Posted by KimWmsVA on 8/25/09 10:53am
Msg #301580

American Signing Connection

I accepted a signing from them yesterday evening. They met my fee and they requested that I confirm via email their confirmation.

I always confirm via email, so that my terms are in black and white and there will be no issues. I have a cancellation fee and late fee disclaimer in my confirmation. As well as I restate the terms we discuss during the phone conversation. I received a reply email from them stating that they do not pay cancellation fees, no sign fees, etc. so they are finding another notary.

I always thought in the line of business I state my terms, whether it is net 30, net 10, a discount, whatever. ALSO, they knew my terms up front before calling because they got my information from here and the counting site....

I held my ground, considering they don't have the most stellar background here. Any thoughts?

Reply by Keystone_SA on 8/25/09 11:21am
Msg #301584

you have your terms and they have theirs. Sounds like this closing wasn't meant to be. Personally, I'd just move on and forget about it. MHO

Reply by Linda Juenger on 8/25/09 12:56pm
Msg #301592

Good luck in getting cancellation fees. Just how much have you actually collected? Not many of us have managed to get that. Kudos to you if you do though.

Reply by Kimberly Williams on 8/25/09 1:33pm
Msg #301601

The cancellation fee is just in case the signing service has hired more than one notary - which I have found they do more often than not - just to get the low ball fees out. And I only request the cancellation fee if its within 6 hours of closing. All of this is disclosed and I have collected on it once! I have only been cancelled on twice, so 50/50 not so bad.

Reply by MW/VA on 8/25/09 7:09pm
Msg #301645

I took an assignment today from ASC. I've only worked with them a couple of times. They're ok, but a bit slow to pay (45 days on the last one I did a while back).
It's great that you've established "your terms", but you are really going to limit the amount of work you get. This business is all about being flexible--schedules, etc. IMO if you stay with your black & white terms there will be no issues, but maybe no business. I don't know anyone who pays "cancellation" fees. I usually get a "trip & print fee" on a no-sign. I've also had to eat a couple of fees for tc's on loans that didn't fund. For me, it's worth the risk, and all balances out in the end. I've had maybe 3 or 4 out of 800 plus signings that were an issue. To date, I've only had 3 I had to write off (company closed up shop & disappeared). Again, that was $400 against my earnings over 3 years--a drop in the bucket & not worth worrying about. There is risk in this business or any other.
I'm pretty choosy who I take work from, but have also learned to go with the flow. Business has slowed down quite a bit, and you may later regret the ones you turned away.
You have to do what you're comfortable with--it's your business.

Reply by wisconsin on 8/26/09 2:38pm
Msg #301778

I have to agree with Marilynn 100%.