Did it earlier this year, very easy. Pay online, send it by DHL and get it back by DHL in no time. My old passport came back by DHL the next day too.

A friend did it last year. Fairly easy, except the courier struggled to find the house, but that's common in the Philippines

As long as you send all the documents they ask for, no problem. The only hiccup was when I tried to pay with my UK credit card. It was declined three times. Then I tried my Philippine debit card and it went through. I contacted my UK bank, but they said they never received any payment request.

Use a company called 'UK abroad' and they'll take care of everything. You'll save a lot of time and effort by just paying them to do it. If you try it yourself and get rejected once, the extra charges will cover their fee anyway. Just Google the company name for a link.

Don't forget that with a new passport you'll need to either leave the country or pay a visa agent to take your passport to Manila and get the stamp put in the new one before you can extend your visa.

Mine was a disaster. HM Passport Office claimed my old one was damaged and asked for a written statement. Then it took weeks to get my new one sent. Ironically, they then sent my perfectly undamaged old passport back to me. I filed a formal complaint, and it was upheld.