Wendi,

Actually, you are mistaken.  The VM's do not charge the client for the copies for the most part.  There is always a certain number of copies included in the fee charged to the client, it is agreed upon when the client is set up.  That is why I always asked the abstractor to let me know if the fee would be more that X amount.  THEN I would have to call the client and get that fee approved.  There were some cases when the client was set up to never pay more than a certain amout per order and I lost alot of money on the order.  But I still paid my abstractor for  doing the job that I asked them to do.  If there is ever a situation where my client requested an additional copy of a doc or a clearer copy, I would do everything I could to do it on my end first before calling the abstractor and then I would ask them if...the next time they are in the county....to get me a copy of xyz doc.  I always paid them for their service. 

But, you can not tell me that there are not certain clients that you work for that you will get them the copy and not charge for it on occasion.  Everyone has those certain clients that they will do that for.  Those ones that have actually managed to earn your respect, that when a search from them comes in, goes to the top of the pile. The ones that will call and let you know if your area has slowed down and they aren't using someone else because they are cheaper.  Some of us VM still do have ethics and will fight tooth and nail to protect you guys...some of us have actually come close to loosing our jobs because we fight our own companies.