Posted by ToniK on 7/21/07 12:31pm
Msg #201117

Need help/advice

Did a signing for this title company last night. They told me they do not have a fedex or ups account number but they can send a prepaid label to me. I never recieved that prepaid label. So I have to pay out of my pocket for the shipping charges and bill them. How do I curb this in the future? Should I have quoted them an extra $30 in my charge to cover shipping charges and got that in the confirmation?

Reply by VBNotaryVA on 7/21/07 12:42pm
Msg #201120

I would not send the package on my dime.....ever.

Reply by ToniK on 7/21/07 12:50pm
Msg #201121

So I should sit on the package until they send me the prepaid label?

Reply by Carmen/123 on 7/21/07 1:38pm
Msg #201133

I have a title company that sends the labels as well. They say that they have notaries using the account number at will. So I would just wait for them to send it to you. If the have anything to say about it, let them know that you don't feel comfortable sending it at your expense because we have too many problems getting paid as it is. They probably forgot to send the label. Call and leave a message (as I am sure you have done already) and wait it out.

Carmen

Reply by Carmen/123 on 7/21/07 1:43pm
Msg #201134

Or you can put the title companies name in the to and from sections and they will get he bill as has been suggested. That works well too especially if you want them to have it on Monday.

C

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 7/21/07 12:54pm
Msg #201122

Hard to believe that a title company would not have a Fedex or UPS account. Well you do have a couple of choices. Pay the shipping, add it to your invoice and hope you get paid. I do have a couple of clients that I invoice in that manner, but they aren't title companies and it was pre-arranged. Or you send it to them and check the bill receiver box and use the borrowers address and the borrower as the sender and let them work out the shipping charges.

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 7/21/07 12:55pm
Msg #201123

or you can wait for the label and hope it comes .. n/m

Reply by JamesLee/VA on 7/21/07 12:58pm
Msg #201124

Re: Need help/advice..FEDEX Hint

I would not send the package as well, especially after they promised a prepaid label and never sent it. It is too easy to get a Fedex or UPS account for them not to have one. All you need is a credit card to sign up and print labels.

I worked for Fed EX for 16 years as a courier and a manager so heres a hint. Get a FedEx pak and an blank airbill fill the airbill out by putting the title company as the shipper and recipient. Do not put your address as the shipper or FedEx will send you the bill if it is not paid. Drop it in a DROPBOX,,Not a manned location. The courier is obligated to send the pak to the address on the airbill and then billing will take care of the rest. Once FEDEX gets a package,they are required to send it to the address on the Airbill. Since the TC is both shpr\recpt there is only one place it can go and there is only one person that can be billed...THEM!!! Plus they will get an extra $10 charge for no account number. By the time they are billled for it they should have paid you as well,

I bet they will get one then!!

Just my 2 cents worth

JLee

Reply by ToniK on 7/21/07 1:05pm
Msg #201126

Re: Need help/advice..FEDEX Hint

Thanks, I will do that. And I got stiffed in the past when a title company refused to pay the UPS bill even though they gave me thier account number. So I had to pay the $26 shipping charge. Which UPS looked me up in the system and found that I had an account with them and billed me. Arghhhh!

Reply by JamesLee/VA on 7/21/07 1:08pm
Msg #201127

Re: Need help/advice..FEDEX Hint

Thats why when I send packages, I put the TC as both the shipper and Recipient. When they send you a pre paid label thats what they do. Just make sure you keep a copy of the airbill for your records.

JLee

Reply by CaliNotary on 7/22/07 1:18am
Msg #201185

Re: Need help/advice..FEDEX Hint

"Once FEDEX gets a package,they are required to send it to the address on the Airbill."

I once had Fed Ex hold two packages because I had left the sender address blank on the label. They had the destination address as well as the correct Fed Ex account numbers. The supervisor told me that it was their policy not to deliver packages if the label wasn't completely filled out and that they had delivered all the other packages I had sent that way over the previous 3 years (which were virtually all of them) as a courtesy.

Reply by CopperheadVA on 7/21/07 1:01pm
Msg #201125

Toni, I agree with VBnotaryVA - NEVER pay for the return shipping. The way this business works, the hiring entity either provides a pre-printed shipping label that they e-mail to you as an attachment, or they provide an account number for you to use. If you pay for the shipping, there is no guarantee you will get reimbursed for it, especially if you do not have written confirmation of such. (That being said, I know that there are some notaries that do have an arrangement with a TC that they frequently work for, where they do pay for shipping and get reimbursed upon invoice - but this is not something you would do first time working for a company.)

You have two avenues: One, call hiring company on Monday and tell them that you cannot ship docs until they provide a FedEx or UPS shippers account number. If they want the docs back, they will provide you with a number. Second, you can obtain a blank airbill from a drop box and put the TC address in the TO and FROM section, mark it as bill recipient, and the TC will be sent a bill for it.

I was asked to pay for shipping only once, and that was when a loan officer called me for a closing. I told him I would not ship on my dime. He was unable to provide a shipping account number, so I used the blank FedEx airbill method. When I tracked the package, I found that it was delayed by one day due to the missing account number. It did get delivered, however. If you use this method, make sure you use an untraceable airbill (one from a drop box - not one from a batch you ordered from FedEx or UPS) and do not enter your name in the FROM section.

Oh, and one more thing. On the job I described above where I was hired by the L/O - the loan didn't fund and he tried to skip on paying me. I had to do a lot of searching for the guy because he was very flakey, but I finally pushed the right buttons and he sent a money order for what he owed me. Thank heavens I didn't pay for shipping the package!

Reply by ToniK on 7/21/07 1:10pm
Msg #201128

I didnt know dropboxes had airbills on them. I never used a dropbox before. But I usually get my airbills from walking into a kinkos and asking for a handful of airbills and envelopes, I do the same with UPS. So as long as I use those and not the ones I order for my business I am good. Ok. Gotcha. So I will take you alls advice and send it to the title company with thier names in the to and from sections. thanks

Reply by Rachel/ORWA on 7/21/07 2:44pm
Msg #201142

You can ask your UPS & FedEx drivers for supplies of envelopes/airbills, as well.

Reply by LJ on 7/21/07 2:47pm
Msg #201143

Drop boxes have a lid ontop of them. If you open it up, there are supplies in them. There is usually air bills, letter size envelopes and paper packs. Rarely are their legal size of anything.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 7/21/07 2:56pm
Msg #201146

LJ -when I have opened up the lid of the Fedex box in my neighborhood I have on a couple of occasions found packages that were supposed to be in the drop box - and funny thing they have been for title companies. I suspected that some signing agent in this area didn't know how to drop off packages.

Reply by LJ on 7/21/07 4:31pm
Msg #201154

Oh my. Glad you were a good samaritan. n/m

Reply by JamesLee/VA on 7/21/07 10:49pm
Msg #201177

DropBox Story

Like I said earlier I worked FedEx 16 years. As a courier we would get a missed pkg call and would have to check the dropbox for the package. Typically a secretary would forget to drop off the package and when their boss would look fr it the next day they would get the "I dropped it off" story. So I have this call for one of those. I searched and could not find the package. Actually it was a mortgage payoff. That was back before wiring funds were done for the typical transaction. It was not a heavily used drop box so a couple of months later as I was emptying the trash can on the box I discovered FedEx letter that had been folded two times and stuffed in the trash slot half the size of a postal mail slot. FedEx makes the slot that small for those reasons, but she was determined. Needless to say that package never made it!!!

Reply by Lee/AR on 7/21/07 11:14pm
Msg #201180

James, just wondering

If you ever found strange stuff in a drop box and I worry that kids will pour a chocolate shake into them or do something stupid like that. Did that ever happen?

Reply by JamesLee/VA on 7/22/07 12:10am
Msg #201184

Re: James, just wondering

Suprisingly no. I never found anything like that, and I have seen quite a few. What did amaze me was what people would put their packages in. I pulled out an 11lb letter. talk about trying to save money..that packing was rated at 8oz.
One more advice on shipping though. I worked in overgoods for about a year and cant tell you how many stacks of closing docs would come through mangled with no receivers address. When shipping now I always make it a habit of clipping an extra copy of the barcode and address on top of the closing docs. Packages will get ripped and label torn off and for 2 seconds of forethought (is that a word) can save a lot of pain and agony.

Reply by Lee/AR on 7/22/07 6:30am
Msg #201186

Thanks, James.

For years now, I have been making an extra copy of the shipping label to put on top of the docs---just in case. Glad to hear that my worst nightmare doesn't happen.

Reply by ShipTropolis on 12/7/12 7:43pm
Msg #445855

Ask the Title or Escrow company to sign-up with ShipTropolis.com so you can print UPS and Fedex labels on demand on their account.

1. ShipTropolis.com is secure for the title/escrow company.
2. It's easy for notaries to quickly create labels on demand.
3. It ensures the notary doesn't get wrongfully stuck with the shipping cost.

Disclaimer: I work for ShipTropolis

Cheers,
Bob