Passports

Thus spake Neal Eckhardt :

On Tue, 12 Jun 2007 22:03:53 -0400, (jimbo) wrote:

I work in retail and when someone comes to me and says "Sir, do you know
if/when this item will go on sale?", I say "They do but I do not know
when it will be on sale in the future." I suggest to them that rather
than wait,buy it now at regular price, keep the receipt and then when it
goes on sale bring in the receipt to get the price difference refunded
OR taken off their credit card.
One thing, where i work your receipt is only good for a price difference
for 3 weeks and they might not get their money difference back. Some
take the chance some do not. IF they need it soon I suggest to buy it
now especially if it is a hot item. Hey we have the item in now but when
it goes on sale we might be sold out when they come in to buy it.

JDR

And that relates to the discussion how?

Bottom line (as I see it), historically, one was able to get a
non-expedited passport in less than 4 months, and an expedited one in
a few weeks. If somebody waited, and filed for their passport 5 months
prior to their trip, there is a reasonable expectation that they will
get it in time for their trip. Now, due to extraordinary
circumstances, even expedited passports are taking several months (and
the governmant is refunding the expediting fee now).

Can the average person reasonably be expected to pull out a crystal
ball and say "gee, the government is going to screw up badly so I
better get my passport earlier"?

I've been telling my clients to get passports since July of 2005 when
the rules were published and the Dec 31 deadline was announced. You've
almost two years. Too many people ****ed around until the last
minute, hoping for an extension.


If people could predict the future, we'd all be rich, but alas, we are
not. If people were expecting the same level of service that has been
available for decades, it is not their fault when something out of the
ordinary happens and the process fails.

Perhaps I agree with you that the process failed. But it's the
procrastinators who overloaded the system. Many states have
complained that they were overloaded with birth certificate requests.

The current situation has been in the news for about 6 weeks now. But
I've heard of people who are taking a trip in late August who haven't
applied. And the media has actually been talking about delays since
April.


A person takes a medicine that gets refilled every 90 days, and they
go to get it refilled 1 week before they run out. They have done this
for years, and the process has always gone smoothly. On their next
refill, they have it on their calendar to go get the refill in 2 days.
On the next day, a big storm unexpectedly comes through and floods the
entire town. It takes weeks for the water to receed. Should the person
have had an expectation that something catastrophic could happen at
any time and planned accordingly, or to we get ourselves into a cycle
where there is a certain expectation that what has worked for the last
15 years will continue to work the same way in the future, and expect
that same level of service?

I am taking a cruise next February. I need passports for my two
children. Due to the cost, and shorter expiration dates, there is no
need to buy them and have the clock running while they sit in a
drawer. That's why I did not get them for a cruise last December.

If I had bought them last year, my daughters would have expired when
she was a few months short of 16, necessitating another 5 year
passport. By waiting a few months (which falls within the normal
processing time), this one will expire when she is 16 allowing for a
10 yr renewal.

It is sad that passports are so expensive, but everybody wants to get
their "cut" along the process. Does the Post Office really need $120
to process passports for a family of 4, and takes maybe 15 minutes to
process all 4? If passports were $25, picking them up is not a big
financial hit. Over $300 for 4 passports is not a negligible expense.

Try getting a passport in Europe. Then you'll know what expensive
means.


Neal
--
dillon

The pen may be mightier than the sword, but I've never
seen a .sig beat a Sig.

"Dillon Pyron" wrote

Perhaps I agree with you that the process failed. But it's the
procrastinators who overloaded the system. Many states have
complained that they were overloaded with birth certificate requests.

And this leads me to believe that most people applying for passports are
first-time or very inexperienced travelers. The demand for birth
certificates is UP... and I think you can deduce that these people have
never left the country before.

There is no way to prove it, but I do believe that the majority of people
applyioong for a passport have never traveled. Past cruise passengers would
already at least have their birth certificates.

For me, the bottom line is that the government now admits that they did not
anticipate the increased demand... yet we are blaming people who are
inexperienced travellers for not anticipating the increased demand.

FWIW... I am involved with a group where people travel out of the country
for medical services. Some of these people have never even been on a plane
before, never mind travel out of the country. I guess it is their fault for
not applying early.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

October 14, 2007 MOAGC 3 - http://www.moagc-3.com
January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
June 5, 2008 9 nt from NJ - http://www.cruisemaster.com/explorer.htm

On Wed, 13 Jun 2007 10:14:52 -0400, Neal Eckhardt wrote:

Can the average person reasonably be expected to pull out a crystal
ball and say "gee, the government is going to screw up badly so I
better get my passport earlier"?

I'd say the average person would know this intuitively.
--
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Delta, please let us know when you finally get your passport back. We
sent ours in for renewal on April 24th, 7 weeks ago and should get ours
back soon after you get yours. Just a little over 11 weeks now untill we
cruise and need our passports back.

sue


We finally got our passports in the mail today! So yours shouldn't be
far behind.

delta wrote:

Delta, please let us know when you finally get your passport back. We
sent ours in for renewal on April 24th, 7 weeks ago and should get ours
back soon after you get yours. Just a little over 11 weeks now untill we
cruise and need our passports back.

sue


We finally got our passports in the mail today! So yours shouldn't be
far behind.

Congrats on finally getting your passport!! I think that this calls for
a party.lol

sue

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:41:40 -0400, Sue and Kevin Mullen
wrote:



delta wrote:

Delta, please let us know when you finally get your passport back. We
sent ours in for renewal on April 24th, 7 weeks ago and should get ours
back soon after you get yours. Just a little over 11 weeks now untill we
cruise and need our passports back.

sue


We finally got our passports in the mail today! So yours shouldn't be
far behind.

Congrats on finally getting your passport!! I think that this calls for
a party.lol

sue

Now I have to go somewhere!!!

delta wrote:
On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:41:40 -0400, Sue and Kevin Mullen
wrote:


delta wrote:
Delta, please let us know when you finally get your passport back. We
sent ours in for renewal on April 24th, 7 weeks ago and should get ours
back soon after you get yours. Just a little over 11 weeks now untill we
cruise and need our passports back.

sue

We finally got our passports in the mail today! So yours shouldn't be
far behind.
Congrats on finally getting your passport!! I think that this calls for
a party.lol

sue

Now I have to go somewhere!!!

You have a passport and nowhere to go. I don't have mine back yet, but I
have two cruises booked.lol Go and find yourself a cruise to take, no
point in wasting that passport(grin).

sue

Hey all.....instead of bitchin' about it get one now.

OH SORRY!!, procrastinators!

Well you'll be bitchin' even more "IF" the $$PRICE$$ goes up.

And you know what??....I hope itdoes!

JIM