How long are GRO certs taking?

[dawnsh]

There should be a thread where we can discuss info on on a cert we have been waiting for. 

Start a new one !!

[Sloe Gin]

I could n't order the marriage one as i did n't know the parish.  It went as birmingham, warks 1940.

You are much, much better off ordering any Birmingham certs direct from Birmingham Reg Office.  (You don't need to know the parish as all their marriages are indexed.)  You will also get a copy of the original, not a scan of the copy.  They are much more helpful than the GRO and a lot quicker too:  certs are often sent by return of post.

[MagicMirror]

I suppose that if you are overseas and your order hadn't left the country by yesterday morning you will have an even longer wait now. 

[Canada03]

It has been a number of years since I ordered anything from GRO and I have to say I am extremely disappointed.  It seems to me that service standards have really dropped. I used to find them quite easy and efficient to deal with.

On March 20th I placed two orders, each for 4 certificates.  I had full info and provided that.  The confirmation I received noted that the certificates would be mailed on March 26th, and that I should receive them here in canada within 7 days after that.  Well here we are, on April 16th and nothing.  I guess I shouldn't say nothing....I have received ONE of the certificates (dated March 28) from one of the orders.

To add to the frustration, there is no way to check the status of an order online.  Instead, you must fill out a complaint form - which they promise they will respond to within 12 working days.  Yeesh!

Lesson learned. No more dealing with GRO.  It is so hard to be patient, when you think you  have finally found who you have been searching for, and ordered the certificate(s).

OK rant over:).  To post my interests: Ward, Taylor and Duffy in Northumberland/Durham mid 1800s to WW1, but I have also found in Norfolk and Yorkshire earlier.

Cheers!

[c-side]

I suspect that they were inundated with orders at about that time.  They had just announced a rather large increase in prices - effective April.

You are probably suffering from the effects of everyone getting their orders in before that 

Christine

[CaroleW]

I think the problem has been a huge flood of orders in advance of the 6th April - probably triple what they would normally get in the same period

Once it was known that prices were rising by nearly 33% - everybody decided to buy their certs before the increase

[Canada03]

Yes, you are probably right but patience is not my long suit:).  As an aside, I am surprised there isn't the capacity to check order status online (you would think it would save them lots of time - I really didn't want to send in a complaint (yet)).

I remind myself that these certificates have been sitting there 100+ years now, they aren't going anywhere!

[CaroleW]

Another complication in addition to the increased volume was that the GRO was closed over the Easter period

This is on the front page of the GRO website

1 - Current Despatch Times
2 - Changes to Fees and Services from 6 April 2010


1 - Due to an increase in current demand for certificates from GRO, orders placed under the standard service are at present subject to a 5 day additional despatch time. Those ordered under the priority service are currently unaffected. .
2 - Customers are asked to note the change to the GRO fees structure from 6 April 2010. Further details can be found on the IPS website. In addition, GRO have reviewed the range of services on offer. We have been advised that there is no clear remit in statute for our charging for a service to check index references, or to retain partial fees. In order to ensure full legal compliance, we are regretfully withdrawing our reference checking service from 6 April.

[weste]

Thanks sloe gin  for the info about the birmingham index. I'll bear that in mind for the future. Although i may not have many birmingham ones.  I went to another midlands one and i had just started family history a few years back and of course one thing a lot of people don't realise  is that the gro ref is no good to you at local ones.  I got told that i needed to know the parish for the marriage. Fortunately i limited it down to 2 and picked the more obvious and got it right.  I have to say the best service i ever got was for 3 certs from the lichfield office.  I ordered the certs and i got asked if was going to do any shopping i said yes and got told if i got back in half an hour they would be ready for me.  They were! I also ordered one from walsall reg office about 18  months ago and was told it would be ready for me the following day which it was.  So local ones are very useful, i use on line because i work shifts but will try local ones more after this fiasco.