On the NY board we have an agency sponsoring contests to win
free time with the ladies in exchange for a review.

The latest one involved writing a limerick to win three free
hours with their latest hot girl.  The girl picked the winner.
The only rules were that the winner had to supply a first
class hotel room and write a review of the encounter.

Now, if it is unethical for a provider to exchange a freebie
for a review, why is it different for an agency.  Or is it
different?

Of course, I'm going to get flamed by the contestants but let's
try to keep it civil.  This is an ethics question .

fr

It seems that this is old news, how about the hobbyists who try to get a "freebie" in exchange for a "glowing" review.
Is it unethical on the guys part?
Do you think that it is somewhat dishonest?
Even if that session was not all that great?
It works both ways.
I don't agree with it because it can be misleading but it does happen.

I mean C'mon and then you see @ on their site that they want the clients to give their screenames on TER, of course they are going to get great reviews in exchange, it's bogus, it's totally unethical.
Look for sites that don't need stupid marketing campaigns and shoot straight with the guys.

Common sense.

I truly feel this is unethical. It's unfair to a gentleman if he gets something other than he bargained for, and it's bull for the rest of us providers who are giving it our best and don't get reviewed that often because our clients want their privacy. It's a waste of time and eventually money.

Hugs,
Ciara

I just spoke to the owner of the agency in question and, though he would like to get a review on the session (good or bad), he understands that writing a review CANNOT be a requirement for the winner.

-- Staff

Yes it is unethical on the guy's part when he tries to solicit a freebie for a good review and it is unethical for a lady to offer a freebie in exchange for a good review.  Some of the guys that try to practice that or offer to promote a lady for a discount are known for what they are by many of the TER members.  As a consequence most thinking TER members pay little real attention to their recommendations or reviews.  It is also suspect when a member gives a lady his TER handle and then later writes a review.  Just one of many reasons that many members do not place much stock in the reviews except for avoiding outright ROBS.

I guess that it is just the way it works in this business.

we asked our clientele to NOT post reviews. Staying UTR was the thing to do then, but boy how the times have changed ! Now an agency/indy lives or dies by their reviews. I would personally like to see reviews "go away" and let the information flow via b/c.

Thx,

dave

... I have always thought of TER as a sort of "Consumer Reports" for this very special activity.  Just like that magazine never accepts advertising, TER shouldn't accept paid reviews.  I hope Staff doesn't accept any reviews that it knows to be obtained under this basis.

Harry

Write a review of the encounter?  Let's call it a "promotion" why not?

It's bound to happen. If reviews are getting important, then the industry will attempt to subvert them into advertising and promotion.  The question one should ask, what are her services like on an "ordinary" encounter?  You'll never find out from this review. Second, how will this agency's promotion slant the reviewer?  The fact that it will be so crucial to the woman to do this one right, might not that affect the guy writing the review?
A three hour freebie is a lot of money for an agency to put forward if it's a bust.  The guy will be under enormous pressure to make the review sterling.  If he doesn't he might be giving up use of one of his hands.

Finally, it's about willingness to be manipulated.  If reviews are turned into promotion, then we might as well be reading Penthouse Forum here.

/Zin

but what about the spirit?

Winners are most likely to write a review - the precedent has
been set.  Because it was won, the review is most likely to be
biased.  This undermines the review process, doesn't it?

Also, I must say, most of the submitted reviews do not say
the encounter was earned via a contest.  Some responses to
my original post (about a provider exchanging freebies for
a review) suggested it was ok if everything was fully
disclosed.  I saw those responses as less than ideal but
for these contests, even those standards are not being met.

fr

see my response to Staff above.

BTW, Consumer Reports is the holy grail of integrity!

peace out,
fr

I like the indie model...

Mountain from molehill, if you are reporting correctly.  You said free time in exchange for a review, not free time in exchange for a GOOD review.

So this amounts to the hobbyist getting paid to do what he would have done anyway.  It's up to the hobbyist to do to the responsible thing, and report honestly.

This happened on a local board in Detroit. One of the independants that was trying to make a plash chose several "respected members" of the Board and offered free appointments for reviews. She posted publicly who she was offering them to. and when they did review her they all listed that it was a "free appointment review" It caused quite a stir as I recall. Under those circumstances I don't think it is unethical as the whole situation and the parties involoved were all above-board,