I've been a lurker on these forums for many years and have enjoyed the hobby just as long.  Its funny that my first post is more rant than anything else, but I have to say that I've had the worst experience this week since I've entered the hobby.
Saw an ad of a prior provider whom I haven't seen in four years. I considered her a great provider with a great attitude so I thought it be great to see her again. Contact should have been easy as she had multiple points of contact. Two phone numbers were provided.  Left messages on both numbers,of which one was supposedly her private line. Never got an answer back from either numbers.
Next I decide to contact the agency she was traveling under.  Had never used this particular agency but its always been high regarded in these forums.  As a would be new client, I submitted an email question on the website on the providers availability for the week before I go through their security registration process. It took three days to get a response. The provider had cut her tour short and left a day before I got my response from the agency.
So the question stands, has the quality, service, and attitude changed for the worse during these hard times or did I just have a bad week?  FYI, I won't name the provider or agency publicly since it could have been me having a bad week. Ok , done ranting.  Stay safe everyone.

This aspect of hobbying seems to be subject to luck/chance even more than the service in the room.  All agencies have phone problems from time to time.  Overall I think I end up with about a 25% success rate for seeing girls convenient to my schedule.  Try another day…try another girl…try again with the first girl next time around.

Guidelines that work for me with “new” agency contact:
Make initial contact a few days ahead of the desired appointment day, and be ready to go thru the screening process.  Verify that both e-mail and phone number work.  I don’t normally book the appointment until the morning of the same day.  Always have a back-up plan…alternate phone number already in my cell with an agency I am already screened with.

The economy does not seem to have any effect on this, or YMMV in the room for that matter.

precisely the oppposite in my experience

you want good steak you pay for it.even the best providers here in ter have considered the economy bbut the quality of a good provider has not gone down.

I hear what you're saying and agree with you. It's just that the the entire process for this one time bordered on the comical. It's just that I called two seperate phone numbers leaving messages on the first day of the tour then the email registration at least four days before desired appt. It's just the odds of all three failing are highly improbable from a tech standpoint. It's more likely human error. I like to think I did the right things, but I understand things can go wrong. It's just the agency I've never used before made a bad first impression. It won't stop me from using them though because they're not responsible for all the missteps as the provider bears some of it since one of the numbers went to her own voice mail.
As for backup the Belladonna is my backup as Ive never had an issue with them. They're a great service.

I think that the quality has dropped, and a lot of prices have gone up.

There are always new providers who come and go, but I see more and more go these days. I have even seen providers who did an okay job now out of the business because more is expected for the hard earned dollar.

But I think this is always the case... I am done now rambling.

Sounds like business as usual. It is, after all, a very unusual business. I'd be frustrated and annoyed, too, but that's the sea we swim in. Just take your appointments somewhere more reliable. I got stood up waiting in a parking lot with a girl I'd seen five times before and I just didn't go back. I didn't hate the girl or anything, I just didn't want to bother again.

My experience has been that there are many more ads by providers who are new to the hobby and many of these are clearly not suited to providing a reliable, enjoyable experience. I've met a few gems among the newer ladies, but more often than not I'm disappointed. Even some of the ladies working for the more well-established agencies are sometimes, surprisingly, a disappointment -- maybe from burn-out after a few years, or maybe from the drop in steady clients. And yeah, on occasion, I can tell I was the "safety" client for an hour that had already been booked with another client. I suppose during tough economic times it's kind of like a real esate agent whose income has dropped and so has their attitude. The ladies who get repeat visits from me are the ones who seem to want to build up a roster of repeat clients, and whose attitudes reflect the fact that for both of us, the donation is all the more dear these days.

Oh well, my service certainly didnt if anything got better. Besides that just so you know this is a RECESSION-PROOF business.You just had bad luck to pick the bad agencies.Guess what?
They were probably even worse during good times)

It is a flighty business, last week I scheduled an appointment and confirmed with the agency on the way to the hotel.When I paid for parking and called this Florida agency I was told she could not keep the appointment because of car problems and they did not know when she would show up.A poor and unlikely excuse and it happens a lot.

I have found the performance aspect of the business to have improved during the bad economy. More ladies are more willing to do more, in many cases to keep clients repeating since the TER poll indicates that hobbying is down across the board. They want you to keep coming back and are more responsive than ever. I've also found a few UTR providers that are working on the side to get by or pay for tuition that are delivering unbelievable service at fair rates. They have raised the bar on what I consider 8-9 rated performance and value for the dollar. I just wish I could hobby more!!!