An addendum to the previous post. This afternoon (Saturday 6 June) I did get the callback from the Passport Office (over 24 hours after I left my number). I decided to have the same conversation with the operator and see what he said. The story – needless to say – was a little different, though much was the same:
1. This time I was told the courier companies are collecting every day (instead of only a couple of times a week as I was told earlier today) but a passport probably won’t be collected until the day after the day on which the ‘printed and sent’ email went out. It could be TNT or DX, he confirmed.
2. He said that the courier company has to enter the passport on its system and send out tracking information by text and/or email to the passport holder, but their systems may not update over a weekend until Monday. He said tracking information should always be sent out by the courier company.
3. He added that the courier companies are so busy and sometimes understaffed that this may result in a delay to delivery, also because there is at present high demand for passports.
So, there you go – two conversations with two Passport Office agents asked the same questions and some differences and similarities in the stories. He suggested that if I had heard nothing by Wednesday next week to call in again.
