Book of stamps for lost passport in SD

[POSTMAN]

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Royal Mail has apologised after compensating a customer with a book of stamps when his passport got lost in the post.

Barman Tommy Brown, 22, of Blake Road, West Bridgford, had to fork out more than £110 for a replacement despite using special delivery.

After the Post intervened, the company said it would reimburse Mr Brown for the replacement and delivery charges.

Mr Brown, who is flying to south-east Asia and India for four months on Tuesday, sent his passport to the Indian Visa and Consular Service, confident it would reach its destination.

But, when he received a letter less then a week later saying his passport was not enclosed he got confused.

He said: "I spoke to the people in the Post Office, lovely people, they double checked and said, 'the passport's in there'.

"I would say it was about five or six days later I had a letter from the Indian Visa Consular saying, 'unfortunately we have been unable to give you a visa because you haven't included your passport'."

Mr Brown opened a case with the visa office and Royal Mail to try to find out if it had been lost along the way.

They found nothing so Mr Brown went through the claims process at Royal Mail, hoping his 'special delivery' would cover at least some of the cost of a replacement.

After sending receipts, including proof of posting, Mr Brown received another letter saying the Royal Mail could only offer him a book of stamps.

His mum, Anne Brown, 61, said: "It's laughable really, a passport is a valuable document."

Mr Brown will now have to make a stop at the Indian High Commission as part of his trip to pick up his visa.

Although the matter was resolved in the end, he said it had still been an annoying experience.

He added: "It's nice to know that big businesses care about people. "It's a little frustrating that I had to go through the newspaper but, overall, it's fantastic, I couldn't really ask for anything more."

Royal Mail spokeswoman Ronit Wolfson said: "Given the circumstances, we are covering the cost of the replacement passport and the cost of postage as a gesture of goodwill. We apologise sincerely to the customer for any inconvenience that has been caused."

[bustedflush]

Mmmmm....would I be the only one thinking this was actually delivered but 'lost' in the Consulate? Worth a lot of money in some places, UK passports.

[Lounge Lizard]

He said: "I spoke to the people in the Post Office, lovely people, they double checked and said, 'the passport's in there'. But it wouldn't still be in the Post Office.
"I would say it was about five or six days later I had a letter from the Indian Visa Consular saying, 'unfortunately we have been unable to give you a visa because you haven't included your passport'." so was the SD package delivered open and empty ? In which case why did the Indian Visa Consular sign for it ?