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From: "Michael Hait" <>
Subject: Re: [TGF] Advice on Difficult Client
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:56:28 -0400
References: <COL107-W2B2BF46E59EEB05FBD60692EF0@phx.gbl>,<CABPpKTib7y6V7SfrkWw+NVbr+UNBWA7HHNTRqw=GSU+4EvTOBA@mail.gmail.com><COL107-W36DCCBF36B4784E91E41F892EF0@phx.gbl>
In-Reply-To: <COL107-W36DCCBF36B4784E91E41F892EF0@phx.gbl>


This is why I have a clause in my contract that states more or less:

"Any duplication of research caused by failure to provide all previous
research will still be charged."


Michael Hait, CG(sm)

http://www.haitfamilyresearch.com

CG and Certified Genealogist are service marks of the Board for
Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants
after periodic competency evaluation, and the board name is registered in
the US Patent & Trademark Office.
-----Original Message-----
From: Melanie D. Holtz CG
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 2:44 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [TGF] Advice on Difficult Client


Sorry if this come through twice. I forgot to plain text it.


I explained to him in the beginning that it would require going back and
reconstructing the families to make sure we were on the right track. I found
a huge amount of information for him for two couples and all their children,
9 or more in each generation. Today he says he "basically had all the
information I found". That is not logical because he told me in the
beginning the information he gave was all he had. I could forward him his
emails but I'd like to find a more tactful approach.

As Kimberly, said researching collateral ancestors can often lead to the
information you are looking for. In this case, it is getting us closer to
the needed information because I found that one of Generation 3's sons
married in another town. I looked for the marriage of Generation 3 in this
new town (because it wasn't found in the town the client said they married
in) and found it, providing names for Generation 4.

Would you all make a concilatory gesture, like working a few hours free?


Sincerely,

Melanie D. Holtz, CG(sm)
Holtz Research Services
http://holtzresearch.com

CG and Certified Genealogist are Service Marks of the Board for
Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by board certificants
after periodic competency evaluations by the Board.



Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:42:39 -0500
Subject: Re: [TGF] Advice on Difficult Client
From:
To:
CC:

Melanie --

I'm not sure how to answer without knowing what he was exactly saying. Did
he really not care whether you researched his ancestors rather than someone
else's? Did he not realize that most names are commoner than we think, and
it would be easy to work on the wrong people? Or did he think that having a
couple of names constituted knowledge?

Normally the starting point would be an original record placing a *known*
ancestor in a particular place at a particular time. (All right, I know, on
occasion we've all started with less, but that's the best way.) You might
produce a search result with multiple similar names. Or just asking him
repeatedly how he knows X, Y, and Z.

Some people really don't understand research at all, and we have to try to
do the work of educating them. I would also be interested in how folks deal
with this situation in terms of when to cut their losses and just say,
"Sorry, I can't take this case on this basis."

Harold


On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 12:16 PM, Melanie D. Holtz CG
<> wrote:


I've had an exhausting morning with a client trying to get him to understand
why sound genealogical research practices required that I start at the
beginning of his ancestry and work backwards. He gave me very little
information as a starting point. All I had was three generations of male
names, two approximate birth years, and a town.

He feels I should have jumped to Generation 3 and begun from there as his
main goal is to find where Generation 3 or 4 immigrated from. However, I
couldn't be sure he had the right information on Generation 3 unless I built
up to it.

Perhaps you all have a better way of explaining things?

Sincerely,

Melanie D. Holtz, CG(sm)
Holtz Research Services
http://holtzresearch.com

CG and Certified Genealogist are Service Marks of the Board for
Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by board certificants
after periodic competency evaluations by the Board.
The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive
environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to
professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list.
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--
Harold Henderson
Research and Writing from Northwest Indiana
Professional genealogy from Chicago to Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo to Kokomo
Compiler, In Court In La Porte: An every-name index to the first legal
proceedings
in La Porte County, Indiana
midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com
midwestroots.net
The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive
environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to
professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list.
-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
with the word
'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

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