BLS International Services review: no response on phone or on time process 27

BLS Office at ‘1448 Lawrence Ave E, Toronto, Canada’ is the worst experience I ever had with any Indian government/ Affiliates so far. Documenting my experience below and if possible at all – Please take some action against them:

BLS International provides false information: When I contacted them (on 29th Dec 2916) over the phone regarding last date of ‘PIO to OCI conversion’ – I was informed that it’s 31st Dec. But, CGI Toronto site had information that it’s June 2017.

BLS customer care people are busy in upselling, They offered me courier service of $65 that was not mentioned anywhere

Understaffed: BLS office has 8 counters but max 2-3 people works there

Efficiency: 8:00AM are the opening hours, But even at 8:15 AM – No person was served and not even 2 people were there at the counter to serve people

Lady at one counter, took 1 Hr 15 mins to serve first customer and then took 20-30 mins rest to let the next customer come at her desk as all displayed tokens were fake.

Line/ Wait/ Queue Management:

Queue management is such, where token number starts from last multiple days and display screen shows token number that doesn’t exist at all

Display screen shows multiple token numbers at one specific counter at given point of time, How 3-5 people can be served at one counter at a given time?

The person who entered first at BLS premises, Can have to wait for 4-5 Hours to see a representative, Think about a person who comes at noon?

There is no queue, as they clear 20 token in few seconds when someone raises concern as they are all fake tokens

BLS has no logic behind calling token numbers and when you ask them they says ‘we know what we are doing’ and create problem for your application

People waste their whole day in anticipation of having their work completed but they (BLS) will force you to wait for may be 8-10 hours and at last, will ask you to come tomorrow as they were not able to handle the crowd

BLS people calls token number manually and there is no sync between displayed queue management and reality and create unnecessary extended wait and confusion

After entry at BLS, Customer has to wait for hours to have their document checked and then a long wait to see a representative where 99% the documents gets rejected. What’s the point of checking document twice? Why always the document gets rejected at 2nd level? This is the tactic to upsell… Like – Selling photo service, print outs at a whopping 20$ per page

Supervisor is very rude and non helping.

When a customer raises concerns, he was asked to go and talk to CGI

Not even a single happy face can be seen at BLS. Really sad to see such a behavior from people who are representing INDIA in a different nation.

Worst service I have ever experienced. Not only are they rude but it's also lack of training. Each person wants different documents. People frustrated when sent back to get an additional document. When they come back and wait another 5 hours they tell them something else is missing. Who monitors these people? Absolute disgrace to the Indian community. Most countries want to encourage tourism and make things easier. Our country is trying to push not only us Indians but everyone away. It took Canadians years to fall in love with Samosas and butter chicken - and now these people want to see the country where this originates from...do we really want them to see. We haven't even reached out country but I guess they try to simulate what may be ahead. Very disappointed and ashamed this is allowed in this wonderful country we live in.
Jaz

I recently applied for PCC and my kids OCI. Overall it was a mixed experience. They helped me with the complete application and most of the thin was good. The bad thing was when I asked for the pickup of my passport, they said you have to take the courier server (which is 25$ approx each application). In general, for local delivery with Canada post, it charges somewhere 5$ only. Though as per the Govt of India websites, the applicant can choose either of the options which the BLS Brampton denies. I asked them to give me in writing that we have to take the courier service. Then the lady with her sad face booked the application for the pick up. This is just my experience on couple of instances.

I also have very bad experience with BLS scarborough branch. I have been made to run up and down to submit my OCI apllication after one month and several attempts they accepted the application but after 3weeks i was trying to find the status of my application it was saying no documents found. I called them directly and they are telling you need to upload some documents. After veriifying everything they accepted the application. i do not know what is wrong with these guys. they are holding my original documents for more than 4weeks. Life is hell with this system. Instead of making it custmer friendly this process is making people suffer from stress and anxiety. I do not think Indian Government making it this difficult to Otaain OCI or any document for its citizens. It is high time we all have to send our grievences to our PM and Overseas minster. I am sure they will address our hardship and take immediate corrective action to help us to come out of this miseries

I am also having a very bad experience from bls customer service. I want my spouse name on my passport. trust me, everytine I call there is a new person and they will tell you nee list of things required for passport renewal. if I say I want to talk to same person I talked before they dont listen to me. if I say that last person told me something else they will say dont listen to them just concentrate what I am saying now and do as I say. so after 4 weeks my friend decided to meet them personally in toronto. god knows what will happen but I have told her to call police if they told you anything new. because I have called them5 different times and talked to 5 different people named as jatin, anu, surbhi, ashish and last one I forgot and they have told me different requirements for passport renewal. so in the end I am still confused with passport renewal requirements. then if I tried to explain while situation of mine the person will say please listen to me only don't just keep talking and in a very rude manner he or she will tell me new requirements for passport renewal.
Dont know to whom I must contact to get exact information and complain about customer service.
Romi

Attempts to apply for an OCI application has been one of the most frustrating processes I have ever experienced, from the lack of helpful staff who made the process of providing required documentation far too difficult to the illogical online application site that required entirely new OCI registration submissions for the simple purpose of amending my application and uploading documents requested by BLS. Try and understand from a person requesting your service, that a system which requires original documents be sent (which is a high cost in itself for those living outside of BLS Offices) should be highly specific in what they require and adaptive/helpful to applicants attempting to provide this. Additionally, requested online scanned documents is ridiculously cumbersome via your online system which is frustrating to say the least and should provide the ability to provide required documents easier than what is currently offered. if all of this was not enough, when I called to speak to a representative, it felt as though I was dealing with individuals who were reading from scripts and were at times deliberately not helpful at all. Why is it so difficult to provide you documents digitally (i.e. email or amend original registration)!? The huge fees not to just apply but then to cancel and retrieve my personal documents confirms to me that BLS is nothing but a predatory money grabbing institution. In fact, the complete dismissal of our application by BLS was insulting as my request to speak to a supervisor fell to deaf ears as I was told the matter was not resolvable. I empathize you may deal with hundreds of applications daily but there is little tolerance for the broken system in which you require to vet someone for this application. You may apologize on this site, but its clear that my experience is one of hundred others and a matter which you have surely failed to address in a meaningful way. I do fully intend to file a complaint with the Consumer Better Business Bureau about your atrocious service and certainly will not recommend anyone to undergo the process of applying through your organization.

I just wanted to let you know that I received my visa today. I really appreciated the personal care I received in BLS International Brampton. Thank you very much for all of your support and encouragement during visa process. I am very satisfied with the services and will gladly complete the survey. I look forward to working with your company when there is a need for a Visa or other specialized services.

I got threatening call from bsl toronto country head for complaining about their services and talking about he will use my personal information.
Based on application, so all our information are not safe with them and second thing if we compliant about there poor services this guys calling threat us.

My application was accurate as per there sample form
Still our indian wan a project that we are corrupt and we don't believe to work with proper way, compliant for creating trouble by employee, at bsl toronto her name is gillian r center manger. she is not accepted my daughter application based on passport issue by scarborough and in form its toronto.

She rejected all document and through all my document when I asked for writing for rejection.in that I missed my pr card also.

Why she not checking document before they give token to customer?
If she is correct why cant give me in writing rejection reason?

Application can rejected based on document that is understood but based on street or something we r not writing exactly as per passport.in passport some detail was missing so mention full address and why they want grandfather name in application?

Based only this silly reason nobody rejected. still we indian create problem for people we are not ready to serve customer. I waited 5 hours for my number and than say no due to its just written toronto.

Is the way wan serve is the way present indian are not our doing work proper way. are they are for rejecting and making problem for people are serve customer.

I hope I will get answer for this trouble and for wasting my full day.
Imran tai

I do really regret that you are an organization that represents our country - India.
Too bad service level. I work for a government organization as well and this is not what is expected of a government employee working in Canada, that too representing another country.You represent all of us and we don't want such an organization to serve us if you can't be efficient or even close to it if you can't. I do read through some of the comments saying each office process more than 500 applications per day, and mistakes may happen due to workload. Is that really an excuse, if there is workload, add more staff, qualified ones and ones who have common sense atleast.

I called in to BLS office, Winnipeg about the requirements to add my spouse's name in to my passport, and the lady told me to get my marriage certificate attested by attorney general of canada. REALLY? I asked her where can I find this person and she said exactly ' YOU CAN GOOGLE IT MA'M' What the heck of an answer is that from a government employee? Don't you really have a responsibility to train your staff atleast in what they are doing? I went to the BLS office in winnipeg, which is almost 250km away from my place just to confirm this very stupid answer and the lady there commented it may be a call centre representative as if it is not at all the responsibility of the organization that she represents. And the lady ma'm in the winnipeg office took a long time to comprehend for herself what she was trying to tell me, language barrier, I can understand that but not everyone who comes to BLS office is going to talk in her language even if they would know it.
I asked the same lady ma'm, how did I get a canadian address in my Indian passport, she was 100% sure that you can get only the residing address in my passport. What do you mean sir by that. Being an Indian citizen, holding an Indian passport, I could only get a Canadian residng address on my 10 year permanent identity document. What if I want to change my apartment right after I get my passport, and I change apartment every 6 months atleast, would you change this address in my passport every 6 months too and issue me a new passport every 6 months with a new passsport number free of charge? Does it even make sense? When I go to India, if the officials in India is asking me what is the proof that I have a place to go in India, as there is no permanent address in my passport that says I have an Indian address as well. And that lady ma'm was sooo damn sure ( after consulting with the sir officer in the same office) that I can't get my Indian house address in my INDIAN PASSPORT. After I asked her then how did my brother who renewed his passport last month just after I did it get the Indian address in his passport, she told me may be I can email the top most person in representing consulate general of India, get an approval and then give this lady officer the copy of that email and then she may do it for me.
If I have to say something to explain all this behaviour and service level, that would have to be in the most foul language in the world.
Also, when 2 clients are served in the same office by 2 different officers so close that even if you whisper 2 other people can hear you, where is the confidentiality factor that should be practiced by all the offices?
You may easily choose not to reply to my email or just delete it, and blantly say ' sorry for all the inconveniences' and nothing of this is going to solve any of the problems faced by almostt 499 applicants out of 500 people who seek service from BLS each day and whatever action you may take would mirror your credibility and I am really ashamed to say that you people represent my country! Shame on you guys!

SERIOUSLY THE WORST THE WORST SERVICE I HAVE SEEN IN MY LIFE! I CANT BELIEVE INDIA USES SUCH A HORRIBLE ORGANIZATION TO REPRESENT ITS PEOPLE...I WENT FOR A NAME CHANGE IN MY PASPORT FROM CANADA (TORONTO) AFTER MY MARRIAGE..i HAD THE SIGNED NOTARIZED AFFIDAVIT, THEY SAID THEY DINT NEED ONE TO SUBMIT MY APPLICATION . MY APPLICATION WAS REJECTED IN A WEEK. THIS IS HORRIBLE SERVICE "HOW COULD YOU GIVE WRONG INFORMATION TO A CUSTOMER AT THE CENTERS ". THE CUSTOMER CARE REPS..ARE USELESS NEEDLESS TO SAY I CALLED AND ASKED ABOUT THE LIST OF DOCUMENTS AT LEAST 4 TIMES. THIS IS THE WORST.

Backward people sad, just sad, beyond words for a country to have such pathetic representatives...no wonder countries and people think of Indians as backward, few people in keys positions make the whole country look like cave people. I had the same experience as the original poster, don't have to say more...

Really really bad experience at BLS Brampton. Been there 3 times, waited for hours every time, every time the person found a mistake in the documents, every time got a list of things to rectify, every time fixed the last thing requested to get another list of things to rectify. WHY can't i be told what to do first time? The website is not helpful either. Either the people hired do not know what they are doing or it is indian work culture of inefficiency imported to Canada with total disrespect for the other peoples time.
Every time i miss India i am seriously thinking of going to BLS Brampton and sit for few hours. And i know i am wasting my time writing this as nothing is going to change.

Hi,
It could be worst experience for you, & it may be due to any reason.But i disagree that BLS staff have zero knowledge. I understand it may be due to some short of documents, that;s why you faced the problem .
Why I am saying that they are good ? Because, everyday they process approximate 500 passport & visa applications & people travel according to their plan. If one or two people are facing any problem it does not mean they don't have knowledge, majority is satisfied with their services.During my visit in Brampton center on 22nd April, i observed that people don't have patience, therefore few of them were misbehaving with staff. While other sitting there appreciate their service.Yes, I agree they don't give too much time to each applicant but its may be due to less time, as they have to entertain rest of the applicants.Again, as you said they charged 20$ for form filling, if you check their website its optional service, but nothing is free in this word my dear friend, if you use their service, they will charge you, its all about business. We should appreciate them as everyday they process almost 500 application with in the pressurize environment., still they serve with pleasant smile. They have to follow the rules & regulations set by consulate, that they are doing.I have gone through their website & arrange everything in order, n finally got my visa on time.My special thanks to all the staff at BLS who served me their best services during my visit.Specially one lady, who checked my application at inquiry desk & asked me to go ahead with a PLEASANT smile.While she was over work loaded & surrounded by lots of applicant, , still she was confident & served everyone in same way.
In last, it could be worst experience for anyone but not for everyone.We have to accept our mistake as well.
Enjoying !ncredible India.

BLS customer service is the worst I have ever encountered in Canada, just shows the level of commitment shown by the people working here. I am an Indian and ashamed how poor Indians work. This just lowers our standard in front of the people here.

I was victimized to pay around $60 for Fedex and $20 for document filling. If I am asked to worked in BLS today without any training, ZERO training I mean, I can do a lot better than the staff there.

I guess there is ZERO education or knowledge for the people who work there. Simply disappointing and no proper escalation channel.

fffff

Dear P keer,

Greetings from BLS International.

We're really sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. Would request you to please provide us the application details so that we can follow up your case with the Consulate. There has been many cases that are pending with he Consulate subjected to various clearances, as we get the details, we'll look into it and will try to get it cleared on priority.

Regards
BLS International

I need my police clearance certificate.
Bls is one of the worst service I've every encountered.
I had to call them 10 times just to get details for the application.
Inspite of calling them so much they did not mention that i need to submit my passport. Second of all 8 weeks is just an insane amount of time. Im in a foreign country I need my passport all the time. How stupid is that.
Im getting similar documents from the UK and they do it in 10 days for £10 (including shipping) without my originals.
I'm going to make sure that BLS losses their contact one i get home.
I have all the details and plus a very ignorant email from them which I'm going to use.
What shocked me the most was I had too give out my credit card details over the phone. Which year are we in?
If I get fraud payments on my card in going to blame BLS.

Improve customer service in the future is such a scripted reply it angers me when they think it's all ok once they have said this.

Dear pnp3107,

Greetings from BLS International.

I'm really sorry for any inconvenience caused. This is definitely not the level of customer service we want our customers to receive.

We continuously work on improving the service so that it's more user friendly for all our applicants and they have maximum satisfaction at each interaction. Feedback such as yours help us to identify the area where there's a need for the improvement. I assure you of better services in future and in case you need any help in the application process, please feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to help you with your concern.

Hope to serve you in a far better way in coming future.

Regards
BLS International

Customer service - worst ever, zero/no knowledge about the process, never listen to our questions, always gives misleading answers..

I went to Calgary BLS office to submit PIO application just to find out that they have stopped accepting applications. While they were instructed not to accept the applications, but they could have updated their website saying that. Why would somebody need to take half day off, drive 45 mins just to find out application not being accepted. Prior experience with renewing wife's passport was quite horrible as well. Of course, had to go there twice for some silly error on the form.

I had very bad experience today at the BLS office Brampton. I went there to submit the form for my passport renewal. I have to wait in different queues for almost 4 hrs. First line up is just to get inside the office. sencond line up to get your token number and then you wait till your token number is called out. There are only 3 counters open and around 200 to 300 people waiting. When i get to submit my application and to my surprise my application is rejected just because i have put an extra space in my Mothers Maiden Name and theres no way i can correct the same application. I was asked to submit another application online and get the print out and wait again. its really painful especially for the senior citizens and the parents with little kids. The people over there have no consideration for anybody. I wish somebody do something about the Indian consulate all over the world

I completely agree with each one of you here. I am going through a very bad experience currently. It has been two months since I applied for Surrender/Renunciation certificate but still I have not received the certificate. I had sent a prepaid envelope along with the application for the return of my cancelled passport but they said they will not use that and I have to pay $30 instead as courier fees. Fair enough. I paid with my VISA card over phone. Now, I see on their site that my application status says "Prepaid Envelope Dispatched". Hilarious it is. This means they used my prepaid envelope to return my passport and charged me $30 just like that. Seems like they are out there to fleece money out of the customers. Something is really wrong with BLS and they should be discontinued by Indian Govt as soon as they can. Looking at this I will never apply for an OCI. At least not until this company is around doing visa services. I would not risk sending my original documents to them looking at the way they are taking things casually and have no consideration whatsoever for anyone applying for any services.

I tried to reach BLS yesterday and i have to call them at least 35 to 40 times to reach them, then they answer and wont provide proper information and also they are marketing pickup and drop off now, which is also a useless and unhelpful option, only helpful for BLS to make money. BLS dont provide proper information and none of them are knowledgeable and also they will not put you to their manager, if they put you on hold that means you will be disconnected in another couple of minutes. This is a hopeless service provider and my feeling is that they should terminate the services with BLS to improve the service. I also sent this complaint to Hon'ble PM of India and sent the details about this. lets see Hon'ble PM will react to this and will cancel their license and contract to other company who is reliable and also provides proper service.

My bad experience was when I surrender, received e mails from BLS saying that the amount was wrong ( shortage of $20 )...dont know whether I misinterpret their info online...but thats not the case. We tried to reach them to confirm whether we should take whole new draft with full amount or the balance, first call centre lady told me to send whole amount as BLS will return the previous one...I went to the bank they said...I have to get back the previous one to cancel it...so again I have been trying to catch the call centre...after a week I got them online...now this time there is another lady saying that..no sir send the difference only...
I keep calling again to confirm.. We are also getting automated e-mails everyday at 1:30AM sharp saying that your application on hole send new draft explaining the fee for the new application.
In general BLS is a waste...lot of room to improve...ashamed to Indian Govt..it should be eliminated unless they will admit and come out a recovery plan...big system flaw. !

BFS Surrey experience:
Not a one time isolated bad service but a consistent 4. Not to narrate the details, but here is my experience and take in them.
1. Incompetence: the babu/clerical mentality is at its peak. They give you an air that they can screw you up and they do. You wait for several hours to be served by 2 or if you are lucky 3 behind the counter agents. They give you very detailed and too many instructions and give you a feeling if efficiency you are lucky to have all the documents in order. They d send people back with another list of things pending.
2. They take your originals for no reason at all. And the time lines are so out of whack, you cannot plan any travel. This is the reason I did not get OCI until now when they have a provision to return the originals to be submitted at the time. The wait I was told has been long past. 8 weeks over and no news. They don't have my originals ...so I care less.
3. Rude: at least one lady was so rude and loud. Everyone coming to the counter has something missing. She was as so loud that everyone in the vicinity knew what was missing. Sir, we need both your divorce documents and Ma'am we need authority from both if your kids fathers. And sir you could be a refugee as you don't have your landing paper, so no OCI for you. All this broadcasted to all who were within 20 feet. Some were embarrassed just listening.myhink if the poor people out on spot.

I miss VFS service who were gentile and very professional and efficient. I guess they were undercut by a few dollars.

I have been promised to get my pcc from them with 4 weeks today its more than 8 weeks and No damn response, I am not even sure If My passport still in existence, thats my greatest Fear...
I wish no one has to deal with them every in Life or Have access to give them "Ghoos" so Work can be done Quick and FAster

I am Indian and live in Toronto for last 6 years. When you are in a foreign land, whether you want it or not, you end up representing your home country. I am very sorry to admit/agree what OP has said here. My wife applied for applied for the renewal of her Indian passport through BLS India Canada. Firstly, they kept all her originals (old passport and PR card) and the copies their of. She had to miss and re-schedule her Canada citizenship test because of that. I wonder why they need to keep the originals when someone personally goes there to apply. The story doesn't end here...after 5-6 weeks she went to pick her new passport up and found out a mistake in spouse's name(my name). I am surprised, why they had to go into her profile to make an non-required change. Anyways, she pointed out the mistake to these guys and applied for correction. We asked them to get this done ASAP as she has to write the citizenship test again very soon. They told us that this might take 1-2 weeks. They were supposed to let us know the status and this is third week now, we haven't got any response back from them. We tried to call them several times, the phone line is busy most of the time and even if you manage to connect somehow, the waiting time is pathetically long. Your number in caller queue will start from something between 15-20 and in an hour or so you will manage to knock down 4 or 5 callers. Worst customer service.
Signed
Disappointed