SCAM COMPANY...DO NOT USE
I understand you might be desperate to secure an appointment for a visa especially Schengen visa, but please DO NOT use this company. Absolutely appalling and fraudulent, unprofessional, and out there to take advantage of people.
I first contact Visas R Us at 14:32 on 6 July 2022 seeking help with Schengen Visa application. I was told they would be able to assist with getting an appointment for Spain Schengen Visa in Manchester and requested payment to be made to their bank account. No further information would be provided until I made a deposit of £100 which I did. After payment made and proof sent, all I received was the Schengen Visa form and checklist document, which were both readily available free from the BLS website (outsourced Visa processing agents). No further calls and contact where made. After several emails and calls chasing up, I was then advised there was an appointment in Manchester for 12 July, but I needed to pay a further £200 to get the booking confirmed. Again, not being able to proceed further, and desperate for some progress, I made the payment of £200 on 8 July. All I then received was a strange PDF document stating appointment and applicant names from Visas R Us, and nothing from the actual BLS visa agency. I was assured it was valid and that showing the document to the security will gain me entrance to process the application and biometrics.
Unfortunately, this was not to be the case, on arrival at BLS' office in St James House in Salford today 12 July, I was told from the reception downstairs that the document was not a valid visa appointment. After much conversation and time spent, I was able to convince him that I did have an appointment and the visa agent in the office will be able to view it through their system. On getting upstairs to the visa office, all staff confirmed that indeed there was no record of not just our appointment, but no knowledge of this company. They were also alarmed and appalled to hear about the £300 paid and immediately said to report the company and ask for refund. On one of the numerous calls made afterwards to Visas R Us and being passed from person to another, the manager then rang someone at the BLS office, and I could overhear him stating that his agent who was supposed to secure the appointment was pregnant, had issues and had not booked the appointment. He then came back to say he had spoken to the BLS manager, and the appointment was made. Unfortunately, there was still no record on the system and hence unable to be attended to. I was then advised the only way I could proceed was to make a premium payment in addition to the visa fee. I had to pay an additional £120 before being allowed to submit. I was there from 12:30 - 3:00 pm with all this hassle.
Visas R Us are now refusing to refund the £300 paid for a service it did not provide. It did not check any documents, give any advice, have any support and worse of all, did not even secure an appointment. I have raised a complaint through resolver and will be making a small court claim through the court on the advise of citizens advice, this exploitation must be stopped. Please be mindful of the positive review as it may be bogus too. If you desperately need an appointment for Schengen visa, you are better off going to the visa office without an appointment and they will give you one even as early as next day for a premium of £60 (my lessons learnt from today, certainly applicable to BLS in Manchester) rather than spend 100s of ££s at this scam company.
12 July 2022
Unprompted review
