Delay getting certificates from the GRO ? [Archive] - British Genealogy & Family History Forums

monxton

01-02-2005, 9:14 PM

I ordered 5 certificates on 5th January - to date, I have received 3 of them.

They warned when I ordered the certificates that there is currently a long delay (they put this down to the success of "Who Do you Think you Are?"), which they estimated at 11 to 14 working days. We're well past that now.

What delays are other people experiencing at present? Should I be worried, or just sit tight?

Patrisia

01-02-2005, 10:14 PM

I ordered 3 certs 10 working days ago and so far nothing!

I will join you in worrying at the end of the week:(

Cornish Maid

02-02-2005, 12:36 AM

It is almost always faster to use the local Register Office, but don't forget, the GRO numbers are useless to a local RO.

Most local ROs are extremely helpful too and will often go to great lengths to find the correct cert - very useful if you have a choice of seven!

I have also "found" certs at local offices which never made it to the GRO, despite the GRO telling me stuffily that this was impossible.

My fastest turnaround has been: ordered about midnight on a Sunday, on-line, cert received Tuesday morning!

Happy Hunting.

Peter Goodey

02-02-2005, 9:11 AM

I'm told that there are no delays at GRO if you order certificates over the counter at the FRC.

This raises another question - what timescale applies for orders sent by post to GRO? Does anyone know?

johnpritt

02-02-2005, 4:56 PM

I input some orders in December and January, and have now received all of them. Time was 3-4 weeks, with some orders being split into multiple deliveries. Previously (i.e., before Christmas and before the BBC got everybody interested) they were averaging 2-3 weeks.

ruthrrr

03-02-2005, 12:59 PM

An order I put in for two certificates took about 4 weeks to come through - I think they are experiencing problems because of the surge of interest in family history.

monxton

03-02-2005, 10:16 PM

Curiouser and curiouser. One of them arrived today. It had been dispatched on 20/01, to the wrong address, returned to the GRO, who then posted it to me yesterday.

The wrong address was something like DX96491 (it has a sticker over it, so its hard to tell). I wonder where they sent the fifth certificate?

Oh, and of course, it wasn't the certificate I wanted. Some other William Maynard.

Macphail

20-09-2005, 9:10 PM

I ordered four certificates in March or April, I received two of them a couple of weeks later, but the other two haven't arrived. My mistake is not noting down the order/ref number at the time otherwise I would have been able to chase the missing cert's

Peter Goodey

20-09-2005, 10:41 PM

They have clearly gone missing somewhere. Wasn't the reference number quoted on the chit that came with the certificates that you did receive?

josie

25-09-2005, 7:10 AM

I ordered 12 cerificates recieved 11 o.k with a note telling me i would recieve the last one between 5 to 10 days, when i still did not have it 3 weeks later i sent the GRO an email explaining that i had been charged for the cert but there was still no sign of it. they emailed me back with a promise of a new one, a week or so later i recieved a lovely hand writen long certifcate from them.

martync

09-11-2005, 1:33 PM

I have only tried to use the GRO web certificate ordering service once and I feel I was ripped off by them. It was a very badly implemented site, almost any commercial web site sends you an e-mail to confirm the details of an order , very easy to do in the software, but they did not, I don’t know if this has been updated since as I won’t use it again. On the last day before the end of their target for shipment I got an e-mail saying the details were wrong and gave me details which were different in one field to the ones I entered. If they had a properly implemented site that confirmed the details I could have pointed this out straight away. I replied saying that there was an error in their CGI and apart from an automated reply they did not reply to this or any of my other two e-mails I sent. Three days later they refunded half the value of my order pocketing the other half. I wish now I had reported it to Visa officially. I would NOT use this site, which is a shame, as an engineer in the software industry for quite a few years I am quite an experienced computer / Internet user. As far as I have experienced this is a VERY badly run service in the design and implementation of the software and the management systems.

ruthrrr

09-11-2005, 2:46 PM

Fulhamster

09-11-2005, 3:04 PM

Hi Martync!
I think that you may have been very unlucky. Over the last couple of months I have been very lucky in finding quite a few references for various family members. I have ordered quite a few certs (about 7/8) and all have arrived after four days (not including weekends) which I thought was rather good. Give them another try, I really do feel that you may have just been unlucky.

Mythology

09-11-2005, 3:13 PM

I usually order mine over the counter at the FRC (so that I can make rude remarks about the probable accuracy of the index entry on the form :D ) but when I have used the online service, I haven't had any problems with it either.

There *was* a short period when ordering them over the counter meant that they arrived considerably quicker than ordering online, but that was a good while back - all the recent ones have been about the same interval either way.

busyglen

09-11-2005, 3:19 PM

I ordered two on separate occasions recently via the link on 1837online and I received them within 4 days. I don't order that many, but so far I have never had any delays.

Glenys

martync

09-11-2005, 3:52 PM

Hi Martync

I haven't had any problems apart from waiting a while for certificates, due to the fall out of the "Who do you think you are" TV programme. When you sent an email did you put GQ in the subject field? According to the website this will stop you receiving an auto response?

Regards
Ruth

The second I didn't because I wanted to make sure that it was getting to them and there was not some mail delivery issue that stopped them at least having the courtesy to reply and the third one I did in case they felt that an automated response was all that was required! Neither method made any difference, they didn't reply and although I was cross I was not unpleasant as having run a support group I know this is not the way to get a response. Maybe I was unlucky with the first problem but not replying to customer issues is the real mark of a cowboy outfit and that is what I now believe the GRO online "service" to be. I shop a great deal on the Internet and they are the only people who I feel actually ripped me off.

martync

09-11-2005, 4:01 PM

I ordered two on separate occasions recently via the link on 1837online and I received them within 4 days. I don't order that many, but so far I have never had any delays.

Glenys

If you go through 1837online do you get a message confirming your order quoting what you asked for? Do you get this through the GRO site now? It was a few months ago I tried to use it. I must say until this is done I don't think I'd want to try them again. In a lot of ways it's not the money, it wasn't a great deal, it's feeling that I'm being ripped off and then treated with contempt by the GRO.

Peter Goodey

09-11-2005, 4:11 PM

Don't you get a confirmation screen with an order number which you can print?

martync

09-11-2005, 4:25 PM

Don't you get a confirmation screen with an order number which you can print?

I thought it showed how much I would be charged but not the details to the level of which volume and page number was ordered but it is a few months ago so if your saying I'm mistaken I would not argue with you. It would not have worried me that much at that point if it was not there as I would have expected the standard sort of conformation e-mail.

martync

09-11-2005, 4:36 PM

I have ordered several certificates from the Isle of Man Registry and they are great all of them bar one came back by return of post and the one that didn't was not their fault as the lady in question was born there and died young (23 in 1952) having lived there all her life and was buried there but there was no death certificate issued. I also checked in England & Scotland in case she had gone to a bigger hospital but now joy there. I've still got to solve that mystery but the IoM Registry staff were very helpful.

busyglen

10-11-2005, 11:51 AM

If you go through 1837online do you get a message confirming your order quoting what you asked for? Do you get this through the GRO site now? It was a few months ago I tried to use it. I must say until this is done I don't think I'd want to try them again. In a lot of ways it's not the money, it wasn't a great deal, it's feeling that I'm being ripped off and then treated with contempt by the GRO.

Yes Martyn, I received a copy of my order which I printed off. It gave ONS reference, and details of person etc and all the references. They even gave an estimated date of despatch. I had no problems whatsoever.

I did (quite a while ago) order by telephone, before I was used to ordering on line, and on that occasion I found the staff very helpful, and again received the cert. fairly quickly.

Glenys

martync

10-11-2005, 4:49 PM

Yes Martyn, I received a copy of my order which I printed off. It gave ONS reference, and details of person etc and all the references. They even gave an estimated date of despatch. I had no problems whatsoever.

I did (quite a while ago) order by telephone, before I was used to ordering on line, and on that occasion I found the staff very helpful, and again received the cert. fairly quickly.

Glenys

Thank you for that Glenys I'll have a go through the 1837online web site. I can print it to a postscript file and then I would have something where I can see what they should have in their system is right and I something I could send if there was a problem again.

Best regards,
Martyn

Wirral

10-11-2005, 5:00 PM

martync

10-11-2005, 5:23 PM

I've ordered numerous certificates online through www.gro.gov.uk & never had any problems with them, except for a one week delay when THAT program was on tv last year. Other than then, they arrive in 6 - 10 days & cost £7. Now that freeBMD often allows you to view the GRO index entry online, I double check the index transcription online or at the library before applying for a certificate.
When you fill in the online form it is very clear how much the ceriticates will cost you & what info you have entered. It asks you to check that info before going to the final payment step. It also tells you the expected despatch date. I always print a copy of the screen so that I could check later in case of problems, but I have never needed to.

That is fine but printing the forms you fill in do not help very much as it would not show errors in their CGI's, which I am sure is where the problem occurred, that is why the conformation e-mails giving details of the order are standard practice for reputable companies working on the Internet. Software defects happen in almost all software but the conformation e-mail gives the chance to sort it at an early stage. I know I double checked the information and even if I had printed the forms out they would not have helped prove to the GRO their error, not that it would have made much difference as they seem to ignore customer issues, just taking the money and running.

Wirral

10-11-2005, 6:12 PM

Linda

10-11-2005, 11:12 PM

Living in Canada, I use the ONS online service all the time and have had no problem.

Once your order is complete and payment details entered you get a WorldPay message which gives the Merchant's reference and WorldPay Transaction ID. Under this is a "Return to ONS" button and a message saying "Please click on the "Return to ONS" button to see reference details for this order. You may need to quote these details when querying the order"

When you click on the button you get a page showing all the details that you have entered when ordering - the name (on the certificate), type of certificate, number of certificates, order date, dispatch date, as well as the year, quarter and GRO ref that you entered. It also gives an ONS reference number which you will need to quote if contacting them about problems with your order.

This is the page that you should print and save.

Shortly after ordering I always receive an email, not from ONS but from WorldPay to confirm the credit card transaction.

Linda

Ladkyis

11-11-2005, 12:25 AM

That describes exactly what has always happened when purchasing from ONS fromthe time the site was first set-up until yesterday when I bought a certificate.

Oh if you ask for a certificate and any of the details don't match what you have put in your request they will not send the certificate and will return part of the money because they had to look for it. They have always done this even before they were online.

Ann

PamG

16-11-2005, 9:19 PM

I received in the mail this morning two death certificates from the GRO that I ordered online from their website exectly 7 days ago.

That's 7 days for processing and mailing all the way to Canada. I'm definitely impressed!

I have ordered over 40 certificates in the last couple of years online and have never yet had a problem. There was only one they couldn't find, and that was an overseas birth record which I didn't have much hope for when I ordered. My refund was returned promptly.

Pam
Ontario Canada

martync

01-12-2005, 2:28 PM

As far as I can recall, the "basket summary" before checkout has always included the details including volume, page etc, that you have entered for each certificate requested. This is the screen that I print out, not the ones before that where I enter the data.

By the way, what is a CGI? :confused:

Hello, sorry I didn't reply earlier but I decided to stay away from the tread for a little while as I think I was coming across as a bitter and twisted grouch which I'm not really, honestly! ;) Also my blood pressure was rising the more I thought about the GRO's subcontractors that look after this.

CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface and is a standard for interfacing external applications with information servers, i.e. Web servers. A CGI is a program rather than staying static as many web pages do it is executed in real-time, so that it can output dynamic information, in this case the information entered on the page to the recipient. As this is a done by code it is easy to do standard processing such as sending the standard order conformation e-mail with the details given from the CGI, this means that if the data taken from the web page becomes corrupted it is very likely that the same data is sent to the person placing the order as is being entered into the order processing system and issues can be identified and corrected.

All the best,
Martyn

busyglen

01-03-2006, 12:04 PM

Oh well....it looks as if it's `Who do you think you are?' time again. I ordered a cert. online 14 days ago, and to date haven't received it. It's the first time I have had to wait this long. If anyone has ordered recently and received it quicker, could you let me know please so that I can chase mine up. I don't want to go through the process, if it's just the normal `busy period'.

Glenys

Brian

01-03-2006, 12:09 PM

Me too Glenys

Such is life and then you turn into an ancestor!

Brian

DebbieAnn

01-03-2006, 12:26 PM

I ordered 7 certificates on the 25th of Feb and should get them around the 13th of March. Will let you know...

Debbie

busyglen

01-03-2006, 12:29 PM

Thanks Debbie...you are further afield so would expect it to take a bit longer. Will let you know if I receive mine before then.....(I hope) :)

Glenys

Mythology

01-03-2006, 12:42 PM

Not online, but I ordered one over the counter at the FRC last week which, according to their schedule, should have been *posted* on Monday, but actually *arrived here* on Monday, which does not suggest that they are swamped, quite the opposite!

busyglen

01-03-2006, 12:52 PM

Oo-er! Thanks Myth, looks as if I shall have to look into it. :(

Glenys

AnnB

01-03-2006, 2:01 PM

I've ordered several certificates lately and the delivery time has ranged from return of post (for which I nearly fainted :D ) to nearly three weeks - there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason.

Best wishes
Ann

busyglen

01-03-2006, 2:22 PM

Thanks Ann, I've sent an email to check, but doubt if I will get a proper reply as everything is automated. Will ring, if I hear nothing in the next few days.

Glenys

LynA

01-03-2006, 6:52 PM

I ordered 2 certificates on 16 Feb (morning). I was surprised to see the date due for dispatch was not until 28 Feb. Sadly they did not arrive today (1st mar).

It does look as if "Who do you think you are?" has had an effect.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for both all of us. (Can't find a smilie for that)

Lynda

Mythology

01-03-2006, 9:55 PM

Hmmm .... I think I'll stick to the FRC for the moment then.

Normally the online service is just as quick, but there was a time once before when the level of grumbles from online and telephone users compared with my lack of problems suggested that they were giving priority to those ordered over the counter. While I do not have any concrete evidence that this was the case rather than it simply being coincidence, it wouldn't surprise me - I suspect that they'd rather deal with a disgruntled customer who is sending an email or phoning than one who is complaining loudly in public and banging the counter!

Julie Tyrell

01-03-2006, 10:26 PM

I ordered mine on the 21st Feb and they are still not here, I think we have to accept that there is going to be a long, long wait.

Mythology

02-03-2006, 12:12 AM

Looking at the calendar, I see that the 21st was Tuesday. That's the day that I was at the FRC and ordered the one that turned up earlier than scheduled, on Monday.

Ah, well - patience is a virtue and all that.

martync

02-03-2006, 9:14 AM

Hi,

I did try again and there is much more information in the final order conformation that there used to be when I first tried it, I still think that the system should e-mail the details in a conformation. The other good addition is that you can put your own reference so I usually put all the key details in as part of that. I think if it goes well the service is good but if anything goes wrong they will not even talk to you about it. I guess you just have to accept the service as a bit of a gamble. The other thing I wish is that they would put some card in with the certificate they are only on very light paper and most of the ones I have had through the post have been damaged. The time predictions I have had have been quite good considering the demand has and probably is still changing hugely. The last 2 that arrived (this week) one was on the day after they said they would send it and one was 3 days later. I ordered some more last week and see that the timing had drifted out quite a bit further again I guess as new people get more into their research.

I was quite surprised that the 2 I ordered together were 3 or 4 days apart arriving but I guess they group the orders into batches for each volume I guess the time taken to collate the orders is not worth the extra cost paid in postage.

Martyn

busyglen

02-03-2006, 9:40 AM

An order I put in for two certificates took about 4 weeks to come through - I think they are experiencing problems because of the surge of interest in family history.

Thanks for the input again....I guess it's as I suspected...the mad rush after the programme! I sent for mine on the 13th Feb (er...didn't notice the date at the time :) ) and dispatch was 24th Feb. So...I'll stop watching for the postman for a while. :(

Glenys

martync

02-03-2006, 10:46 AM

Seeing how some people got their certificates quickly and some had quite long delays I wonder if they batch up the orders into the volumes until there are a certain number or that volume has a high number of outstanding orders. If you are lucky and use a popular volume then you get them quickly were as if they are from a less used volume you have a longer wait. Just a thought, it would be quite interesting to know how the process works.

Highweek

02-03-2006, 11:35 AM

I ordered 4 certificates from the GRO on 15 February and delivery due 27 February. Nothing... keep dashing to the post every morning, but guess they are busy seeing as the site says...

This is our busiest time of year (January to April) and our service to customers is currently being affected by exceptionally high levels of demand. Although we are working hard to ensure certificates are despatched as soon as possible we expect these problems to continue until after Easter.

Easter's 6 weeks away! How long is reasonable to wait beyond despatch date?

:(
Julie

busyglen

02-03-2006, 12:06 PM

Just to let you know that I have received my certificate this morning! So...things are on the move. Roughly 6 days behind...for me anyway.

Hope you all soon receive yours as well. :)

Glenys

Brian

03-03-2006, 9:19 AM

Received Certificate this morning - ordered on 14 Feb from the internet. Hope yours is on its way.
Brian

MarkJ

03-03-2006, 9:39 AM

Ordered mine on the 16th February, so hopefully soon be here :)
Its great that the TV shows are encouraging people to take an interest in genealogy - but it sure is affecting the speed at which certificates arrive!
In the long term, it will hopefully result in more information appearing online though. Must admit I have not seen any of these TV shows myself - I rarely watch TV.

Highweek

03-03-2006, 10:15 AM

:D 3 of my 4 certificates arrived this morning and they are all the right people!!! Really chuffed. They were all dated yesterday so about 4/5 days behind, but never mind, worth the wait.

suzzie

03-03-2006, 10:33 PM

Two of my certificates arrived this morning as well. Accompanying paper work states they were ordered on the 15th Feb and dispatched on the 27th Feb.
The date on the certs is 2nd March 2006 !
One, a birth is wrong, despite a cross reference (the parents) being given.Sue.

LynA

04-03-2006, 5:59 PM

One of my two certificates (ordered 16th Feb) arrived today :) . Hopefully Monday's post will bring the other.

Lynda

Jo Simpsons

04-03-2006, 7:16 PM

I recieved 2 yesterday that I had ordered Feb 15th. Have been reading this thread and thinking how silly am I not to have saved the ordering information!:o

Thank goodness they have come and I WILL make sure I save the ref order in future!

I'll see how long it takes for the one I ordered on the 28th Feb it does say despatch day 15th March.
Jo:)

DebbieAnn

06-03-2006, 4:19 PM

Bank card shows billing for certificates ordered (25 Feb) on 2 Mar. With the exchange rate, I can't tell if they're all there or if one will come later. Will let you know when I recieve them (hopefully this week???)...

Debbie

Clive Blackaby

08-03-2006, 11:09 PM

I've always found the service from Smedley Hydro very prompt, but they are obviously "under the cosh" at the moment as the following statement from Alison R-Johnson of their Public Relations Unit admits:-

"At the moment this Office is experiencing an unprecented rise in the number
of applications for certificates received.

The receipts in January were 75% higher than in December. The total number
of receipts in January 186,000 was the highest ever recorded in a single
calender month, this was broken in February when receipts exceeded 200,000
applications. During February we regularly received 6,500 applications in
a 24 hour period compared with a previous high of 4,800 applications in a
24 hour period.

Over the past 6 months we have made significant efficiencies in our
production process which has enabled us to deal with the upsurge in demand
and in January we were still able to despatch 97% of our certificates on
time. The unprecedented demand in February has meant that we have fallen
below our target of 90% of certificates despatched on time and our
customers are now experiencing delays. We are currently recruiting
additional staff to all three shifts and staff are carrying out overtime to
deal with the demand in a hope to reduce the back-log as soon as possible."

DebbieAnn

18-03-2006, 9:41 PM

Recieved 3 of the 7 certificates I ordered in Friday's post. I expect the other 4 will show up on Monday.

Unfortunately, one I recieved - while the one I requested - turned out to be for another Mary Ann Ray death. So I will send off for the next likeliest possibility next week...

Que sera.

Debbie |shakehead

awgen

21-03-2006, 7:24 PM

Just spoke with the GRO about an order placed on the 3rd March via the Web site due for dispatch on the 17th.

The lady I spoke with stated that today they are working on certs that where due for dispatch on the 14th. She hoped that mine would be sent Friday, but to call back if I had not received them by the end of next week.

Jo Simpsons

21-03-2006, 7:41 PM

I am still waiting on one that was to be dispatched 15th March. The order went in on the 28th Feb. It is a known one and I have not asked for any checking.
So mine must be soon! |biggrin|

They must be just so busy.
Jo :)

DebbieAnn

21-03-2006, 9:11 PM

Recieved 3 more in today's post - only one more to go!!

Debbie

Jo Simpsons

22-03-2006, 8:40 AM

The one I ordered on the 28th March has arrived this morning :)

Jo :)

Wirral

22-03-2006, 8:50 AM

The one I ordered on the 28th March has arrived this morning :)

Jo :)Wow! :D Now that's what I call fast. They are sending them out before they have even got the request. Looks like they are psychic as well! |laugh1|

Jo Simpsons

22-03-2006, 9:00 AM

LynA

22-03-2006, 9:25 AM

DebbieAnn

25-03-2006, 12:11 AM

Got the last one (of 7 requested) in today's post. So I ordered them on 25 Feb and today is...

All turned out to be family except for the one. Pretty good, I think!

Debbie

Julie Tyrell

13-04-2006, 11:49 PM

I have just ordered one today and the expected delivery date is the 10th May, it seems to be taking longer and longer - very frustrating.

Julie

Iris

14-04-2006, 9:46 AM

I was told that the Easter Holidays will delay certificates perhaps after this holiday they will arrive

Iris

busyglen

14-04-2006, 10:18 AM

I was told that the Easter Holidays will delay certificates perhaps after this holiday they will arrive

Iris

Fingers crossed!! I was given 13th April for dispatch date several weeks ago, so hopefully, the cert. I am awaiting will be here soon. I've learnt to be patient...in fact I had quite forgotten that I had ordered a cert. until I came across the order form the other day. I had moved on to another branch in the meantime!! Just shows how easy it is to forget what you are doing in this game!!

Glenys