Great at the front end, falls apart at the back end.
When we received our application kit, I was able to talk to someone on the phone (turned out to be someone in the chicago office named Addie) who was MARVELOUS. Very helpful. Hand held me through the whole thing. I was relieved to be working with a great service, because this young woman was more than helpful, friendly, and truly wonderful. If I could give 5 stars just for her, I would. She deserves them and more.
Then my application went to the SF office who would be dealing with the India consulate, and that's when everything went to hell.
First I received notice that I was missing a document that had not been listed anywhere on the checklist in the kit I received.
I was able to upload it, via an ENORMOUSLY complex online upload system (they seem to be passing off a lot of the more complicated aspects of their jobs to the client, which is a horrific mistake, as clients are far more likely to make mistakes than employees. It would have been far easier to just email the document in an attachment).
Then, although the visa seemed to have been processed, I received a phone call that the documents were going to be returned to me directly from the consulate rather than the service, and that maybe the consulate had the wrong address since the consulate told the service it was a different address.
To make that even scarier, the agent (Sajeda) had no idea what address the consulate was sending the passport and the visa to. And when I started crying at the idea that the passport was lost (no time to get a replacement, what a nightmare), she laughed at me. I got extremely angry with her at this point. The callousness and disregard for the seriousness of the situation was outrageous.
Then she said maybe they meant something different. It was no big deal.
I kept pressing to find out what address the consulate was sending the documents to. Then she said it was my job to check the tracking number to see where the heck my passport might be going. Not her problem, not her job. Insane.
She made it clear to me that she had no idea what she was doing, what was going on, what might happen to my passport. And that she didn't much care.
She sent me an email with an un-openable PDF file that had the tracking number in it. The file had been given the wrong extension and was corrupt. Then she refused to respond to future emails or take calls from me.
I was finally able to reach a supervisor who was able to give me all the information I needed. However, NOBODY should ever hear from a passport/visa service that their passport and visa may or may not be shipped to a random address they won't or can't disclose. That's a terrifying hour, let me tell you.
It turned out the Indian Embassy had made changes to the system and would only return documents to the address on the application. Which is fine. But don't call and tell me that they told YOU they were sending it to some random DIFFERENT address and that's my problem.
While the visa service did their job, they did it in the most terror-inducing and non-helpful way possible.
You are sending a service the most important documented ID you have. Choose carefully. I wish I'd chosen better. For the prices they charge (outrageous) they should be far better at sharing information, and should recognize the gravity and seriousness of their job. read more
