Posted by Karin Miller on 5/21/12 4:54pm
Msg #421446

I just received an email...

for an available signing in my area for GOOD pay. I immediately responded YES!! Got an email back an hour later saying it has already been assigned...WTH? I looked back in my email and I responded within 2 minutes of receiving this email...how can it already be assigned?? I'm assuming they sent out a mass email and someone else out there was quicker than me OR they just picked a random reply and gave it to that notary. How annoying! I feel like a shark in a tank! UGH!!!!

Reply by Ernest__CT on 5/21/12 4:58pm
Msg #421448

Bad business peace on their part.

Reply by Barb25 on 5/21/12 4:58pm
Msg #421449

I've stopped responding to these "cattle calls." Especially if it is a company that I have never been in personal contact with. I consider them on the same level as telemarketing.

Reply by HisHughness on 5/21/12 6:52pm
Msg #421461

Such "cattle calls" have been compared to a call for bids...

...on a project. There is, however, a major difference. A call for bids is to give a company time to fully examine a project, determine if it has the resources to do the job, and ascertain the cost so that it can submit a bid that is the lowest possible that still would guarantee a reasonable profit.

That's a far different process than one where a call goes out for a signing and the first respondent gets the job. The former pretty well ensures quality; the latter ensures what? That it will go to the signing agent who has so little to do she spends her time in front of the computer? That there will be no discussion of the fee ensuring that both parties feel they are being treated fairly?

Reply by Barb25 on 5/22/12 10:08am
Msg #421488

Re: Such "cattle calls" have been compared to a call for bids...

I am not even sure the criteria here is that the job goes to the first respondent. I think there is no criteria... "cattle call" I was thinking of was everyone invited to responded as in auditioning.

IMO, answering the emails is like spitting in the wind. Just one person's thought.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 5/21/12 11:06pm
Msg #421477

Sometimes it's a race to get the business. In other words, a tc will put the call out to several ss companies and whoever finds a notary and gets back to them first gets the assignment. I've had several calls like that where the person says that it isn't certain yet, they have to get back to their client to see if it's still open. I let those go in one ear and out the other. Once in a very rare while I'll get a call back, if they happen to be faster on the draw than someone else.

Just part of the business. Any company that operates that way I don't consider to be part of the core of my business. It's just filler. Either it works or it doesn't. If it does, then I fill a time slot. I don't lose any sleep over it any more than I do when I get a call for GNW from someone who is shopping around. Unless it gets confirmed I don't consider it as booked business.