On the whole, I'm generally uncomfortable when hobbyists in the forums talk about providers in a negative light. Specifically, talking about them as objects or generalizing providers as having little or no regard for clients' feelings, or that providers actions are always deceitful or failing to respect providers as equal human beings. But, I recently had an experience that made me reconsider whether that attitude might be justified.
A couple of months ago, I sent a first meeting request to a local agency, and was careful to include the date and time of the desired meeting and all of the requested verification information. I never received a response.
Because I'm a glutton for punishment (and because the agency features magnificent women), I repeated the process a couple of days ago, and after refreshing my email obsessively for a whole day, I again received no recognition. Hurt, angry and disappointed, I drafted a bitter email, accusing them of bias and/or a sense of personal entitlement. And, it got me to thinking that maybe some of the people who post less than positive things about providers were in fact correct. After several drafts, I was happy with my points and the tone. But, I chose to wait until the morning to send it.
In the morning, with a cooler head, I drafted a new email, alerting them to the fact that I'd sent a request, but had received no response. And, that maybe, my email had been lost. In the new email, I asked that they respond to either of my emails or that I would assume that they were not interested in offering me their services. And then, and this is important, I sent the new email FROM A DIFFERENT email address.
Within minutes, I received a response to my original email. They had not responded to my first email, because there had been an issue with my verification information, which raised a red flag for them. With a some additional effort, we were able to get the issue resolved and they booked my meeting request (which, by the way, was spectacular).
The moral of the story: In an industry where humans are being intimate and vulnerable and at the same time judging/rating/criticizing, the odds of feelings getting hurt is enormous. Not all stories have the happy ending that mine has. Regardless, it is my experience, and this incident proves it, that...
It is always best to assume that people are operating with the best intentions, until proven otherwise.