And, I just need to clarify a few things.  

1.  The reservation fee is simply a small deposit to signal the seriousness of a gent's intent to keep his appointment with me.  It's payable in an ENTIRELY anonymous way, and I provide an email receipt of balance owed.  The amount is deducted from what's to be paid when we meet.

2.  I did NOT say that if you really wanted to see me, you would not cancel over $25.  My exact words were:

"If your feeling toward me has changed over $25, then it definitely wasn't meant to be.  The purpose of the small amount is to shield me from NCNS and last-minute BS cancellations.  It's worked so far, and  I won't lose any sleep over it.  No need to respond."

3.  No matter how much I like someone, no matter that we are friends on Twitter, no matter how many times I've seen them, my policy for touring is that I request the $25 be paid.  It is not an insult; it is simply part of the way I run my business.  I have NO interest in the fact that no other lady has ever asked you to pay one, as each lady manages her affairs differently.  This is MY policy that works for me, and is outlined on the "Tour Details" page of my site.  Asking for $25 to secure a $900 appointment is such a small, small thing.

4.  Just because you disagree with my policy, doesn't make it part of any bizarro Twilight Zone world.  Many service providers, in this industry and others, request deposits to insulate themselves from cancellations, and this is no different.

I find it pathetically amusing that you felt the need to come here and marshal support for your position.  You showed a complete disrespect for me with your subtly disparaging comments to me by email, and I'm glad that you showed your true colors before I had the misfortune of being alone with you.

Good luck to you,

Rani

I've been around a long time and never had this happen until today.  A month ago, I book an appt with an out of town provider who was to be visiting Chicago later this month.  I did not specifically schedule her to visit (when a deposit would be appropriate).  She was coming to the area on a tour.  Today, she tells me that she now wants a $25 "reservation fee" to be sent to her in advance via some kind of PayPal type pre-paid card.  I told her I've never been asked for this by anyone before and, on principle, I don't send any pre-date payments.  Her response was to cancel our appt saying that if I really wanted to see her I would not cancel over $25.  She is not some BP scam artist or anything; she's a fairly well known provider in her region.  Have I fallen into some bizarro Twilight Zone world?  Anybody ever see this before?  Like I said, if I specifically request a personal visit from an out of towner, no problem on a deposit (a lot more than $25 LOL).  If I'm off base, please let me know.  Thanks.

You pull that stunt with me, I'm on to the next one.

1. (And I request this as well) is if we are requested to drive 2 plus hours for an extended appt (ie an overnight)
2. It's a traveling provider that got burned last time she came here (ie she pre-booked 8 apptments and half cancelled)

It take $$ to travel to work (on commission) airfare up front, hotel, food and taxi costs. I admit it's a "gamble", and prob why I have never done it. I have enough friends here. If I travel, it's to sight see, relax, and decompress

She prob figure $25 wasn't that big of a deal, and was just trying to cover her expenses if a bunch of you guys flaked.

Xoxo
VC

my 2 cents - No problem if  the " reservation fee " is  applied as part of the donation  .. eom

Deposits are requested to cover our losses from you should you cancel and we have out of pocket
cost spent to make meeting possible.If you cancel on her would you even consider paying anything
to her loss? Sure you would and $25 is hardly a number to complain about. Paypal I do not like
because your name is out there .But there are other alternatives. Just pay her . To me, a twilight zone world is taking our money to pay for a place for you to get away and you cancel forgetting that someone put funds out for you and isn't deserving to be compensated back. It's business and
no one should take any losses .  

Angela

-- Modified on 9/16/2012 2:16:59 PM

It's not like she's asking you for a huge deposit, $25 in this biz is chump change and as long as it comes off the total donation, it shouldn't be a big deal. However, asking for a PayPal transfer would be a big deal, it's traceable to both parties, exactly what we shouldn't be doing. In this case, it sounds like she's talking about Greendot or some other transfer mechanism that doesn't require identifying information (at least not on the hobbyist side) so make sure you understand exactly what type of card she's using before agreeing to any type of wire transfer.



-- Modified on 9/16/2012 4:39:31 PM

Rani, I don't see this policy on your Tour Details page. Clicking into the Reservations & Cancellations link way at the bottom does indeed reveal the fee but how many guys read every page of a provider's site? Answer: very few. We're not clicking on every link of a provider's site looking for details so I'm not surprised El missed it.

A recommendation: You might consider adding the fee info to the Travel Details section which most of us would read.

You can handle your business any way you wish.  I was seeking opinions here on whether others had experienced and/or were OK with it.  Maybe I'm totally against the norm here.  Wouldnt be the first time for sure.  This was not meant to be anything personal here.  I just have a principled difference with this approach.  Good luck to you.

No shows are the hazard of the biz: nobody compensates us hobbyists for driving downtown, parking, and then getting a text saying "oops gotta cancel sweetie, sorry"! I always pass on extra charges: to each their own!!

As others have commented if the gal didn't list it on her site to start with...and then has the gaul to ask for it later...you made the right choice in steering clear of a gal that appears to have a very skewed vision of how to make a "connection".

And to have that gal...who I know you didn't mention in your OP come here and "call YOU out"....well, just another BSC gal that has now invaded ChiTown.

Yep...good luck to her  LOL

Agree.  If there's a deposit required, I just move on to the next ad.

Yeah, I would never pay a deposit fee  but that's just me. Just like ladies have no guarantee of NCNS, so do we.

you and Rani have successfully done so.  Read my initial post again.  I ASK the community if they have experienced this and ASK whether my response was off base.  I mention no one and leave out any irrelevant personal issues that are ancillary to my question.  The reason I "laughed" about the $25 is that I find it amusing that I am presumptively an untrustworthy hobbiest, but for a mere $25, I become more trustworthy.  Like $25 is going to be the deciding factor on whether I might cancel.  Does this seem utterly preposterous to anyone else but me?  Putting a negative vibe on a meeting from its inception by latently insinuating I am not trustworthy, in my option, is not cool.  But if someone else is cool with it, God bless 'em.  And yes, because you know someone very, very well, it makes you biased.  Further, I fail to see how karma is involved here.  Rani refused to see me because I wouldn't pay $25 and I refused to see her because of her $25 deposit requirement.  That's business, not karma.

Posted By: VegasMassage

So because I know someone very, very well, I am automatically biased... LOL How unoriginal yet predictable, of you. It's a feeling, a vibe and you keep reinforcing that she made the right decision. And btw, I will call a spade a spade, when necessary, regardless of "who" you are or if I know the person, etc., etc.

If you can't take the heat, don't start a biased thread crying about a $25 deposit. Easy, breezy. You laughing about the amount she requested, just irked my a** to no end and was very, very telling about you. Karma is a bitch.

Have a great night!

My comment wasn't directed at you specifically...

3 times in 12 years I have paid a deposit. Those were each very special cases. One of those ladies was a famous porn star, and another wouldn't come to Chicago at all without at least one deposit to cover her hotel for that day. The other woman, I had seen many times and the fee was small and to be used for gas money as she was coming from Michigan. The porn star was the only one of the three touring here regardless if I saw her or not.

Out of the 3, the porn star was the only one who required a deposit regularly. The money wasn't as much of a problem as the system used to deliver the deposit. Going in to Western Union was a hassle, that required my time as well as money. So I can understand some guys wanting to avoid that type of situation. Providers should get reloadable cards for that, and make it as easy as possible on the hobbyists. Paypal is not desireable, as was previously noted.

One last thing about hobbyists, especially here in Chicago, drama on the boards is remembered and universally avoided. Whether any one of us is the whipping boy, or we just observe the occurance, we tend to remember that for years. It's bad for business. JMHO

If a girl is gonna skip out on $25, then no big deal.

Personally, however, I think if you are gonna ask for a deposit, don't even bother asking if it's such a small amount.  Make the amount something that is a little more substantial, because no guy is gonna worry about canceling over $25 (no one I know, anyway).  The amount is so small it's almost petty and unbelievable that $25 is going to help defray your costs if you cancel.

Let's say your room costs you $200 in Chicago and you have four guys booked.  I understand that if all four of them pull out, you have $100 against your $200 bill, but if you are so strapped that you can't afford to take a $100 loss (again, we are talking four appointments scheduled in a day here), then I have to wonder why you are touring at all.  Everything has risk, and part of your screening should be your own due diligence as to whether the guy is serious or not.

I also agree this should be stated upfront in your ad or website.  Having this pulled at the time of booking is bad form.

That was the word I used to describe it when responding to the request, then the shit hit the fan so to speak.

The issue isn't a fee per se...but in the manner it is being "suggested" after an appointment has been procured.  Neither you nor Rani list this as part of your reservation system,  That tells me that you "pick and choose" when YOU want to implement it.  That's your call...but I can tell you unequivocally I would never ever ever pay an upfront fee of any type to YOU, Rani...or anyone for that matter.  So I would like to know that in advance so I don't waste MY time.

And in that spirit that is how I interpreted El-D's post.  Nothing more...simply that HE felt that the "last second" advance fee was out of line.  And that put him in a bad position since he now wasted HIS time on someone he wouldn't see due to that type of game being played.

I've seen other gals post that when they are touring they want some fee upfront to secure an appointment.  No problem as I see it...but I also wouldn't waste any time on her.  Nor would many others.  So again, in that spirit, market to the fellas that are OK with that...let ALL know that you seek some upfront fee and not waste time on guys like El-D or me.

If any local gal tries that crap...same approach as far as I'm concerned.  You know how I operate as we've bantered enough on that topic.  But having run and owned so many types of businesses over the years...this hooker biz is just not well thought out at times.  And the gals who cry and moan when Johhnie bails..and he should pay...well, guess what ladies...that's just NOT how life works.  BUT that doesn't preclude anyone from trying that.  But then again...you have threads like this that scream...Don't do that shit  

This thread jogged my memory about what I have heard from a few providers.
Let me give a couple of examples: One lady from traveling from AZ said, " Chicago is the cancellation capital."
Another lady from MI, " I get a lot of last minute cancellations. Though it's not NCNS it is equally bad." The MI lady has not come to Chicago in a long time.

If Chicago is viewed in this light by traveling ladies I would understand a deposit request.

Will you or her give me my deposit plus $25.00 back for my inconvenience if you have to cancel an appointment?

I would not pay a deposit. And, in light of the subsequent post attacking you for raising the issue, I will definitely never see this provider or her friend.  Too many fish in the sea to deal with nonsense.

I once tried to arrange a date with a lady who required a deposit - I can't remember if it was Green Dot, or Western Union, or what.  She assured me that it would be no trouble - just go to the Western Union web site and use a credit card. Shortly thereafter, a call arrived at my house to verify that a really did want to send x$ through Western Union.  Had I not been there to receive the call, twould have been unfortunate.

For $25?  Hey, if I could hand it to you, no problem.  To involve intermediaries - no thanks.

Now I know which providers to avoid. Hobbyists get just as many blowoffs and last minute cancellations as providers do. And calling someone out who specifically did not share your name out of respect is just shitty.

Thanks to those who provided unemotional and reasoned responses.  Not surprisingly, this fell along party lines mostly.  Really, I had never seen this before and I thought things might have changed during what has mostly been a sabbatical.  However, today I booked a traveling hottie for this week and no deposit was mentioned, so I guess my historic experience still exists.  I have no animosity toward Rani or her passionate advocate (I wish I had a friend like that).  I did get to know Rani over the past few months and she is a fine person.  I don't doubt she will have a very successful visit in our great city.

Namaste.

P.S.  To those who PMed me, I am not VIP.

Personally I only ask for a deposit if someone has canceled on me more than once without a good reason and with less than 24 hour notice.
Example, Booked a 2 hour apt, I get ready and 1 hour before you cancel. Ok, once I get but if you do this every time I will stop seeing you, or require a deposit for me to even think of seeing you.

If they keeop doing it chances are they cant show up at the bank to pay anything they cant
make it to your door file it and dont waste your efforts because it is a lost cause.