Rude notaries?
At 123notary, we have 6000+ notaries on board, and we talk to most of them at one time or another. We take pride in how dedicated and professional our notaries are. Our notaries answer emails promptly, and have a high rate of answering their phone. But, once in a while we will get a complaint of rudeness.
Who are these rude notaries?
Rudeness is a two-way street. Most of the time, if a notary is accused of rudeness, the borrower or signing company was unreasonable with them or harrassed them. Is it the notary’s fault? In my opinion, a professional should try to maintain their cool at all times. The defining line that separates the men from the boys is how well you handle a difficult situation with finesse. Can you calmly handle a difficult client? Can you smoothly work your way through a difficult situation? Can you keep your cool when others around you are screaming? Its difficult to know what to do when a notary is accused of being rude. I usually keep these incidents off the record, and only in my private records.
Incomplete information?
What bugs me the most, is that when I get a complaint about a rude notary, I only see text such as, “The notary was rude”. My question is, what did the notary say? What did you say to them first to provoke this reaction?
Notaries who hang up on clients.
We get regular complaints that the notary hung up on someone. Was the client rude? Did the notary have a cell phone that routinely drop calls? Was the notary just being a jerk? Sometimes clients call after hours and the notary doesn’t want to be bothered.
Antagonistic emails
Be careful with this one. Nobody can remember what you said, other than the fact that it was polite or rude. However, if you write a rude email, it can be forwarded to me — and that is proof that you really are rude!
Threatening clients with lawsuits
When a notary and a client get in an argument, some notaries quickly start threatening clients with lawsuits. This is really unnecessary and rude. It reflects poorly on us and on you. You should not threaten someone with a law suit unless you have serious damages which you can prove.
Criticizing the company you are working for.
If you work for a signing company, its not good manners to criticize them or their borrowers. If they are horrible people, just don’t work for them anymore! If the borrowers are horrible, just try to put up with them.
Summary
99% of our notaries are fantastic, and this blog entry doesn’t apply to you. If put in a difficult situation, try to be polite and then refuse to work for the difficult company again! Don’t criticize people (even if they deserve it), and don’t write threatening emails. Just do your job, and go home!
You might also like:
What to say and not say: minimum competency guide
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=4337
Borrower etiquette from A to Z
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2995
