06/05/03’s illustrious band:

Title Bout

Brought to you by Barbara M. Chirinos, VP of Executive Sales at Stewart Title.

Remember last month when I was refinancing my house? The people handling the closing -- Stewart Title -- goofed at the 11th hour, and in such a way that I thought (A) I would have to personally track down my ex-husband to get his signature on a certain form and (B) if I didn’t, the refinancing would not happen at all, and I’d be left up a monetary crick without a paddle. The matter was finally resolved when I took it upon myself to read the entire text of a legal document I’d supplied to Stewart and found that the information they wanted from Mr. Ex was right there all along.

It was a very stressful incident, as anyone who knows me can tell you. If there’s anything I like less than nasty surprises involving my bank account, it’s nasty surprises involving both my bank account and my ex.

So . . . When I got home from work last night, I found a letter from Stewart Title in the mailbox. My first thought was, Oh, swell, what now? I anxiously ripped it open and found . . . a check for $250.00.

Barbara Chirinos wrote to apologize. Someone -- I’m assuming it was my loan advisor, who got a detailed description of my displeasure -- made her aware of the circumstances surrounding my closing and how unhappy I’d been about it. Ms. Chirinos acknowledged that the matter should have been handled differently and said she’s made some recommendations on the subject to both the VP of the closing department and the VP of operations/manager of production. She also wanted to assure me that the loan advisor had not been at fault. Further, she said she appreciated the opportunity to address their internal processes and improve customer service in the future. The check is a refund of my closing fee.

Well, how the heck to you like that? I’m floored! Not only does Ms. Chirinos give a dang whether the service provided by her office is up to par, she takes full responsibility when it’s not. She’s taking active steps to improve it, and she’s making amends to a customer who was not well served. It’s not just a pro forma apology, either, but meaningful reparation.

After all my gripes about bad service lately, it gives me great pleasure to share this story. What a marvelous surprise to find a service provider whose standards are high! I plan to write back to tell her just how impressed I am.

Lunch is on me today!

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