I agree.  I don't think the $5 penatly fee is appropriate.  It makes sense to request that your searches are returned in a specific manner, but I would never consent to the deduction in my fee.  From my standpoint, it would be more appropriate to ask, and hopefully the searcher will comply with the request.  If a searcher repeatedly does not comply, and it is a problem, just find another searcher. 

Maybe the abstractors should charge an extra $5 fee for the "special request"... if the company is willing to pay the abstractor an extra $5 for all the searches that are returned correctly, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have the extra $5 fee deducted (or not paid) when it is not done according to their specifications.  Just a thought.