Posted by redonthehead on 7/16/04 12:25pm
Msg #4535

Eating it can be self-gratifying

Okay, I'm on a roll. I was contacted last evening around 8:00 by a signing service that had all ready contacted 6 prior notaries who for some reason or another could not get these docs printed out. They had been trying since 3:00 that afternoon. Okay, send them to me, I'll give it a try. I had no problem. I've downloaded almost every viewer out there. So I stated a fee to her. Here's what I get. "Oh, we can only pay this amount, that's all we're allowed to pay". My response: "So, you call me at 8:00, mind you, I was ready for bed except for the war paint off my face, you've all ready gone through 6 notaries since 3:00, this is a half hour drive, and you're not willing to put forth such and such amount"? As far as I was concerned they should have given up their full fee just to keep THEIR customer satisfied. Her response was "Well, no, I won't be able to authorize that". So being the good samaritan that I am and realizing these borrowers would be the ones to lose out, I accepted a fee that I usually get from my steady clients. It really blew me away just how self-serving this signing company was. I was glad I did. The borrowers could not thank me enough for coming to the rescue. "Eating" it sometimes can be well-worth the gratitide you receive from such grateful people.

Reply by CA_Notary on 7/16/04 2:32pm
Msg #4543

Awww, happy endings are so sweet.

There's no way in hell I would let a signing service negotiate a lesser fee with me in the situation that you've described, but I'm glad that it worked out well for you and that you were able to get something intangible out of it. You're good people.

Now a general question for the group. In this situation, would it be appropriate to contact the title company and let them know what happened? It seems to me that the signing service clearly doesn't have the title companies best interests at heart and they should have a right to know that.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 7/16/04 4:25pm
Msg #4551

Borrowers probably wouldn't have lost out. Signing service would either have found a notary that would have accepted their low fee or would have had to call you back and agree to your fee. If they couldn't have filled the order, they would have had to call the title company back and let them know they couldn't fill the order, and you may have got called directly by the title company who are not going to leave the borrower out to dry.

Reply by Lawrence Goodwin on 7/17/04 9:38am
Msg #4585

After six notaries being unable to download or print the docs, sounds strange to me. I can download and print in any format, as I am sure most of us can. It is my opinion that they had been searching for a notary since 3:00 that would accept their fee.

Reply by Tess/ME on 7/17/04 11:04am
Msg #4587

I had an "Ameriquest" edoc signing a few months back.
Could NOT download the docs. Called a fellow "Signing Agent" to help me out and she could not download the docs neither.
I have spoken with others who, also, have had a problem with Ameriquest docs so I think, possibly, there are some that can't be done unless you have ALL the right equipment. Even then, sometimes it isn't meant to be.
On the original note...I had a couple that came over on the ferry to the "Mainland" for a signing and no place to meet to do this since they had to walk to any destination. We have a small RV and took that to meet them. We did the signing (very quickly, I might add) and they were able to catch the next ferry back to the island. They could not thank me enough. They were so happy. The wife said she wasn't "in a mood" to spend 3 hours walking around waiting for the next ferry and almost cancelled but glad she didn't after it was all over. It didn't cost us that much extra in gas since we get 17 MPG in the RV and after all, we are all neighbors.