beautiful Embassy grounds in Bangkok for a one off payment is tantamount to stealing when you consider that a past King of Thailand bestowed them the land..

Disgraceful & the service to UK nationals continues to plummet as a result

[jimn]

2 hours ago, captpkapoor said:

No matter what the OP went through, or did not; what confers on him the right to say "Indian bastards"? Are there no moderators to delete these kind of expletives?

I deal with VFS for the various countries that I need to apply visas for, and the staff is always local - at VFS France in Bangkok, for instance, the staff is 99% Thai. 

Yes, VFS Global is owned by an Indian. 

I think the more he rants, the less progress he'll make anywhere in his life.

Suggest you report the topic for its extreme comments, I have done so already but no action appears to have been taken.

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, PGThompson1 said:

 

I sympathize with the OP because I've dealt with them 3 times and they are so incompetent. I stated Indian in uppercase for your benefit, whats wrong with that? Or are you going to play the race card?

No, no, you seem to have that prejudice well in hand already. BTW, if you're needing some help labeling...

 

11 hours ago, a10ams said:

Luckily you didn't need to return anything to Thai Watsadu in that period. I bought a 'white' fan from them last week. When I got it home and opened the box it was black. I took it back right away to swap it, and despite having the receipt, they wanted to see my passport! 

Looks like he's not a big fan of blacks either.

Edited January 17, 2020 by NanLaew

[sandyf]

On 1/16/2020 at 12:26 PM, Jip99 said:

What a load of <deleted> being posted on here.

 

For UK passports VfS are simply the handling agents appointed by UKPA to receive passport applications and deliver new passports.

 

The system is straightforward and the instructions are simple. 

Hardly, I have been dealing with VFS on a regular basis for over a decade and experience has shown they are nothing but a bunch of ignorant parasites. The thread title is perfectly valid.

As far as passports are concerned, VFS only came into the picture when the government in its wisdom took overseas passports from the FCO and gave them to the passport office. My passport renewal took 11 weeks and that was following intervention by the UK embassy.

The whole VFS scenario is consistent with how the UK government operates.

[Jip99]

46 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Hardly, I have been dealing with VFS on a regular basis for over a decade and experience has shown they are nothing but a bunch of ignorant parasites. The thread title is perfectly valid.

As far as passports are concerned, VFS only came into the picture when the government in its wisdom took overseas passports from the FCO and gave them to the passport office. My passport renewal took 11 weeks and that was following intervention by the UK embassy.

The whole VFS scenario is consistent with how the UK government operates.

Not my experience- and I have more than you.

 

By the very definition, of course they are parasites because a service is being subcontracted out.

[Burma Bill]

On 1/17/2020 at 7:40 AM, baansgr said:

Yet BKK return your email with appointment within 20 minutes

Yes indeed. I found the English speaking Thai staff at VFS in Bangkok very helpful and efficient. No problems for me when renewing my UK passports.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

Hardly, I have been dealing with VFS on a regular basis for over a decade and experience has shown they are nothing but a bunch of ignorant parasites. The thread title is perfectly valid.

As far as passports are concerned, VFS only came into the picture when the government in its wisdom took overseas passports from the FCO and gave them to the passport office. My passport renewal took 11 weeks and that was following intervention by the UK embassy.

The whole VFS scenario is consistent with how the UK government operates.

And I would wager that your 11 week passport 'horror' happened in the very early days of the VFS's taking over the passport submission and delivery process or the summer when the Liverpool passport office was flooded with so many application, their GLOBAL service cratered? Or maybe you simply mucked up the application or left it too late or some other non-compliance? It is perfectly OK to admit to that if it helps you get over it. I mean 10 years already and it still gets you all riled up?

 

For my part, I have done 2 UK passport renewals and 2 first time UK passport applications over the past 5 years, all through VFS and the quickest turnaround was 11 days and the longest 18 days.

 

With that taken into consideration, I guess sometimes it does suck to be you.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

Hardly, I have been dealing with VFS on a regular basis for over a decade

Correct me if I am wrong but VFS have only been doing this passport business since early 2014, no?

 

Maybe you are including a Thai partners UK visit visa application experiences over at Regent House in your claim of 10-year of VFS misery?

[Traubert]

26 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

And I would wager that your 11 week passport 'horror' happened in the very early days of the VFS's taking over the passport submission and delivery process or the summer when the Liverpool passport office was flooded with so many application, their GLOBAL service cratered? Or maybe you simply mucked up the application or left it too late or some other non-compliance? It is perfectly OK to admit to that if it helps you get over it. I mean 10 years already and it still gets you all riled up?

 

For my part, I have done 2 UK passport renewals and 2 first time UK passport applications over the past 5 years, all through VFS and the quickest turnaround was 11 days and the longest 18 days.

 

With that taken into consideration, I guess sometimes it does suck to be you.

Ditto.

 

Attended my appointment, I was a translation and a copy document short, they provided both for peanuts charges. Only 'gripe' was that they told me 4-6 weeks and it was back from Liverpool in 13 days. I checked e-mail on day 28 and it had been waiting collection for 15 days. They return it to Liverpool if uncollected for 21 days, so a bit of a flap getting to the office.

 

Smiley, helpful and considerate.

[metisdead]

22 hours ago, captpkapoor said:

No matter what the OP went through, or did not; what confers on him the right to say "Indian bastards"? Are there no moderators to delete these kind of expletives?

I deal with VFS for the various countries that I need to apply visas for, and the staff is always local - at VFS France in Bangkok, for instance, the staff is 99% Thai. 

Yes, VFS Global is owned by an Indian. 

I think the more he rants, the less progress he'll make anywhere in his life.

 

 

Your comment:

 

Quote

Are there no moderators to delete these kind of expletives?

 

The moderators on the forum are not able to preview each and every post that is posted, there is a Report button for members to use to report offensive posts:

 

Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately via the report function. We do have the ability to remove objectionable messages and will make every effort to do so if we determine that removal is necessary. Please use the report button only for posts in blatant violation of the forum rules. Misuse of the report button is not allowed. Removal is a manual process so please realize we may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately. Responding to objectionable messages is discouraged.
 

[4MyEgo]

I used the VFS service in Chiang Mai to get my wifes, sons biometrics done when applying for their Australian tourist visas last year, we arrived an hour early, i.e. 12.00pm, asked security if we could go in early as we just drove 11 hours to get here and couldn't check into the hotel till 2.00pm, he said come back 1.00om, I said yep, I thought so, a public robot, let's go for lunch up the road at the shopping centre guys, came back at 1.00pm, he said you should be here 15 minutes early, I said, you said to come back at 1.00pm, he wasn't impressed, when I saw that, I flared up, I said, "we were here an hour early", I asked you if we could go in early, but you sent us away, and "you said come back 1.00pm", we are here now, it is 1.00pm, do you have a problem with that now, or did you want us to rush back so we could be here 15 minutes to suit your ego, do you know how long it takes to walk to get the shopping centre to eat lunch, first you have to find a place to eat, then to order, then to wait for the food to arrive, then to eat it, then to pay for it, I went on and again said, we were here 1 hour early, a staff member came and opened the door because she heard the commotion, she said are you here for the 1.00 pm appointment, come in please, I swear I could have landed an uppercut on him, but just smiled and said, she obviously understands, and as I walked passed him, said, lunch was great by the way.

 

What a farken tosser, thank God don't have to do that again, as the cost to do this when you add it all up is crazy, i.e. petrol to drive 11 hours each way, hotel 2 rooms (kids) because your too tired to drive back, lunches, dinners, etc etc, could be worse I suppose, could be meeting one of those security guards at every place that has a door on it, wonder what would have happened if I was 5 minutes late.

 

Funniest part about this whole episode was it took us the best part of 10 minutes to do the biometrics, drive 11 hours each way for 10 minutes....lol

   

Edited January 18, 2020 by 4MyEgo