The past 2 weeks I have had 6 signings get cancelled because documents are not ready or not on time for the signing. I’ve been assigned orders the day before or even a few days before, and have either not received docs at all and it getting canceled or too late to make it to the appointment on time causing me to have it reassigned, as I have appointments scheduled after that would cause me to be late to those. I’m not sure If it’s just my crappy luck the past few weeks, but is anyone else having this problem? It seems to be happening more and more and I have lost a significant amount of money due to not accepting other jobs then not being able to complete jobs accepted due to lack of docs. I’m getting very frustrated. and Yes I have told them the absolute latest time I need docs, which has just been ignored & have been constantly communicating my needs..
So sorry for your loss of assignments. My first thought was perhaps let TC/SS know your time restrictions. But you’ve already done that. Great start! 
The next suggestion is to ask signer(s) PRIOR to turning back the assignment if there’s any flexibility in their schedule. Perhaps it can be signed AFTER your next scheduled appointment? It may make for a long day for you, but you don’t lose out on that assignment and signers get their docs signed on the required day.
Work seems to have picked up in my area. Seems everyone wanted to sign yesterday. Hope everyone is seeing an uptick in business.
I’ve had three in two weeks - more than usual. It’s frustrating. November has been weak.
I had this situation just two days ago. Hours before I asked for an ETD for documents from the title company. No response. Thirty-minutes before the signing time documents were dropped. An appointment that would have taken me 45 minutes to drive to in the best scenario. Commute would have been during rush hour, so 45 minutes was a conservative estimate. When the documents arrived I immediately called the scheduling agency and asked them to reassign. I was asked if I had reached out to the signer to find out whether they could sign at a later time. (No consideration as to whether I had availability for a later time!). I responded NO, and asked again that the order be reassigned. I just can’t when I am expected to get to the appointment on time, close the order immediately after signing, scan back within two hours after the START of the appointment, and get it all done in time to drop before closing at the shipping office. It’s all a bit much any more. Especially at an original offer of $75. It’s all a bit much!!!
Rule of thumb I’ve always implemented for loan signings, no matter how early title/escrow contracts with me: If docs are emailed on time, that appt takes priority over signings where docs are late. Example: You accept a signing from ABC Title company on Monday for a signing scheduled for Wednesday at 2pm - docs are promised to be emailed by 10am on Wednesday. It’s Noon on Wednesday and still no docs yet. You call ABC to get ETA on docs - no one knows. Meanwhile, DEF Escrow company contacts you on Wednesday at Noon for a signing at 6pm that evening and docs are ready right now. Couple is leaving for vacation and can only sign at 6pm. ABC Title finally emails docs at 1:45pm (appt is at 2pm). You needed time to print and drive to borrowers which is a 30 min drive. You call ABC and mention the conflict. They tell you borrowers are flexible, they have errands to run anyway and can sign at 5pm. What do you do? Push the ABC signing to 5pm and mess up signing with DEF at 6pm? For me, the on-time docs get priority over late docs, so the DEF signing would happen first, ABC signing would happen afterwards. Let’s pretend the ABC couple is also leaving for vacation and can only sign at 5pm and not later. I would turn back the ABC signing and do the 6pm signing. ABC signing was accepted on Monday but the docs were not emailed as promised. DEF signing was accepted on Wednesday but docs were ready on time. Never be late to any appointment for which you have paperwork on time. Appts with late paperwork go to the end of the line.
I trusted very few companies to get me docs on time - I always confirmed with hiring party that I had the authority to change the time of the closing if docs did not arrive on time (I also confirmed with signers that they had the flexibility). I didn’t get a lot of pushback on that - they usually agreed as long as I kept them updated.
I don’t advise anyone to change appointments to accommodate themselves. In the circumstance you describe, the SS has a deadline for providing documents. If a deadline goes by I ask a SS to change the appointment for me or re-assign. Sometimes they say if the signer will re-assign go ahead and reach out. Sometimes they say we’re going to re-assign this order.
JMO.
In my scenario, appt time was changed from 2pm to 5pm by hiring party due to late docs. When hiring party notifies me at 1:45pm that docs are ready & borrowers want to sign at 5pm is when I return the signing. I keep the 6pm signing - docs were on time. If that was the only signing I had then I’m flexible & the 5pm appt change wouldn’t have been an issue. But when my schedule is full that day then on-time docs will always win.
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