I hate dealing with the government...

[GhaleonOne]

So we applied for passports for our Europe trip 7+ weeks ago. I got mine in 13 days. My brother hasn't even received his yet. We leave Thursday morning. So he finally called them about two weeks ago only to find out they didn't even have any record of him turning in an application. (he has the receipt) So they tell him they'll call him back. They never do. Monday of last week he calls again, and they tell him it's processing and it he hasn't gotten it in 2 more days to call back. So he does. Then they tell him "Oh, well, we'll have someone call you back." Finally they do on Thursday. They tell him specifically that his passport is being put in the mail and will receive it by this Tuesday (tomorrow). Well, we call again today just to make sure. Yup, lied to. Still in processing. 2 days before the trip. The lady tells him he's basically screwed, and that his only option is to go to Houston, Denver or Chicago to pick it up in person. So because they lied to him, we're having to find an immediate flight to and from Houston in a 2-day span to pick up a stupid piece of paper from the government. I'm so pissed I can't even see straight right now. If he can't get a flight for a reasonable price, it'll be a 10 year drive EACH WAY to pick this damn thing up.

Honestly... I'm going so far as to call the congressman's office tomorrow morning. I'm really f'in pissed.

Oh, and on top of that I'm getting sick. And my grandfather was taken to the hospital with a 50 percent chance to live earlier today. Really. All in the week that I'm taking my first ever international trip. Irish luck my ass.

[Kizyr]

Generally it's a good idea to apply months in advance and have them expedite the entire thing. It sucks that this happened, but, it's not the first time I've heard of it. Government bureaucracy and all that... KF

[phyco126]

G1, how much are your tickets anyway?

Sorry to hear about all your luck. You know the saying, when it rains it pours. I dislike government bureaucracy. I still think that the bureaucrats in Futurama are still better than the ones in real life.

[Sonic#]

Hah, I've had run-ins with bureaucracy lately, but nothing that big. I would understand if they said honestly how long they thought it would take, or if they said that they didn't know how long it would take, but to tell your brother it's in the mail and then to say afterward, "Whoops, still in processing" is dishonorable.

[phyco126]

Well, its also the human tendency to lie when faced with delimas such as this. Not everyone can do this, but say the person they talked too either gets stressed easily or thought that they were unfairly being yelled at with accusations. Or, assume they just don't give a darn. That happens more often than not. When this happens, they will just tell you what you wanted to know to get you to shut the hell up and leave them alone. After all, by the time you realize that you were lied too, you'll likely not ever speak to that guy again, but won't even remember the chap's name. Thus, he didn't have to deal with a problem they couldn't deal with or didn't want to deal with, and he also escaped any retaliation.

[DeathBeforeDenial]

That's a real shame you have to deal with a problem like this through no fault of your own. I really hope all works outs and you can still enjoy your trip. Also if you do end up getting sick....get well soon. :)

Best wishes to you and your family in regards to your grandfather as well, that's never a pleasant experience.

[GhaleonOne]

Thanks, yah, my grandpa made it through his surgery. I don't see him lasting too much longer though. It's pretty weird. In my entire life, I've yet to lose someone very close. Two great-grandmothers that I hadn't seen in at least 3 years, and they were both past 100, so those really weren't super sad times.

As for the passport, he's probably 2 hours from reaching Houston by plane. We had a friend at the local airports with connections through AirTran that got him round trip in 24 hours for $200. I have to find him a hotel now, but it could have been worse. As long as everything is on schedule that is. Still, I'm going to find some way to send a complaint to the Passport Agency when we get back. I know it won't do any good, but it'll make us feel better. It's one thing to be told it's not going to be ready in time. We could have paid expedited. The problem is that we were lied to.

[PrettyGirlJean]

Hey G1 I'm sorry to hear about the string of bad luck I hope your grandfather continues to get better. And the passport business works out for you and your bro!

I am very curious to know what is holding up his application as I have a hand in processing (Shhhhh, it's a secret don't tell anyone) the applications. There are a TON of terribly stupid rules that I could write a book on as far as how to process the form. There is so much room for error it's not even funny

A warning to anyone looking to get a passport, as Kiz said definitely apply 6 or more months ahead of time if at all possible. Also, paying the extra $60 to expedite in a lot cases doesn't make much difference either. They're all processed the same way as far as I know and there's the same chance that expedited or not you could wind up with some type of error and have it sent back to you... though if that happens depending on the error I don't believe there are any additional fees involved. If anyone is filling out an app anytime soon PM me and I will gives you some tips on how to fill it out. You would think it's simple enough right? Wrong.... sadly.

[GhaleonOne]

It took an act of a congressman to set them straight, but he's flying home with passport in hand. Still costed me an extra $350 to send him down there, but at least we're going. What's ridiculous is that after being lied to last week about it being mailed out, he was set up with an appointment with a gaurantee they would get the passport to him when he got down there. When he got to his appointment in Houston this morning, they told him "sorry, but we just mailed it out today, you'll have to wait for it to arrive at your home." We contacted a congressman at that point and within 30 minutes, my bro had another meeting at 2:30 that got him his passport. I wish we had contacted the congressman first thing yesterday morning. Perhaps he could have gotten them to overnight it.