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ItsEasy Passport & Visa Services Reviews (26)

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolvedI would like to thank you very much for your intervention and helping me to receive some responses and resolution for this situation I would also like to thank It'sEasy for finally responding to my queries in detail and making restitutionI sought this type of explanation the multiple times that I called the company, but was met with quite curt and even rude responsesI would like to specifically mention that when I called It'sEasy that Emory (1015) has been polite and helpful, whereas [redacted] (1015) yelled at me and hung up on me, and Stephanie (1015) claimed to be her supervisor, but was also less than helpfulI thought that since It'sEasy repeats over and over about their commitment to customer service while the customer is on hold that polite and helpful customer service would be the norm, especially when the customer is in a difficult situation, as I wasThank you for stepping in and providing me with the information that I sought in October Sincerely, [redacted]

Dear Revdex.com,Please accept our response in relation to the complaint lodged by [redacted] on November **, First off, we would like to state that ItsEasy Passport & Visa has been in business for nearly years with a Revdex.com file dating back to and have always held a Revdex.com assigned A+ rating This rating helps to properly reflect not only our general dealings with the public, but also our dedication to resolving issues as they may ariseAs a national company who handles tens of thousands of passport and visa applications for clients every year, ItsEasy has a proven track record of doing its jobOur company’s history with [redacted] dates back to May of when she first ordered a Brazilian visa from usThis was followed up by her request for a second US passport in August of Her most recent order was for a Russian visa which was ordered in September of this year and is the order in questionWe do confirm that she placed an order for a Russian visa on Thursday, September [redacted] with an estimated processing time of 10- business days which we received the afternoon of Monday, September [redacted] Her application was submitted to the Russian consulate the following day with an estimated business day processingWe processed her visa request in business days – faster than what she had requested or paid forHer package was then shipped out using the pre-addressed, pre-paid [redacted] envelope she provided We recommend clients ship using [redacted] due to their more consistent delivery and tracking, however we do give clients the option to ship documents using they’re preferred carrierThe legal disclaimer on our web site (available from every page) states the following:“ItsEasy accepts no responsibility for delays, loss of passports or other materials or documents occasioned by any commercial or [redacted] delivery services, Embassy, consulate or US State DepartmentDamage compensation is not available from ItsEasy.”We understand, and we agree, that the package does not show up on any [redacted] tracking systemThis then brings into question whether or not we actually delivered the package to ***This is essentially the crux of the complaint [redacted] also questions whether or not we actually obtained the Russian visa, but as she has used our service multiple times and received completed documents in the past, it is assumed that she is not really questioning whether or not we got the visa, but more on proof of delivery to ***.In order to address it, I have provided copies of the Russian visa submission manifest and Russian visa paid receipt from ILS which is the public arm of the Russian EmbassyRussian visas are not actually submitted directly to the Russian embassy, they are processed through a contracted Russian company named ILS who handles all verifications and payments on behalf of the Embassy (this is not common, but India and a few other countries implement similar interfaces in order to reduce direct public interaction)The Embassy then issues the visas and they are distributed back through ILSThe two documents included show the daily submission manifest reflecting [redacted] application and the submission payment receipt from the same day listing [redacted] There is no “proof of completion” issued from the Embassy or ILS as the visa itself is considered a “receipt” so to speakWe do not make copies of the client’s visas for security reasonsAgain, while it was mentioned in the complaint, I don’t think whether or not we actually got the visa was really the main issue We process tens of thousands of visasIf we didn’t actually get the visas we wouldn’t be in business.As [redacted] did not scan the package, it is of course nearly impossible for us to “prove” that we delivered the package to the Post Office (short of subpoenaing video footage from the Post Office which the package label wouldn’t be visible anyway)I did speak with the two employees responsible for this order, the manager that oversees Russian visas and her courier who goes to the embassy and makes other local deliveries (including the Post Office) for herThe courier, who is a trusted employee, remembered this delivery very clearlyWe ship hundreds of passports every day and they are, generally speaking, [redacted] or UPS It is uncommon that clients use [redacted] for shipping passports due to the importance of the document and the inconsistency of the ***, and to a lesser degree UPS, are more reliable, have much better tracking capabilities and are able to locate missing packages quicklyIt has been our experience that the [redacted] system is less consistent and packages go “missing” from time to time, with no accountabilityI asked the courier who handled this package to document and have notarized his recollection of the eventsI have attached his statementAs a valued employee, I consider his statement to be factualWith all of that said, I understand that at this point, [redacted] has her primary passport which is valid for travel, but does not have her secondary passport (to be clear, US citizens may have two passports, the second being valid for years only)In her most recent order, [redacted] paid the following:$Russian Embassy Visa Fee $ItsEasy Service Fee $ Check Writing Fee (this is the fee to obtain the money order needed to pay Russia for the visa) ------------ $TOTALWe did fulfill our duties and obtain the visaWe have provided ample statements to support that we delivered the pre-paid, pre-addressed [redacted] package to the post officeWe cannot be held liable for a failure of a shipping company chosen by the clientThe US State Department charges $for a standard processing second passportIn order to help resolve this case what we are offering to do, while expressingly not admitting to any fault on our part, in the spirit of good faith for a repeat client, is to refund the service fee paid in relation to her most recent order totaling $ In addition and as noted above, [redacted] also utilized our service to obtain her second passport a few months agoFor this service she paid a $service fee (not including government fees which were an additional $170)We will also provide a credit for the service fee she originally paid us to obtain the second passportThis results in a total refund of $+ $= $398.00, which more than covers the fee for [redacted] to obtain a replacement second passportWe would not, and cannot, refund the Russian Embassy or US State Department fees as those were pass through charges which went directly to the Russian and US governmentsAgain, and we can not stress enough, we did everything we were supposed to do and the failure is a result of the ***I have already processed the refunds ($credit approval code: [redacted] ; $ credit approval code: 1605159824)These generally appear on a client’s statement within 4-business days.While this compromise may not meet the client’s request of $873.48, it is far more than we are obligated to do and more than covers the cost for [redacted] to obtain a replacement passport through channelsWe hope this provides resolution and closes the matter.Sincerely,Mark H [redacted] EVP, ItsEasy Passport & Visa Services

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by ItsEasy Passport & Visa Services regarding complaint ID ***.Sincerely,*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
I would like to thank you very much for your intervention and helping me to receive some responses and resolution for this situation.
I would also like to thank It'sEasy for finally responding to my queries in detail and making restitution. I sought this type of explanation the multiple times that I called the company, but was met with quite curt and even rude responses. I would like to specifically mention that when I called It'sEasy that Emory (10/**/15) has been polite and helpful, whereas [redacted] (10/**/15) yelled at me and hung up on me, and Stephanie (10/**/15) claimed to be her supervisor, but was also less than helpful. I thought that since It'sEasy repeats over and over about their commitment to customer service while the customer is on hold that polite and helpful customer service would be the norm, especially when the customer is in a difficult situation, as I was. Thank you for stepping in and providing me with the information that I sought in October.   
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Dear Revdex.com, Thank you for contacting us regarding the above mentioned complaint. I do acknowledge that the clients placed an order for two Brazil tourist visas on December **, 2015 and that we received the documents from the clients December **, 2015. At the time that they placed their...

order, the estimated processing time listed on our web site was 23 business days. The following two warnings posted on our site do indicate that processing times are not guaranteed: “Processing times are estimates based on both government publish as well as observed processing times” “We accept no responsibility for the services of … any Consulate or Embassy regarding the timeliness, issuance or correctness of passports or visas as the issuance or decisions rest exclusively with the government in question.” While it is unfortunate, our industry is far from an exact science and we are sorry that the applicants did not receive their visas in time for their scheduled trip. During the period that the visas in questioning were being processed, we noted increasing processing time frames at the consulate in question, in part and increased our estimated processing times to 40 business days (which is still reflected on our site today). This in and of itself would be explanation enough for the delay IF we could prove the applications were submitted when we indicate they were. In most cases the date the consulate indicates they “received” an application is the date which they first looked at it and scanned it. In some cases applications can be turned into a government agency and may sit in a bin for days or weeks before being reviewed. While I cannot say that is what happened in this case, we know for a fact that this does happen from time to time with consulates of all countries. Many consulates provide a specific receipt or digital invoice when documents are submitted providing us with a documentable paper trail which we can use to prove we are not at fault. In the case of Brazil that is not the case. We do receive a “slip” but it does not indicate specific applications, ergo in this particular case, while we are confident we did our job to the best of our abilities, we cannot prove it. The client states in their complaint: Purchase Price: $338.00Disputed Amount: $200.00 The client actually paid a total of $673.00. The amount they paid is broken down as follows: $160.00 Brazil Government Visa Fee $169.00 ItsEasy Service Processing Fee$  7.50 Postal Money Order Fee (listed as “Check Item”)$160.00 Brazil Government Visa Fee$169.00 ItsEasy Service Processing Fee$   7.50 Postal Money Order Fee (listed as “Check Item”)--------------------------------------------------------------------- $673.00 TOTAL The $160.00 x 2 ($320.00) Brazil Government Visa Fee was paid to the Brazil Consulate, this is not a fee we can refund. While admitting no fault, but accepting that we cannot “prove” our position, we are refunding all service fees ($169.00 x 2, $7.50 x 2 = $353.00) to the clients Visa card ending [redacted]. As with any credit card refund, it can take several business days to post to their account, however I can confirm the credit was issued and approved today with Bank Reference Transaction ID: [redacted]. This is certainly not the type of experience most clients see and again, we are sorry that the visas were not delivered in time for the intended departure.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.I would like to thank you very much for your intervention and helping me to receive some responses and resolution for this situation. I would also like to thank It'sEasy for finally responding to my queries in detail and making restitution. I sought this type of explanation the multiple times that I called the company, but was met with quite curt and even rude responses. I would like to specifically mention that when I called It'sEasy that Emory (10/**/15) has been polite and helpful, whereas [redacted] (10/**/15) yelled at me and hung up on me, and Stephanie (10/**/15) claimed to be her supervisor, but was also less than helpful. I thought that since It'sEasy repeats over and over about their commitment to customer service while the customer is on hold that polite and helpful customer service would be the norm, especially when the customer is in a difficult situation, as I was. Thank you for stepping in and providing me with the information that I sought in October.   
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

We are a passport and [redacted] expediting service. Clients pay us a fee (generally ranging from $69-$269 + government and shipping fees) for processing a passport or [redacted] application with the US State Department or foreign embassies. We act as in intermediary between the applicant and the governmental...

agencies, however we have no control over what a specific government issues or does not issue. Our level of accountability is clearly documented in our disclaimer which is available for review when clients are placing an order, before submitting the request: “I understand I am using an private company authorized and registered with the US Department of State to process my application. All credit card transactions covering US Government and/or Foreign Embassy/Consular Fees incur a $7.50 convenience fee per item. Shipping times are not calculated into processing timeframes. I agree that I will be charged $254.50 when I click "Place My Order" above. By using this site I acknowledge and confirm that I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms of use.” – the “terms of use” links to the following page:  [redacted]“General Service DisclaimerItsEasy Passport & [redacted] Services (ItsEasy) serves as an agent only on behalf of passport and [redacted] applicants. We accept no responsibility for the services of U.S. Passport Services of the U.S. State Department or any Consulate or Embassy regarding the timeliness, issuance or correctness of passports or [redacted]s as the issuance or decisions rest exclusively with the government in question. In most cases, refunds from governments are not available regardless of request outcome.” The following information is listed on the Chinese Embassy web site regarding the matter:  [redacted] “Why I was granted a different type of [redacted] with what I applied for?The consular officers will determine whether or not to grant a [redacted] and its category, validity and permitted duration of stay. The decision is final unless there is an technical error on the [redacted].” (a technical error being the wrong photograph or a misspelled name). US citizens are generally issued multiple entry [redacted]s valid for 10 years for tourism and business regardless of what they request. In the past few weeks, some applicants (less than 2%) have received [redacted]s for periods as short as 30 days without explanation form the consulate. This is not something we have any control over and is not reflective of the service we provided, it is at the sole discretion of the Chinese government. In cases of reduced validity [redacted]s, the only recourse is re-applying from scratch including new fees paid to the consulate for a new [redacted] request. This information is provided on our web site, however we offer multiple “check out” paths and I will admit that on the specific path this client placed their order that this additional information is not indicated. We are updating our system to show this information on all check out paths. Regardless, the outcome would have been identical whether the client used our firm, another firm or had gone to the consulate in person – it was specific to the applicant and had nothing to do with our service. Of the $254.50 the client paid, $140 was paid to the Chinese consulate, a total of $48 was used for round-trip FedEx shipping and our service fees totaled $76.50. While again clearly stating the outcome was not something we had any control over and that our disclaimer, which the client agreed to at checkout, does indicate this, as a courtesy we have refund our total service fees form this order totaling $76.50 (processed on 2/** @ 10:43am EST to [redacted] card ending [redacted] – this generally takes 3-5 business days to post to a client’s credit card statement). If the client wishes for us to submit a new application (requiring a new order, new documents, new fees for the Chinese government and FedEx), we will also waive our processing fee by refunding upon receipt.

This is an unfortunate situation that occurs from time to time and falls outside of our control.
In order to obtain a new adult passport having never had one before, or it having been more than 15 years since an adult passport was issued, applicants must submit a set of documents...

(application, proposed flight itinerates, etc) including proof of US citizenship. This document is generally a US birth certificate or a US naturalization certificate. All documents are then presented to a passport Acceptance Agent (a federal employee trained to review passport applications, generally located at a post office, town hall or county court). The documents are then “executed” and sealed in an envelope by the Acceptance Agent and delivered to a hand-carry service such as ours, or, if not utilizing a hand-carry service, the documents are left at the post office and mailed by a postal official to a US State Department office for processing.
We do acknowledge that [redacted] visit our office on 08/**/14 in order to obtain a new passport. We agree that she brought her documents to us for review. We agree that she then went to a nearby post office and had the documents reviewed, executed and sealed by an Acceptance Agent. We agree that [redacted] then brought her sealed envelope back to our office and paid our fee to have the documents processed in 3-5 business days.
Processing passport applications involves utilizing a series of pre-approved, expedited processing appointments with the US State Department in which, registered services such as ours, deliver the documents by hand for expedited processing. In cases where there is an issue with the documentation the State Department provides our company with information regarding the issue so that it may be address expeditiously.
In this case, while there were several minor issues with the application which could have easily been resolved, on the 4th day the US State Department notified us that they would not accept the clients birth certificate as it was filed late by the issuing authority when she was born, a filing issue made some 60+ years ago. The US State Department requested
additional birth record information, which in all likelihood could not be obtained in time to meet the impending travel date resulting in the client missing their trip. While cases like this are very rare, we do understand the clients unhappiness as she was not able to go on her trip. However this does not negate the service we provided to her as we did everything within our power to have the documents processed within the requested time frame.
 
As indicated above, the documents were verified and executed by the Acceptance Agent – the government official who pre-screens the passport applications prior to the US Start department performing their investigation prior to issuing a passport. The actual issuance of the passport is not something that we have control over – promised, implied or otherwise. For reason such as this, our disclaimer (available from every page of our web site) states:
 
General Service Disclaimer
ItsEasy Passport & Visa Services (ItsEasy) serves as an agent only on behalf of passport and visa applicants. We accept no responsibility for the services of U.S. Passport Services of the U.S. State Department or any Consulate or Embassy regarding the issuance or correctness of passports or visas as the issuance or decisions rest exclusively with the government in question. ItsEasy accepts no responsibility for delays, loss of passports or other materials or documents occasioned by any commercial or U.S.P.S. delivery services. Damage compensation is not available from ItsEasy.
While ItsEasy clearly did its job, as a courtesy, we have refunded 50% of the $189.00 service fee the client paid to us resulting in a refund of $94.50. This credit was issued on 09/**/14 with MC approval code [redacted] and should post to the clients statement in approximately 5 business days. We hope this explanation clears up any confusion and that [redacted] is satisfied with result.

We are a passport expediting service. Clients pay us a fee (generally ranging from...

$69-$269) for processing a passport application with the US State department quickly. When an applicant is applying for a new passport (having never had a passport or having a passport which is not eligible for renewal), the applicant must gather a set of documents (birth certificate, photos, application, etc) and visit with an Acceptance Agent, a federal employee generally located at US Post Offices, who must verify an applicant’s identity and seal said documents in a tamper proof envelope. Once the documents have been verified and sealed by the Acceptance Agent they are then delivered to our office at which time we determine best service options, have client place an order (either in writing or using one of the public laptops we supply in our office) and collect payment.In this case, the consumer is stating that he came into our store for photos on a weekend and was then going to go to the Acceptance Agent at the Post Office at some point the following week, which is common. The consumer is stating that he paid our service fees (consumer used term “business service charge”) and left all of his document with us - which is anything but normal. There would be absolutely no reason for the consumer to leave unverified documents with us as the consumer would need to have said documents with him in order to go to the Post Office and have them verified. Additionally, there is no record of payment received in our system or with accounting for our service.The consumer is then stating that he visited our office to retrieve his documents which we were unable to locate them – most likely because we never had them. Regardless, we do have a “Search & Find” procedure that we follow in any case of a missing document. We took the consumers information and told him that we would contact him if the search found anything of his. The search procedure was executed after closing so as not to interfere with normal business and no documents pertaining to the consumer were located. The consumer has visited our location multiple times requesting the same. We have informed consumer that we do not have his documents.While there is no record of this consumer, no documents, no verification of any payment and no logical explanation as to why the client would have left documents in our office, as a sign of good faith we will offer the client a courtesy payment of $125 (replacement photos valued at $10, replacement birth certificate valued at $15 and an additional $100). This offer is in no way an acknowledgment of any fault. If this is acceptable to the consumer please have him provide a valid street mailing address (no PO boxes) and we will have a check issued and sent out via [redacted] within 24 hours.

Dear Revdex.com,Please accept our response in relation to the complaint
lodged by [redacted] on November **, 2015. First off, we would like to state
that ItsEasy Passport & Visa has been in business for nearly 40 years with
a Revdex.com file dating back to 2004 and have always held a Revdex.com assigned A+...

rating.
This rating helps to properly reflect not only our general dealings with the
public, but also our dedication to resolving issues as they may arise. As a
national company who handles tens of thousands of passport and visa
applications for clients every year, ItsEasy has a proven track record of doing
its job. Our company’s history with [redacted] dates back to May of
2014 when she first ordered a Brazilian visa from us. This was followed up by
her request for a second US passport in August of 2015. Her most recent order
was for a Russian visa which was ordered in September of this year and is the
order in question. We do confirm that she placed an order for a Russian visa on
Thursday, September [redacted] with an estimated processing time of 10-12
business days which we received the afternoon of Monday, September [redacted]
Her application was submitted to the Russian consulate the following day with
an estimated 7 business day processing. We processed her visa request in 7
business days – faster than what she had requested or paid for. Her package was
then shipped out using the pre-addressed, pre-paid [redacted] envelope she provided.
We recommend clients ship using [redacted] due to their more consistent delivery and
tracking, however we do give clients the option to ship documents using they’re
preferred carrier. The legal disclaimer on our web site (available from every
page) states the following:“ItsEasy accepts no
responsibility for delays, loss of passports or other materials or documents
occasioned by any commercial or [redacted] delivery services, Embassy, consulate
or US State Department. Damage compensation is not available from ItsEasy.”We understand, and we agree, that the package does not show
up on any [redacted] tracking system. This then brings into question whether or not
we actually delivered the package to [redacted]. This is essentially the crux of the
complaint. [redacted] also questions whether or not we actually obtained the
Russian visa, but as she has used our service multiple times and received
completed documents in the past, it is assumed that she is not really
questioning whether or not we got the visa, but more on proof of delivery to
[redacted].In order to address it, I have provided copies of the Russian
visa submission manifest and Russian visa paid receipt from ILS which is the
public arm of the Russian Embassy. Russian visas are not actually submitted
directly to the Russian embassy, they are processed through a contracted
Russian company named ILS who handles all verifications and payments on behalf
of the Embassy (this is not common, but India and a few other countries
implement similar interfaces in order to reduce direct public interaction). The
Embassy then issues the visas and they are distributed back through ILS. The
two documents included show the daily submission manifest reflecting [redacted]
application and the submission payment receipt from the same day listing [redacted].
There is no “proof of completion” issued from the Embassy or ILS as the visa
itself is considered a “receipt” so to speak. We do not make copies of the client’s
visas for security reasons. Again, while it was mentioned in the complaint, I
don’t think whether or not we actually got the visa was really the main issue.
We process tens of thousands of visas. If we didn’t actually get the visas we wouldn’t
be in business.As [redacted] did not scan the package, it is of course nearly impossible
for us to “prove” that we delivered the package to the Post Office (short of subpoenaing
video footage from the Post Office which the package label wouldn’t be visible
anyway). I did speak with the two employees responsible for this order, the
manager that oversees Russian visas and her courier who goes to the embassy and
makes other local deliveries (including the Post Office) for her. The courier,
who is a trusted employee, remembered this delivery very clearly. We ship
hundreds of passports every day and they are, generally speaking, [redacted] or UPS.
It is uncommon that clients use [redacted] for shipping passports due to the
importance of the document and the inconsistency of the [redacted], and to a
lesser degree UPS, are more reliable, have much better tracking capabilities
and are able to locate missing packages quickly. It has been our experience
that the [redacted] system is less consistent and packages go “missing” from time to
time, with no accountability. I asked the courier who handled this package to
document and have notarized his recollection of the events. I have attached his
statement. As a valued employee, I consider his statement to be factual. With all of that said, I understand that at this point, [redacted]
has her primary passport which is valid for travel, but does not have her
secondary passport (to be clear, US citizens may have two passports, the second
being valid for 2 years only). In her most recent order, [redacted] paid the following:$253.00 Russian Embassy Visa Fee $129.00 ItsEasy Service Fee $    7.50 Check Writing Fee (this is the
fee to obtain the money order needed to pay Russia for the visa) ------------ $389.50 TOTALWe did fulfill our duties and obtain the visa. We have
provided ample statements to support that we delivered the pre-paid,
pre-addressed [redacted] package to the post office. We cannot be held liable for a
failure of a shipping company chosen by the client. The US State Department
charges $110 for a standard processing second passport. In order to help
resolve this case what we are offering to do, while expressingly not admitting
to any fault on our part, in the spirit of good faith for a repeat client, is
to refund the service fee paid in relation to her most recent order totaling $129.00.
In addition and as noted above, [redacted] also utilized our service to obtain
her second passport a few months ago. For this service she paid a $269 service
fee (not including government fees which were an additional $170). We will also
provide a credit for the service fee she originally paid us to obtain the
second passport. This results in a total refund of $129.00 + $269.00 = $398.00,
which more than covers the fee for [redacted] to obtain a replacement second
passport. We would not, and cannot, refund the Russian Embassy or US State
Department fees as those were pass through charges which went directly to the
Russian and US governments. Again, and we can not stress enough, we did
everything we were supposed to do and the failure is a result of the [redacted]. I
have already processed the refunds ($129 credit approval code: [redacted]; $269
credit approval code: 1605159824). These generally appear on a client’s
statement within 4-6 business days.While this compromise may not meet the client’s request of
$873.48, it is far more than we are obligated to do and more than covers the
cost for [redacted] to obtain a replacement passport through normal channels. We
hope this provides resolution and closes the matter.Sincerely,Mark H[redacted] EVP, ItsEasy Passport & Visa Services

While there are several points within the complaint, the root cause of the issue is related to the Indian government processing service not functioning correctly. Third party visa services must work within the parameters of each foreign Embassies processing system. In the case of India, this...

requires working with an agency called BLS who represents the Indian Embassy Consular Section. Our disclaimer reads as follows:
ItsEasy Passport & Visa Services (ItsEasy) serves as an agent only on behalf of passport and visa applicants. We accept no responsibility for the services of U.S. Passport Services of the U.S. State Department or any Consulate or Embassy regarding the issuance or correctness of passports or visas as the issuance or decisions rest exclusively with the government in question.
The documents were received in our office on Friday, January ** at approx. 11:00am. We must leave our office to submit documents to BLS at 10:30am, therefore the documents could not be delivered to BLS until Monday, January **.
We delivered the document to BLS Monday morning (although they do not show the first scan in their system until later in the day, which is normal). The documents were cleared for processing with the Consulate at the same time. At this point, the documents are sent to the Consulate for visa processing. The visa was processed and issued by the Indian Consulate correctly on January **. This is where things started to go wrong internally with India as there are discrepancies over what happened next. The Consulate indicated the passport with visa had been sent back to BLS for pickup, however BLS indicated the visa was still being processed by the Consulate. This can be confirmed by the complainant who spoke to both the Consulate and BLS directly and received the same conflicting information we received.
While we tried several times to retrieve the passports from both the Consulate and BLS, each said the other had the documents. As further proof of this, the complainant can confirm that the issue date on the visa (meaning the date which the Consulate issued the visa and would have sent the passports back to BLS for pickup) is clearly indicated on the visa as January **, however in the below scan logs BLS did not mark it submitted to, or returned from the Consulate until January **.
Application accepted by BLS : **-**-2014 , 17:27
Application Processed and Ready to be submitted to Consulate : **-**-2014 , 17:27
Application submitted at Consulate : **-**-2014 ,16:34
Application processed by Consulate : **-**-2014 ,16:34
Application received at BLS Center :**-**-2014 , 16:35
(screen shot of this information also attached)
The above is not something ItsEasy had any control over and there is little transparency on the transaction during processing – the records below were obtained after the fact. Additionally, during the processing ItsEasy was told different variations of status, as was the complainant by BLS, the Consulate and the complainant’s contacts in India. The internal mishandling by the Consulate and BLS, and only the internal mishandling by the Consulate and BLS and not ItsEasy, is what caused the complainant to not received the service they wanted. ItsEasy performed its duties to the best of its abilities.
With regards to the information the complainant received from our employees, the inconsistencies were a direct result of the inconsistencies provided to ItsEasy by the Indian Consulate and their representatives, BLS.
One service element which we feel requires clarification is that of the interaction with [redacted]. [redacted] went above and beyond, doing everything within his power over several days to deliver to the client what they wanted including, but not limited to, providing his personal cell phone number as a central point of contact 24 hours a day. While there were many positive communications between [redacted] and the complainant, the one conversation the complainant has focused on was had while [redacted] was in a rehearsal for his son’s Bar Mitzvah which was taking place the following morning. The complainant was requesting a refund and going over each point they were not satisfied with. [redacted] had agreed to issue the refund, however the complainant insisted on going through the points several times after the fact. [redacted] again agreed with the complainant and was being urged by his [redacted] to end the call. He mentioned several times that he needed to get off the phone however the complainant demanded they be allowed to continue speaking and at the continued request of his [redacted] and family, [redacted] had to end the call abruptly – his religious requirements demanded it. A follow up written communication from the complainant to [redacted]’s cell phone was made while [redacted] was out of state attending a family members funeral.
I can also confirm that all monies requested have been refunded – although some may still be in the credit process with the complainant’s bank (this is typical for banks to take several business days to process credits). The only fees not refunded, and not disputed by either party, are the consular fees charged by the India government totaling $422. Through two separate credits, all ItsEasy fees totaling $650 have been refunded and were done so prior to a complaint being filed with the Revdex.com requesting such, therefore the request made in the lodging of this complaint was addressed and executed prior to the complaint being failed and is therefore null:
-$452.00 credit approval [redacted] (client has already confirmed this)
-$198.00 credit approval [redacted] (processed 2/**)
In closing, this experience with our company is not indicative of a normal transaction. It should also be noted that the complainant is a return customer, having been, assumingly, satisfied with our services in the past. The direct reason for the client not receiving what they wanted was due to the failure of an Indian Government contracted agency who failed to process the application as requested. While there are things we can learn from the experience, we do feel that we have fulfilled our obligations by doing everything within our power to deliver the complainant’s initial request and, while our disclaimer does remove our liability from circumstances such as this, by refunding ALL service fee’s as a courtesy to client.

We are a passport expediting service. Clients pay us a fee (generally ranging from $69-$269) for processing a passport application with the...

US State department quickly. When an applicant is applying for a new passport (having never had a passport or having a passport which is not eligible for renewal), the applicant must gather a set of documents (birth certificate, photos, application, etc) and visit with an Acceptance Agent, a federal employee generally located at US Post Offices, who must verify an applicant’s identity and seal said documents in a tamper proof envelope. Once the documents have been verified and sealed by the Acceptance Agent they are then delivered to our office at which time we determine best service options, have client place an order (either in writing or using one of the public laptops we supply in our office) and collect payment.In this case, the consumer is stating that he came into our store for photos on a weekend and was then going to go to the Acceptance Agent at the Post Office at some point the following week, which is common. The consumer is stating that he paid our service fees (consumer used term “business service charge”) and left all of his document with us - which is anything but normal. There would be absolutely no reason for the consumer to leave unverified documents with us as the consumer would need to have said documents with him in order to go to the Post Office and have them verified. Additionally, there is no record of payment received in our system or with accounting for our service.The consumer is then stating that he visited our office to retrieve his documents which we were unable to locate them – most likely because we never had them. Regardless, we do have a “Search & Find” procedure that we follow in any case of a missing document. We took the consumers information and told him that we would contact him if the search found anything of his. The search procedure was executed after closing so as not to interfere with normal business and no documents pertaining to the consumer were located. The consumer has visited our location multiple times requesting the same. We have informed consumer that we do not have his documents.While there is no record of this consumer, no documents, no verification of any payment and no logical explanation as to why the client would have left documents in our office, as a sign of good faith we will offer the client a courtesy payment of $125 (replacement photos valued at $10, replacement birth certificate valued at $15 and an additional $100). This offer is in no way an acknowledgment of any fault. If this is acceptable to the consumer please have him provide a valid street mailing address (no PO boxes) and we will have a check issued and sent out via [redacted] within 24 hours.

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by ItsEasy Passport & Visa Services regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

We are sorry that you “disagree” with the facts that the Chinese government has the final say or that our disclaimer clearly indicates “ItsEasy Passport & [redacted] Services (ItsEasy) serves as an agent only on behalf of passport and [redacted] applicants. We accept no responsibility for the services of U.S. Passport Services of the U.S. State Department or any Consulate or Embassy regarding the timeliness, issuance or correctness of passports or [redacted]s as the issuance or decisions rest exclusively with the government in question. In most cases, refunds from governments are not available regardless of request outcome.” We did not, and do not, misrepresent our role in the [redacted] process and our services – which were described and agreed to by you during the checkout process. You hired our firm to assist you with document preparation/review, hand carry your passport and supporting documents the Chinese consulate, retrieve your passport once the Chinese government issued a [redacted] and send the passport containing the [redacted] back to you in a period of 12 business day. We did everything we were retained to do in 8 business days. And while we did everything that we were supposed to do, we still provided you a full courtesy refund of everything you were charged for our service (less the Chinese government and shipping fees) and even offered to process a new request without charging you a service fee. The root cause of your issue, the only part that you could potentially disagree with, is that you were not issued the [redacted] you wanted. Your issue is with the Chinese government. You were/are traveling to China. You were going to pay the fees to have the [redacted] application processed. The outcome would have been the same regardless of using our service, a different service or if you had flown to San Francisco and submitted the application yourself. While we understand that you are not satisfied with the outcome, we have done everything we can (and far more than we were legally obligated to do) to appease your “disagreement”. There is no more money we can offer you or response we can provide.

Dear Revdex.com,Please accept our response in relation to the complaint
lodged by [redacted] on November **, 2015. First off, we would like to state
that ItsEasy Passport & Visa has been in business for nearly 40 years with
a Revdex.com file dating back to 2004 and have always held a Revdex.com...

assigned A+ rating.
This rating helps to properly reflect not only our general dealings with the
public, but also our dedication to resolving issues as they may arise. As a
national company who handles tens of thousands of passport and visa
applications for clients every year, ItsEasy has a proven track record of doing
its job. Our company’s history with [redacted] dates back to May of
2014 when she first ordered a Brazilian visa from us. This was followed up by
her request for a second US passport in August of 2015. Her most recent order
was for a Russian visa which was ordered in September of this year and is the
order in question. We do confirm that she placed an order for a Russian visa on
Thursday, September [redacted] with an estimated processing time of 10-12
business days which we received the afternoon of Monday, September [redacted]
Her application was submitted to the Russian consulate the following day with
an estimated 7 business day processing. We processed her visa request in 7
business days – faster than what she had requested or paid for. Her package was
then shipped out using the pre-addressed, pre-paid [redacted] envelope she provided.
We recommend clients ship using [redacted] due to their more consistent delivery and
tracking, however we do give clients the option to ship documents using they’re
preferred carrier. The legal disclaimer on our web site (available from every
page) states the following:“ItsEasy accepts no
responsibility for delays, loss of passports or other materials or documents
occasioned by any commercial or [redacted] delivery services, Embassy, consulate
or US State Department. Damage compensation is not available from ItsEasy.”We understand, and we agree, that the package does not show
up on any [redacted] tracking system. This then brings into question whether or not
we actually delivered the package to [redacted]. This is essentially the crux of the
complaint. [redacted] also questions whether or not we actually obtained the
Russian visa, but as she has used our service multiple times and received
completed documents in the past, it is assumed that she is not really
questioning whether or not we got the visa, but more on proof of delivery to
[redacted].In order to address it, I have provided copies of the Russian
visa submission manifest and Russian visa paid receipt from ILS which is the
public arm of the Russian Embassy. Russian visas are not actually submitted
directly to the Russian embassy, they are processed through a contracted
Russian company named ILS who handles all verifications and payments on behalf
of the Embassy (this is not common, but India and a few other countries
implement similar interfaces in order to reduce direct public interaction). The
Embassy then issues the visas and they are distributed back through ILS. The
two documents included show the daily submission manifest reflecting [redacted]
application and the submission payment receipt from the same day listing [redacted].
There is no “proof of completion” issued from the Embassy or ILS as the visa
itself is considered a “receipt” so to speak. We do not make copies of the client’s
visas for security reasons. Again, while it was mentioned in the complaint, I
don’t think whether or not we actually got the visa was really the main issue.
We process tens of thousands of visas. If we didn’t actually get the visas we wouldn’t
be in business.As [redacted] did not scan the package, it is of course nearly impossible
for us to “prove” that we delivered the package to the Post Office (short of subpoenaing
video footage from the Post Office which the package label wouldn’t be visible
anyway). I did speak with the two employees responsible for this order, the
manager that oversees Russian visas and her courier who goes to the embassy and
makes other local deliveries (including the Post Office) for her. The courier,
who is a trusted employee, remembered this delivery very clearly. We ship
hundreds of passports every day and they are, generally speaking, [redacted] or UPS.
It is uncommon that clients use [redacted] for shipping passports due to the
importance of the document and the inconsistency of the [redacted], and to a
lesser degree UPS, are more reliable, have much better tracking capabilities
and are able to locate missing packages quickly. It has been our experience
that the [redacted] system is less consistent and packages go “missing” from time to
time, with no accountability. I asked the courier who handled this package to
document and have notarized his recollection of the events. I have attached his
statement. As a valued employee, I consider his statement to be factual. With all of that said, I understand that at this point, [redacted]
has her primary passport which is valid for travel, but does not have her
secondary passport (to be clear, US citizens may have two passports, the second
being valid for 2 years only). In her most recent order, [redacted] paid the following:$253.00 Russian Embassy Visa Fee $129.00 ItsEasy Service Fee $    7.50 Check Writing Fee (this is the
fee to obtain the money order needed to pay Russia for the visa) ------------ $389.50 TOTALWe did fulfill our duties and obtain the visa. We have
provided ample statements to support that we delivered the pre-paid,
pre-addressed [redacted] package to the post office. We cannot be held liable for a
failure of a shipping company chosen by the client. The US State Department
charges $110 for a standard processing second passport. In order to help
resolve this case what we are offering to do, while expressingly not admitting
to any fault on our part, in the spirit of good faith for a repeat client, is
to refund the service fee paid in relation to her most recent order totaling $129.00.
In addition and as noted above, [redacted] also utilized our service to obtain
her second passport a few months ago. For this service she paid a $269 service
fee (not including government fees which were an additional $170). We will also
provide a credit for the service fee she originally paid us to obtain the
second passport. This results in a total refund of $129.00 + $269.00 = $398.00,
which more than covers the fee for [redacted] to obtain a replacement second
passport. We would not, and cannot, refund the Russian Embassy or US State
Department fees as those were pass through charges which went directly to the
Russian and US governments. Again, and we can not stress enough, we did
everything we were supposed to do and the failure is a result of the [redacted]. I
have already processed the refunds ($129 credit approval code: [redacted]; $269
credit approval code: 1605159824). These generally appear on a client’s
statement within 4-6 business days.While this compromise may not meet the client’s request of
$873.48, it is far more than we are obligated to do and more than covers the
cost for [redacted] to obtain a replacement passport through normal channels. We
hope this provides resolution and closes the matter.Sincerely,Mark H[redacted] EVP, ItsEasy Passport & Visa Services

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
 
However, I would like to clarify the point about his religious demands when he hung up the phone on my wife.  
1.  It was a Friday afternoon so to assume we should actually know he was having this "demand" was a little unrealistic. 
2.  He was actually supposed to call us back on Wednesday. 
3.  When he hung up on my wife, he told us he was driving in the car.  So unless he was driving in the car with his Rabbi, then I'm not quite sure.  
4.  The refund was supposed to be done 4 weeks prior so to blame us for infringing on a family event, is ridiculous. 
5.  He actually didn't even let me wife get a point in and told us we were being petty. 
6.  I WAS a return customer, and will never be going back to the company again. 
7.  While it is unfortunate that he had the death of a family member, the fact is, this was 5 weeks after the refund was supposed to have already been processed.  
 
He did, in fact, FINALLY give us the refund we requested, however, it took an additional week and ME reaching out to him 3 different times.  As a result, I will not be removing any of my complaints previously posted on social media. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Review: The short version: I paid ItsEasy for an expedited Visa which they did not provide. They informed me that my application 'fell through the cracks' because they were going through internal reorganizing at their company. I don't feel this is a good reason to have caused me so much money and time. They waited so long to tell me this that I missed the window to order my Visa and am now forced to take off from work and drive to the Consulate's outsourcing agency (3 hours away) to obtain in person.

The long version: I contacted ItsEasy for expedited service to change my name on my passport, and secure an India Tourist Visa. I paid for these expedited services up front on 10/**/13. My passport request was completed, and I called ItsEasy to make sure I did everything I needed to get my Visa. [redacted] took my call and said he would hold my passport at ItsEasy because my Visa would need to be attached to it, and asked me to forward him various items (Visa application, photo, drivers license, utility bill, itinerary) via email, which I did on 10/**/13. On 10/**/13 I had not heard back from [redacted] confirming that he had everything he needed, so I emailed him again. He did not respond, so I went to the ItsEasy online chat and chatted with [redacted], who said she would look into my order and get back to me within two minutes via email. She never did. On 11/*/13 I chatted with [redacted] again and she said I had to provide her proof of a hotel reservation in India, in addition to the other documents I already sent [redacted].. I told her I did not have a hotel reservation because I was staying with a friend. She said that the consulate was asking for a reservation so I needed to provide it. On 11/*/13, I made a hotel reservation solely for the purpose of securing my Visa and sent the confirmation to [redacted] and forwarded it to [redacted] as well. Neither of them responsed. I emailed [redacted] again on 11/*/13 reminding [redacted] that my trip was scheudled for later this month, and I wanted to know if she had everything she needed for my Visa. She did not respond.

I called ItsEasy on 11/*/13 and spoke with [redacted], explaining that I just wanted to make sure my Visa was being processed. She transferred me to [redacted] who apologized, and said the company was undergoing some reorganization. He was sorry, but my application fell through the cracks. There is no way he would be able to get mine to me in time for my trip. He said he would refund my expedited visa fee ($180) and return my Visa application and passport to me. He said [redacted] misinformed me about the process of getting a Visa anyway because I would have needed to sign the passport he was holding at ItsEasy. He wished me good luck getting my Visa on my own. My traveling companion for the trip for which I'm trying to obtain the [redacted] lives in Denver and used ItsEasy as well. She submitted her paperwork after I did, and will have her Visa by 11/**/13 because the individuals that she worked with actually submitted her application, and it did not 'fall through the cracks.'

If ItsEasy had submitted my paperwork to the India Consulate when they received it, I would have my Visa and passport, with no issues. If ItsEasy had at anytime during the numerous times I contacted them, let me know that my Visa application wasn't submitted, I would have made other arrangements. But I paid and trusted ItsEasy to take care of this important item because I didn't have time to do it myself. I also have never obtained a Visa before, so I wanted to go through a company that I could trust to help me. Now, I am forced to take a day off of work, drive to San Francisco (3 hours away) and hope that the agency can issue my Visa prior to 11/**/13. I am very frustrated because the reason I chose ItsEasy to take care of this item is because I noticed that they have a Revdex.com A+ Rating. I am always willing to pay more for services, and trust companies more, that are accredited by the Revdex.com, because I view that as a guarantee that I will get what I pay for. I am so disappointed and upset because of the time, energy, and money that will be wasted to fix what ItsEasy has failed to provide.Desired Settlement: As mentioned above, I feel that as the customer, I did my part to contact ItsEasy multiple times to ensure that my Visa would be processed. They had everything they needed to get the job done, but just didn't do it. Because of their lack of communication and terrible service, the ONLY way for me to rectify the situation that they created is to take a day off of work and travel multiple hours to try and get my Visa in person. If they had let me know that they didn't process my application at any one of the instances in which I called/emailed them, I would be irritated, but I wouldn't file a complaint because I wouldn't be in the frustrating situation I'm in now.

I would appreciate if ItsEasy would offer some sort of compensation for my time, and/or my travel time to San Francisco. I still have to pay for my Visa and I'm completely happy to do that- but the trip to BLR International, and my time off of work is forced on me because ItsEasy did not follow through with the service they were paid to provide. I feel that $350 is fair.

Business

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Address: 360 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York, United States, 10017

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