Salford Council are having a laugh aren't they?

[andycand]

via post, online or with a credit/ debit card  what other way is there? 

Perhaps there is no admin fee if paying in person by cash or cheque

Andy

[MUMMYG]

By by law government departments have to charge the sum it costs to supply the information requested. The costs of supplying a certificate of bm or d has been worked out and the fee set.

On the contrary, Ive just read an article in the magazine FAMILY TREE in which a quote from the GRO says that 'an element of staffing and other set up costs related to the 2010/11 budget for the new digitisation and indexing project (D&I) has been factored into the cost of providing GRO certificate services'.  This is supposed to be the 'replacement ' project to digitise the GRO records and provide online public access after the last attempt failed. i.e we are paying for their mistakes and paying for a service that isnt accessible yet.

It seems you are not happy when the certificates are sent if the details do not all tally and you are not happy if the certificates are withheld because the details do not tally.

Quite right too, five duds    hes paying enough for them to get things correct surely. Some might think they were doing it on purpose, to make more money.

[acorngen]

I contacted lancsbmd and forwarded them a copy of the emails I had with Salford Council and they are to contact them to clarify the situation with the intention of updating their website.  Salford council did say to me in the email that the one pound admin charge was to cover credit and debit card sales only and I suggested they needed to make this clear on their website.

Rob

[Treetotal]

I've had a very different experience with Salford City Council...Some time ago...after several failed attempts to get the right Birth Certificate for my relative..name of Jones.. ..I emailed them to explain the difficulty I was having which was compounded by the varying ages across the census records giving a date range with a variance of ten years.
They emailed me back asking for Ref. Nos of likely matches and they would help me to find the right certificate...I had the right one identified within a few hours I and was able to send for it...it came by return of post.
I would happily pay an extra pound for that kind of service as it saves time, money and a heck of a lot of frustration.
Carol

[MUMMYG]

You wont be able to do that anymore though will you?   They aren't allowed to do those checks for you now.   

[Guy Etchells]

You wont be able to do that anymore though will you?   They aren't allowed to do those checks for you now.   

Of course they are allowed to do checks.
What they have never been allowed to do was legally retain part of the fee if the checks did not tally.
Cheers
Guy

[Parmesan]

The paper form linked to the BMD sites states

"You are strongly recommended to add any qualifying information you may have in order to help the registrar issue the correct certificate."

I think it is only GRO that no longer have a check facility.

[Cal241]

I am oop North, I prefer pigeon post if it saves me a quid 

couldn't agree more lol

[acorngen]

Parmesan local offices want more info so that they can be sure they send you the right one.  They will check it as a matter of course