CoHo in County Durham

Sent my passport to Durham for renewal 2 weeks ago, no communications from anyone at this office of its arrival even though it was sent via special delivery, I was told that apparently it closed down about 5 days ago due to 'storm damage' but the building doesn't look like there is any storm damage, they don't even know where my application is, they haven't even scanned it on their computers, customer service don't even know if the office is open, Useless, what is the point of customer services if they cannot track applications and they cannot give any updates, or help you to locate your application?

The Durham Passport Office is the kind of place you only visit when you need to, but they make the experience as smooth as possible. The staff were efficient and professional, helping to get everything sorted quickly. While it's not somewhere you'd choose to spend your day, the location is a bonus – there's plenty to do around Durham while you wait. From charming cafes to historic sights, you can easily pass the time exploring the nearby area. It’s as good an experience as you can have when dealing with important documents! Five stars for making a necessary task feel a bit more enjoyable.

Vine por el cumpleaños de mis amigos y tomé el té de la tarde prosecco sin fondo. Optó por pagar £ 10 para actualizar a cócteles. La comida y las bebidas eran preciosas, el servicio 5 estrellas y el personal muy amable. Sin duda volveremos y recomendaremos a amigos y familiares 😀

Paid for the premium service, arrived as instructed 10mins before my appointment. 25mins after my appointment still sat here. Nothing has been said. About 50 people now waiting and 2 staff. Top class service 👏

Booked an appointment for Tuesday afternoon for the premium passport service. Arrived at Durham and the first impression we got was the rude, insensitive security guard on the door. His attitude was disgraceful and he was extremely unhelpful. During the appointment we were told the passport would most likely be arriving on Friday morning for our flight or by Saturday. It is now Tuesday and it’s still not arrived. We have called the passport office over 20 times and received a different answer every time, the workers were clueless, unhelpful - telling us the passport may have been destroyed, or that it’s on the way, or that it’s been downgraded to a standard service: literally a made up answer every time we have called. On Sunday we were told we would be contacted in the morning by Durham about the status of the passport, however we have received no phone calls or emails. We have paid over £200 and missed our holiday due to their lack of concern, help or care. This is disgraceful.

Fast and efficient when paying for last track passport at Durham

1 week fast track. Had my interview on Saturday. Pleasant staff very helpful. Within 2 hours of the interview I received an email confirmation that it is being printed. Received my passport tuesday. 5 stars very happy.

Lost passport 1 week before the holiday so ordered a new one with the 1 week service and fingers crossed. Interview at Durham was Friday and email has just arrived to say passport will arrive Tuesday. Excellent service

Super easy and efficient service. Booked the appointment online, went in, they took the details and old passport and two days later a new one had arrived.

Was given a 07;20 appointment place doesn't open until 08:30.... Good going HM passport office

We paid for the super fast service as we were travelling in a couple of days. Got printed quickly. There was an issue with our appointment time as they’d allowed us to book one for 7.50pm, despite them closing at 3pm that day. They told us over the phone to just turn up earlier and it was fine in the end. Very quick. In and out in ten mins with new passport.

Outrageous service, done 7 countersignatures and still not good enough. Money wasting, time wasted. Deffinetly do not recommend. !!!

Efficient, effective and with great customer service ...👍🏼👌

Quite inefficient in that the passport application booklet asks for one pirce of evidence confirming name in current use and one showing name change which has taken place when they actually want two of the former. I would have submitted it all together if they had asked for it, but instead i have to waste time requesting extra documents from my employer which the booklet did not specify was required.

My daughter held her engagement party here on a Friday evening and the staff could not have done any more to make it perfect. The venue itself is lovely with a terrace overlooking the river. We left the decorations at the venue at lunchtime and the staff put everything together perfectly. The canapés were plentiful and very tasty. Although we did not have exclusive use of the venue, it didn't matter as the room is an L shape. I would highly recommend CoHo as a venue for an engagement party.

Passport renewed in less than a week. Fantastic Service Second passport renewal in a year. Posted application Wednesday, new passport received Tuesday the following week. Took no time at all. Super fast service

My wife did the online application 2 weeks ahead. The passport photo had been accepted by the computer as “Very Good”. 20 hours (!!!) before the appointment, my wife received a message that her photo had been rejected..

Quick service, helpful and friendly person helped me replace a lost passport. If you have your stuff ready on arrival you should be in and out in less than ten minutes. Did the one-week fast track service on a Saturday afternoon, they said it would take eight days to arrive but it arrived in only four days. Love the new darker passport too, looks more black than blue to my eyes but really nice all the same. Chuffed to bits!

Thank you so much to the Durham office , went on Monday 22nd Jan 14 30 appt 2024 ,passport delivered Thurs 25th Feb, just as well as going away Wed 31st Feb I was distraught , the girl was calm kind and informed me I'd have my passport and be able to go on holiday which I have , wish I'd taken girls name , may be someone can trace her and Thank her so much

I’m so impressed with the service. I applied on line; the process was very easy. The passport office sent me emails throughout the process with updates. I received my passport within a week. Outstanding service! Thank you 😊

Exceptional service, marked by a genuine smile and a personalized touch. Chose the online fast-track passport renewal collection, arrived early, and received prompt attention. The entire process wrapped up in just 10 minutes. Much appreciated!

All good. Applied on Monday morning, Thursday passport delivered by Royal Mail. Thank you.

Spent about 6 hours in COHO on Saturday afternoon. The bar has a great atmosphere and is in a lovely location overlooking the river. The reason we stayed so long was undoubtedly the friendly staff. Bar manager Catherine was pretty much part of our gang by the time we left! We even got free shots for the (not even an) inconvenience of having to move tables when a group booking arrived. Would highly recommend this bar and we’ll definitely be going back.

The most friendly cafe/bar, I have visited in a very long time. The staff are simply excellent, which makes for a very friendly atmosphere. I called on 8/12/23 during the day as I had arrived early for my Passport Office appointment. This cafe/bar is situated nest door to the Passport office and great place to wait if you have arrived early for your appointment.

Had 2 coho burgers, being named after the business you would think this burger would be the best of the best…… it was not. The burger pattie was a cheep thin tiny piece of meat, the kind of burgers you get in a pack of 50 for £10 from Costco. The meat was so thin that the lettuce they put in the burger was thicker then the meat and bacon combined. Can’t fault the cheese tho. When we finished eating we went to the Christmas market we had just been to and got some decent food from a good truck due to how disappointed and hungry we still was. Music was blasting so loud we couldn’t hear the waitress or each other. Manager seemed to be more interested in strutting about then actual customer satisfaction

Very lazy and slow procedure and staff. Not answering properly. Asking for those documents again which have been provided already. Just try to waste our time and showing their incompetence. Applied in July 2023 and its 29 November 2023 still no hope.

Delivery has to be made more flexible. Because I was unable to rearrange the delivery address with DHL because you were unable to change the options for delivery, I just spent 2 hours and ended up having to walk an additional 3 km on dirt roads and building sites in utter darkness because the DHL point in Pratteln Switzerland is in the middle of nowhere!!!! On top of it, I am looking forward to receive my original documents I had to send 3 lots of and you still failed to add my maiden name on my new passport. I will not take on another 2 hour journey I just did today, so you need to make sure the rest of my documents are delivered in such a way that I can have them delivered to an alternative address or at least not having to sign for them upon delivery!!!! It is the worst service I have ever experienced in my life and I hate to think how many others have had to go through similar experiences when dealing with the British Passport Service. Even in Africa they are more civilised and respectful and willing to help than you are. For a British National company, you should think twice about outsourcing passport and consular services nationally and abroad. You should feel ashamed of yourselves!!!!!! At least I have my passport now, but my original birth certificate will be on its way back to you because I was to frightened to collect at one of the scarcely few pickup points here in Switzerland. And you cannot expect a middle class earner to have ridiculous expenses just because you are unable to provide a better and more efficient way of delivering important documents!

The passport office asked me for an obsolete document that the emigration office had already consumed in a marriage visa application and no longer available. My little girl was born in the UK and I'm British so her passport should have been an automatic issue and my wife's papers had already been cleared by immigration. The passport officer seemed to be trying to reinvent the wheel. No wonder why passports take so long to get out of the door. I would never use this passport office again. We pay a lot of money for this service I expect better.

Absolute joke over 2 months been waiting for daughters renewal passport. We live oversea and work overseas. They have all paperwork was marked as urgent was approved by management and 2 examiners and still waiting. No emails no updates no exclamation no apologises no passport and hardly no time left l am at the end of my teether.

Absolutely fantastic service 👏 I had an appointment for 11:00 on the 17/10/2023 got there at 10:00 where upon the gentleman on the door took my name I then went through the process and finished at 10:10 I then received my new passport and old passport three days later at 12:00 outstanding service. Many thanks.

Can't recommend durham passport office enough, they were so helpful and friendly, done fast track passport for my daughter I didn't realise I had to get daughter to sign the form so had to bring form back home to sign but they rebooked my appointment for the next day with no problems, next day I took it back complet,that was on the Wednesday and the Saturday her passport arrived which said would be here no later than the next Thursday, appointment was super quick too. All staff were friendly too.

Absolutely abhorrent behaviour to let me pay £80 - funded by a charity because I'm on disability benefits and couldn't afford it otherwise - for a passport without telling me it would only be valid for one year. I put in a complaint and was absolutely shut down. Total lack of empathy, apology, or explanation. So awful to deceive/con someone into a purchase. I can't get more funding either because it was a one-off. Disgraceful.

We ordered the tapas 5 for £32 deal which was great value, the plates were a great size, we were full by the end and the food was really nice! We went around 1pm and it was still pretty quiet, all staff friendly

Very quick and efficient visit, and the staff were pleasant and helpful.

Applied for passport with new name 2 month ago for parent... we gave up with the shoddy system (nobody knows what the others are doing) and asked for our documents to be sent back to us. Was initially told they would send them back, no questions asked... rang up a week later and was told oh no you need to send a letter stating you want the docs back. Sent the letter 'signedfor. Rang up a week later 'we haven't received a letter shpiel' gave them the tracking number and proof it had been received... "oh yes sorry about that". Another week gone by finally someone with common sense says "I'll note to the examiner you want the docs sending back even though we have lost your letter". Absolute between leeds/durham they couldn't come to that conclusion 3 weeks ago.

Very quick and efficient received passport within 4 days

Had a lovely lunch here, the 5 tapas deal (£35 I think) was great value and extremely tasty. The location is right by the river and the service was really good. We will most definitely come here again. 100% recommended.

Had an absolute nightmare of an experience with this office. I initially applied in March of 2023. After no progress on my application after weeks according to online tracking, I contacted the office. Was assured that everything was fine and things were just backed up. Had to contact the office upwards of 5 times by phone because there was still zero progress on my application after months. Finally, I receive an email from the office. They said that one of my documents was either fake or a photocopy. I emailed back to assure that it was the original version and that it was just from Ireland (and I’d be surprised if they don’t receive documentation Ireland often?). No response for days. I followed up via email to confirm that this document was satisfactory. Received an email back saying “yes, it’s satisfactory.” So no one was going to confirm if I hadn’t followed up, and I was just going to be left in limbo. Finally, I thought the nightmare was over on August 7, when my passport application was approved and my passport printed. Apparently not, as I was told that the passport would be mailed to me via express mail and my documents would shortly follow within 3 weeks. Today, I signed for my delivery, expecting my passport. Instead, I received my documents. So the wrong envelope had been labelled for express delivery by the passport office. I am yet to receive my passport, which I applied for on March 13, 2023. I cannot stress enough how frustrating it has been to deal with so many inept workers. At every step of the way, the staff were unhelpful and, frankly, too lazy to do their job with any degree of care.

Everyone was so helpful and understanding!! I needed a passport ASAP after not knowing about the 10 year rule. They helped me get sorted and I managed to join my family a few days later. Great service, thanks!!

Absolutely brilliant service. I needed a fast track passport for my son. Booked an appointment easily online. Filled out a paper application, took along with supporting documents and was seen early, by a lovely lady. I was in and out in 10 minutes, and the passport arrived in two days (they said up to 8 days). Not sure why there’s so many bad reviews, if you’ve filled out your form correctly and taken the correct documents, it’s such as easy process. Perfect service! Parking is easily available too, opposite the office. £2 for 2 hours - in a city, you can’t ask for much more!

Well organised, friendly and efficient service. I got my passport having paid for premium service in 4 days instead of the 8 can’t complain about that 👍

Hosted my daughters 21st birthday celebrations at this most amazing venue which is in a fantastic location overlooking the river. All her guests commented on how fabulous the venue was and the staff were outstanding and couldn’t be any more attentive, nothing was a problem and made the whole party run smoothly. We booked the welcome drinks package for our guests arriving to pink Prosecco and beers, which was set out lovely and served by the Coho staff as our guests arrived. If you are looking for a venue to host your private party we would totally recommend CoHo they are so accommodating and to have the whole venue for your guests was amazing and very special. We have now become regulars to this venue and love to either pop in for a morning coffee on the decking or Tapas and drinks in the evening which I also totally recommend. Definitely 5 out of 5 for Coho!!!! Thank you for making my daughters party so special! See you all again very soon!

I am writing to thank the Passport Office at Durham for an exemplary service today. I lost my passport recently and didn't want to take the chance of a replacement not arriving in time for my next travels. The lady I saw in Booth 11 was kindness itself and so friendly. Just thank you so much 🙏☺️

Afternoon bite to eat with my dad. Staff were lovely and friendly. Pricey as it's opposite the passport office and hotel, so has been priced accordingly for customers! The server didn't have a clue what ingredients were in the cheese savoury toastie or sweet chilli chicken. I ordered sweet chilli with melted cheese and a latte, my dad ordered ham and cheese toastie with latte. Latte's came luke warm, bear in mind the air con was on so not long before they were cold. My sweet chilli came minus melted cheese, my dad's ham and cheese toastie arrived... with melted cheese slices!!! Which stuck to his teeth. The toasted bread had a strange plastic taste to it, which was a bit off putting. Mine had a thin layer of vacuum packed chicken and a load of chilli sauce, my dad's with a slice of ham and 2 cheese slices. It doesn't cut the mustard! Especially paying £6 for a bog standard cheap toastie. Never again.

We popped in for breakfast. Eggs Benedict.....ok but not the most tasty and smothered in sauce. Husband had egg and bacon sandwich which he enjoyed. Cappuccino was well tasty and nice and hot (not always the case). Young man who looked after us was friendly. Thankyou

Met friends for a late lunch.we were seated under a speaker with the music so loud we couldn’t hear each other. We asked the waitress to lower the volume and she said it was company policy not too,but offered to move us. My chair at the new table had two wobbly arms but there were no more chairs Abdu. Despite not being near the speakers,the music was too loud for a Saturday afternoon where they claimed to serve afternoon tea. Other tables had to shout to be heard. The food was poor quality,the calamari were breaded and obviously cooked from frozen. The chorizo in red wine tasted of plastic as if it been microwaved.the the chorizo was hard,the sauce waxy,and the garlic prawns flavourless. Service was poor,and there was no atmosphere in the place. The loud music and reluctance of the staff to lower the volume was rude and inconsiderate. Not worth the money,much better places to eat in Durham

Nice place next to the river and the passport office. Sometimes there's a huge queue to watch. Sometimes part of the queue come into Co Ho. Basic food but it's good and so is the peroni. Plenty of room outside when it's sunny.

Booked this for my best friends birthday, terribly disappointed. Bread and cakes (if you can call them that) were stale. Must have been prepared hours before. Random sausage roll which was cold and looked shop bought from aldi. Desserts were tiny square and stale. Presentation was poor. Didn’t get asked how the food was once. Certainly won’t be returning, don’t be conned by what they are advertising on the photograph. Also, one of my friends has a tomato allergy and they offered to “pick” the tomatoes out with their hands (no thanks).

Decided to have lunch here as my husband was picking up his passport. Ordered two coffees and two sandwiches. Waited ages for the coffees and then even longer for the sandwiches. The wait was so long a member of staff queried multiple times where our order was..turns out the kitchen had lost our ticket. When the food came it was the most stale, dry and unappealing sandwich ever. Neither of us could even face eating it. The member of staff who had been chasing our order did say we didnt need to pay for our items because of the trouble we had, which was nice. Certainly wont be going back though.

Booked an afternoon tea, only decent thing was the sandwiches. We didn't have a variety of cakes as advertised. Deserts were four scones with jam and cream (it was an afternoon tea for 2) and this disgusting tiny square desert, Scones were very dry. Emailed to complain and over a week later still had no response. Would not go again and would definitely not recommend.

Lovely afternoon tea, just the right amount of food and the vegetarian option was well catered for and came on a separate plate, which was thoughtful. We booked on a 2 for 1 promotion which was very reasonable and bought several really lovely cocktails - also very competitively priced. Finally the staff were absolutely fantastic, nothing was a problem, great service. We are going to book again next month.

CoHo is just next to the Passport Office in Durham which is very convenient because you are not allowed in until the time of your appointment. Since we arrived in plenty of time and it was not particularly warm outside, we popped into CoHo for...

First time at CoHo on a Wowcher for afternoon tea and it was faultless. Warm welcome, nice staff and a great cocktail afternoon tea. We will definitely be back to sample breakfast (served til 12) tapas or another tea. A small but perfectly formed venue

We vistied on a quiet Tuesday night. It took a while for our food to arrive. The meals were OK, nothing special. My pizza wasn't great but my wife's Teriyaki Beef was tasty. We also ordered the Hoi Sin Duck Stir Fry - it tasted...

Found this place on a recent visit to Durham for our Wedding Anniversary. Menu looked good, so we decided to give it a go. I phoned on Tuesday,and asked about booking a table. I told the Scouse gentleman on the phone that we wanted to...

We visited the passport office, whilst waiting we sat outside and ordered drinks. Great staff & service. Went to the toilet and it was disgusting! Enough to make you sick and the flush won’t refill up unless you stand there for like 4 mins. Of...

Our small group enjoyed very nice 2 for £10 cocktails in lovely surroundings and a great location. Staff were friendly and helpful. Surprisingly was very quiet for a Friday evening. I would have come back another time for food but unfortunately no vegan options available.

I would really like to put less than one star . So two passports to renew, went online did all the necessary for both mine and my husbands. Got the reference numbers next day sent off the passports. Now here is a funny thing both applications done at the same time, but had to send the passports to two different passport offices mine went to Liverpool, my husbands went to Corby , why ? Both went next day signed for, I got confirmation of mine in Liverpool, then got confirmation all was ok and now my new passport is ready for despatch just one week later, However Corby are still not recognising that they have my husbands old passport etc. Even though it cost £6.85 with Royal Mail for next day signed for. The Royal Mail say that it has been delivered, but not signed for why ? again. Now I will have to spend hours chasing this up. If one office can do it, why can't Corby. NOT GOOD ENOUGH

Shocking, lost passport in the post and they were no help. Now having to face the prospect of cancelling my holiday

After a horrendous start with the main switchboard and spending 10 hours plus over 2 days on hold. Scott in the passport office was so incredibly helpful, emailing daily to update, trying to find a solution for me to pay the difference between an adult and child passport when no one would take payment?? He is a credit to HMPO. If I could just review Scott's customer service I would. Thank you!

Applied for 2 passport renewals for my children. One came without issue. The other has been stuck in processing since 21st December. 14 hours logged in phone calls to HM Passport office, nothing outstanding, no resolution path offered, the system is exhausting. We fly in a week and are now trying to navigate the emergency travel document process. So much stress and waste - unnecessarily.

10 weeks waiting for a renewal is quite frankly , unacceptable. Utter shambles.

Applied online 2nd of April and received my new passport today. After reading the reviews on here I was nervous 😬 I needn’t had been. They confirmed receipt of my old passport after 2 weeks. Then kept me informed of the progress.. fab service.

Based on the food, drinks and location..yes I'd recommend. Staff seemed rude and immature. We ate tapas which can be messy on your hands and when we asked for a little bowl of water (like you get in most tapas places or Italian places such...

Terrible communication no help when trying to log a lost passport. Potentially going to miss a holiday of a lifetime. Customer service shocking!

I found the passport service extremely good, infact I would say couldn't have been better. I got through on the fone without delays. My queries where answered & I was given clear instructions. I received regular updates via messages throughout whatever stage my application had reached. I was asked for new fotos as the ones I sent where not good enough. When I didn't send new ones in I was sent a reminder message to do so. I was informed once my new passport had been printed & then when it was ready to be sent. My old documents arrived back swiftly & the same afternoon I received my new one. All of this within 2 weeks of my initial application. I could not have had a better service or experience & I thank everyone involved in issuing my new passport. If I could score higher I would. Thanku.

I think you lost my husband's passport but cannot find anyone to talk to about it. His new one arrived after few weeks but the old with the the VALID VISA inside, as we live in the UAE, has not arrived yet and it's almost been 2 months (!) and we have to travel. Do you actually have an email address and could you please let me know? Where is the passport now? How can we track it? You also need to reply to the messages online, 72 hours have passed. I would really appreciate it if someone could tell me where my husband's passport is and how long it'll take to receive or find it. Thank you to a very helpful lady who I spoke with on the phone to ask some questions about the new passport, but now we can't get a hold of anyone!

When you do actually get through, calls cut off etc, they can't help and promise you a call back......which never comes. Probably the worst Government department I've dealt with and I deal with the DVLA often and they are terrible!

The passport office seems to be falling apart.... Applied online on the 20/02/2022 from overseas, however sent the old passport back to the UK for safe posting. Despite many many phone calls (never managed to actually speak to anyone) and completing the on-line complaint form - no response. The only contact is a automated message to say I should return the old passport - IT HAS BEEN RETURNED - last message said that they will cancel my application on 20/05/2022 if not received and I will not get my money back. This is the worst customer service I have every experienced.

Can someone please get back to me I’ve sent three emails for a call Back rang every day to get cut off. I need to find out where my passport is ASAP for a family emergency! My partner and I sent both our passports off to different offices in the same day hes has came back but mine hasn’t even been accepted it’s arrived even though Royal Mail has told me is been signed for ? but beings as no one’s to responded to me I am getting very frustrated and want to be informed where my passport is!

Cut long story short DO NOT SEND YORK PASSPORT HERE. I sent my daughters passport over a month ago someone by the name Joe signed for it and now it’s missing I’m still waiting on a call back but nothing. Unprofessional people.

Great venue, unfortunately the opening hours seem to be flexible to say the least and you can’t be sure whether it will be open one day to the next. Staff are friendly and helpful and the drinks and food good but the casual opening hours...

Been trying to phone for over 3 hours and can’t get through

Shocking. Initially rang to get some tracking so see when my passport was arriving. George did not provide me with it and said the delivery company will update me..they never did. Luckily my passport arrived a day before I moved house. Delivery provide by DHL who never updated me by email or mobile to provide tracking. Call again a week later to get tracking of old passport..see that DH|L need tracking..so phone passport office again. the joy. Lots of options to get through then forwarded to another so called "processing office" and put through at 13.05, still on hold at 13.19...music stops at 13.23...no ringing nothing, strange, Ive actually died? Good bye old passport lost in a void of bollox...................................................

Applied well in advance for my partners passport, might as well have spoken to a brick wall, actually that would have been more use-at least it wouldn’t have been contradictory with every phone call. Fast tracked paperwork (at our own expense, over £100), whatever they requested, had everything checked at the post office before sending it off. Requested nearly half a dozen call backs over three weeks, never received one. Now I’m taking our kids away without her, thanks for nothing.

Pathetic service. The whole system is an absolute shambles. Lost documents. No help from the twits they have sitting at home. Honestly what is the point. No actual way of getting an answer from anyone. All I want is for my documents to be returned!

Sent off my passport on the 22 march delivered to passport office on 28th/3 confirmed by correos Spanish Post. Just today 13/4 Durham confirmed they have my passport . Phew … they didnt loose it

Horrible service. They don't pick up the phone and/or the automated service waits for 5 minutes before saying they can't take call. Emails unanswered, and the all the webchat advisors 'are busy at the moment'. Would give a zero if a could.

I applied and sent my passport off on the 22/03/2022 it was first classed and signed for delivery. Royal Mail confirmed that they received my passport however it has now been 2 weeks and no one can confirm they have received it. I have called over 36 times all of which I have been told to wait. I need my passport for a family emergency, I understand that there are delays due to “Covid-19” but all I ask for is confirmation. Your best bet is to to fast track because they have no sense of urgency and it’s like they pick and chose when to pick up the phone. The land line should be free.

I'm being generous with a 1* review. Honestly the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE, useless staff. I don't even understand why they have a customer service phone line if they can't do anything but tell us the progress. We can do that online anyway. Might aswell get rid of all of them. Absolutely useless. Don't even get me started on the actual passport head office. Spend nearly 6 hours on the phone with no answer. I think we've called nearly every single working day for the past 2 weeks with no update, no progress, nothing! We sent off 3 applications together. 2 came back quickly. I spend a extra nearly 30 quid for this one to come in time for our trip. We told them we need it asap to visit a sick family member now it's not coming on time and we don't even know when it's coming so we cant rebook till we get an update. Its a bloody child passport renewal. How hard can it be? I've never spoken to such useless staff. I don't know what they do in the office/ home all day apart from drink coffee, go to the gym and answer phones where they can't even do anything in the first place. How are they going to ask us to send a hospital letter disclosing patient information. To top it off we spoke to someone today who was the first honest and helpful person we spoke to so far and she told us there were NO NOTES ON THE SYSTEM, after being told by NUMEROUS staff over the past 2 weeks that they will " put a urgent note" on the system. Don't believe it folks. They're also liars as well as incompetent.

I had my new passport within a week of it being checked at Durham Passport Office for a first adult passport with a name change. Thank you for your quick service!

Pre booked due to Covid-19 restrictions- excellent service and super quick process. Very well organised

Worst customer service I have ever experienced, spent a total of 6 hours on the phone yesterday (on my one day off from work) trying to get a hold of someone who could actually provide some information. First guy lied to us and provided the wrong information along with 4 other members of staff. Absolutely ridiculous and none of them have any sense of urgency in regards to helping people with their passports! Absolutely ridiculous, doesn’t even deserve one star!

My partner travelled four hours to get here in order to get our son a new passport. Upon arriving he was told they weren't able to speak to him and issue a passport without my consent. I was puzzled to find they wouldnt ask the same in reverse (if I attended on my own to collect a passport for my son). Absoloutely disgraceful. Here we are making great noises around equality for women - equal pay, equal opportunities, laws on gender discrimination etc and a father cant collect a passport for his son. HM Passport Office should be utterly embarassed by this.

Spent 3 months and 17 communication exchanges with HM Passport Office to renew my son's passport and still no result. Absolute shambles. The last time I renewed it was managed by an office in Paris that turned around the application in 3 weeks... I would give minus stars, but there is no option.

Review after review of exactly the experience I am getting from all over the world. I live in the USA and just need a renewed passport ( 100 pounds) and every time I call and spend $100-200 waiting on hold (over 45 minutes 3x), I get told that no one in the progress office is available, from a 1st layer employee who have no answers, but I am getting emails and texts asking to send my documents. I sent them 4-5 weeks ago and they where signed for as DHL tracking shows they received them over 2 weeks ago. I keep getting emails stating they haven't received my passport documents. I am stuck in limbo. I have no options, no passport and a system that is completely broken. Basically I am a UK citizen with no ability to get a passport from their country of birth. I haven't been home for 3 years due to C19 and it looks unlikely I will be any time soon at this rate. I am shocked and disgusted at how horrible and how inadequate this service is. I dont have any options but to keep calling and spending $100s of dollars to try and resolve this but it is a quest doomed to failure at this point. So saddened.

Absolutely useless. Waiting times ridiculous and it dosnt matter how many times you ring them or how long your waiting for they don't seem to know anything.

I wish I could remember the young lad who helped me out, but he was fantastic and really knowledgeable and helped me even though I messed up my paperwork! Got me in and out really quickly and my passports arrived in less then a week! Amazing service all around!

Ms Keela hung up on me after i explained my situation. I hope the calls are recorded because this was very rude. Thanks for making me wait in a que and not even bothering to listen to my query.

Worst customer service you could possibly recieve, 2weeks and waiting for call back. Ive had an emergency arise while waiting for passports and recieved no help what so ever from HM PASSPORT! All phone staff are useless, cant provide a single bit of information at all!! Whats the point of having phone handlers who only pass you through to progress team who literally do not answer. 4hours on hold and still no answer, and thats 5days of calling and everytime on hold. 0 stars is what they deserve.

I'm being generous with a 1* review. Honestly the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE, useless staff. I don't even understand why they have a customer service phone line if they can't do anything but tell us the progress. We can do that online anyway. Might aswell get rid of all of them. Absolutely useless. Don't even get me started on the actual passport head office. Spend nearly 6 hours on the phone with no answer. I think we've called nearly every single working day for the past 2 weeks with no update, no progress, nothing! We sent off 3 applications together. 2 came back quickly. I spend a extra nearly 30 quid for this one to come in time for our trip. We told them we need it asap to visit a sick family member now it's not coming on time and we don't even know when it's coming so we cant rebook till we get an update. Its a bloody child passport renewal. How hard can it be? I've never spoken to such useless staff. I don't know what they do in the office all day apart from drink coffee and answer phones where they can't even do anything in the first place. How are they going to ask us to send a hospital letter disclosing patient information. Are they actually thick? It's obvious hospital won't allow it due to patient confidentiality. And to top it off it wasn't even a UK hospital but one in Bangladesh! LOL. To top it off we spoke to someone today who was the first honest and helpful person we spoke to so far and she told us there were NO NOTES ON THE SYSTEM, after being told by NUMEROUS staff over the past 2 weeks that they will " put a urgent note" on the system. Don't believe it folks. They're also liars as well as incompetent.

Applied for a renewal passport on line 28th January and received my new passport 22nd February. Considering I am not resident in the UK that is very fast. Excellent service.

Unhelpful, didn’t take my call, sent an email with false reasons as to the rejection of my child’s first passport. YOU accepted my documents previously for my own passport, but now reject them for my child’s? shocking. Waited two months with no response!!!!

Don't pick up the phone, I send my application in December for a Childs renewal of passport from International Sydney. I know they received the documents as these were signed for via recorded mail. Now I keep receiving emails asking me to send her old expired passport (how is that possible you have told me you have this and have acknowledged this on the 19th Jan 2022, today is the 17th February 2022). I have even mailed my daughters original birth certificate (signed for and received by this office on the 25th Jan at 9.15am). I am being requested by emails to send this document again as they have not received her expired passport and birth certificate (both are at your office).

What can I say, found ourselves in a predicament and attended a renewal appointment for my 15 year old son with less than 72 hours before we travelled. Everyone we've dealt with has gone above and beyond and today, 48 hours after we attended I have just had delivered a new passport. I can't thank the staff enough, thank you all for your efforts and chasing things up for me. Thank you so much 👍

HM Passport Offices communication is very poor and operates like the UK is a third world country!

Excellent Fast track service for my son's passport. We went in on the Wednesday morning and the passport was delivered by Friday in time for our holiday.

because i now live in Spain , Durham passport office has so far taken since SEPTEMBER 2021 TILL NOW 04/02/2022 AND IT WAS WITHDRAWN BECAUSE THEY SAY......... I DID NOT SEND DOCUMENTS WITCH I DID !! SEEMS TO ME NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE DOING !!! AND THEY EVEN SENT ME AN EMAIL SAYING IT WAS THERE FAULT

Possibly the worst service I have ever experienced. It took far too long to get through on the phone queue, which I had to go through many times due to a poorly functioning service. Far too many options and automatic messages to listen to in the phone queue. After I had sent my passport for renewal I received email messages with missing content and nonsensical instructions numerous times saying my passport was damaged, even though I had used it to travel 2 months prior to sending it for renewal. Therefore, I was forced to call the office but it was almost impossible to speak to a member of staff who could actually help me with my case, and provide details or instructions for which documents to send, and understand what the nature of the damage was. It was not helpful that the staff were unable able to ring me back on my foreign number (because I currently live outside the UK), despite the fact the whole process costs a lot of money and should surely cover the cost of a short phone call or even just an email with some information. I was told to send official copies of my passport when the passport office had already received it. How is this possible? Some staff members were helpful like the manager, others were useless and could not give me any information whatsoever and another gave me incorrect information - told me to send my birth certificate, which later turned out to be incorrect advice. I am relieved I won't have to go through this process for another 10 years. Wanted to give zero stars but that wasn't an option

I rang the Durham Office today .( After a long menu of options) I quickly spoke to Nadia . I received a quick and expert answer to my query . Very impressed ,Thank you .