my question to that person would have been---when was your last yearly review, did you get a cost of living raise?  Well the cost of living hasn't gone down HERE so when they cut your salary 10%, I'll cut my fees by 10%.  I remember just recently someone posted on here that they found a receipt for a title search in the 70's and it was MORE than that person can charge NOW. 

I actually think we might be doing something positive for the industry.  Alot of us are refusing to lower our fees.  Yes, right now, the title companies are still able to find fly-by-nighters who will do it for less, but soon, those abstractors will be out of business because they won't be making a profit, or will let their E & O lapse and continue to produce shoddy work, so it will all come back to the title companies.  At some point, they won't have a choice but to come back to us.  It has actually already happened.  Back in March, I was contacted by a large national company that I already did work for---alot of us got the call so I don't need to say the name.  They said if I didn't lower my fees by 3% they wouldn't send me any work for six months.  Well, we're not even at the 4 month mark and, yes, they called again asking me to do a search.  Since the initial request to lower my fees, I have RAISED my fee for that county, so I expected them to laugh.  She agreed readily and I had the search request within 5 minutes.  Just think if all 5000 abstractors on SOT started refusing to lower their fees. 

I realize the issue with Infinity isn't fees per se, but we have a similar situation there--so many of us are saying no to doing their work, that the calls and requests to fill out packages are starting to sound a little desperate.  It starts to prove the theory that collective "bargaining"--in this case collective "refusing" is working.