Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

More "aaarrrggghh" than sucky

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • More "aaarrrggghh" than sucky

    Caller (not a client, just a wannabe walk-in) calls to ask about getting some forms notarized. He needs them TODAY. I took the call and Bossman and CW are coaching me from the sidelines: How many documents? Do you have the originals? And most importantly, ARE THEY IN ENGLISH? No lawyer can notarize a document written in Polish or Mandarin or Kurdish unless somebody in the office is fluent in Polish or Mandarin or Kurdish. If you give me a week or so, I can translate a German document. If you give me a month, I can (probably) translate a Russian one. Other than that ... English only, please!

    Caller says three documents, all originals, all in English.

    Good. C'mon in when you have a minute.

    They show up shortly. Yes, "they." There are two guys. Caller has FIVE documents, and Other Guy has three. That's EIGHT documents in total.

    *sigh*

    Bossman went down to deal with them; took the five documents (at a slightly higher price than had been originally quoted) and we did the notarization on them. Second guy decided, for reasons of his own, not to get his stuff notarized. One of his documents was, I think, a photocopy; he said that's what his home country had sent him and we had to say some variant on "Sorry but that's not our problem. You'll have to sort it out with your home country."

    They were pretty okay with it all, no arm-waving or eyeball-rolling or righteous indignation. But seriously, people ... don't tell us one thing on the phone and then show up with something different.
    Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
    ~ Mr Hero

  • #2
    In some places doing things like that automatically gets you the stink eye, figuring that one omission leads to another, or worse...

    Comment


    • #3
      It had been an unusually frantic day to begin with (at least I thought so) and this was originally seen as a very short job, in terms of the time it would need. Didn't quite turn out that way ....
      Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
      ~ Mr Hero

      Comment


      • #4
        Quoth Pixelated View Post
        And most importantly, ARE THEY IN ENGLISH? No lawyer can notarize a document written in Polish or Mandarin or Kurdish unless somebody in the office is fluent in Polish or Mandarin or Kurdish.
        Slight quibble - it's not necessary that they be fluent in the language (able to speak/understand the spoken language), but they do need to be literate (able to read/write and understand the written language). People can be fluent in a language but not literate in it (Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, etc. are fluent in English), or they can be literate but not fluent in it (archaeologists dealing with Egyptian heiroglyphics or Babylonian cuneform).
        Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

        Comment


        • #5
          Quoth wolfie View Post
          ... it's not necessary that they be fluent in the language ...
          If they're rapping they just need to be effluent!
          I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
          Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
          Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

          Comment


          • #6
            Quoth wolfie View Post
            Slight quibble - it's not necessary that they be fluent in the language (able to speak/understand the spoken language), but they do need to be literate (able to read/write and understand the written language).
            Good point. On that basis, I am sorta literate in German ... and even more "sorta" literate in Russian ...

            But true: they don't have to be able to speak or understand the spoken language, as long as they can read/write/understand the written language.

            Had another one wander in today. What's with the (admittedly moderate) sudden rush on notarizations??
            Last edited by Pixelated; 02-23-2017, 11:54 PM.
            Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
            ~ Mr Hero

            Comment


            • #7
              if they are for passports visa or anything of the like maybe trying to get out of the us wile they can.

              Comment


              • #8
                Don't know what they're for, but ... I'm in Canada.

                I know one of today's documents was a marriage licence (only because somebody else -- who could actually read that particular script -- had verified it). Most seem to be related to post-secondary schooling.
                Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
                ~ Mr Hero

                Comment


                • #9
                  I had to get a bunch of stuff notarized when I was executor of a small estate, but at least it wasn't all the same day.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    That's the weird part: they seem to be in such a flaming hurry ... it's gotta be done NAOW!!
                    Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
                    ~ Mr Hero

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Had a lady who came into the bank regularly once a year to get a French document notarized that basically said she was still alive. Every line of French was followed by a translation in English followed by a translation in a third language. She started asking for me directly because she kept having trouble with a few of the notaries stating they couldn't notarize because it wasn't all in English, even though it was obvious that each line was translated, so the meaning was clear (especially since most of the lines were your standard: "Name" "Address" "Phone Number" and a request for the info from the ID used to verify she was herself.)

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X