I just recently went through vitalcheck.com to get a certified birth certificate. I received a letter from the Commonwealth of Kentucky which is where I was born. And on there no records found they misspelled my middle name they put t a n instead of t i n. And also put in the wrong county. Per bottlecheck.com's policy and procedures since this was their error and not mine I contacted them today at 7:16 a.m. on July 6th 2024. I first spoke to jessica. Which did not follow policy or procedure. She did not ask me for my order number when I turn around and asked her I said yes I have a question on my order she said okay well what's your question I said don't you need my order number she says no I pulled it up by your phone number so she's already in the account she didn't ask any information whatsoever and started rattle and off my personal information, and didn't even know if it was me. She didn't verify it she didn't verify it that it was me and was giving out my personal information. So then I asked to speak to a supervisor Elizabeth got on the phone which is supposedly supervisor. Now to be clear vital check when you ask for somebody's name they will not give you a badge number they won't give you a last name nothing and I don't know if the first names that they gave me are correct. But Elizabeth which is a supervisor I told her what the problem was. Again she did not ask for the order number started rattling off my personal information did not have been verify it was me. After I'm stunned and just horrified that both of these individuals that were providing check didn't verify it was me and gave me all my personal information over the phone. Then I finally realized oh I called because my middle name was spelled wrong. Elizabeth which is a supervisor of vitalchek.com proceeded to let me know that Commonwealth of Kentucky only needs the name to be 70% correct as far as spelling. Then goes on to say different things that I have to contact them because they made the error not the person that I paid to do the request which is vital check. Then she states oh well tell me about the Kentucky you only needs to be 90% correct on your spelling. Are you kidding me. Come on. Spelling is extremely important on a birth certificate it has to be exact it has to be accurate. But vital check doesn't seem to think so. So stop using vital check. They also just got bought by Nexus. This is not a safe format this is not a safe third party to go through the other thing was that on their website which I went to verify to clarify to make sure I'm not giving any information isn't correct it states that if you have any errors or anything like that you need to contact the agency and which processed your request. I didn't contact Commonwealth at kentucky. Vitalcheck.com is the agency and which I used to process my request. I told both these ladies this somewhere they just didn't understand what processing the request meant they did it yet I'm going to tell me I'm supposed to contact Kentucky I haven't dealt with Kentucky the agency that process my request was vital check.com. They do not give refunds. They will not do anything for you. They will not answer questions they will however I give all your private and personal information to anybody that calls. So don't lose your cell phone number or don't lose your cell phone because all they need is your cell phone call vital check and they'll give them all your personal information from your residence to your parents full name last name to your complete name to where you were born and everything else. Which is protected by the privacy act. Which vital check today the supervisor and a person who works there violated. Be aware stay awake from vital check. They don't help you if there's any concerns errors. They don't even help you if you don't receive anything in the mail. Go directly to the state you save money and you don't deal with this crap.

Date of experience: July 06,2024

I needed a copy of my 1943 birth certificate from Louisiana because Texas now complies with the Federal Real ID act in issuing driver's licenses. After almost 80 years of living in & having been born in the US and over 30 years of living in and having driver's licenses issued in Texas, I had to Prove that I was an American citizen in order to renew my Texas driver's license--that meant a passport or a birth certificate & birth certificate was the best option. Louisiana is a closed records state for birth certificate & I could not order one through a Texas government agency; it had to be ordered from Louisiana government.

I now live on the East side of Houston, Tx so driving to New Orleans to personally request a copy was not a convenient option--the best option became an online request. Louisiana does Not accept online credit cards, only checks & money orders, for issuing copies of Birth Certificates but they partner with and recommend VitalChek, which does accept credit cards & charges a small fee for doing so. Regardless of the method of ordering, birth certificates are issued by Louisiana Vital Records. Without going online the estimated time for delivery was shown as 8-10 weeks, which was too long.

I submitted an online request through VitalChek, they came back & asked me to select one of four cities where I once lived so they used that method to verify that I was a real person making a valid request. It was quick; I completed the application on my iPad while sitting in a Buc-ee's parking lot. There are various fees & for my delivery method I selected over night UPS air, a higher cost but quicker option. They charged my credit card immediately. In total all costs were less than $50. Look at the fine print, short form, long form, card form, etc. for birth certificates because ordering the wrong type might mean that it will not be accepted for the intended use.

The one point on which I fault VitalChek is that I have never received an e-mail confirmation of my order. I initially gave 4 stars but changed it to 5 stars because not receiving an e-mail was only a minor inconvenience. In order to check the status of the VitalChek order it is necessary to have an order number & a separate pin number. That would have been in the e-mail which I did not receive. The info was probably part of the application process but being spur of the moment on a iPad in a parking lot I did not record it. I looked up VitalChek's customer service number and called them about 2:30 AM, not really expecting that any company would be staffing a customer care line at early AM but a live person answered. I explained my call, she looked up the order, verified the details & gave me the order number. She did not volunteer the pin number but since I already knew a pin number was needed to review the status, I requested the pin number, she gave it to me & I immediately checked the order online. The details were correct & it had been submitted to Louisiana Vital Record.

VitalChek's estimated time of delivery was an "on average" 10 - 15 Business Days, not including weekends or holidays. On the 15th day (a Thursday) VitalChek sent me a message that the order had been delayed & a link where I could make an inquiry from the issuing agency. I inquired but did not receive a reply; however, the following Tuesday I had the document in-hand. That would have been the 18th day & that was totally acceptable vs the other estimate of 8 to 10 Weeks.

I have seen complaints that VitalChek was slow or gave the wrong document, never answers their phone, etc. What one has to remember is that VitalChek does not make anything or build anything; they are solely a middleman. VitalChek collects your credit card payment, which Louisiana would not accept, sends the application with the info which you filled in to the correct location and then provides a general status update about your order. If there is a delay or mistake made, it is likely the fault of the issuing agency, not VitalChek. As for not answering the phone, they answered the phone for me at about 2:30 AM in the morning & quickly provided the info I needed.

**I RECOMMEND VITALCHEK FOR THE TYPE OF SERVICES WHICH THEY PROVIDE. They saved me a 10 hour trip of about 650 miles at which point I would have submitted an application & still not left with my birth certificate in-hand. They accepted a credit card method of payment which Louisiana would not accept. They gave me a general status update then alerted & provided a contact link at the outside date when they would have expected the document to have been delivered. VitalChek did what they had said they would do, except the confirmation e-mail & the 2-3 day delay was likely due to the Louisiana Vital Records but still within a very acceptable timeframe.

I went to the official New York State vital records site to request a copy of my birth certificate. The link on the state's official site takes you to the VitalChek site, https://www.vitalchek.com/birth-certificates/new-york/ny-state-vital-records. I called VitalChek to request my birth certificate on 6/8/21, and was told that due to the pandemic it would take 35-40 days. I had called because I wanted to speak with a live person to specifically confirm they could meet my deadline of 8/6/21, which they assured me they could. I gave them all of my information and paid that day over the phone. I immediately checked the status of my order online, which confirmed that I should receive my birth certificate within 35-40 days, and now two months later, it still says I will receive it within 35-40 days, although 58 days have already passed. I have called repeatedly to request the status of my order, which included an extra charge for expedited over night shipping. Each time I called, the anticipated date was pushed further back. When I called on 8/3/21, the representative told me that orders were taking a minimum 16 WEEKS, but that I could request a refund. At that point, I decided to try other means and called the city where I was born and learned that they could send me out a copy of my birth certificate immediately. So it only took 4 DAYS and zero hassle to receive a copy of my birth certificate directly from the city where I was born vs. a minimum 16 WEEKS with VitalChek, and who knows when or if I will actually receive it. After I received my birth certificate via other means, I contacted VitalChek today, 8/6/21, to get a refund as the rep had suggested on 8/3/21. I was told that they don't give refunds, that I would have to contact New York State to get a refund. I told the rep that I had paid my money to VitalChek, therefore they should either refund my money or THEY should contact New York State about a refund. Nope. So then I called the NYS number they gave me, and got a recorded message saying to go to their website and then it disconnected. Now I am very concerned about what VitalChek is doing with the very sensitive information I had to give them to request my birth certificate. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY, YOU WILL NOT GET THE RECORDS THAT YOU NEED, NOR WILL YOU GET YOUR MONEY BACK.

I began trying to get a certified copy of my mother's death certificate through VitalChek on May 2nd. I finally received it on May 21st, I went through VitalChek because in Oklahoma our Vital Statistics office through the Okla. Dept. Of Health is not an option for walk-in requests due to covid. I am giving them one star for finally receiving it 20 days later but it may be helpful to outline what I had to go through it get it. I filled out their form, downloaded it, and sent it back with 1) a non-certified copy of her death certificate which clearly stated on it that I was her daughter, and 2) a copy of my driver's license, the name and address which matched what it said on her death certificate as "affiant". A day or two later I get back a generic email stating they needed more information to process the request. The email listed several items, none of which I had (such as a court order, probate info, will ect). So, I tried to call them. I was on hold 49 minutes before I gave up. I then sent a copy of a credit union statement that she and I are both listed on and I never had her removed mainly because I retired and rarely use the credit union anymore. So, I tried to call them again. This time I got a real person after about 30 minutes. The girl was nice and helpful which is why I am giving a second star in my review. She told me I should send a copy my MY birth certificate along with the request and that would be all I need. So, for another $40 I sent a copy of my ID and I have to say they did send me a certified copy of my birth certificate without much hassle. Maybe I would give them 2 1/2 stars if that were an option. So, I promptly sent the certified copy of my birth certificate thinking because that is what they told me, I should then now be able to get my mom's certified death certificate. But no, instead I get another notification saying they need more information. At this point I had a total breakdown. I called them again, and again I was on hold for a very long time. I got a different girl this time and she told me I should also send a copy of my marriage license. At this point I threatened to have my poor mom exhumed and have a DNA test. Before doing that though I managed to find a copy of my marriage license. The whole ordeal took almost 3 weeks, cost $80 for both certificates and MANY hours of me trying to look for things like my birth certificate and marriage license, scan and upload them (I'm 67 years old and not very tech saavy). My advice to consumers is to keep your documents somewhere you can find them and if you need vital statistic documents use somewhere you can get a real person on the phone in a timely manner.