I have always spent a lot of time getting my quilt top ready for the long armer. It's not fair to expect the LA to fix all the quilt top problems. If I was a LA and taking customers I know I wouldn't be in business very long because I'd send the quilt tops back with a list of fix its before I quilt it. That said, most experienced LAs know what to look out for and can compensate/adjust/fudge enough so problems seem like no problems at all and should charge much more for the effort.