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There may be a time during your search you may consider the help of a professional searcher. You may have seen ads for companies that do searchers for a flat rate or you may have been approached by people offering to do certain search tasks for a fee.
Below are a few rules of thumb when considering a PI or data company.
The first is to use careful judgment Ask a lot of questions. Below is a list of a few questions you may want to consider when considering hiring a PI.
Is he or she currently a licensed PI?
In what state or states?
What is their success rate with this type of search?
What specific information must you provide?
Does the contract specify exactly what information you will be provided? Take no verbal promises.
How long before you are provided the information?
If the PI doesn’t find when is your money returned?
If you are paying online is it a secured site?
You want to find out about guarantees. There are places that swear they will continue searching if they give you wrong information. On the flip side though they could tell you they are searching forever and you get nothing. Some of these places never refund and just “keep searching” so they have kept their word to not give up. One question to ask would be what happens if you find while they are still looking.
There are some companies that offer a search for a flat rate. I have heard of fees like $2900 regardless of results or of the state you are in. There are some state that are easy and some states that are ridiculously hard. So, if you already have a name or other critical information you should be able to negotiate with a searcher to get the price down a bit since you are coming to them with a lot of info already. If a place has higher fees, they may back their work with a “no find, no fee” guarantee.
It is important to seek the opinion of others. You can do this by posting in the forums or on mailing lists. You can see if anyone has tried or has a good or bad experience to report.
Be wary of net searching. Some are good and some are not. Again, it is important to seek opinions. You may even wan to check with the Better Business Bureau in the home city. Before paying someone for information you also may want to ask where you can get the information for free. It can happen.
You should always check online for volunteers at the forums or on the mailing lists you belong to. There are many search angels who are willing to do leg for others. Also there is an organization called Volunteer Search Network (VSN) that has volunteers who will only charge for expenses if any costs are involved. The organization can be found at http://www.vsn.org/ The abilities of the volunteers will vary and most do it in their spare time so you may need to be patient. It is worth checking out and seeing if there is someone in the area you are searching.
If you are considering a PI or Data Company, shop around. You may find that you will receive quotes from low to high and many in the middle.
You also need to be careful of solicitations received. There are private investigators who comb the net for searchers. They may go to registries and solicit the posters of that registry to try and get business for themselves. These types of emails may hit you repeatedly with no apparent marketing strategy.
Tips that you receive from a stranger via email or in a chat room are not good referrals. People who sell services do this to get more business posing as a happy client. So, only take tips that you will pay for from people you know and trust.
There is good and bad every where and adoption search is no different. There are many good reunion stories because PI or genealogists did their jobs well. However, there are also stories that are heart breakers. SO, take your time and consider the services when you hit the brick wall or when it is clear you do not have the time to do it yourself. Go as far as you can on your own first and take your time with this decision if you are thinking about it.
