Execuserve: We Q for U, Johannesburg review: Unethical business practice, poor service 1

EXECUSERVE: Unethical business practice, poor service.

RENEWAL OF BRITISH PASSPORT
Company: Execuserve: We Q for U (Don’t stress, we stress for U). Is this owner Andrew Macraein’s idea of a joke.
Needing to renew my British passport last year, I contacted Andrew Macraein operating as Execuserve (We Q for U). On enquiry I was told his bureau had moved from Cresta Centre to Clearwater Mall but he was contactable on his cell phone number. Andrew promised to email the necessary forms for me to complete and then we would meet. He would arrange everything for me as UK passports were no longer renewed in Pretoria but had to go to the UK. The forms never arrived – his e-mail was down! I completed the passport renewal from the British Government website and collected the relevant documentation and photographs. I signed and dated my application on 17 April 2013. Andrew suggested I meet him at his home/office in Linden. When I arrived, the security guard on the street said that Andrew had gone out. I contacted him on his mobile phone and he said he had to rush out urgently but I should leave everything with his maid. Assuming, the man was genuine, as he had been operating in this business for many years, I did so and sent an sms to his mobile phone to this effect.
Some weeks later Andrew phoned me and said he had received notification from the British Ambassador’s office that there was a problem with my renewal and he suspected that the incorrect form had been submitted. He left a new form with the security guard, which I signed, and he said he would re-submit to the British Ambassador’s office in Pretoria. I phoned Andrew and queried how someone with his many years of experience could possibly have submitted the wrong form. He said, it must be a new form that he was unaware of. Andrew does not phone his clients when he says he will, never returns calls, nor responds to emails. Hence I received no feedback but whenever I did manage to speak to him he said my application was in the pipeline, there was a huge backlog in the UK and mine was probably delayed due to the incorrect form being submitted. However, I should receive my passport in time for my trip in October. On more than one occasion, he stressed his excellent working relationship with UK Ambassador in Pretoria, but still seemed unable to provide a satisfactory answer as to the problem with my application.
As the time for my trip drew near Andrew said not to worry if I did not receive my new passport in time he could get me a visa in two days so I could travel on my South African passport (an expense which I could have done without). Of course, this was not true. At my insistence, he pushed my visa application through and I collected it myself from Capago two days before my trip. More problems, as the representative Andrew sent to help me at Capago understandably wanted to be paid and insisted I should go with him to Sandown Travel which I did not do as I had already paid Andrew. To be fair, Andrew did waive his visa fee to compensate for the inconvenience and stress caused to me.
I paid Andrew for my British passport at the beginning of Oct 2013 and he advised that ‘’it shouldn’t be long now’’. After returning from my trip towards the end of October, I again began chasing Andrew for my new British passport. He claimed he hadn’t been paid so I emailed proof of payment. Then he said he had discovered that the office of the British High Commission in Pretoria had closed until New Year and I should phone him again mid-January. Time went by and still no news, except for the alleged delays. On several occasions when I did manage to speak to him the answer was that ‘’my lady has gone through to Pretoria today and I will phone you when she gets back.” This in itself is very strange as I was given to understand that passports are returned by courier direct to the applicant’s home address. (Assuming there is some sort of checking mechanism in place, someone going through to Pretoria would have needed an application number and date of despatch, which I later established Andrew seemed unable to supply.)
Since my initial contact with AndrewMacraein April 2013 his bureau had moved from Cresta Centre to Clearwater to Northgate Shopping Centre. Three moves in less than a year!
When I still had no news of my passport by the beginning of April this year I took matters into my own hands. My nephew phoned UK passport office and discovered that there was no backlog and the turnaround time for processing UK passports should be not be more than two months. I then phoned Her Majesty’s Passport Office at Millburn Park, Durham but they were unable to trace my application. As requested, I emailed all details of my application and received a very courteous reply asking for an application number and date of submission. After several requests to another of Andrew’s ladies at Execuserve, this information was still not forthcoming. I responded again to the UK on the 15th April 2014 with the details which I had but explained that Andrew Macrae of Execuserve was unable to supply an application number or date of despatch. I received another courteous response from the UK two days later advising that my application had only been received in their Durham office on the 17th April 2014 and I should expect to receive my new passport within two months. No thanks to Andrew Macrae I received my new passport on 25th June, one year and two months after my application was originally submitted to Execuserve.
I informed Andrew Macrae in an e-mail that my new passport had been received and requesting an apology and the return of the fee I paid him to execute this renewal on my behalf. He has refused to return my fee, once again blaming the British Embassy for the delay. I paid Andrew Macrae R3500.00 last October for renewal of my passport which, I believe, he obtained under false pretences since my application had not been received in the UK at the time of his invoice.
In summary I would say that I find this company’s credibilty leaves much to be desired due to lack of service, misrepresentation of facts and dubious business practice.

D H (Sue) Fox
Johannesburg