I am writing to formally complain about the treatment my family and I received while attempting to…read morecomplete a passport application for my 20-month-old daughter.
During our appointment, my daughter was initially crying because she is very young and was unfamiliar with the environment. After some time, however, she calmed down, began smiling, and was willing to engage and have her picture taken. Because she is only 20 months old, she was understandably scared to stand on the chair and needed a little time to adjust to the situation.
Unfortunately, the employee assisting us, Amy, showed very little patience or understanding. Instead of providing reasonable assistance to a family with a very young child, she was rude and disrespectful toward me, my husband, and our daughter. Her behavior made the situation much more stressful and caused my daughter to cry even more.
There was also an issue with our paperwork. I initially forgot some of the paperwork and returned as quickly as possible. I had told Amy that I would come back on time. When we returned at approximately 1:20 p.m., there was already another customer being assisted. We understood and were willing to wait. However, when we were finally able to speak with her again, Amy told us that she did not have time for us and did not want to continue trying to take our daughter's photograph because our daughter was not immediately engaged.
I understand that employees have schedules and other customers to assist. However, I believe that reasonable patience and professionalism should be expected, particularly when dealing with a 20-month-old child. A toddler cannot be expected to immediately sit or stand still, look at a camera, and cooperate perfectly on command. Our daughter was actually beginning to smile and engage, and we simply needed a few minutes of patience to help her become comfortable enough for the photograph.
Amy did not appear willing to give us even a reasonable amount of time to try. Her attitude and comments made us feel that we were being treated as an inconvenience rather than as customers who were trying our best to complete the process correctly.
I subsequently asked to speak with the manager, Kaur. Unfortunately, I was also disappointed with the way our complaint was handled. Rather than listening carefully to our concerns and attempting to address the situation, we were essentially told to go to another office. We understand that other offices may be available, but that does not address the way we were treated at this location.
We were not asking for special treatment. We were asking for basic courtesy, professionalism, and a reasonable amount of patience while trying to obtain a passport photograph for a 20-month-old child.
I respectfully request that this incident be reviewed and that the conduct of the employees involved be addressed appropriately. I also hope that staff can receive additional guidance on how to handle families with infants and toddlers, particularly when a young child needs a few additional minutes to become comfortable with the photograph process.
My family came to the office expecting to receive professional and respectful service. Instead, we left feeling humiliated, frustrated, and upset, particularly because of the way our young daughter was treated.
