I would like to provide some positive feedback for Maxim.
Part of my family comes from what used to be Hungary and is now the Ukraine. As everyone here probably knows, writing to Uzhgorod State Archives is a dead-end proposition. So after searching the internet, I found Maxim's board and read some of the feedback. It has been been very positive, and for good reason. I would wholeheartedly recommend his services to anyone who would like to find their family roots from this part of the world.
I was very impressed with his professionalism. Initially, we had some problems sending him payment through Western Union. Because of the inconvenience caused by something outside of his control, he offered to provide more genealogy research for me and lower his fee. To me, that spoke highly of his professionalism.
My specific case turned out to be quite difficult, yet, Maxim managed to figure things out. It turns out that some of the information that I sent Maxim was not exactly correct. Apparently, some people coming to the USA at the turn of the 20th century lied about particulars and forged documents to come here if they did not have a family sponsor already living here. As a result, a few pieces of information that I sent to Maxim were not accurate, things that I took for granted. Also, there are several people in the village with the same given and surname. Through deductive reasoning, Maxim was able to figure out which particular family was part of my family tree. He also was able to give me sibling information and extend my tree two more generations on both the great grandmother and great grandfather's side.
Looking back at the entire process, hiring Maxim to do this work was well worth every dollar that I spent. I appreciate all of his work and follow up (which he has continued to provide after he gave me the results of his research). Another aspect is something that could be easily overlooked - he speaks and writes English very well. I have worked with genealogists from other eastern European nations, and it is MUCH easier to work with someone who speaks and understands English.
Again, I highly recommend his services to anyone researching their family tree in the Ukraine/Hungarian part of the world. His knowledge of this part of the world is greatly appreciated.
If anyone has further questions about his service, feel free to email me at
jkussey@gmail.com.
