Posted by Susan Bryant on 4/26/12 9:00pm
Msg #419048

Stolen Pen....

This has been the strangest day by far...Had a reverse mortgage this morning...the wife was not happy about it and gripped throught the whole signing about anything and everything.....How Obama has runied their lives and how they don't have any money and are in debt.....so on and so forth. I just kept a smile on my face and talked to the dogs and her husband......When the signing was done. I told them it was great to meet them and asked for my pens back and the husband gave me his and the wife says oh no your not i'm getting something out of this deal......I thought she was kidding so I smiled and laughed well here are all your loan documents this should be worth something still smiling....and she looked me stright in the eye and said I am not giving you your pen back.......Are you kidding???? She was serious!!!!! So, I left the pen and hopefully she is happy now...I called the signing company upon completion and they wanted to know how the signing went ...and of course I told them it went great, no problems but you owe me a pen and laughed and she said what? She thought it was because of all the documents we signed and I just kept a smile on my face...........Then my daughter and I went to Hallmark later in the evening and it was MRS BORROWER!! Are you kidding me????? My daughter wanted to go up and ask her for my pen back but we just walked by and smiled....I don't even think she remembered me....CRAZY!!!!!!

Reply by Clem/CA on 4/26/12 9:09pm
Msg #419049

I hold their ID's hostage till they give me back my pens! Works every time.

Reply by Jessica Ward on 4/26/12 10:10pm
Msg #419062

Bhwa! Genius!! I insist on good or at the very least, decent pens, and they get swiped often. I've had a few outright refuse to return them. I may have to implement this "ID in escrow" procedure.... ;-)

Reply by Claudine Osborne on 4/26/12 9:11pm
Msg #419051

I have pens that are very nice and have my company name and logo on it..People ask for them all the time..I dont mind giving them a pen..Not sure why this is a big deal for you? .Maybe the gripping from the BO was a pia..but that is rare..If it happens I smile through it like you did..But you are gripping about a pen? Its no big deal! Let it go!

Reply by Susan Bryant on 4/26/12 9:14pm
Msg #419053

Exactly.......That's what I thought it's just a pen..buy them all the time at Office Max...Hopefully it made her day better. lol

Reply by HisHughness on 4/26/12 9:15pm
Msg #419054

When I hand borrowers my 0.7mm tip On Point pens from Office Depot, I tell them, "These pens crossed the Rocky Mountains with my great-great-great grandmother in a Conestoga wagon, so I WILL repossess them after the closing." Then I give them my promotional pen and tell them they can keep it, they just can't signi with it.

Some do like the small balls (a point that often elicits some raised eyebrows) that they insist on keeping the Office Depot pen rather than the promotional pen.

Reply by Clem/CA on 4/26/12 9:25pm
Msg #419055

and I thought you had uni-balls

Reply by JanetK_CA on 4/27/12 1:27am
Msg #419085

I can't recall anyone outright to may face saying that they intended to keep my pen (I use inexpensive bic pens and buy in quantity). But I HAVE had people go into another room to get something and come back without a pen and refuse to go look for it. They usually just shrug their shoulders. I let it go. If they want my 50 cent (or whatever) pen that bad, they can have it. It just amazes me that people have that little respect or thought for someone else's property.

Susan, in your situation, she probably assumed you were an employee of the lender and that someone else was buying your pens. Was she working at the Hallmark store or just shopping? If it was the former, I think I might be tempted to buy something by writing a check and asking her for a pen... "Course that would be no fun if she didn't recognize you.

Reply by Lee/AR on 4/27/12 3:13am
Msg #419091

Just thoughts on Re: Stolen Pen....

In my former profession as a R.E. Broker, I purchased really, really nice advertising pens (they made Quicken-included pens look like junk) and encouraged people to keep them AFTER the Closing. But I was profiting by thousands of dollars. Also had keychains and lots of other gimmicks....profit=thousands/pen or whatever.

This gig? I leave a business card which does seem to work better than a pen as I've been 'requested by B' years later when they do their next refi and I seriously doubt that pen would have still been around. So I use 10/$1 pencil-shaped Bics so they don't roll off the table and I pocket the caps and plunk them on the table after the signing as I'm packing up. This cues people to return the pen. Everybody does. I need them for the next signing...and, sure, sometimes I have a wandering B who leaves pens scattered everywhere...but mostly they actually run out of ink and are retired.

Reply by Christine/OK on 4/27/12 7:44am
Msg #419098

Re: Just thoughts on Re: Stolen Pen....

Great ideas! I do have promotional pens and think that is a great solution. Not sure if it would generate repeat business, but at least they're not too expensive. I really like the idea of the capped pens! Lovely!

Reply by Carolyn Bodley on 4/27/12 11:20am
Msg #419141

A pen has you this upset -- really? Life is too short

to worry about a pen. When I did signings, I bought pens in bulk because I normally let the BOs keep the pens -- if someone put it in their mouth, I didn't want it back, if the baby sucked/chewed on it, I didn't want it back.

The woman told you she was keeping the pen. I wouldn't consider it stealing and I certainly would never have told the SS they owed me a pen.

Reply by Belinda/CA on 4/27/12 12:22pm
Msg #419152

I had a borrower keep a pen yesterday. It takes you back a

bit the first time it happens. This was a first. She stood up from the table at Denny's restaurant and announced she was keeping my pen. My mind was elsewhere on the docs so I said, "Excuse me?" She said, "I need a pen in my car, I like this one, and I'm keeping it." The husband told her to put it on the table and she refused. " I need a good pen!" and she put it in her purse. Weird. I do not spend a lot on my pens so I didn't care. The husband was standing there with his mouth open. I should have mentioned the waitress looked like she had a couple nice pens too. Go shake her down.