Licence issue - frustrations

[pythagoras]

Hi all - this is my first post on this forum - and I had hoped that I would be rejoycing in recieving my PPL but .....

It was all I had dreamed of for the past year. All the training, exams, frustrations - I had finally passed them all. Gathered all the forms and papers together and sent them off to the CAA. 2 weeks passed and I recieved my reciept for the fee. Ok we're getting somewhere. Another week passed - getting abit concerned so decided to call the CAA. Response was " Yes sir your licence has been issued and was posted over a week ago" So where is it now? Called Royal Mail and it has not been signed for. More phone calls and they have declared it 'lost in the post' and have started searching for it!!! :mad: I can't believe it. Of all the letters to be lost - that one bit of paper that I've been so excited about getting has to go amiss. of course all the junk mail is still flooding through my letter box as if theres no tomorrow - why can't that get lost.

Does anyone have any experience of Royal Mail finding a 'lost' package. Will be on to RM first thing in the morning

Sorry about the whinge but I wanted to share my plight with people that would understand my frustration rather than the casual 'oh thats a shame dear' from the girlfriend.

[flying snapper]

BL@@DY h@ll!!!!!!!


I did have a similar situation several years ago, my letters seemed to dry up, particular problem was that there was a cheque from my insurance company to cover the cost of a ceiling replacement! After a great deal of hassel (sorry to tell you this) it was discovered that my postman couldn't be bothered delivering to my flat on the top storey. He was sacked (obviously) and my insurance did issue a replacement cheque eventually.

I am sure the CAA will treat you as a special case if your licence doesn't arrive and issue you with another one. If you can get some sort of confirmation from the post office of the problem?

Good luck! This is an appalling thing to happen - I do sympathise.:(

[Who has control?]

Pythagoras,

There is a form you can get from the Royal Mail to fill in for missing letters - I can't remember the form number but I can find out if you want.

Find out if the CAA sent it recorded delivery, and get the number of the recorded delivery ticket. It is possible to phone up & get a track of where a recorded delivery letter is in the system.

[Pythagoras's Woman]

'Oh thats a shame dear'.

Not to worry, its only a bit of paper.... :)

[Pronto]

Alternatively, go onto the Post Office website (www.royalmail.com) - there is the facility to check the status of Registered or Recorded delivery items there.

Pronto

[FlyingForFun]

Hi,

I'm sorry this has happened - must be so frustrating. I hope you're still flying, though, even though you can't take pax yet.

The only piece of hope I can offer is that Royal Mail do take these things seriously. Several years ago, mail frequently used to go missing from the house I lived in as a student. We contacted RM, who sent us the standard "missing mail" form. The form wasn't quite appropriate - we knew of about a half a dozen items of missing mail, and we'd received duplicates of all of them so we weren't worried about finding the lost items, only finding out why they were going missing and preventing the problem from continuing. But we filled in the form to the best of our ability anyway.

A couple of weeks later, we received a reply. They'd investigated the issue thoroughly, including interviewing our regular postman. The postman informed them that our postbox only led into the porch, not into the hallway, and that our porch didn't lock. He thought that someone may have been removing mail from our porch, and suggested we had a letterbox installed inside the porch so our post could be delivered to our hallway.

We were sceptical, but passed this on to our landlord, who installed a new letter box as suggested. And, from that day, we never lost another letter.

So, rest assured that they will do everything they can to find your license. And in the mean time, make sure you stay current, do some cross-coutries to airfields you haven't been to before, and practice things like stalls, PFLs and steep turns. And once your license comes through (and you get over the endless wait for suitable weather!), both your and your first pax will enoy the experience even more! :)

FFF
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[Grim Reaper 14]

I'm really sorry. No really, I am. It's just that I'm sorry for the fact that I find it amusing.... I AM sorry, if it had happened to me, I would have shouted the bleedin' roof off the place, but there is that part of me (it's ok for you to admit it too), that's giggling a bit.

Come on! Am I the only one with a heartless enough approach to actually post this reaction to the thread? It stinks, the whole situation, but it's so predictable that it'd happen eventually, it's funny.

No? Sorry, I'll get my coat.:(

[StrateandLevel]

Just ask the CAA for a replacement.

[pythagoras]

thanks for the replies. I guess its so damm rediculous ive just got to laugh. Royal mail say it hasn't been signed for but have to wait 15 days before admitting liability. I have to take my hat off to the CAA though - they have been very helpful chasing things up and will issue another if it doesnt turn up in the next couple of days. Forgot to mention - my logbook / medical was in the parcel as well.

[Holdposition]

It's almost certain that the package will be in Mount Pleasent sorting centre (London), the bloody place is so large that grown men have been know to have gone missing in there (buts that's another story:).

If you contact your local Royal Mail distribution manager (@ your local sorting office) he has the power to track this down quickly, you have to give them some stick though. However, as you have found out the CAA will issue a duplicate same day if you ask them nicely!!!


Good luck.

[FlyingForFun]

Pythagoras, I hope you photocopied your logbook before sending it to the CAA. If not, I guarantee you will the next time you need to send it to them! :D

Your logbook is probably one of the few irreplaceable possesions you have. The CAA have details of your license, and can re-issue it. The DVLA can re-issue your driving license. Your passport, birth certificate, etc. can all be replaced. But there is no way of replacing a logbook. I believe there are ways around it if you do lose it - signing an affidavit to say how much time you've got - but I'd rather not find out.

FFF
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[Grim Reaper 14]

Gonna retract my previous statement. Losing your logbook too is not funny. I'm sure it'll turn up but you must be tearing your hair out.:(

[carb]

The CAA may have mailed it to the wrong person.

Along with my newly IMC-endorsed licence a fortnight ago, I also received, in a seperare package, someone's PPL and logbook!!! I immediately mailed it on to her direct. Maybe yours has reached someone who hasn't yet decided what to do with it...

[Evo]

Carb, it hasn't been signed for, so the Royal Mail haven't delivered it yet.

However, that's actually a good thing - I had a bl**dy awful time when they delivered something to the wrong address and someone there signed for it and kept it. I got nothing, but as they had a signature it suddenly becomes "sombody else's problem" when you try and sort it out with the supplier or the Royal Mail. Fortunately free legal assitance was a bonus from my credit card company and they went in to action and sorted it quickly, but I know of people who have spent months fighting similar problems and have ended up with nothing... :(

Pythag - hope it gets sorted quickly. And enjoy it when it arrives :)

[GS-Alpha]

I recently had a licence issued. Since I live near Gatwick, I decided rather than have my logbooks sent back to me in the post, I would collect them personally when the licence was ready. I watched them write this in big letters across the top of my application.

Two weeks later, the whole lot arrived in the post! Good, it didn't get lost and it saved me a journey, but had it got lost, I would have been very peeved...

[Select Zone Five]

My passport is currently with the CAA for the issue of my PPL(A) licence. I need it back for my Class 1 medical in a weeks time! :eek: If I don't get it back in time I wonder if they can speak to the licencing dudes about it. Or will they flame me :confused:

[FlyingForFun]

SZF,

I found the medical guys extremely helpful. Far more so the the FCL guys. I'm sure if you call and explain the situation, they'd be able to sort it out for you.

FFF
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[expedite_climb]

SZF, the medical guys are across the hall from the fcl guys - give them (both) a call and get FCL to hold your passport - or to give it to medical.

[LowNSlow]

pythag hope it came in this mornings post. :) If it didn't you must be going slowly (or rapidly) nana.

FFF I did hear a story (3rd hand) about a chap who "lost" his logbook and suddenly aquired sufficient hours to apply for his ATPL. Hope I never unknowingly sip my Bloody Mary in a cabin behind him :mad:

carb I wondered what course of action you chose after getting the lady's licence by mistake. Good egg, I hope she thanked you. Did you inform the CAA of their error?

[Select Zone Five]

Thanks guys. I'll phone 'em up...PPRuNe to the rescue again :D

[pipergirl]

i actually had a lost logbook type incident with the caa before...
i dhl-ed my logbook etc to the caa and after a while, i hadn't heard anything back from the caa. so i gave them a call to check all was in order and was very promptly told nothing was ever received and that it must have been lost in the post.
so i nearly had a heart attack thinking my precious documents were lost forever....i called dhl and they traced the package. it turned out that it was signed for at the caa on a certain date, time.
i called the caa (and got the same guy) and he denied point blank that anything was received.
i argued with him and told him he had better do something and fast as it was "missing" and it was through no fault of my own.
a very short time after, the package was found in the office, unopened etc.. and they had the items for over a week.

i find the "lost in the post" thing very dubious and would follow it up. afterall, if i had not been pushy with this guy, i probably, would have received my licence sometime next year!!!
good luck and i hope all works out well for you

[pythagoras]

It has finally arrived. A week and a half after supposedly being posted by CAA. Went for a flight straight away just to check that it works! Funny thing was there was a coffee stain across the date stamp so it was impossible to see when it was posted. A couple of things that I learnt from the Royal mail though which I thought were interesting
Although they were telling me that it was posted on the 18th and gave me the recorded delivery number, this doesn't mean it HAS been posted. The CAA has a role of these stickers and any one (even still on the role) would show as having been posted on Royal Mail records.
I assumed that because I was given the number that it was posted - wrong

Recorded delivery does not track the parcel on its route - only logged when it has been signed for

I think the cock up was at CAAs end.

[flying snapper]

Congratulations!!

You must be relieved.

Has your girlfriend said "Oh well, All's well that ends well" yet?

[Holloway]

Got to admit that would really P@ss me off! Hope u get it sorted soon :)

[Select Zone Five]

Phoned up the CAA yesterday to check progress on my licence and they say they have no record of my application. It was hand delivered! :mad:

There MUST be a problem because the fee has not been debited from my credit card yet and they took my class 1 medical fee practically before I 'd even hung up the phone from booking it! :mad: