Just checking in to vent a little today.
I've established a page on Facebook offering my services, for a fee, to help others researching their family histories. I've gotten some excellent questions that I don't mind answering at all......and then there are the WEIRDIES......!!!! For example, one basically asked that I read her mind and guess what she wants to find. When I quoted what I would charge her, per hour, she hasn't been heard from since. A second one asked if I could do the work BEFORE she paid me! I explained how much it would cost to travel to the repository and that cost needs to be covered BEFORE I make the trip in addition to my retainer fee. The third, and most OBNOXIOUS one, RANTED at me for DARING to ask to be paid for my work. I pointed out that both my business page and the genealogy sites that I've been on have been mentioning fees all along and what those fees cover. Then he apologized.
This is NOT a new problem! When I was in high school, making crocheted jewelry, I've encountered TOTAL STRANGERS DEMANDING that I hand over my work to them FOR FREE!!!! With my then-teenage bravado, I would look them in the eye and blurt: "I DON'T KNOW YOU!"
URGHHHHH!!!!!!
Bones
