After emailing a good number of providers in my area, I finally found one that said she was OK with newbies and would see me. I proceeded to call. She did not answer and I left my first name and number (was that totally stupid?). I called again a couple of days later and she did not pick up (no message this time). I emailed her again asking if she actually wanted to meet and she said "yeah, sure, call me anytime." I called again and no answer (no message left). Is she playing a joke on me? Is my approach all wrong? I obvoiusly don't know what I'm doing, so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

My first question would be, where did you find these providers, did they list themselves on TER or on Date Check, etc.  Then did you check their reviews.  Any good established provider is going to return your e-mails pretty quickly and you should have no problem contacting by phone.  Also if they have a website under their FAQ section, they may tell  there if they accecpt newbies or not.

I personally am not comfortable leaving my name/number unless I've seen someone before, but I don't think there's any harm in it, especilly if you've communicated via e-mail first.  

You also should check reviews to see if other guys have had this kind of trouble with her.

Some providers will flake on you in a number of ways, and this may be one case.  I don't think you're doing anything wrong, but if she's got a lot of guys calling her then she may not exactly **need** to call you back, despite your desire.

I'd suggest the following - e-mail her one last time and say that you've gotten e-mails from her saying you could call and that when you've called and left messages, she doesn't return them.  Ask her to give you a firm day and time to call that works for her, or at least a brief time window.  Call her then.  

If she doesn't pick up the phone after this, move on.  You might send her a polite e-mail saying appointment making has proven difficult so you've decided not to see her.  If you're having this much trouble just communicating with her, I think that both making the appointment and actually showing up to it will prove problematic as well, such as in bad directions, her not being ready, getting in and finding her distracted, etc.

I know as a newbie finding someone who will see you with no references is difficult, so when you find someone you want to make it work, but if making arrangements is difficult despite your best efforts, it may be a sign to move on and find someone else.

God luck!!

heinous

1.  Why don't you try to set the appointment via email?  Next time you email her, suggest a couple of different appointment times?
2.  When you leave a message, be sure to specify a time that it is OK to call you.  Most experienced, discrete providers will not return a call without specific directions about when it is safe to call your number.

In my case, meetings have been set by e-mail with no phone calls until I get to the providers location and then call for the room number. You'll find what's comfortable for you and what works.

You may have reached her each time when she was working or out with family.

Since you reached her by email, send her an email appointment request (specific) and (unless posted) ask what prescreening info you need to provide.

She may prefer email, over phone, for scheduling.

Make sure she is a well-reviewed provider.

Thanks for the helpful advice. Basically, there just don't seem to be too many well reviewed providers in my area, so I've reached out to some who had several reviews and others who did not. This particular one was very well reviewed. To answer another question, my number is not blocked.

I will try one last time and move on if I don't get a response. Thanks again.