Client X: “I got a very reassuring email from my attorney a couple weeks ago. He received a phone call from my mortgage company letting me know that they had received all of the documentation necessary to start the paperwork on their end. Apparently the representative with the mortgage company mentioned that everything seemed like it was in good order and, unless there were any unforeseen circumstances, they would be able to move forward with the short sale. One of the best things about having an attorney is that they have to take all of the phone calls, receive all of the letters and get all of the email because I’m “represented by counsel”. No more harassing phone calls!

I understand that nothing is guaranteed until the paperwork is signed and the “For Sale” sign comes down, I’m extremely pleased to know that at least things are progressing smoothly. I was really hoping to have everything taken care of and have the house sold before the end of the year but I understand that these things take time. The saying that a short sale should be called a long sale seems to be very true. All in all though, I suppose things could be worse. The offer we accepted was more than our listing price. Although my lawyer speak is bad on a good day, my Realtor has suggested that the terms of the sale are the best out of the offers that were presented to us.

It’s still difficult for me to admit that I’m losing my house, despite the fact that the technical term is selling the house. At this point, I’m just trying to be patient and move on to another property in a few years. Until then, I will be lying low and paying off other bills to put myself in the best possible situation for the next time I move.”

So client X thought it would be helpful to share the hardship letter he sent in to his lender along with his short sale package. It’s kinda scary to say that this letter hasn’t been changed in any way, nor has it been embellished- this is all true stuff:

“Dear Loss Mitigation Manager,

You know that feeling you get when you know that you know your stuff? You can be in any situation, field any question and come out feeling like you are truly an authority in your field… that feeling. My entire professional life, I have taken pride in that feeling. I work my ass off to get that feeling and it’s great!

Today, I got to feel that for someone else- My wife Jenn. I sat in on one of her classes this morning and was totally blown away at how damn good she is. It was such a cool feeling and it totally occurred to me… this IS the feeling of being proud. Not the “thank god she turned that wallet in, I am proud of her” thing, but the “that’s right, my wife kicks ass!” thing.

Absolutely Awesome!

Now this isn’t a Real Estate related post, but I just had to write about this experience. A couple of years ago, I bought a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses. Pretty sure I spent about $150 on them (I love my glasses). Anyway, they broke after about a year and a half. No biggie, I figured I got my lifespan out of them so I stopped by my local Sunglass Hut and picked out a new pair- spent about $180 (please don’t hate me). So another year and a half goes by and what do you know, these glasses break. I don’t mean the arm falls off, I mean the rim breaks and they are FUBAR. So now I’m thinking o.k. this is not right. I am beginning to feel the effect of the “cell phone factor”- everything is designed to crap out on you just after a year or so. So I bring them down to Sunglass Hut and give my nice guy pitch to the 12w bulb behind the counter. “Hey, I bought these about a year and a half ago and they broke. I know the warranty is a year, but I have spent over $300 on glasses here over the years so how about a little nice guy assistance?” (just read it and assume no sarcasm). “You’ll have to call Ray Ban” says the robot behind the counter. So just to recap to this point- customer service is feeling pretty dead. I mean what does Sunglass Hut care, just swap out the damn glasses and make me want to come back right?

Phase 2- I call Ray Ban and go through the automated process of collecting the info to send my glasses in. Long story short, I am told to send the glasses, a check for $12.50 and a note explaining the situation. I do it and I Put it all in a box and settle in to wait my 6-8 weeks.

(Now I really have been on a customer service kick lately. I am of the belief that when the economy is bad and money is tight, people, companies, everyone should be doing as much as they can to keep customers happy and most of all, LOYAL! The only problem is that I have NOT been feeling this at all lately. I mean, there are a few that live it, but the masses are still trying hard to HELP natural selection take them out of the game.)

So, the “Yay!” twist you ask? My doorbell rings yesterday and I open it to see UPS driving off and a little brown box sitting by my door. I open it up and what do I see? A brand new pair of glasses, in fact, the exact same model I sent in- not a fixed pair of glasses, not even a crappy refurbished pair, but a brand new, in the package pair of glasses. Sweet! THIS is why I am o.k. with spending $180 on a pair of glasses. THIS is why people buy Lexus instead of Toyota, Infiniti instead of Nissan- The customer service!

So the moral of the story- Here I am with my new glasses, happy as can be and feeling completely taken care of. I have gone from being on the fence about this company to jumping fully into their yard. So I can honestly say that when the time does come for me to buy a new pair (because with a 2 year old, any pair of glasses ultimately has a limited life span) I will happily buy another pair of Ray Ban glasses. Nice job Ray Ban. If I had a “Customer Service Is NOT Dead” award, you would win it!