Dear Claudienne,

I misplaced my birth certificates after moving to a new house.

As I needed a copy of my birth certificate in order to renew my passport, I have made many frustrating visits to the head office of the Registrar General’s Department. At the RGD I have been disrespected by both customer service representatives and a supervisor. This is ironic as they have a plaque mounted at the office that speaks to their customer service code of conduct.

I have lost many productive hours from work without a resolution. It seems that all the RGD is concerned with is collecting money rather than customer satisfaction. I applied for new copies of my birth certificate (express service) online using my birth entry number and my correct and full name, as well as my parents’ correct and full names.

When I received copies of my birth certificate, upon examination I realised that my mother’s first name was spelt incorrectly – an ‘E’ instead ‘I’. That is, I got “Dezrene” as opposed to “Dezrine”.

I have been trying to have the RGD correct the error which they made. However, I was told that I “do not work at the RGD so I should not tell them that there was an error on their part”.

The RGD claimed to have checked their saved records and established that my spelling of “Dezrine” was incorrect.

The RGD said that the records show my mother’s name to be “Dezrene”. They have told me that I must pay to have the spelling of her name corrected through the process of a Correction of Error.

I will not pay for an error I did not make. If I made an error I would have accepted culpability but I am no fool. They need to have better checks of their systems and retrain the staff in customer service. It goes a long way.

All my legal documents – insurance, licence, bank accounts, previous birth certificates – the older written one which I am no longer in possession of and the previous embossed copy (new type which I misplaced), etc – have the correct spelling of “Dezrine” including her copy of her birth certificate as well. I find it strange that between the misplaced copies and the new ones I applied for, my mother’s legal first name would magically change or, as they say, “at the time of (my birth) registration” records indicate that what they gave me the second time around was actually correct.

I went as far as to check the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EOJ) and they too have “Dezrine”. With the new NIDS Act coming on board and the possibility of anything that could go wrong and I have to prove identity, this error will be a deterrent. It is affecting all the legal transactions I need to carry out as a legitimate citizen of Jamaica.

LB

Dear LB

Tell Claudienne contacted the RGD and they sent the column the following e-mail:

“The original and duplicate records for LB were checked to verify the spelling of the mother’s first name and the spelling was seen as DEZRENE and she also signed her name as DEZRENE and not DEZRINE as stated by the customer. Refer to tracking number 0802-0283-8548.

We are therefore recommending that the customer apply for a Correction of Error to correct the mother’s first name on the birth record.

A Correction of Error (CE) is a record updating activity which allows the RGD to amend a birth, marriage and or death record after an error of fact has been identified by the RGD.

According to the Registration (Birth and Death Act) 1881 section 51 (c), a Correction of Error is required when there is an error of fact. Errors of fact occur at the point of registration and result in the incorrect information being entered on the record. Examples of errors of fact include – incorrect place of birth, mother’s name, age and bride’s name. Where these are incorrectly spelt or wrongly entered at the point of registration, a Correction of Error can be done to add the correct information to the record once the Registrar General is confident that satisfactory evidence has been provided.

In LB’s case he will need his mother’s birth certificate (showing the correct spelling ‘DEZRINE’) to effect the correction to his birth record. The customer was already issued a Correction of Error form on October 8, 2018. The form can also be downloaded from our website at www.rgd.gov.jm.”

We wish you all the best.

One-time payment from NIS

Dear Claudienne

I am writing to you on behalf of my friend DW. She applied for her old pension from December 2015 and has not received it.

In July 2017 I went to the NIS office at Ripon Road and was told that the application had been sent to the head office at Heroes Circle a long time ago. I have been calling the head office to no avail.

I would appreciate your help as she needs the money. She is 69 years old.

SH

Dear SH

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with the NIS and notes that your friend DW has received a one-time payment of a grant of $30,000 as she did not qualify for a pension.

We wish you all the best.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876-936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com . Please include a contact phone number.