I am noticing a huge pattern of Signing Agencies sending documents too close to the signing appointment. How can we provide customer service, printing and review of the documentation, contacting the signer in a timely manner and arriving at the scheduled appointment? They start off the agreement in a stressful setting and expect scan backs and responses immediately but the professionalism is not reciprocated.
I believe it is a very deliberate ploy on their end to keep us in rush mode so maybe we don’t FEEL we have time to even realize the total scope of the work & time involved so we can re-negotiate the fee. I am talking about the never mentioned huge package with 20 notarizations & 4 signers that they ‘forgot’ to mention or now they add a scan. In these very SLOW times, there is simply no reason that docs aren’t ready the day before the Appt. If they could do it when we were doing 3 or more a day, they surely can do it when it’s 3 or more/week.
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Not seeing it that much, myself. The last time it happened I called and asked them to re-assign because I did not have time to get to the appointment. It canceled and when the docs were ready they called me and asked me to do it - the next day.
I’m glad I had declined it because I’d have tied up my time and it wouldn’t have happened. But it’s not a huge thing.
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I’m one of the fortunate notaries that is experiencing a lot of work right now. Don’t know why, but there it is. What I’m also seeing is an awful lot of mistakes, oversights and errors in the packages I’m getting. And, many of the packages come within an hour of the appointment time. I barely have time to print and prep. Don’t know why. But, in a few cases, the appointment had to be changed. Signers complain to me that the lenders are at fault. Again, I don’t know if that’s true but that’s what I’m hearing.
All this to sum up by saying that there is something going on that’s wrong. After fours years and over 2000 signings, I can’t think of a time where the process was so sloppy. Maybe just a friendly heads-up to the lenders/escrow/title companies out there.
As your notary, I’m trying my hardest to get things done right. Maybe that’s why I’m so busy - who knows? But I’ll take it 
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If the company sends the documents to me the day before or within four hours of the appointment I will attend, otherwise, I remove myself. It’s funny how they say they have up to two hours to send the documents. I communicate with the signers, so they are always updated on my whereabouts. So I’m no longer rushing around because of late documents.
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Thanks everyone for the feedback. It really helps to know everyone else’s experiences. It can get a bit stressful when you are trying your best.
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