Borrowers Upset By Poor Service.(Mobius Management Systems Inc. survey results)(Brief Article)

One hundred thirty out of 138 mortgage customers said that they would switch banks if phone customer service was consistently bad, according to a recent online poll by Mobius Management Systems Inc., provider of Web-based software for managing and presenting documents.

While a surprisingly large number, from the experience of mortgage services - given the complexity of a mortgage and the expense required in changing providers - the concern is more in the effect that poor customer service can have on the cross-selling aspect of the business.

Jeffrey Briggs, an evp of Wendover Financial Services, a Greensboro, N.C. subservicer for the subprime residential and Alt-A market, reiterated the sentiment, adding, "Customer service is all about creating a relationship with the customer, causing them to be satisfied and causing them to communicate favorably about your company to others."

Another gripe expressed by mortgage consumers in the survey was that they hated to be put on hold for "even five minutes."

Wendover, like many other leading servicers, has taken extensive measures to avoid such delay times.

Wendover was ranked No. 32 out of 284 servicers for receivables at year-end 2000 by the Mortgage Industry Directory, 2002 edition, published by Thomson Financial, which is also the parent company of National Mortgage News.

Mr. Briggs said, "Our average answer time over the past 12 months has been about 53 seconds. We use industrial engineers and time studies to determine how many people are necessary to put on the phones during our peak (inquiry) volume time."