I was in need of my first passport as per my employer and given a relatively short period of time to get it. After talking to a passport agent (fed. Gov.) I was told that I would probably not be able to get it in time. I then went to uspassportnow.com and called them to ask how their service works. I proceeded to pay the expedited service fee which is $99.00 plus $30.00 shipping. While completing the check list that they provide I got to the step that states
"Travel Itinerary or Business Letter:
Submit a copy of your ticket for travel or a travel itinerary from an airline or travel agency.
If you don't have a travel itinerary or have questions regarding this step, please call your case manager."
I called my case manager (Andrea) to notify them at uspassportnow.com that I did not yet have an itinerary. They said that this was not a problem.
I then went to City Hall in Auburn, WA to finish my application. I told the agent that I would be taking my application with me and mailing it to uspassportnow. The agent asked to see my itinerary at which point I told her that I had not yet bought my plane ticket. She said that I would need one in order to process my application as a "hand carry". I told the agent that uspassportnow advised me that having an itinerary was unnecessary. The agent told me that I was apparently lied to, and ultimately the my passport application would be processed just as timely (assuming no deficiencies or discrepancies in my application).
I submitted my application through agent at city hall and called uspassportnow to explain that I was ill-advised and that I would like a refund minus the $50.00 non-refunable processing fee. I was told by uspassportnow that since it had been more than 24 hours none of the fee was refundable. Further, it was tersely explained to me that I could not have been advised that it was unnecessary to provide an itinerary for expediting a passport application.
Rest assured, the ONLY reason I made a phone call asking about the itinerary was because I did not have one. At that point, had I been told that an itinerary was a requirement, I would have cancelled as it had only been 15 minutes.
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