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Archiver > CASANFRA > 2004-12 > 1102439351


From: Jeanne Moore <>
Subject: RE: [CASANFRA] SF Death Cert Info
Date: Tue, 7 Dec 2004 09:09:11 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <20041207164254.96867.qmail@web51604.mail.yahoo.com>


If you were ordering something you wanted mailed to
you from a business in the private sector, would you
be upset over the $5.00 handling fee? Do you complain
when you mail-order something from a catalog and
there's a shipping and handling fee in addition to the
postage?

I'm a state government employee with the tax office in
another state and people who complain about having to
pay for copies of their prior years' tax returns is
irritating. Somehow, people get the idea that the
government is supposed to serve them for free. That's
why they complain about having to pay taxes, but they
expect to get all the services that their taxes pay
for - they just don't want to pay for them.

That $5.00 "convenience" fee might seem inconvenient
to you, but it's certainly less expensive than if your
friend in Australia were to pay for a round-trip
ticket in order to be able to go get that copy in
person.

My guess is that due to the extra time it takes to
mail the certificates, the rational behind that fee is
to try to get as many people to come in in person to
get the copies. Now, it may not seem like putting an
address and some postage on an envelope, putting the
certificate in the envelope and then sealing the
envelope is alot of work. But think about it for a
minut. Multiply the few minutes it takes to do this
by thousands and thouseands of requests and you will
begin to realize how time consuming this gets to be.

I live in a state that's really far away from any of
the states where my ancestors were born or died and it
would cost alot more for me to fly to all those states
and back again than it does to pay the "convenience"
fee. So, it's really is more convenient for me, and
more cost effective, too, to pay that.

I'm sorry to be getting on your case, but I need to
educated people who expect government employees to do
things for free. These same people who expect the
government to do things for free would never dream of
expecting people or companies in the private sector to
provide services for free.


--- Pat Procida <> wrote:

> Pam,
>
> This is from your website re: SF Vital
> Records-Deaths:
>
> Death Certificates:
>
> Certified copies of death records are available
> from April 1906 to present.
> Current cost is $13, which includes a 10-year
> search if exact date is unknown.
> An extra convenience fee of $5 is required if
> ordered by mail, phone or fax.
>
> I recently ordered a SF death certificate for a lady
> in Australia, and sent $18.00 To be honest I was
> really irritated by the $5.00 handling fee as I
> provided an exact date etc. but I live about 125
> miles north of SF and could not just take a bus
> downtown to request it, so mail was the answer. Is
> this $5.00 actually necessary? Could someone
> clarify this please? (By the way we only requested
> a "genealogy copy" not a certified direct copy).
> Thanks,
>
> Pat
>
> Pamela Storm Wolfskill <> wrote:
> MeLani wrote:
>
> >I'm not sure if it is possible for one to
> transcribe death records in CA
> >any longer; the new laws prohibit that, I believe.
>
>
> At sfgenealogy.com, we keep pretty close tabs on how
> to access vital
> records, but we've never heard of any California law
> that would prohibit
> anyone from transcribing a death record.
>
>
> > You can order the death certificate through the
> county she died in, but
> > it will run about $20 with shipping.
>
>
> The latest information we have from the City &
> County of San Francisco and
> the State of California is that the total cost is
> $13.00.
> It could be ordered from the City & County of San
> Francisco or the State of
> California (both would have the record).
> There would not be any shipping charge unless one
> ordered by phone/fax
> using a credit card, or unless some type of
> expedited delivery was requested.
>
> For accurate information on San Francisco vital
> records, you can always
> check the San Francisco Genealogy site at:
> http://www.sfgenealogy.com
>
> Good luck with your research and have fun!
>
> Pam
>
> Pamela Storm Wolfskill
>
> San Francisco Genealogy: http://www.sfgenealogy.com
> San Mateo County Genealogy:
> http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sanmateo
>
>
> ==== CASANFRA Mailing List ====
> Visit San Francisco Genealogy
> http://www.sfgenealogy.com
>
>
>
> Pat
>
>
> O'LEARY/KILGANNON:
>
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/p/r/o/Pat-Procida/index.html
>
>
> PROCIDA:
> http://www.genealogy.com/users/p/r/o/Pat-Procida-CA/
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>
>




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