Are historic certificates arriving from the GRO in the current pandemic?

[melba_schmelba]

Ordered three paper certificates on the 5th May and still waiting.

When do we complain ?

Why would you complain when they tell you on their site that there will be delays and not to order unless it is urgent?

I can't see any such warning

https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/menu.asp

[groom]

Coronavirus

Due to Covid-19, certificate orders will not be completed within the published timescales

In line with public health guidance to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, the General Register Office is currently operating with reduced staffing to comply with social distancing restrictions.
We remain committed to processing orders as fast as we can, however please do not contact us for updates as we will be unable to confirm when your order will be completed.
If your order is not urgent, please help us to support those who need our services the most by coming back at a later date to apply.

For priority orders using Royal Mail Special Delivery or DHL Delivery, please check the relevant website for updates on delivery information.

[melba_schmelba]

Coronavirus

Due to Covid-19, certificate orders will not be completed within the published timescales

In line with public health guidance to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, the General Register Office is currently operating with reduced staffing to comply with social distancing restrictions.
We remain committed to processing orders as fast as we can, however please do not contact us for updates as we will be unable to confirm when your order will be completed.
If your order is not urgent, please help us to support those who need our services the most by coming back at a later date to apply.

For priority orders using Royal Mail Special Delivery or DHL Delivery, please check the relevant website for updates on delivery information.

Ah I see it only shows if you are not logged in.

[melba_schmelba]

My worry is with the "Any orders older than 3 months will be deleted from the online ordering system" part and whether that still applies if the order hasn't been completed within 3 months. Do you receive a refund or just lose the money? Maybe it wasn't considered possible that an order might take that long when the system was designed.

The advice to download PDFs presupposes that the order has been completed and the PDFs have been made available. (Note that I mentioned applying for paper certificates. I tried PDFs but sometimes found them difficult to read because they use black and white rather than grey scale.)

Well you certainly have been waiting a long time if you ordered them on 5 May.

Have you looked on the system and does it still say they are outstanding?

If the answer to that is yes then you just have to wait although i admit it seems unfair that a certificate I ordered on 1 June i received a week ago.

No they will not just delete them from the system and keep the money. At the very least if they don't fulfill the order they have to give you a reason so you will hear something

There doesn't seem to be much logic to it. My order was half completed over two weeks ago. I am not sure whether the other part has been somehow 'lost in the system', and how long I should wait to ask about it.

[cbowley]

My worry is with the "Any orders older than 3 months will be deleted from the online ordering system" part and whether that still applies if the order hasn't been completed within 3 months. Do you receive a refund or just lose the money? Maybe it wasn't considered possible that an order might take that long when the system was designed.

The advice to download PDFs presupposes that the order has been completed and the PDFs have been made available. (Note that I mentioned applying for paper certificates. I tried PDFs but sometimes found them difficult to read because they use black and white rather than grey scale.)

Well you certainly have been waiting a long time if you ordered them on 5 May.

Have you looked on the system and does it still say they are outstanding?

If the answer to that is yes then you just have to wait although i admit it seems unfair that a certificate I ordered on 1 June i received a week ago.

No they will not just delete them from the system and keep the money. At the very least if they don't fulfill the order they have to give you a reason so you will hear something

Yes, all three show as In Progress. I'll give it until mid-July before chasing.

[Jo6100]

It might be worth checking: a marriage certificate I ordered on 1st May and received a couple of weeks ago still says in progress ( a pdf ordered 5/6/2020 clearly says despatched ).

[groom]

It might be worth checking: a marriage certificate I ordered on 1st May and received a couple of weeks ago still says in progress ( a pdf ordered 5/6/2020 clearly says despatched ).

Have you checked your junk folder for the email about the pdf?

[Jo6100]

Hi Groom,

I meant that, although I had received the paper certificate, it still says in progress, so maybe the other person’s cert has been sent and has gone astray. (I also received the pdf but this showed it had been completed. )

Regards


Jo

[weste]

I ordered a marriage cert on 10th may and despatch date was 15 th may still saying in progress and I was n't worried about waiting. I'm finding though that certs ordered recently are being despatched From what I've heard on different sites, at some point they appear to be keeping with up with new orders but dealing with back log . Some people have waited 2 months for a cert. Someone I know ordered in last fortnight got a pdf in a week and was waiting for certs. I'm waiting to see what happened to her certs.