Robert,

Thanks for the kind words.  And thank you again for providing these forums!  You have provided a great service and resource for us all!  It is up to us to use it properly.  Payment issues affect us all.  It is an issue for all of us in this community.  Therefore, it is a legitimate issue for this forum.  The more everyone realizes this and gets on the same page, the louder our collective voice gets!!  That is the only true way we can bring about changes so that these issues get better.  I have had little success with the "call them yourself" philosophy, when it comes to payment issues.  Many times when you call yourself, you cant even get ahold of a live person and have to leave a voice mail- that may or may not be returned.  If you do get ahold of someone, you may get excuses or lies.  To some of these companies losing one or two abstractors is no big deal, but losing one or two HUNDRED suddenly becomes a very big deal. 

Unfortunately, some people here will stick up for a company because it hasnt affected them (yet).  Lets say I do work for Company X and they always pay me on time.  John Doe comes on here and has a complaint about not getting paid from X.  Just because I always get paid from X doesnt mean John Doe doesnt have a legitimate complaint!  I have had other abstractors stick up for a company despite the fact I had a legitimate complaint.  It is fine if they want to come on and post that they havent had a problem, but how about also sticking up for your fellow abstractors?!  Not to mention that I have a feeling that some people here jump on the phone and tell companies when someone posts about them.  I have a hard time believing that companies have someone monitoring these message boards 24/7, so when you are getting threatened with lawsuits 2 business hours after posting something, it makes you wonder how they found out so fast.

Most good companies do not need anyone sticking up for them, here or anywhere else.  They should be able to do it themselves.  If a problem or question arises, they are more than welcome to come on here and post as well.  This forum is also a tremendous resource for THEM.  They can get their message out to EVERYONE.  Who would want to field call after call to explain something over and over unless the explanation isnt the same for everyone?  On here, you can tell EVERYONE at one time!  That is a great resource! 

Some people seem to forget that this is business.  No one is harassing anyone here by questioning their ability to pay before doing work for them.  Name one place in this world where you can go to get credit (which is essentially what we provide for our clients) without answering some questions?  99.9% of the time, in the real world, you have to prove your ability to payback your debt before you can get anything.  I know that personally, I am not even in a position to lend a few thousand dollars to a friend without having some assurance that they could and would pay me back.  Why should I do that with someone I dont, or barely, know?

Anyone that gets asked questions on here has a great opportunity to prove themselves to a large audience.  Any company that can answer all questions and then backs it up with their actions will quickly have even the most skeptical people here singing their praises!  That is a TREMENDOUS opportunity!  We ALL want to do work for these kind of companies!

Thanks again, Robert!