It is time to take a stand with people like this. The VM's are all too used to the abstractors acquiescing in whatever garbage they throw our way...ridiculously low pricing...unreasonable turn around times ...slowpay/no pay policies. It has gotten to the point that I am actually beginning to enjoy the mental chess game with some of these people. When they cite some pretext for nonpayment, I thoroughly enjoy catching them in the errors/oversights in their own search orders on which they rely.  To date I have always gotten paid with the exception of the Bridgespan bankruptcy. I may lose the client, but who needs the dead beats? Do you think for one minute that they would tolerate anything less than perfect performance from the abstractors.