IS CUSTOMER SERVICE LOST?
So I initiated a mortgage refinance in mid June of this year. I am going from a 30 year to a 15 year mortgage to take advantage of historically low interest rates and to pay off my mortgage faster.
I attempted to use the same company that refinanced my 30 year mortgage in late 2011, early 2012.
The bottom line is this. After 60 days of poor communication, and then being told that because my rate lock expired, I was subject to “worst case pricing”, I pushed ahead with another lender, a local community bank, that was confident they could close up my deal in 30 days.
I attempted to give my original mortgage company the opportunity to make the situation right. On August 10th, the VP of the company told me he would get with someone at his company on August 13 to see what he could do. When I heard NOTHING by 4:30 PM on August 13th, I decided to move forward with the community bank.
On August 14th, at 5:01 PM I get a call from the original company. I told him I had already agreed to go with the community and had paid my deposit.
No apology at that point! No, “Well, I hope to get an opportunity to earn your business in the future!” No, “Sorry this happened, but we will do our best to take care of the family member that you referred to us three weeks ago.”
I was pretty upset. I’m in business…and I make mistakes and lose business opportunities all the time. We are just humans, no one is perfect. BUT I ALWAYS APOLOGIZE, and try to position myself for an opportunity in the future. Isn’t that just good service and common sense?
So I have tried hard to look at the situation from my mortgage brokers point of view. Am I a high maintenance client? PROBABLY! Should he have known that though, as this was the third time I had done a mortgage with him? PROBABLY! Was I responsive when data was requested of me? VERY! Did I receive timely responses when I called with questions or concerns? NOT REALLY! Would I have suggested his company to my brother if I had foreseen these issues? PROBABLY NOT! Did I call my brother, and suggest that he give the company a chance to take better care of his mortgage request than they did with mine? YES!
