She's right... If a designer doesn't do up many "ideas" based on your wishes then submit them, they most likely aren't professional.
The logo process is very important and could be the biggest part of your startup as you are new and will depend on the logo to introduce your company to possible clients.
I'd make sure to get references before choosing a designer too. Any good designer will want 1/2 the $$ up front and could spend a few hours on an initial concept.
Most great designers charge a few hundred for logo creation.
Why don't you hold a logo contest on the boards and give $100 to the winner. Then you'd get tons of ideas and would eventually come out with a great looking logo and one of us would get $100 out of it... Seems fair to me.