Have never had problems with the Search > Last Name and we use Max 7 a lot. Of course, you need to ensure the selections are set correctly for Individuals vs Contacts, Replace/Narrow/Add List options, etc. If you're using the Search > All Fields, you may also have to see if the All/Any conditions are being met correctly. Other than that, the actual entry of the name is pretty fogiving, and I haven't even found the use of wild cards to be required in most cases, and case sensitivity is also not a huge factor. If you've checked all these and it still doesn't work, perhaops you can provide more details - the spelling of the name you're looking for, which search you're using, the settings for each selection criteria, etc.
- R.