Criteria for Registrar Selection?

Those of you that have hired a registrar, either for the first time or replaced one with another one; what criteria did you use to pick the registrar?

Also, without naming names, have you even been disappointed with a registrar (or an auditor), and if so why? (Please no names - just reasons for the disappointment).

 

When I work with a company to find a registrar, I look for responsiveness to their clients. Most registrars use contract auditors. This means you may very well get the same auditor regardless of which registrar you select. I am currently working with a company to change registrars. In their last TS audit, they received 6 majors and 6 minors. All but 2 were MSU (Making sh... err Stuff Up) nonconformities. A few examples... their business plan did not contain short and long term goals. This was a requirement in QS, but was removed in TS. A major was their process maps were not in color, so the auditor refused to even look at them, so in her eyes they did not exist... hence the major. None of the salaried personnel had detailed, signed job descriptions. That was another major. The auditor was the head of the auditors for that registrar and told my client that to challenge any of the nonconformities would be useless because she was the boss of the person who would review the audit.

 

Yes - I recently changed registrars. The reason was our former registrar was just not able to provide the services in a timely manner. It's wasn't the of the auditors, but more related to corporate and staffing decisions.
We chose our current registrar because several people here have worked with them in the past and because they are also the registrar of our biggest customers.
Cost was not really an issue.