Inept, ineffective and Irritating service of CKGS- share your horror stores here

[frustydesiguy]

Who in God green's planet hired these clueless people to work with The Indian government on such important applications?
Here is my situation. I applied for renunciation, paid CKGS for it, they processed my application and sent me the acknowledgement of the same. My passport got the cancelled and i received the surrender certificate also. All good so far
Next I proceed to do my OCI application. Let us not talk about the application and the documentation process. It makes everyone head spin . I faced many difficulties thanks to the confusing instructions on the website. No use calling CKGS , the representatives who work there give you different answers when you call them. Anyways., I did assemble all documents, and filled all forms after asking around and checking threads online .
Now comes the horror part, while trying to make the payment, Their website started acting wierd and I ended up paying for new OCI (ADULt)PLUS Renunciation after 2010 instead of just 'New OCI Card ( Adult). I ended up paying $486 instead of $300. I immediately call CKGS, one man answers my phone, I explain him my whole situation, he says' You have to CANCEL the whole application and start all over fresh again. We don't do partial refund, start a new application( JUST OCI), cancel the existing one and send an email to our team for a full refund on your 'OCI + renunciation application'. I called CKGS again after 2 hours, another man answers my phone and he tells me ' Do 1 thing, send your application as it is with all documents and receipts and attach a handwritten letter saying I am sorry I paid extra money accidentally, please refund my extra money'. I specifically told him ' The other representative told me it is NOT possible and you have to restart the whole thing all over again!!!'. He answers me ' No, you can do either, you can either cancel the application and send a fresh one and ask for a full refund or send the application as it is and then ask for a partial refund on your application ( meaning refund of the renunciation part because i am already done with my renunciation and have paid for it)
( Notice how one man says one thing, another man says something different- both sound very CONFIDENT, there is no ' I am not sure'. Everything is 'I know'. It is like you ask someone what is the capital of USA, one person will say NYC and another DC with same confidence)

I send the application AS IT IS and attach a handwritten asking for a partial refund stating that I have already done my Renunciation process and just need a NEW OCI CARD ( adult) service. I contact their 'Feedback team' online and explain my situation.this is what their 'EXPERT TEAM responds to me

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for contacting CKGS. Apology for the delayed response.

We understand your concern, however you need to refer the below link to cancel your initial Renunciation application.

https://www.in.ckgs.us/home/index

Please follow the below steps:

Click on "Payments / Refunds"
Click on Refund Claim
Fill up the Refund Claim Information ( Reason of Refund ) - Cancel Application

Once you cancel the application, you will be able to fill-up the Widget for new Renunciation application.

If you have submitted the physical OCI application, then you need to fill-up the attached Withdrawal form and email the scanned copy to [email protected]


I am like What the ......!!!!! everyone is giving a DIFFERENT answer for the same question and the absurdity of every answer increases each time you call them!!! Do these people even understand english? who hired them?? They look like they have zero interest in providing you service , does the Indian government pay them for THIS kind of service?Why in the blue hell should I cancel my initial renunciation application when the process is OVER and DONE!! My passport is cancelled and I have a surrender certificate!!. Cancelling renunciation certificate when all I need is a partial refund because of a RADIo BUTTON I accidentally clicked and ended up selecting a extra service. Seriously?? what is the matter with CKGS??

[frustydesiguy]

guys, just check their website. They have made such a crappy website. If they don't have money, they can hire some of us IT professionals here, we will build a good site for them for FREE...totally FREE ( because it will help millions of millions of hapless desis stuck with their 1990s site). no clear instructions on which each service means
NEW OCI CARD WITH RENUNCIATION AFTER 2010 appears 3 times on the dropdown menu, something else 2 times, 'NEW OCI CARD ( ADULt) is somewhere in middle. Don't you think they should specify what each drop down means ? and how come I am able to select 'OCI + Renunciation' when i have already done my renunciation 1 month back?? The proceed buton was not working , I switched multiple browsers and even went on my cell, the mobile site is atrocious and barely clickable/moveable and when i come back to their website , it locked 'OCI CARD with renunciation after 2010 and now I am stuck with extra fees paid to CKGS

they are giving me a range of absurd and stupid answers when the solution is so simple- either just refund the extra money I paid, or ask me to file for a full refund and then pay the 'New OCI Card' fees again.

Cancelling entire application??
cancelling renunciation certificate ?? #FACEPALM

[CKGS Visa Services]

guys, just check their website. They have made such a crappy website. If they don't have money, they can hire some of us IT professionals here, we will build a good site for them for FREE...totally FREE ( because it will help millions of millions of hapless desis stuck with their 1990s site). no clear instructions on which each service means
NEW OCI CARD WITH RENUNCIATION AFTER 2010 appears 3 times on the dropdown menu, something else 2 times, 'NEW OCI CARD ( ADULt) is somewhere in middle. Don't you think they should specify what each drop down means ? and how come I am able to select 'OCI + Renunciation' when i have already done my renunciation 1 month back?? The proceed buton was not working , I switched multiple browsers and even went on my cell, the mobile site is atrocious and barely clickable/moveable and when i come back to their website , it locked 'OCI CARD with renunciation after 2010 and now I am stuck with extra fees paid to CKGS

they are giving me a range of absurd and stupid answers when the solution is so simple- either just refund the extra money I paid, or ask me to file for a full refund and then pay the 'New OCI Card' fees again.

Cancelling entire application??
cancelling renunciation certificate ?? #FACEPALM

Dear Applicant,

We request you to share your queries/ concerns and application details at [email protected] to better assist you.

Please mention the link of this post in your email.

Regards,
CKGS USA Team

[daggit]

Who in God green's planet hired these clueless people to work with The Indian government on such important applications?

How'd you think CKGS or BLS win these contracts? If we're not mistaken, the past few outsourcing services contracts have alternated between these two. No one knows the bidding process.. or if there is even one. Going by the way things work in India, one can expect something similar with the embassy's contract 'negotiations' here as well.

The LOWEST bidder always wins! How could one expect exemplary service?

[arnott]

passport renewal

Why does India hates its citizens so much ? Such a convoluted process to renew the passport ? Notarize everything ?

What the hell is a "Notarized No Status affidavit" ? Why do we need it ?

Nationality Verification Form ?

Notarized Joint Affidavit ?

And the CKGS website does not have a sample of any of these docs.

[karrph]

Pathetic customer service by CKGS

It's been 3 weeks since my match up was approved and CKGS has suddenly lost my documents including original US passport, Original OCI and old US passport. Their call centers are useless - they keep telling us that the case has been escalated and we will hear from them in 48 hours. However, no one responds.

Emails and requests on their website have gone unanswered. We are due to travel in 5 days.

I am going to reach out to friends in the media to highlight the utter incompetence of Cox and Kings. If anyone would like to share your horror story, please respond to this.

Perhaps a public shaming is what they need to respond to their customers.

[CKGS Visa Services]

Dear Applicant,

We request you to share your queries and contact details at [email protected] to better assist you.

Please mention the link of this post in your email.

Regards,
CKGS USA Team.

[karrph]

I've just sent you an email with details. At this point, my travel dates are imminent and I need my travel documents sent back to me immediately.

Dear Applicant,

We request you to share your queries and contact details at [email protected] to better assist you.

Please mention the link of this post in your email.

Regards,
CKGS USA Team.

[xman]

All resolved, hopefully ?

[karrph]

Once I got in touch with their leadership, CKGS has been extremely responsive and helpful. I was very impressed with how efficiently they were able to turn everything around.

I wish they had provided an escalation path so I could have been connected to the right person from the beginning. It would have helped immensely and avoided a lot of frustration.

Thanks CKGS for coming through!

[gcwait]

OCI process is horrendous. I do not blame CKGS for this, its our dump government officials who made such requirements. In this modern world, can you imagine we make multiple copies of the same application and send one copy to Embassy and another copy to CKGS and also upload the same documents to their website. Really stupid idea. I am pretty sure they may scan all our application load again. At the end I am sure they will throw all our paper documents. JUST IMAGINE HOW MANY PAPER DOCUMENTS ARE WASTED FOR THIS STUPIDITY.

Notarizing is ANOTHER STUPIDITY: It is a waste of time and money. None of the Notary in America check the validity of your document. They simply affix their stamp.

Photo upload and Signature upload: I don't know who is that real DUMP who created that page with size limitation and pixel limitation. Majority of the common people doesn't have any knowledge of pixel correction of their photo and signature.

Another one is the SIZE limitation of your documents to upload.

There are many to point out. Is a real waste of my time.

[arnott]

OCI process is horrendous. I do not blame CKGS for this, its our dump government officials who made such requirements. In this modern world, can you imagine we make multiple copies of the same application and send one copy to Embassy and another copy to CKGS and also upload the same documents to their website. Really stupid idea. I am pretty sure they may scan all our application load again. At the end I am sure they will throw all our paper documents. JUST IMAGINE HOW MANY PAPER DOCUMENTS ARE WASTED FOR THIS STUPIDITY.

Notarizing is ANOTHER STUPIDITY: It is a waste of time and money. None of the Notary in America check the validity of your document. They simply affix their stamp.

Photo upload and Signature upload: I don't know who is that real DUMP who created that page with size limitation and pixel limitation. Majority of the common people doesn't have any knowledge of pixel correction of their photo and signature.

Another one is the SIZE limitation of your documents to upload.

There are many to point out. Is a real waste of my time.

Good post. The issue is, most people deal with these issues, like in India, and do not complain, and do not even get outraged.

[hoolahoous]

CKGS improvements

Currently the website is designed to replicate the actual form filling and not from perspective of how a customer, who has no idea about details/requirements , will find/fill information.
Even though govt makes inconvenient rules, here are some of improvements CKGS can make on their site..

1) I used latest chrome browser but they still show the message that their site is only compatible with latest chrome, firefox etc. It is not hard to detect the browser and show message only to browsers which are not valid.
2) Lot of their forms ask for same information again and again. They could cache that information and fill everywhere. Or better yet, instead of making people fill the up form, they can come up with a 'my account' (not the current application based on, but based on username/password). People can fill in their details in one questionnaire and the site could fill the form automatically.
3) Entering a date is pain in their site. the widget forces you to pick year, month and date. takes tons of click. there are several javascript widgets available on internet where people can type freely and still convert it to standard format. further the date picker format is not same everyone on site. some place it is mmm/dd/yy and someplaces it is mm/dd/yy
4) the checklist is not consistent with actual documents !!! yes believe it or not, the 'additional particulars form' is not mentioned in multiple checklists but it seems to be required. i just happened to browse 'my documents' section and see that there is additional particular form. so I attached it in my packet.
5) checklist they have is pre-canned pdf which has lot of 'if SFO then this, if NYC then that' stuff. It should be trivial to generate the doc list on the fly based on information user has provided in original forms.
6) they don't seem to have a strong QA team for their software. After you pay, it gives a link to get your fedex label. that errors out. I did some searching and found it under my documents later.
7) the email which is sent out with status has text like 'To ‘Track and Trace’ please visit: {Tracking_Link} and use your tracking ID' . That {Tracking_Link} needs to be actual link.
8) track and contact at bottom takes almost 1/3 of screen.
9) here is flow they could implement to make life easier for customers in following order-
a) ask what services a customer is looking for (checkboxs - visa, renunciation, oci, etc...)
b) ask very basic info - jurisdiction, category
c) based on (a) and (b) ask on ONE form all the information that is needed (passport numbers, name, address etc)
d) ask for payment (single consolidated amount for all services requested)
d) generate list of all form required for all required services from that jurisdiction including FEDex label and payment receipt
e) generate customized checklist for the services requested.
f) package (d) and (e) in SINGLE PDF which customer can download print.

e) bonus - if they can fill out US govt forms on their site directly without redirecting customers to their site and making them come back on their own site. yes, that is possible and doable (assuming there are no govt rule prohibiting that).

That will not only make customer's life easier, but also CKGS's life. Less complaints and less incomplete paperwork.

If CKGS is reading this message, I can offer consultation for free to make these improvements. I have been working on internet software for last 20 years so I think I know a thing or two about what I am talking about.

[gcwait]

Currently the website is designed to replicate the actual form filling and not from perspective of how a customer, who has no idea about details/requirements , will find/fill information.
Even though govt makes inconvenient rules, here are some of improvements CKGS can make on their site..

1) I used latest chrome browser but they still show the message that their site is only compatible with latest chrome, firefox etc. It is not hard to detect the browser and show message only to browsers which are not valid.
2) Lot of their forms ask for same information again and again. They could cache that information and fill everywhere. Or better yet, instead of making people fill the up form, they can come up with a 'my account' (not the current application based on, but based on username/password). People can fill in their details in one questionnaire and the site could fill the form automatically.
3) Entering a date is pain in their site. the widget forces you to pick year, month and date. takes tons of click. there are several javascript widgets available on internet where people can type freely and still convert it to standard format. further the date picker format is not same everyone on site. some place it is mmm/dd/yy and someplaces it is mm/dd/yy
4) the checklist is not consistent with actual documents !!! yes believe it or not, the 'additional particulars form' is not mentioned in multiple checklists but it seems to be required. i just happened to browse 'my documents' section and see that there is additional particular form. so I attached it in my packet.
5) checklist they have is pre-canned pdf which has lot of 'if SFO then this, if NYC then that' stuff. It should be trivial to generate the doc list on the fly based on information user has provided in original forms.
6) they don't seem to have a strong QA team for their software. After you pay, it gives a link to get your fedex label. that errors out. I did some searching and found it under my documents later.
7) the email which is sent out with status has text like 'To ‘Track and Trace’ please visit: {Tracking_Link} and use your tracking ID' . That {Tracking_Link} needs to be actual link.
8) track and contact at bottom takes almost 1/3 of screen.
9) here is flow they could implement to make life easier for customers in following order-
a) ask what services a customer is looking for (checkboxs - visa, renunciation, oci, etc...)
b) ask very basic info - jurisdiction, category
c) based on (a) and (b) ask on ONE form all the information that is needed (passport numbers, name, address etc)
d) ask for payment (single consolidated amount for all services requested)
d) generate list of all form required for all required services from that jurisdiction including FEDex label and payment receipt
e) generate customized checklist for the services requested.
f) package (d) and (e) in SINGLE PDF which customer can download print.

e) bonus - if they can fill out US govt forms on their site directly without redirecting customers to their site and making them come back on their own site. yes, that is possible and doable (assuming there are no govt rule prohibiting that).

That will not only make customer's life easier, but also CKGS's life. Less complaints and less incomplete paperwork.

If CKGS is reading this message, I can offer consultation for free to make these improvements. I have been working on internet software for last 20 years so I think I know a thing or two about what I am talking about.

Great! You may want to send this to [email protected] or [email protected] or http://ww1.in.ckgs.us/feedback/
Don't think they would do anything/or request your help... at least we can do our part.

[hoolahoous]

i did and got canned 'thank you' message.