They did not lose them!
WOW!! Our documents are on their way back to us (gotta love UPS tracking)! I had them returned to my office so I can get them out to the agency ASAP. I should have them by early afternoon and can get them out to the agency before I head home tomorrow. This of course assuming they apostilled everything. I had documents returned one time because they could not find the notary had been registered with the state.
I did not mean for this to be the time to share this story, but since we are on the subject I'll go ahead and tell the story. THis happened sometime in early December, I think...I have had so many adventures with the this "fine" state office I cannot remember the actual timing of this, but here is what happened...
We were getting our final documents ready for Russia. I had sent the dossier to be apostilled and it was in the mail back to us the day after they received it. I was still naive about state workers at the time (I have grown much wiser after dealing with them - LOL) and was jumping up and down with joy that they were done so quickly. I get the package only to find out that they did not apostille all the documents. The documents notarized by my friend Gaby (who I know is a true Notary Public - i paid for it and was there when she was sworn in) were not apostilled. There was a note telling me she was not a Notary Public. So I call the Notary Unit...which as a side note is an adventure in itself. I was on the phone literally for an hour being transferred amongst various state agencies - apparently noone knows where or who the notary unit is. When I finally got to the right place I was told what the letter already stated. I explained that the Gaby was a Notary, and gave my reasons. The response was "well the computer says she isn't" AH...I see...the all knowing computer. To back track a little, the package I sent contained a letter with three different phone numbers to contact me if there was a problem with the documents. OK fast forward...I ask why I was not called. I was told "We are too busy to call people". Fine...whatever...keeping the ultimate goal in mind and trying to remember I may need these people again in the future, I bit my tongue and did not respond. OK...so how do we resolve this. She explains to me that she would need to contact the county to verify that Gaby was indeed a notary. I think...and why was this not done when the documents were still in their possession??? But again I bite my tongue. I say fine. She tells me to call back in an hour. Fine...I call back in an hour. After speaking with 3 people in the office the original lady gets back on the phone and asks me what the county said. I said what? She repeats, what did the county say? I say...I thought YOU were calling the county. Oh, she says. I didn't cuz I thought you were. I am dumbfounded and cannot even think of what to say!! Finally she says, call back in an hour and I'll call the county in the meantime. Fine. I wait 2 hours and call back. She says "Good news, Gaby is a notary" - yeah no kidding. So now what? She tells me to send the documents back and they will apostille them. I asked if I could just bring them in and get them apostilled while I wait? She asked how many....12. Her response: Oh no, there is no way we could do 12 in one day. (I wish I could be a state employee and feel overwhelmed by stapling a certificate to a piece of paper...12 times....oh my...what stress). Anyway...I sent the documents in and waited for them to be returned...and waited...and waited...OK the wait was only 3 or 4 days before I started getting worried. I called on the 5th day and they had no record of having received them. Thank god for UPS tracking. I was able to tell them when they were received and who signed for them. The manager of the department finally admitted to me that they were signed for by their department but they could not find them. Now let me take a side step here and explain that it took about 4 months to get all the paperwork together in the first place!! Ok back to the story....for the next few days I called Monica (the manager) only to be told the same thing...they do not know where they are, they are probably in another department and we have to wait for them to be returned....great. But she promises me she will call as soon as they find them...yeah right. Anyway, in the meantime i start to gather the documents again. I also checked UPS nightly to see if by any chance the documents were in the mail yet. One night when I had given up hope, I saw the words..."In transit"!!! Yippee...they were on their way back to us. Got the documents and sent them off to the agency for submission to Russia....
I did not mean for this to be the time to share this story, but since we are on the subject I'll go ahead and tell the story. THis happened sometime in early December, I think...I have had so many adventures with the this "fine" state office I cannot remember the actual timing of this, but here is what happened...
We were getting our final documents ready for Russia. I had sent the dossier to be apostilled and it was in the mail back to us the day after they received it. I was still naive about state workers at the time (I have grown much wiser after dealing with them - LOL) and was jumping up and down with joy that they were done so quickly. I get the package only to find out that they did not apostille all the documents. The documents notarized by my friend Gaby (who I know is a true Notary Public - i paid for it and was there when she was sworn in) were not apostilled. There was a note telling me she was not a Notary Public. So I call the Notary Unit...which as a side note is an adventure in itself. I was on the phone literally for an hour being transferred amongst various state agencies - apparently noone knows where or who the notary unit is. When I finally got to the right place I was told what the letter already stated. I explained that the Gaby was a Notary, and gave my reasons. The response was "well the computer says she isn't" AH...I see...the all knowing computer. To back track a little, the package I sent contained a letter with three different phone numbers to contact me if there was a problem with the documents. OK fast forward...I ask why I was not called. I was told "We are too busy to call people". Fine...whatever...keeping the ultimate goal in mind and trying to remember I may need these people again in the future, I bit my tongue and did not respond. OK...so how do we resolve this. She explains to me that she would need to contact the county to verify that Gaby was indeed a notary. I think...and why was this not done when the documents were still in their possession??? But again I bite my tongue. I say fine. She tells me to call back in an hour. Fine...I call back in an hour. After speaking with 3 people in the office the original lady gets back on the phone and asks me what the county said. I said what? She repeats, what did the county say? I say...I thought YOU were calling the county. Oh, she says. I didn't cuz I thought you were. I am dumbfounded and cannot even think of what to say!! Finally she says, call back in an hour and I'll call the county in the meantime. Fine. I wait 2 hours and call back. She says "Good news, Gaby is a notary" - yeah no kidding. So now what? She tells me to send the documents back and they will apostille them. I asked if I could just bring them in and get them apostilled while I wait? She asked how many....12. Her response: Oh no, there is no way we could do 12 in one day. (I wish I could be a state employee and feel overwhelmed by stapling a certificate to a piece of paper...12 times....oh my...what stress). Anyway...I sent the documents in and waited for them to be returned...and waited...and waited...OK the wait was only 3 or 4 days before I started getting worried. I called on the 5th day and they had no record of having received them. Thank god for UPS tracking. I was able to tell them when they were received and who signed for them. The manager of the department finally admitted to me that they were signed for by their department but they could not find them. Now let me take a side step here and explain that it took about 4 months to get all the paperwork together in the first place!! Ok back to the story....for the next few days I called Monica (the manager) only to be told the same thing...they do not know where they are, they are probably in another department and we have to wait for them to be returned....great. But she promises me she will call as soon as they find them...yeah right. Anyway, in the meantime i start to gather the documents again. I also checked UPS nightly to see if by any chance the documents were in the mail yet. One night when I had given up hope, I saw the words..."In transit"!!! Yippee...they were on their way back to us. Got the documents and sent them off to the agency for submission to Russia....
posted by Kim @ 9:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home