Complaints About Embassy In Bkk Post

[thai3]

An interesting old thread about letters of complaint

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=52602

The usual very bad experiences and those with no problem, just goes to show their inconsistancy

An interesting old thread about letters of complaint

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=52602

The usual very bad experiences and those with no problem, just goes to show their inconsistancy

here are the letters from the happy customers

British Embassy worse than nightmare ...

I would like to follow up on Mark Newman's story about his problems at the British Embassy. I have never been faced with more incompetence and negative attitude than the staff of the visa section at the British Embassy.

I used to live in Bangkok and my wife is Thai. In June I was relocated to London by my company. Because I am an EEA (European Economic Area) national, I need neither a work permit nor a visa to work in the UK. My wife, who accompanied me to London, did however need a visa. My company (a very large multi-national) hired UK solicitors specialising in immigration issues to help me with the necessary paperwork to get her her visa.

Those solicitors prepared all the necessary documents, filled out all the application forms, and told me to go the British Embassy in Bangkok with the file they had prepared for me in order for my wife to be issued her visa; they told me that the procedure could and should be done in one morning.

At the Embassy (where I waited for about three hours), the staff told me that I had the wrong application form and a wrong file for the visa that my wife needed. A bit surprised and upset, I contacted the UK solicitors to tell them that I had just been rebuffed at the Embassy.

The UK solicitors contacted me immediately and told me that the application form and file they provided me was the correct one, and that it was the British Embassy that was wrong.

So the next day, I went to the Embassy for a second time and told the staff (after waiting for another three hours) that my UK solicitors told me that I had the right forms and that they, at the British Embassy were wrong.

I provided the staff with several emails written by my UK solicitors with a lengthy legal explanation containing excerpts from the Immigration Office rule book that clearly showed that I indeed had the right form on my hands. The staff refused to read my emails. I was rebuffed very loudly, and in front of a large crowd of onlookers was told in no uncertain terms that I had no idea what I was talking about, that my UK solicitors could write whatever they wanted, but that they (the staff of the visa section) knew the rules, that I had the wrong forms, that if my wife wanted a visa then she would have to follow the procedures they outlined (which would have taken four weeks rather than one morning), and that I should stop wasting their time. After communicating this to my solicitors, they wrote me a legal opinion with a content identical to the emails they had previously written. So I went to the Embassy for a third time, and after another three hours wait, I had to literally beg the gentlemen there (who recognised me and could hardly hide their contempt) to please read that legal opinion. After a quick review of the letter, one of them told me to wait. He resurfaced an hour later to tell me that I indeed had the right form and the right application file.

My wife then got her visa the following day. I did not receive so much as a hint of apology from the staff following their acceptance that they were wrong, even though what should have taken one morning took four visits. I know too well that personnel in bureaucracy like nothing more than snubbing someone that looks or acts upset, so I should point out that during the entire ordeal, I did not raise my voice or lose my cool once. The four times I went to the Embassy, I was polite and courteous. What upsets me most about this incident is not the time that I wasted, nor is it the humiliating treatment that the staff showered on me during my first two visits, because I ultimately got what I wanted, my wife's visa; what upsets me is the fact that had I not had the full force of a UK law firm behind me, the people at the British Embassy would be certain in their erroneous knowledge of UK immigration laws. And that means that for people that do not benefit from the help of professionals as I did (and that is I imagine the vast majority of the people), they would be denied UK visas which they should otherwise easily obtain, had the staff at the visa section of the British Embassy been less incompetent.

ERIC BIDINGER

Here are two letters-to-the Editor from today's (3 Dec) Bangkok Post...

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/03Dec2005_news73.php

British Embassy (Continued ...)

In response to the letter from Eric Bidinger published last month (Nov 30).

The British Embassy is technically a department of the British Government, and is covered by the same citizen's charter under which all British government departments are required to operate.

This charter is designed to set the minimum standard of service supplied to the public.

If you feel you have a legitimate complaint, you are entitled to ask for a complaints form, which they are legally obliged to provide to you.

Rumour has it that an excessive number of complaints against a particular employee results in a transfer to a less pleasant location. If this is true or not I honestly don't know, but I do know, from past experience in dealing with similar attitudes at the British Embassy, that asking for the complaints form results in a much improved attitude and service from the counter staff employed there.

A PREVIOUSLY DISGRUNTLED CUSTOMER

British Embassy (And another ...)

I was amazed reading Eric Bidinger's letter (Nov 30) as I had an identical experience to this at the British embassy two years ago and it seems nothing has improved during this time.

The general attitude of the Thai staff there is a disgrace, they seem to rejoice in being rude and enjoy humiliating their fellow countrymen.

Where does the British Embassy find these people? They are the antithesis of 99.99 per cent of the Thai population.

I was applying for an EEA Family Permit for my Thai stepson to come and stay in England with his mother and myself. I was using the Irish side of my dual Irish/British nationality. An EEA Family permit application is made under European law rather than British law.

I had had to resort to making an application under European law, as a previous visa application for my stepson under British law had been refused.

With Visa applications made under European law there is no application fee as there is with applications made under British law (note also that the application fee is non-refundable even if you don't get the visa, so it's a nice little earner for the embassy).

However, this no fee principle seemed to be an alien concept to the unbelievably rude and obnoxious Thai staff there.

They refused outright to accept my application unless I paid the fee. This despite the fact I had a covering letter from my UK solicitor clearly stating that there was no charge.

Additionally, I had photocopied the page from the UK Home Office website which also confirmed that there was no charge and which I had highlighted in yellow marker pen.

All of this was to no avail to the staff there. They made some joke among themselves about me not wanting to pay any money.

They also did not seem to understand the concept of dual nationality. They joked further "Oh before he was English, now he is Irish, ha ha ..." and then proceeded to serve the person behind me.

I have to say that despite this display of ignorance and conceit, I still managed to keep my cool and did not lose my temper. Eventually I managed to attract the attention of one of the expat members of staff and finally the application was accepted.

My stepson eventually got the required family permit after a lot of unnecessary stress and hassle and has been living happily in the UK for the last two years with his mother and myself.

However, if it had been down to those dimwits in the British Embassy he would still be stuck in Thailand.

STEPHEN MORRIS

Reading

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[britmaveric]

Thai3 - what is your point??? Come on this is tiresome, I'm certain there are incidents where there might be problems, but the vast majority this isnt the case. I think you are beating a dead horse here.

[the scouser]

Closed by popular demand.

Scouse.