Hi Peter: At the very beginning let me make my stance clear. I do Not resent paying a small fee for information I receive if I receive that information. But damn the charlatan that says he will find information for me, takes my money and then tells me there is no information to be had about my family. This has not happened to me once but every single time I have hired one of these so called professionals. Not only in England but here in America and Scotland. And I haven't even begun to look for my knot headed Irish ancestors. One incidence that makes me very angry occurred in your area. This person had done research on our family and knew exactly how much information I had. (I made sure he knew.) He had charged one of the cousins for the info he had uncovered and they were satisfied. When I got in touch with him he assured me that he would find info on another branch of my tree. He named a figure of about 18 pounds and I sent it. A couple of days later he comes back with a message saying that there was no more info to be found and kept my money. Two weeks later I posted a message on a different board and found that my gr-grandparents were married just a few miles from that mans office. And What church they were married in. Cheated? I believe I was. This information didn't cost even a penny it came from a caring person who was searching his own family tree and was glad to share. I have all the admiration in the world for volunteers like your group who put in so much effort and have said so many times on message boards. But I cannot tolerate a person who defends these charlatans who have discovered a way to make easy money and give no return. Have you noticed that the majority of people who are searching their roots are usually older people who are retired and living on pensions? I am one of those. I receive a small monthly pension and cannot afford to be taken by these unscrupulous people and do not intend to be without fighting back. Enough said.----Jim Brasher