Posted by ToniK on 4/16/13 9:14am
Msg #465876

Hi, we made a mistake

So I get a call yesterday for a signing I completed 2 weeks ago. I was paid $200 for the closing and the guy that called me said that the scheduler was new and offered an amount that was not the norm for them and they dont pay $200 and that they only pay $150.

So Im baffled and say its 2 weeks later and was he asking me to accept the lower $150 vs just paying the $200? He then told me their business practice was to pay only $150 and that the scheduler was new and didnt know. So again I asked if he was asking me to adjust to the lower fee after the fact even though it was on the confirmation I was to be paid $200 and its been 2 weeks before anyone even caught this so called error. So he says he would have to talk with the manager about getting this fee approved.

Ummm how would you guys handle this?

Reply by A S Johnson on 4/16/13 9:19am
Msg #465877

I'd tell him to "go fish".
P S Pleasr, what company or signing service is this?

Reply by Shelly_FL on 4/16/13 9:24am
Msg #465878

The scheduler is the one who "messed" up

I would suggest they dock her pay, not yours!

Reply by anotaryinva on 4/16/13 9:28am
Msg #465879

It depends,

You say you were paid, have you already received the check? Would you have accepted this signing for $150? If not then I would explain why you charged $200 and their scheduler accepted and confirmed it.

Reply by ikando on 4/16/13 9:37am
Msg #465885

Re: It depends,

NotaryinVA, I think the OP meant to say the agreed fee was to be $200.

I'll bet if you hired someone to work on your house, or a mechanic for your car, and agreed to pay a particular amount, then decided it wasn't in your household's best interest to pay the agreed amount after the work was done, they'd give you issue regardless if the lesser fee was workable. I think that's the OP's point, and the fact that it took 2 weeks (probably when they went to pay the service providers) to "discover" the fee was outside their normal pay rate. As someone said earlier, the scheduler goofed, so it should come from that person's paycheck if it's really an issue.

Reply by ToniK on 4/16/13 9:39am
Msg #465886

Re: It depends,

No they havent paid yet. Im assuming they are about to send out payment and noticed this. And thats why he called telling me that they dont pay $200. Im thinking they were seeing if Id accept the $150 before they sent out checks.

I didnt even get a chance to say what my fee was, as the scheduler upon giving details about the closing stated the fee was $200. She stated fee first. I took what she offered.

Reply by jojo_MN on 4/16/13 9:59am
Msg #465889

Re: It depends,

If you have the fee in writing on the confirmation, that is your fee. Sorry, but when the scheduler states it is only 80 pages, no faxbacks and you give them your fee and it comes back as 120 pages with faxbacks, they don't normally two weeks later say, Oh, I see there were faxbacks and printing 80 extra pages (40 x 2), so we will give you $25 more.

That is why I require confirmation with fee listed. You didn't say who the hiring entity was, so can't say if it is their standard operating procedure. Send you a confirmation because they can't find anyone else, and don't want to lose the business to a competing SS, then try to talk fee down after the fact.

If they are a regular client and give you alot of business, I would go down to $175. Again, you didn't state why the $200 was requested. Maybe it was last minute, late at night with 1 1/2 hour drive each way and huge doc package. If that is the case; then yes, I would stick to the original $200. IMHO

Reply by Howie35CT on 4/16/13 9:31am
Msg #465880

Hmmm, tough call. Although I like the idea of your making $200 on this assignment, you have to weigh this against the possibility that they may not send more work your way. Thanks for sharing, and keep us informed as to the outcome. Good luck out there!

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 4/16/13 9:33am
Msg #465881

Judging from your previous posts, Toni, I'm guessing

$200 isn't your standard fee - I know you get a good fee but not usually $200 - so there must have been something about this assignment that had you requesting a $200 fee. I'd reiterate these points to the person calling you and explain exactly why your fee is $200 for this.

I had one a few months ago - called me later on a Saturday - loan HAD to close on Sunday outside my county (I do not advertise Sunday hours) - I quoted my normal out-of-county fee (no Sunday premium fee) and they asked me to take less - told them "Well, you want me last minute, on a Sunday, outside my county and I'll be traveling xx miles to do this - I'm sorry, my fee for this is fixed" - they agreed to my fee.

Yeah - I would let this guy know exactly what this signing entailed and why it's worth $200 for you.

JMO

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 4/16/13 9:34am
Msg #465883

Also...to add...if this is a company I'd like to continue

working with I might meet him in the middle and settle for $175 on it...

Just a thought

Reply by Notarysigner on 4/16/13 9:45am
Msg #465887

Re: Also...to add...if this is a company I'd like to continue

THat is exactly what I did when I had that problem, I knocked off $25 on a agreed upon fee from the scheduler.

Reply by janCA on 4/16/13 9:54am
Msg #465888

Don't agree

In my opinion, I don't think Toni owes anybody an explanation of her fees. The $200 was offered to her, she accepted, she received a confirmation for said $200 and the company should honor this, period. I think it took a lot of gall to even call her and ask her to accept a lower fee when it was an obvious screw-up on their part. Maybe they should train their schedulers better.

Reply by jojo_MN on 4/16/13 10:00am
Msg #465890

Agree with janCA n/m

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 4/16/13 10:27am
Msg #465893

I agree Jan - Toni's response was posted after I posted

Yes I feel she's owed it - and I didn't mean so much "explain" as let him know why the fee is what it is. Yes the company should honor what the scheduler said - but reasoning with the person that called - politely - will probably get her farther.

Extenuating circumstances in signings (farther distance, larger package, Sundays, difficult borrowers) go far in upping the fee. And I still feel that if this is a company she wishes to continue to work with, compromise may be in her best interests.

JMO

Reply by HisHughness on 4/16/13 10:03am
Msg #465891

Call him back. Tell him you were distracted ...

... and didn't really pay attention to the closing he was talking about. Tell him you made a mistake when you accepted the assignment originally, and you don't do closings like that for less than $250, and you'd like for him to adjust the fee upward.

Reply by BobtheElder on 4/16/13 6:30pm
Msg #465957

Re: Call him back. Tell him you were distracted ...

I like Hugh's response
It was agreed and confirmed. Maybe they should train their schedulers better...

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 4/16/13 10:09am
Msg #465892

You had a contract for $200 (I am assuming you got a confirmation stating the $200) and that is what they should pay.
If it is a company you want to do business with in the future, tell them that for future signings you will accept $150 but as you have a contract for this one you want them to fulfill their end of the contract. (a contract is a contract)

Reply by 101livescan on 4/16/13 10:30am
Msg #465894

They need to "eat" it. Not your problem. I think he made a big mistake even calling you in the first place.

Bad on him.

Reply by Doris_CO on 4/16/13 10:39am
Msg #465896

Take note of this. It could be an indication of some financial problems starting to appear with this company, especially if they start lowering their fees.

Reply by Moneyman/TX on 4/16/13 12:59pm
Msg #465908

Perhaps the scheduler

... looked at the order information from the TC (name, address, time, etc.) when they were speaking to you and also saw what the SS was charging the TC (i.e. $200). If so, it sounds as if they messed up by stating what the SS was to get paid AS the fee the SS would pay out. ?? Maybe?

Regardless, you have a contract (confirmation) for $200, the SS should honor their agreement. The mistake was on their end, not yours. Depending upon how much business you have gotten from them in the past (not promised future work that may never materialize, imo), if YOU decide you would like to lower your fee, by say $25 as some others have said, that is YOUR decision and yours alone to offer, not be told you have to accept, imo.

I wouldn't, if it were me, and a new-to-me SS, or a only so often calling SS, called me for a situation such as you described in your OP.

Personally, I think it is bad business on their part to call you as they did, according to your post, and inform you that "they dont pay $200 and that they only pay $150". THEY should have chalked it up to the cost of not properly training the scheduler. IMO, the company should have to "eat it" without charging the scheduler. Had they did their job as an employer and properly trained a "new" employee, they would not have had this issue.

When new NSA's vent in postings here on NotRot about not charging enough because they didn't realize how much work was actually involved in a specific signing, the general response from seasoned NSA's is that the loss be chalked up to training costs and a learning experience. What about what happened here, on the SS side, is different than the lesson new NSA had to learn the hard way?

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 4/16/13 1:03pm
Msg #465909

Re: Perhaps the scheduler

All of the above suggestions are excellent potential solutions to your dilemma. However, my first (and last) reaction after reading everybodys' posts is the same: Why would you want to do any future business with an outfit whining over $50? Unvelievable. And doubly so since they were the one that offered $200 in the first place.

In any case, if you do decide to accept a lower fee now in hopes of being the good guy and getting future jobs, I wouldn't hold my breath expecting them to return the favor.
(However, ya never know ....)

Still, my point remains: What kind of a business would go out of its way to cry over $50? Probably the kind I'd want to stay away from. I mean what's next? Just shows how idiotic manyof these SSs are (as if we needed further proof)..
BTW: How many times have we seen warnings on job confos that say "There will be no further adjustments to fees!" As in, don't call us for more $$. Well, they shouldn't be calling us to take less after the job is done!

Reply by Resilient/MD on 4/16/13 1:23pm
Msg #465912

Re: Perhaps the scheduler

That's their mistake. STICK TO YOUR CONFIRMED FEE. Do not lower your confirmed fee even if you would have taken the signing for less.

Reply by jba/fl on 4/16/13 3:27pm
Msg #465926

Re: Perhaps the scheduler

was PO'ed at the company and didn't verbalize to the proper manner. This was their final, parting shot as their way to say, "Take this job and shove it."

Or as Doris said, they are beginning to have financial problems and are on a downward spiral.

Could be many different things.

Reply by ToniK on 4/16/13 2:01pm
Msg #465913

Well

Im not lowering the fee. Im expecting to be paid the $200. I only get 2 signings a month from this company, so if they want to drop me because of their error, then so be it. They probably arent even 2% of my monthly signings. So no skin off my back.

But it did raise an eyebrow when they called me.

Reply by JanetK_CA on 4/16/13 9:59pm
Msg #465987

Re: Well

Good decision, imo. I agree with those who said that that company has a lot of gumption asking to reduce your agreed upon fee well after the fact. I'd have lots of respect from them if they called and said that their scheduler was confusing the fee they get from what they paid their notaries (assuming it's from a signing service) - or confused for whatever other reason - and that they just wanted to let you know that for future signings they will only pay $150. But since you have a written confirmation for this one, they'll honor it this one time. That would have been the stand-up thing to do.

Reply by BrendaTx on 4/16/13 4:27pm
Msg #465940

I had that exact conversation with BankServ once.

I didn't back off of it. I earned every penny of it. They paid it.