Posted by John/CT on 5/18/10 2:18pm
Msg #336963
"The Thrashing"
First of all, I’d like to thank all of you who took the time to respond to my OP, yesterday morning,“Would You Believe It?!?!”. On the face of it, your criticisms … for the most part … were justified, and I deserved “the thrashing” I got. I wish now I had been a bit more eloquent in painting a better picture:
TIMING: This call came in at 10:30 PM. We like to be in bed, and well on our way asleep by 11 o’clock. By the time I would have finished getting an agreement on the fee, it’s now 10:45. No time to print the dox (could have turned out to be 150+ page monster, requiring me print four extra copies of the HUD-1 for borrower signature + borrowers’ copy), the confirmation or call to the borrower (who wants to be called at 11 PM, anyway?). Next, it’s now 8:30 in the morning, and we’re just finishing up breakfast, ready to go. I have one-hour to do everything not done the night before, plus allowing for a 45-minute drive because the commuter traffic in the Capital Region can still be heavy at that time of the morning. Oppps! There goes my “10.5-hour buffer”, and I’m now in negative time. Gotta’ get up an hour earlier in order to get everything done. No quite the same as receiving a call at noon for a 5 PM signing, with five hours to do “stuff”.
THE FEE: This is an example of what I’ve heard from the other side: “We normally pay $50 for e-mailed documents, but we’ll make an exception in your case and add 50% more.” (HUH?! A big $75 for e-dox!!) “If we pay your fee (my normal, with no add on), we’ll loose money on this assignment.” “Well, OK, we really need this done so we’ll go ahead and pay your fee THIS TIME.” Now, this comes from a company I have not worked for before, “We found you on Notary Rotary, etc.”, or many, many years ago. So you can imagine what kind of list I’ll be on for them: “A” = add your own definition … but certainly not “Alpha”… “Number 1” = the top of their DO NOT CALL list.
THE ASSINMENT CONFIRMATION: Contains instructions for QC fax bax, and wait for approval before dropping off the dox. Now, I don’t mind doing this, but there will be “an extra $25, please”. And then I’m expected to call in to confirm: The dox have been printed; I have called the borrower; I’m on my way, and will be on time; The signing is completed, and I’m on my home to start my fax bax.
THE CALL TO BORROWER BEFORE LEAVING: This what I’ve also heard: “What do you mean I need a second witness? The other notary who came out here a couple years ago, never mentioned it! Is this something new?” (No, Connecticut General Statutes Chapter 821, Section 47-5(a)(4) has been on the books long before I started in this business … some 11 years ago. The other notary simply committed fraud by adding the second witness signature/name later. Something other members on this board probably have also had to contend with.) “Well, we don’t want our neighbors to know about our business, so we won’t have YOUR second witness.” (How about us meeting at the library?) “Absolutely not! We were told we can do this in our home, and that’s what we want.” “OK, we can go to town hall afterwards and have the Town Clerk witness our signatures, but if there is a charge for this service … as you said there might be … you’ll have to pay for it out of your own pocket.”
So, there you have it: all of the above have happened to me in one form or another over the years, and at times, during the same engagement. Was I “cutting off my nose to spite my face” or “punishing the service ….” when I told the caller last Sunday nite: “I’m sorry I’m not able to accommodate you on this assignment”? No, and I am not the nincompoop I so skillfully portrayed myself in my earlier post. But, the more I got to thinking about the call, the more those “shameful” memories kept popping up in my mind. Ergo, my “rant”, for which I am truly sorry if I led anyone astray. Could have/should have been said better.  I’ll try to be more careful next time.
On the other hand, was this a useful exercise? For newbies on this board, I agree with others. Yes, go ahead and grab anything you can, but please don’t suffer under the illusion the calling service … following a late, last minute call … will be so grateful to you that they’ll automatically place you on the top of their “go-to notary” list. Just may not happen … and always: expect the unexpected.
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Reply by Bob_Chicago on 5/18/10 4:01pm
Msg #337012
Your post reminds me of a great stoy. Danny Thomas,
a famous comedian from the 50s and 60s (Marlo Thomas' dad for the younguns),
who I had the priviledge of seeing live a several times, had a trademark routine
entitled "The Jack Story"
To make it short it was about a guy driving a rented car in the country late at night who gets a flat tiire. Opens the trunk, and lo and behold, NO JACK.
Starts walking to a gas statation he saw a few miles back to get a jack.
As he is walking it starts raining. He is talking to himself.
"The gas station will be closed, they dont have a jack, their jack is broken,
they have a good jack but wont loan it out, they want a $100 and I only have $75,
and on and on of all of the things that may go wrong.
He finally gets to the gas station. the attendant comes out, and with a big smile and
sys " Good evening , sir, how can I help you. "The man starts yelling."You can take
your stinkin' jack and stick it where the sun doesn't shine"
You had to be there to hear Danny tell it.
As with most great jokes, there is a big kernel of truth.
Have a great day, John, and BTW, who would dare to thrash Santa Claus?
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