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From: Harold Henderson <>
Subject: Re: [TGF] Advice on Difficult Client
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:28:26 -0500
References: <COL107-W2B2BF46E59EEB05FBD60692EF0@phx.gbl><CABPpKTib7y6V7SfrkWw+NVbr+UNBWA7HHNTRqw=GSU+4EvTOBA@mail.gmail.com><COL107-W36DCCBF36B4784E91E41F892EF0@phx.gbl>
In-Reply-To: <COL107-W36DCCBF36B4784E91E41F892EF0@phx.gbl>


Melanie --

Kimberly may well be right (and her pre-work proviso is surely a good one);
she is nicer than I am. And I will admit that in more than 100 clients from
all over the US I have never had this happen.

But my first question is, how badly do you need this client?

I have to wonder whether he is angling to get some free research here, or
just clueless. Since you proceeded in good faith, having advised him of the
necessity of what you were about to do, I don't see anything wrong with
making sure he is fully aware of what he told you, and kindly but firmly
asking him to pay the bill that is now due.

I wouldn't do it in a nasty way, but the facts are (1) you have done nothing
wrong and (2) he has done nothing to deserve free genealogical services.

If he said he needed a new kitchen cabinet made, and you made one and
brought it over, and he said, "Oh, I have one like that right here, I can't
pay you for making that," would you do some additional free work for him?

Harold



On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 1:44 PM, Melanie D. Holtz CG <
> wrote:

>
> 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.
> -------------------------------
> 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
>
>
>
> --
> 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
>



--
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


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