[codethief]

I would have to look up the exact details but I was basically following the standard "Musterprotokoll" to found my company, with one tiny difference/change somewhere. Well-established court rulings said that this change didn't make a difference regarding the notary fees. The notary still charged me for it. When I pointed out the court rulings to them, their response was basically "Right, sorry, we forgot".

I have heard about several other cases like that from friends.

[ng55QPSK]

I see. But this sounds like his/her office made a mistake in calculating the fee, but let's say this far away from "ripping off" and can be cleared in one telephone call.

[codethief]

That was not my impression. I asked them about the fee, they claimed that it's legal/required by law. Then I asked them again (in a more detailed manner, i.e. explaining my thinking why there shouldn't be a fee), they still upheld that it's legal, and then I send them the court rulings and suddenly they had "forgotten" about that.

[ng55QPSK]

Notaries are supervised by (depending on state) some local court and there is a feedback system if you are not satisfied with the process.