Trading reviews for freebies/other perks?

[lgna69xxx]

Jade,


for the most part i would think it is uncommon as well.... I know quite a few ladies in this business on a friendly basis and this has come up in discussions a few times lately as well as some other things that some of these "animals/scumbags" try to get away with but compared to the amount of guys who partake in this business, it would not really be that many instances at all, at least i would assume. Thankfully there are many more good guys than bad, at least around here. See you soon!

It can be hard being new and not understand the industry. I was lucky to have friends in the industry when I got in but if you dont girls can very easily be taken advantage of. Tools like this is exploitative and destroy the entire purpose of reviewing. If you only review for a fee then clients get gake reviews and girls are taken advantage of. Its a lose lose for everyone but theu guy posting these bribe reviews.
that being said it hasn't ever happend to me so I'd like to think it's very uncommon.

 

[gurgeh85]

There are some guys who I believe enjoy mistreating others & that treating others like shit somehow inflates their ego. If they try to do this to you, tell them to go fuck themselves. They might write a negative review, but you at least get a chance, or your agency gets a chance, to respond to reviews like this, and then leave it up to Merb members to make up their own minds. For the most part, I think guys here will be smart enough to figure out the truth.

 

[BookerL]

There are some guys who I believe enjoy mistreating others & that treating others like shit somehow inflates their ego. If they try to do this to you, tell them to go fuck themselves. They might write a negative review, but you at least get a chance, or your agency gets a chance, to respond to reviews like this, and then leave it up to Merb members to make up their own minds. For the most part, I think guys here will be smart enough to figure out the truth.

Hello guegeh85

The purpose of it is the influence the lurkers ,the guys who has a handle but is to nervous to post or whatever reasons ,he has not to post .

https://merb.cc/vbulletin/showthrea...lse-reviews&highlight=restaurant+fake+reviews


Fake reviews does work according to the link



Cheers



Booker

 

[gurgeh85]

Hello guegeh85

The purpose of it is the influence the lurkers ,the guys who has a handle but is to nervous to post or whatever reasons ,he has not to post .

Cheers

Booker

I'm not sure if I'm understanding you correctly. I don't think that just because someone is a lurker necessarily means that he (or she) doesn't know what's going on. There are probably people who have been lurking on Merb since it was started and who have still never posted. I think lurkers and posters are probably equally adept at figuring out who is full of shit and who isn't. They might influence newbs with negative reviews, but not everyone. I've read negative reviews about woman that I thought were unfair and out of place, and that's for women who I'd never been with. I've gotten to a point where I don't pay much attention to reviews anyway -- I'd rather take my chances. Life is what you make it.

 

[lgna69xxx]

The bolded part is exactly my feelings as well except I have always gone on my instinct when deciding to see someone. The only reviews I pay attention to in regards that might sway my decision are reviews from trusted friends and then the final decision is still gut instinct. So far so good. Having a great time with any lady is more about being clean, respectful and always make her laugh. A sense of humor goes a long way to having a great encounter, especially on 2 hour or longer dates.

I'm not sure if I'm understanding you correctly. I don't think that just because someone is a lurker necessarily means that he (or she) doesn't know what's going on. There are probably people who have been lurking on Merb since it was started and who have still never posted. I think lurkers and posters are probably equally adept at figuring out who is full of shit and who isn't. They might influence newbs with negative reviews, but not everyone. I've read negative reviews about woman that I thought were unfair and out of place, and that's for women who I'd never been with. I've gotten to a point where I don't pay much attention to reviews anyway -- I'd rather take my chances. Life is what you make it.

 

[Merlot]

Guys,

Certainly these "scumbags" are anything but a superstar.

There are some guys who I believe enjoy mistreating others & that treating others like shit somehow inflates their ego.

Yup, the kind who need to pursue their hate anywhere they can think of, while posing innocence and professing disgust of the same.



Merlot

 

[chowzilla]

We need more Mods!!! Maybe I''ll apply!

 

[hungry101]

My thoughts.
First off any member who requests this from a SP should be exposed. Second why let the SP know you are a member? Third, if you have 1000 sq ft of wall to paint from dark to light how many gallons of primer and how many gallons of paint should I buy.

You will get about 400 square feet of coverage/gallon if you buy good paint. One coat of primer and 2 coats of regular paint should do it. You can do the math.

Here is an online calculator from the good people of Benjamin Moore.

You can spread 1 mil of any liquid 1600 Sq ft. I guess 4 wet mils is probably a good target per coat? 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of a good top coat ought to do it. Flat/low sheen wall paint covers better than semi gloss or enamel. Rough up the existing surface with some fairly coarse sandpaper if is is an enamel.

Good luck with your project.

 

[BookerL]

Life is what you make it.

Well its a very nice belief !:thumb:
Lets assume its true for all !

Where would we place the "Best " party organizer ,the "Best" booker in that scenario ?
To much awesomeness ?

Plus the language as wording in English and French for uniqueness.
Such as "Epic" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epic

Life is what you make it.

Not true for all !Sadly

There are probably people who have been lurking on Merb since it was started and who have still never posted. I think lurkers and posters are probably equally adept at figuring out who is full of shit and who isn't. They might influence newbs with negative reviews, but not everyone.

The process behind marketing strategies is to influence people ,either negatively or positively ,reviews on a forum are part of that process .
The reader should always exercise is judgment ,

Happy hobbying to all

Cheers



Booker

 

[zmontreal]

Continuing to play devil's advocate, is this really such a bad thing? Depending on how you define a 'perk,' one can even argue Zoë herself made such a trade - those who wrote reviews or posted in her review thread when she transitioned to indy were among the first to be contacted, no? Was that a perk? I think so, and a damn good one, too, for which I'm suuuuper grateful! Outside the hobby, normal businesses make these trades all the time. Discounts for loyal customers who refer others and who provide testimonials are commonplace. There was an earlier post that exclaimed incredulity at this practice - seriously, have you done business?? The purpose of a business is to maximize profit. If that means taking a loss in one transaction to increase the overall volume of transactions, so be it!

You make a good point here. I did/still do favor my reviewers quite a bit - not so much with monetary discounts but by giving them preferential treatment when I make my schedule, as a token of my appreciation. So that is technically a perk I give in exchange for a review, and maybe some people would consider it unfair and wrong.

 

[wolfie7]

You make a good point here. I did/still do favor my reviewers quite a bit - not so much with monetary discounts but by giving them preferential treatment when I make my schedule, as a token of my appreciation. So that is technically a perk I give in exchange for a review, and maybe some people would consider it unfair and wrong.

Nothing wrong with this, Z.

Life is unfair. I would think we are all adults on MERB, and can grasp this. We try to minimize the unfairness as much as reasonable. We try our best, and that's all that can be expected.

And so what if it is unfair? As long as it works well for you. End of the day, SPs have to take care of themselves. Hobbyists that can't accept that are living in a fantasy world and being delusional (which we all occasionally fall prey to).

(This cynical phase shall soon pass, and I'll be back to silliness. )

 

[johnybird]

do you need a hug wolfie7?

 

[wolfie7]

do you need a hug wolfie7?
it's my specialty :smile:

Sir, your trademark is now arranging threesomes for the ladies. I'll take one of those hugs!

 

[traveler2010]

Zoë and all, Lots of great points made in this discussion. I think there were two points important though, and that I agree completely with. First and by far the most important: Clients who try to coerce a discount or freebie for a good review are scumbag assholes and deserve to be outed on merb and blacklisted by providers. The latter would firmly discourage the behavior! Likewise, providers who openly solicit a good review for a discount are not much better, although I cannot imagine that even happening with the good providers (or the really great providers like you Zoë). And two, preference in scheduling and that type of relatively minor preferential treatment for clients who do reviews seems fine. Even discounts seem fine as long as they are not coerced discounts. Most people who those who write good reviews go back for repeat sessions anyway, so that really falls into the category of quanity discounts, much like a lower second hour price. Hell, those who write good reviews will naturually get better treatment during their next visit....why would it work any other way? In fact, why would someone who wrote a bad review even go back for a repeat? And why would a provider want to see a client who did not have a good experience. This really is all just good common sense and good common business practices.

 

[traveler2010]

Zoë, USam mentioned that he had a dream about you, I have to tell you that I did too, but mine was much more fun than a cancellation! ) It involved some dark chocolate and sea salt! ))) Hope your travels went well.

 

[Merlot]

Hello all,

You make a good point here. I did/still do favor my reviewers quite a bit - not so much with monetary discounts but by giving them preferential treatment when I make my schedule, as a token of my appreciation.

Zoe, there's nothing wrong with any of what you describe and I don't think anyone ever meant to say there was. What you are taking about is smart business sense, what some of us have been describing is coercion beyond that. Trading honest information is the purpose of this board and trading favors, perks, whatever one may call it directly for a promise of a glowing review by either clients or escorts destroys that purpose. When I speak of favoritism I have no problem at all with people having favorite ladies and agencies and giving them a promotion through an honest glowing report, and bumping that if they wish. But when someone becomes so closely linked to either a lady or an agency that the relationship becomes one of directly trading off promotions for favors, discounts or whatever that have actually become a kind of payments for reviews then it's become dirty dealing.

Who the very biased and/or shady people are is not usually easy to see, but there are clear signals that make them obvious. Long term continuous connection, over-promotion, deep close involvement, active cooperation with an escorting entity, impulsive attacks on criticism, a habit of bashing of other clients, ladies, or agencies, back channel pressuring and attacks...and in some extreme cases trying to use this business to dig into the private information of clients, escorts, and agencies. I heard long ago of some who have actually used time with a lady to pump her for information. As one who is interested only in the fantasy of being with a lady and making sure nothing interferes with that I find such a thing unfathomable. But some kooks really do this. What the hell is that about. :noidea: :crazy:

As I said there's nothing wrong with making sensible business deals. We all want them, we'd be crazy not to ask if there were deals available, but using pressure, coercion, and what amounts to threats are nothing but dirty business.

To all the guys who see this as black and white - come on, man.

It can be difficult to be sure, as I just said. Yet, there are those who have no shame in showing they are one of the guilty by everything they do, no matter how much they protest against the offenses, and underneath they think they are better than the rest of us for getting away with it.

Cheers,

Merlot

 

[smuler]

But when someone becomes so closely linked to either a lady or an agency that the relationship becomes one of directly trading off promotions for favors, discounts or whatever that have actually become a kind of payments for reviews then it's become dirty dealing

This is interesting..

Do you have any examples , or is this another conspiracy theory ?

Best Regards

Smuler

 

[BookerL]

This is interesting..

Do you have any examples , or is this another conspiracy theory

Well this sadden me I thought we had great "in between the lines readers here"?



Cheers



Booker

 

[gurgeh85]

The implications of this thread, which I already presumed were a reality, are the reason 95%/or more of my future encounters will be with Indy's. Also, the increased probability of coercion on younger women by 'manager', hunger to succeed, lack of exp, etc, is why I generally will steer clear of 18-21.

I don't think it's necessary to steer clear of women who work for agencies. Some men certainly try to take advantage of them, some agencies take advantage of them, but this isn't universally the case. In fact, it's probably a rare thing. It's just that some people are jerks. If you deal with a lot of people on a regular basis, they aren't always going to be nice. It's the same thing in every walk of life, not only the sex industry. Agency ladies need business, too, and the best you can do for them it to be clean and nice, and funny and fun to be with. Not everyone is being taken advantage of, and not every 18-21 year old woman is a naive little girl, either. Some of those young ladies can teach you a thing or two.

 

[Merlot]

This is interesting..

..is this another conspiracy theory ?

Never! They're mostly nonsense. Fact, as you know well.

...the increased probability of coercion on younger women by 'manager', hunger to succeed, lack of exp, etc, is why I generally will steer clear of 18-21.

Lastly, there is probably a large distinction between trading favors and blackmail. In my opinion, the former will be done by people 'in too deep' or who are the type to use coupons when they can afford not too. The latter are generally quite dangerous and of low character.

Dangerous??? My first reaction was...that's too strong. We come here just looking for a fantasy diversion don't we? Isn't all we want to enjoy ourselves and trade some experiences to learn with whom we might have a better match, a more pleasurable experience? How about just having fun? I thought that was it.

The trouble is greed and ego. Some want to be favored not simply because they have more money and the good business sense the agencies or Independents favoring those clients, these people want control beyond business sense. They need extra status, special status to feed their ego and to get that if it means improper control or censoring information, tactics of pressure, coercion, attack...they don't care because it's about control. Is that dangerous??? Well, where such behavior becomes common and information that could protect all concerned becomes controlled, censored, truthfulness discredited to service greed and ego then the possibilities can become dangerous. Abuse can follow any situation where openness to prevent it is removed. Exploitation can increase, risks multiply...especially for the ladies.

Ironically people go on and on about C-36, the misrepresentation of the industry as a whole by those with a political agenda often for their own personal enrichment, yet some clients seeking to enhance themselves want so much control that their tactics can help create the same risks those against the "sex industry" cite to say it's too exploitative and dangerous.

Funny,

Merlot