GRO fees

[MuttleyS]

Whoa there. Bit of an exaggeration. A few GRO certs are hardly a great holiday or a new home as I would do lots of research before choosing a dream holiday or home. If there are two Thomas Wilson's registered in the same quarter in the same year in the same district then you have to take a gamble with one at first. It may be the right one. If not then it is not the end of the world as you can order the other one. Simple.

Yes I agree but look at it this way:- over the years you could easily buy 2 or 3 hundred certificates. (3 Births Deaths Marriages for each person - that is only 63 people). If only 10% are wrong (you could go wrong more than once on a person) that would be 20 or 30 wasted certificates. At £9-25 each that could be £277.50.

That might not be a lot of money to you but to a pensioner like me.........(don't get out the violins just yet)

Also, if lots of enthusiasts are doing roughly the same then the GRO are making tens of thousands a year supplying useless documents.

As I said earlier, not only is it a waste of everybody's money it is also a waste of the GROs time and the world resources.

Oh, and believe me, it doesn't matter how much research you do beforehand, buying a house or a holiday can go very wrong for unforseen circumstances.

There HAS to be some consumer protection.

Yes I see what you mean there but I think a lot of companies want more money and I think the GRO also rely on people buying wrong certs as it generates them revenue. But I suppose if we returned the cert they could give us at least a partial refund.

Good point.

Fundamentally I cannot see what would be the problem with making the information available at the Records Centre in Kew (or better still online).

The information must be there (at least on microfiche but I suspect it is digitised by now) for the GRO to be able to print it.

There would then be no problem because you would be sure of what you are buying having seen it.

[behindthefrogs]

The problem with making the information available on-line is quite simple.  Currently only the indexes have been digitised.  Various projects to achieve this have failed due to lack of money, although I am not sure what is the current situation.

David

[coombs]

Scotland must have stumped up the money to digitise their registers.

[MuttleyS]

The problem with making the information available on-line is quite simple.  Currently only the indexes have been digitised.  Various projects to achieve this have failed due to lack of money, although I am not sure what is the current situation.

David

Mmm! I don't really understand that.

OK so they may have not been digitised but they must be on microfiche or something similar in order for the GRO to print them off.

Why can't the microfiche copies be stored at Kew?

I understand that the whole process of printing certificates at Southport is automated. How could that be if they were not digitised?

[Silvilocks]

Why can't the microfiche copies be stored at Kew?

One trip to Kew would cost me hell of a lot more than the two wrong certificates I've purchased so far.

[acorngen]

Mutley,

You are showing your lack of knowledge on this subject.  Certs from the GRO are not printed off any microfiche they are in fact handwritten or type written copies of the copies of the originals.  These are stored in large volumes.  As someone as already mentioned only the indexes have been digitised and then by companies such as Ancetry.  The work that was being carried out by Siemens was stopped when it ran over budget and the government realised they couldn not legally do this. (that was their excuse)  The last time I looked at the relevant website they were looking at a new possibility.

As for Scotland two things spring to mind.  One Civil registration didnt start there till much later and the country is much smaller than England and Wales so the records are fewer.  Their certs though carry far more information than ours.

I agree with Guy that the sales of Goods act is the route to go if the cert is wrong however I believe that if you dont put as much info as you can and the cert matches what you have put (even if not your family) then there would be no claim.  I do stand to be corrected on this point.

Rob

[MuttleyS]

Mutley,

You are showing your lack of knowledge on this subject.  Certs from the GRO are not printed off any microfiche they are in fact handwritten or type written copies of the copies of the originals.  These are stored in large volumes.  As someone as already mentioned only the indexes have been digitised and then by companies such as Ancetry.  The work that was being carried out by Siemens was stopped when it ran over budget and the government realised they couldn not legally do this. (that was their excuse)  The last time I looked at the relevant website they were looking at a new possibility.

As for Scotland two things spring to mind.  One Civil registration didnt start there till much later and the country is much smaller than England and Wales so the records are fewer.  Their certs though carry far more information than ours.

I agree with Guy that the sales of Goods act is the route to go if the cert is wrong however I believe that if you dont put as much info as you can and the cert matches what you have put (even if not your family) then there would be no claim.  I do stand to be corrected on this point.

Rob

I bow to your superior knowledgs but I am still not sure that that is entirely correct.

1. I have definitely read somewhere that the process is automated. In other words no human intervention.

2. The most recent certificates I have received are basically in two sections. A generic form with additional generic information such as 'Registrastion District' typed in. In the centre of the form is the specific record information which is clearly a copy of a section of an old documnet which has been over printed onto the generic form. You can tell this by the dirt and noise introduced by the copying process. The hand script appears to be an old style too.

There is no handwriting on the certificates that isn't original.

[toni*]

from the GRO FAQ

Q24. I am not happy with the certificate you have sent me or the service I have received.

Use our online complaints form to send us a message. When you submit this form it will generate an email to us with the details you have supplied. We will respond to your email within 5 working days.

Q18. How will I receive a refund if my application is unsuccessful?

If you have asked us to make a search on your behalf (an application without a GRO reference number) and the search is unsuccessful, GRO will provide a full refund. The refund will be made directly to your credit/debit card account via the Worldpay payment service provider. A letter or e-mail of explanation will also be sent to you at this time. Please do not contact the General Register Office to enquire about any refund made until you have received and read this letter/email.

[acorngen]

Mutley,

It is probable that you were lucky enough to get a photocopy of the original book that was sent to the GRO.  I have just emailed teh GRO to obtain an absolute answer.

The wiki site seems to have that all births and deaths to 1934 and 1957 respectively have been digitised under the old DoVE project.  I would therefore have to apologise for my incorrect information

Rob