The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

 We would like to illustrate one very important point about the inspection process.  Most of your customers are going to be legitimate, and in our experience, nothing irritates them more than being blind-sided by a representative calling for an appointment when they have not been notified in advance.  Whomever you use for your inspections, do them and yourself a favor by calling the contact at the location and explaining this requirement prior to ordering an inspection!

 

The Good

 

“XYZ Mortgage, John Smith speaking.”

 

“Hi, Mr. Smith.  My name is Mary Jones and I’m calling on behalf of ABC Credit Bureau.  How are you today?”

 

“Fine, thanks, how are you?”

 

“I’m great, thank you.  Mr. Smith, the reason I’m calling is because I have been asked to conduct a physical inspection of your premises in connection with your application with ABC Credit Bureau.  I understand that you have recently made application with them to access credit reports at your location.  To keep you in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, they require a quick physical inspection to confirm that you are actually at the address on your application and that it is a secure location.  Were you aware of this requirement?

 

“Yes, they told me someone would be calling.  I’m anxious to get setup as soon as possible.”

 

“Great.  Well, I was calling to make the appointment.  It will only take a few minutes.  When would be a good time for you?”

 

“As soon as possible.  How about tomorrow at 10:00?”

 

“Perfect.  Is the address 100 Main Street, Suite 10?”

 

“Sure is, we’re on the second floor.”

 

“I know exactly where it is.  I’ll see you tomorrow at 10:00.  Let me leave my number for you just in case something comes up.”

 

The Bad

 

“XYZ Mortgage Company”

 

“Hi, this is Mary Jones.  May I speak with John Smith, please?”

 

“One moment, please.” 

 

“John Smith speaking.”

 

“Hi, Mr. Smith.  My name is Mary Jones and I’m calling on behalf of ABC Credit Bureau.  How are you today?”

 

“Very busy.  What do you want?”

 

“Mr. Smith, the reason I’m calling is because I have been asked to conduct a physical inspection of your premises in connection with your application with ABC Credit Bureau.  I understand that you have recently made application with them to access credit reports at your location.  To keep you in compliance with the Fair Credit-Reporting Act, they require a quick physical inspection to confirm that you are actually at the address on your application and that it is a secure location.  Were you aware of this requirement?”

 

“No.  Who are you again?”

 

“Mary Jones.  Did you recently apply with ABC Credit Bureau to access credit reports?”

 

“Yeah, but they never told me anything about an inspection.  I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry.  They should have informed you.  If you have a minute, I can explain it to you….”

 

“Well, I don’t.  I’m very busy, and frankly I’ve never heard of such a thing.  If ABC Credit Bureau doesn’t trust me enough to sign me up based on the information on my application, I don’t want to do business with them!”   CLICK

 

The Ugly

 

“Hello?

 

“Hi, is this XYZ Mortgage Company?

 

“Who wants to know?”

 

“My name is Mary Jones and I’m calling on behalf of ABC Credit Bureau.  May I speak with John Smith, please?

 

“There’s nobody here by that name, and whatever you’re selling, we don’t want any!”  

CLICK