Posted by JulieD/KS on 1/17/12 11:39am
Msg #409240

Had my laugh for today

ServiceStink (who got their name for good reason) called me today for the first time in years. They are ecruiting notaries in my area...and beyond. I said, sure, I do loan signings. I can cover all of Kansas and all of Missouri...for the right price.

He asks: Well...how far would you go for $55 for the signing, $15 for the edocs?

Now..this is even lower than I expected him to offer. I paused before I let him have it.

"How dare you call me with such an offensive offer! No wonder you have such a horrible reputation with notaries! My minimum is $XXX, don't call unless you can offer at least that much!"

He apologized for offending me. I replied "You offend all notaries."
I'm essentially out of the loan signing business (thanks to absurd fees) so I have no problem chewing out these bottom feeders.

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 1/17/12 12:35pm
Msg #409246

Yay, JulieD!

"He asks: Well...how far would you go for $55 for the signing, $15 for the edocs?"

Wish they'd call me (but they never will cos there are TONS of notaries in my area who would happily do this for even less, but that's another story). Anyway, my response would be:

"Sure, for that fee I'd go as far as my living room, borrowers would come to me, their copy of loan docs would be e-mailed to them, and they would be responsible for returning signed docs to Fed Ex. Sound good?"

I think if more notaries would get on board with this scenario, might wake these idiots up... but of course none of that will ever happen.

Reply by Karla/OR on 1/17/12 4:01pm
Msg #409268

Like: "Sure, for that fee I'd go as far as my living room" n/m

Reply by C. Rivera Chicago Notary Services on 1/17/12 12:56pm
Msg #409250

GREAT REPLY JULIE! These low ball fees are just ridiculous!

Just waiting for the news flash when the nsa job is outsourced to foreign countries!

Reply by JulieD/KS on 1/17/12 1:27pm
Msg #409254

Re: GREAT REPLY JULIE! These low ball fees are just ridiculous!

I really held my temper. I want to tell him to EFF off...but I didn't.

Reply by Deborah Breedlove on 1/17/12 12:57pm
Msg #409251

Julie is my hero!!! n/m

Reply by Buddy Young on 1/17/12 2:18pm
Msg #409258

Re: Great job, Julie n/m

Reply by LynnNC on 1/17/12 2:42pm
Msg #409263

He apologized for offending me.

I would not have been rude to him, but said somethng like, "I know that you don't set the fees, but it must be difficult to get good, experienced notaries for what you pay."

Reply by Jack/AL on 1/17/12 4:31pm
Msg #409274

Call me whatever you wish. Offer me what you wish.

Much like most of us, the schedulers are trying to make a living. I never feel offended by their questions or offerings. After answering their questions and getting in a few of my own, we usually agree to something much closer to an amount which I prefer, and significantly greater than what they originially suggest. They ask for my input and get it. In return, I normally get some consideration from them, and we are thus able to reach a mutually agreeable amount (although not exactly what is an ideal amount for either of us). To put it simply, I think they really want someone to get the job done for an acceptable fee, and I really want to get it done for what I consider a acceptable fee. They normally don't DEMAND that I accept their offered amount, and I don't have an absolute fee below which I refuse to accept work (depending on distance, number of pages, loan type, etc.). If they offer $50 and I want $100 (for example only), I'll betcha we'll end up much closer to $100 than to $50. If not, I'll politely decline, thank them for considering me, and encourage them to call again. Although it doesn't always work, it often does. Also, if I don't castigate them, they're likely to call back in the future and offer other assignments. Companies often referred to by some other posting members as "low ballers" just happen to be some of my favorites due to the volume of assignments I eventually accept, and normally at far above the "low ball" original offer. But maybe it's just me..........

Reply by HisHughness on 1/17/12 4:52pm
Msg #409276

I'm sort of with Julie on this one.

The scheduler knows what the job is worth. He knows what his service is being paid. In offering a $50 closing, he is displaying no commitment to the quality of the industry of which he is a part, no concern for the quality of individual who will represent the lender and title company to the borrower, and no concern for a fair transaction between the SS and the NSA. His sole concern is to maximize the profit for the SS, and since closing fees are essentially a zero sum game, the way he goes about doing that is by minimizing the profit for the NSA.

I don't find much in that to generate sympathy for or empathy with the scheduler.

Reply by mwm143 on 1/17/12 9:22pm
Msg #409297

I'm sorta with JACK on this one

Thats no excuse for rude behavior. A simple "no thank you" is all that's needed.

Reply by JulieD/KS on 1/17/12 9:59pm
Msg #409299

Who's being rude?

RUDE is calling me, a professional with 9 years of experience, and offering me less than I was making 9 years ago! RUDE is finding the lowest-cost-provider of signing services and then micromanaging the rest of us who KNOW what we are doing because low-cost-producers tend to produce a lot of errors...and that kind of slipshod service causes the distrust to trickle over onto all of us.

I was not rude...I just told him what he needed to hear. Perhaps if more of us did that, the fees would go back to where they were 9 years ago. Better yet...maybe we'd get paid MORE than we were being paid 9 years ago. Whoever heard of working your way down the ladder of success? Not me. That's why I've just bowed out and let others have these $55 dollar signings.