Thank you very much for your reply. For me it is a big pleasure to read your and Andy's articles in FoxTalk. I am waiting every new volume with grate interest.

Thank you so much for the kind words. I am very glad that you enjoy the articles.

I did not think before about this side of business - risk which agencies take in case of problem with payments from the customers.

Well, this still does not give the agency the right to take 80% and give you 20%. The only place I have ever heard of agencies doing such a thing is here in the US. I never experienced this kind of thing when I was living in the UK.

When the agency takes so much of the fee, it is also cheating the client. If the client is paying $100 per hour, he has the right to expect a certain level of expertise from the programmer. If he is really getting a $20 / hour programmer for his $100 --- well, you see my point < s >.