Personally i had 2 very bad experiences in my town couple years before discovering merb, i tough the first one was rookie mistake and i rolled with it. I tried again and made sure this time to ask everything to be totally sure. In the end i was fooled and it was bad again. I don't use the word "horrible" as i was not "robbed" and she didn't yell at me or the worst of what i read in reviews here at times, but the experience was so bad i felt like i had just threw my money in the toilet.
I didn't tried again for like 2 years i think... then i found merb totally by accident looking for strip clubs (that section came out in a google search) and well... i started reading... One of the top stars at the time was actually visiting my town in a couple days so i decided to try it. All her reviews where great both in service and excellent look, and i was able to exchange mail with her and she looked genuine. It happened and oh boy !! Lets say i came out of there singing and dancing on street ...litteraly
I came to MTL for the first time(for a meeting) a month or so later for my birthday, not only to see a girl but party up with friends. And it was even better. The girl i saw (from my memory) was so beautifull, her service was so perfect. Maybe it was beginners "amaze" but its how i felt. In my first 2 experiences with merb i did my first COF (meeting 1) and my first(and second lol) BBBCIMSW.
So yeah right from the get go i was spoiled by merb i supose. I can't say all my experiences in my first 2 years where as stellar as those 2 first one but they always had great redeeming qualities exept a few rare ones. For instance one of the girl i saw as my ... 6th i think, would have to look at my notes lol, anyway she wasn't "model looking" , a bit chubby, but she had a cute face and great eyes (she had face pics on the agency website) and i had my first Greek with her (free of extra charge) and she was open to BBBJCIMSW. Also a good attitude obviously.
And then it kept going and i saw Kate for the first time, then Kelly Summer as my first "real pornstar" experience. Had tons of great meetings at GG back then and the rest is history. Gotta give a shoutout to the Unicorns Sonia and Hanna as well for having make me discover and experience new things and make me feel spoiled even more
To me the simple fact of going outside merb perimeeter is like playing with fire. Obviously the taugh of a 160$/h meeting sounds great. But as botchy as it may sound at first glance it remind me of a certain thing my mom does. (WAIT WAIT WAIT... HEAR ME OUT !! LOL) She always seem to go for the cheaper foods at the grocery store. For instance if Oreos are 3.50$ and she can buy cheap chocolate cookies for 2$, she will go with the cheap ones. Even if i kept telling her i rather have 1 box of oreos rather than 2 of the cheap brand. As for me the difference in taste is huge. For her its really quantity over quality. Personally i rather have less but enjoy it to the fullest.
Kinda feel similar with meetings. I rather have one that is great but cost more, rather than 2 cheaper ones wich at best will be "ordinary" and at worst could be terrible. Meetings cost me at there cheapest (winter season for instance with hotels etc) around 380/400$ if i count all expenses like the hotel, travel cost and extras. But i rather have this and come out of there super happy and satisfied rather than go to a cheap incall in a shady neighborough and not only gamble with my money but also my security.
Of course merb is not full bulletproof, i mean look at the OPs situation, but if you been a member here for a little while and take the time to do your homeworks, you know wich agencies have the best reputations and all. We have contest/polls every year also and the agencies proudly wear there badges of "merb #1/2/3" agency winner so that tell something.
As for the question of merb % in the montreal market... I would say its much more than 2% for sure. Obviously there is the tourist and the late night owls who call whoever they can cause there horny (and sometimes intoxicated) but one thing for sure, with backpage out of the picture, i think merb will grow once again. Not everybody knows about leolist (wich seem to be the replacement for now) , its nowhere near as big, and it may take a while before it establish itself as "the place". Merb may not be 50% of the market, but it ain't 2% i can tell you that.
Also i agree with Jalimon the back channels play a huge part for regular merb members.
I think the only thing that may "hurt" merb is that no matter if you put "escortes a montreal" or "montreal escorts" it does not come on page 1 (at least not for me) If you add reviews to french or english terms in come out in the first 3 result tough(google).
In any case everybody is different and i know lots of guys probably don't think too much of an escort meeting, they probably expect what they see in the movies and myself first after the terrible meetings i had in my town i didn't expect what i know now.
But with what i seen, what i experienced, i could never go back to the "cheap meeting" routes.
As for the situation with the OP there. As an experienced hobbyist i don't think i would had call that agency in the first place for a start so its hard to say the rest but lets say it happen, i do call it, i would certainly not pay the money up front as my trust is super low in them. Worst that can happen is she says "no service then" wich i say "fine... have a good night" . I wouldn't even have given 40$. Like really what type of services is this? Not even a CBJ included? 80$ for a CBJ?? wtf... lol.
But thats me, im extra carefull with everything.
