LondonAussie

Thanks for sharing that, it seems the eGates are above complaints!

Honestly who comes up with a response that says I want to assure you all complaints are taken seriously and used to improve services, but then goes on to say they are "unable" to accept this complaint.

I also plan to send in a complaint, might be wishful thinking but hoping if more people complain they might actually look into it instead of just dismissing the complaint as invalid!

1Aturnleft

I made a similar complaint pre covid via my local MP and got an almost word for word response to the one above. At least when confronted by over eager tensa chaperones at UK airports as to why I've not even tried the machines I have the whole range of examples to reel off to counter their prosests. I'll consider complaining to HMPO when renewing my passport citing the technological discrimination that exists which prevents me from using the machines available and see where that gets me.... not very far I shouldn't wonder. I've also wondered whether to setup a MCOL against HMPO if the complaint amounts to nothing and reclaim the cost of my passport back that way.... but seeing as this is all at least 3yrs away I wont be reporting back anytime soon.
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binman

[QUOTE=Spongthrush;34992501]I had a go at the complaints procedure....response below....I was a bit of a 'Karen' by replying that I wasn't happy with this response, my angle being more that the technology is a waste of my taxes and that given my vetting and unique real name etc I really don't think that I am on a watch list nor have I been cloned by someone who is. Am looking forward to arrival at T5 in 14 hours...

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the ongoing difficulties you are experiencing at the UK border.
This has been passed to me as the officer responsible for handling your complaint. Before I respond to your specific concerns, I would like to assure you all complaints about Border Force and the services we provide are treated seriously and are used as an opportunity to improve services and ensure lessons are learned.
In line with our usual procedures, I have asked the operational manager to assess the circumstances relating to the matter you have complained about. With this work now complete I have based my response on their findings.
All persons entering the UK have to be checked without exception. One of the key functions of Border Force is assuring the identity of all persons seeking permission to enter the UK and their eligibility to enter. Automated border controls play a role in this function meaning that face-to-face and electronic checks are two methods of conducting the same process.
Although the ePassport gates work in part by using facial recognition technology to compare the faces of eligible passengers to images held in their biometric ePassports, this is in addition to biographical and security checks. As a result, there are a number of technical and security reasons why a person’s passport may fail to be accepted by the ePassport gates. This can lead to the type of problem you have been experiencing and in these circumstances a Border Force officer is on hand to process the passengers who are unable to use them. I am of course unable to provide any assurance that the ePassport gates will accept your passport in the future, as it would be inappropriate for me to do so.
Border Force is an operational command of the Home Office

I am sure you can appreciate that our priority is to ensure border security is maintained at all times. I can assure you that Border Force officers have no wish to intervene in anyone’s journey more than is absolutely necessary to fulfil our important duties.
In light of the above, on this occasion I am unable to uphold your complaint and I trust my response has explained the reasons why.
If you believe this complaint has not been dealt with in the right way you may contact us at the email address above and a correspondence manager with no previous involvement in this case will review the process used to look into your complaint, to ensure it was both appropriate and followed correctly. You must do this within one month of the date of this letter.
Yours sincerely
B.Bowen Correspondence Officer[/QUOTe

translation

we are Border Force
we are important
we don’t care what you think
we have power and will exercise it
we are unaccountable

stifle

That would simply be throwing good money after bad, because:
1) The passport fee is expressed as a fee for processing the application, not the cost of the passport;
2) Issuance of British passports is an exercise of the Royal Prerogative, in other words passports are issued on behalf of the crown, and "the crown can do no wrong"; and
3) You would be outside the 6 year statute of limitations.

Saladman

Out of interest what are people hoping for as a decent resolution from the complaint? The eGates work for the vast majority of the users (over 90%) and the U.K. are the most generous in who can use them. I couldn’t use them in the US or Japan (a two hour wait to see an official) or Greece or Seoul (it was 2019 - may be better now). Singapore had one long snaking lane to two gates but locals had far more. Sydney was the only other easy place with plenty of gates. Not tried Canada or NZ.

The point being that despite a tiny minority of people with poor technique and/or a name with some similar characteristics to a name on a watchlist, the eGates are pretty successful and can easily process far more people than the human counterpart.

mwp1

Thought I’d share what the girl at passport control said to me in BLL yesterday .

those luggage receipts they attach to your passport when checking in luggage, can be the reason your passport gets rejected at e-gates as they interfere with the chip

mine has a few still attached and I always get rejected at e gates

corporate-wage-slave

RFIDs can create interference but, um, I wouldn't spend long contemplating this one.

travelsbyplane

My own recent experience is as follows: arriving into LHR T3 and observing people using the e-Gates ahead of me before I attempted. Of what I saw probably around 1 in 4 people were rejected. That's not me saying that 1 in 4 people are always rejected, but rather what I saw at that point in time where I was standing, so I'm not trying to create statistics. I noticed a few people were initially rejected and then were asked to try again. I guess maybe this could indicate incorrect technique? Others including myself were rejected immediately, which maybe implies rejection for other reasons. I'm not sure I'm just speculating. I can really appreciate people's frustrations though. Yes, there is an alternative i.e. going to a border officer, but for me the biggest frustration is not knowing why it fails. However I can also understand why this information can never be detailed.

I tried the ReadID app, originally with my old passport early last year and that failed to pick up the chip. This reassured me that it could have just been a faulty chip. Since getting a new blue UK passport ReadID now picks up the chip, but sadly I still get rejected at the e-Gates. I still always try the e-Gates first though as for all I know they could suddenly start working for me in the future.

Good luck to those who have raised complaints.

centuk

Has anybody else tried this Subject Access Request route?

Border force/HMPO/Home office redress?

kingstontoon

So noticing this thread is active again, I can update that no, it wasn't OK the next time (T5), nor upon arrival into LGW from Turin last month (it did of course work the new Italian gates in TRN both ways). I quite robustly - but cheerfully - queried the issue with the lovely official at LGW and was given the "similar name" reason that time.

Accepting my fate, I was therefore most surprised to turn up slightly inebriated at the STN e-gates on Sunday evening to be allowed through on the first attempt. I think I was actually dancing my way through customs! So perhaps the solution is to turn up drunk, badly slide your passport in and wobble a bit when the camera tries to focus on you!

DaveS

Were you drunk when you did your passport photo?

stifle

Any information that might help one to get to the bottom of one's problems would almost certainly be considered exempt from the right of access on national security grounds, see for example sections 26 and 45 (4) of the Data Protection Act 2018.

simonsmith

I have not been able to use the E gates ever since they were installed . Iris worked fine . I can use E gates in other countries with no problem where I am allowed to .
I also complained and then went to my MP who was vigorous in his taking on of it . He eventually just got pushback in that it fell under the secrets act .
One border control staff eventually admitted it was because there was someone out there that they were interested in with a similar name . He told me it was my fault for being a Smith and that Patels also have the same problem ! He laughed .
My issue is that once they have associated your passport with you by doing a visual , why this can’t be noted and so it does not have to be done time and again .
I also feel that this has a discriminatory element to it , ie being a Smith is a problem . There are other markers that would cause headlines if they were used .
The only advantage is that my better half is the first to the baggage belt !

roberino

Well that plays to my strengths so I’m more than happy to give it a shot (pun intended). To be of value I’d need to try it a statistically significant number of times though.

kingstontoon

Alas no, and my current passport photo actually does look like me (whereas the previous one - which always worked - didn't so much after 8 years).