After reading and contributing to this site for over a year now I've become skeptical about the content of reviews.  This goes beyond YMMV.  Consider these experiences I've had.

1.  I've had a provider admit to me that she has "reviewed" herself and that she has friends in the business who do the same.

2.  I've had a provider ask me to write a review of her, but to first submit it to her for approval before posting it on TER.  I didn't submit it for her approval first, and after it posted on TER she called me and expressed extreme anger that I didn't.  (Even though the review was favorable.)

3.  I know providers who do not spend any money on advertising, i.e. their only marketing strategy is their reviews on TER.  

4.  On more than one occasion providers have complained to me that certain of their reviews contain false information, that acts described in the review did not occur (the classic examples being BBBJ and greek).  They said they've e-mailed TER staff in attempts to have the reviews revised, but to no avail.

5.  In almost an exact opposite situation of Number 4 above, after a less than positive experience with a provider I wrote a less than favorable review of her. The provider in question e-mailed TER staff and told a fictional story about me to convince them I had a "sinister motive" to seek "revenge" on her.  TER staff believed her and removed the review.  (In case you're wondering she was the one described in Number 1 above and she was one of the providers described in Number 3 above.)

6.  I've had providers ask me not to reveal certain information in reviews of them.  Examples:  the fact that she smokes, the presence of tattoos, the existance of a caesarian scar.  If I didn't include such information, it was only because it was not relevant to the review.  However, if such things effect the experience, they should be included.  (This is sort of a less serious version of Number 2 above, i.e that the provider thinks she should have control over the review.)

So far my complaints have mostly been with the providers.  There are problems with many review writing hobbyists, I just don't have personal experience with other hobbyists.  Sometimes the number scores are not consistent with the description of the encounter and sometimes the reviews are so vague I wonder if the encounter ever took place at all, to name just two.  

I guess I'll have to start taking the TER disclaimer literally and consider reviews to be for entertainment purposes only.    

   

Thats why you toss out the very best and very worst reviews of a lady and then average the rest.

I agree with that statement, after a handful of reviews they all start sounding the same. As long as the reviews seem consistent- I do not feel that they are steering us in the wrong direction.

1. no question about it. this sh*t happens

2. this is rather routine when providers and hobbyists become chumly

3. this is less common i think (but dunno, maybe TER is really that influential)

4. no question about it. this sh*t happens

5. IMHO providers "wield" too much power over their reviews (the minute they dislike something they yank themselves out and perhaps return with new profiles or whatnot)

6. this one i haven't experience (yet) but i'm sure is credibly frequent

--

but what you left off your list however is my #1 gripe:

7. for most cheapskates the motivation for submitting fake reviews (in exchange for VIP days) must be overwhelming!

Reviews are only entertainment.  Most the time if you get rid of the best and worst you will do okay.  But because we are people for some the chemistry is their for others it is not.  Just remember we are having fun.  If it is not fun do someone or something else.

1.  Not happened to me.

2.  Never had one tell me to send it to her first, I usually do just to be nice.

3.  Hasn't happened to me either.

4.  Had that happend once, lady told me she doesn't allow CIM but she almost did....only by my telling her at the last second did she avoid it.

5.  Not happened yet to me.

6.  Had it happen, lady didn't want it known she smoked in front of me....not like it bothered me.  Used to smoke myself a while ago.

I agree with the others....if the reviews are pretty consistant, give them the benefit.  As always though, you can't forget chemistry.  I was with someone at one time every other guy SWORE was the greatest sex they ever had...she just laid there and kept asking.....Are you done yet?

How does the writing of reviews get into your conversation with a provider during the session?  Is it possible that you bring up TER and their reviews and if so why tell the provider your alias under which the review will be written.  

I have only had one provider bring up the subject about a review and that was if I do write one, please don't mention the meeting location due to LE traffic back then.  I met her in the la chat so she knew that I would possibly write a review.

As far as using the reviews I just avoid the rip-offs and read the ones from the reviewers who write a good story cause these reviews are just for entertainment purposes only.  Also I do remember the big YMMV when meeting someone new.  

Everyone have a nice weekend and take care.

                                jammers

I find myself automatically skeptical of anything read online.
what is really important, that I am in search of in reviews is: first, that she is an  established provider and not a ripoff. secondly, that she is as advertised, no fake pictures, really does offer these services, etc. finally, a mostly  positive response overall. each individual will have his own preferences and expectations, and providers will have some days better than others.

each and every encounter is unique, special and different. the experience we have together is what we create between the two of us, and not in any way determined by what someone else has written.

so you ask, do I trust reviews? yes
and do I believe them? no, not a chance  



-- Modified on 9/6/2003 9:04:35 PM

"1.  I've had a provider admit to me that she has "reviewed" herself and that she has friends in the business who do the same."

YEP ... it happens.   Also .. people who've never SEEN that provider could just as easily send in a review.   But, as has already been said ... you take all the reviews on average and the suck-up reviews as well as the revenge reviews tend to not affect the average.

2.  I've had a provider ask me to write a review of her, but to first submit it to her for approval before posting it on TER.  I didn't submit it for her approval first, and after it posted on TER she called me and expressed extreme anger that I didn't.  (Even though the review was favorable.)

You can't blame a girl for asking.  After all, the first thing a baby bird learns is that a closed mouth never gets fed.  (That's IT NEVER HURTS TO ASK for those of you that are "old saying" impaired.)  But again, that's what TER is about .... it's not that any ONE review is the God's honest truth, but that the whole BODY of evidence points to a single truth (a point that was apparently beyond the grasp of the OJ jury)

3.  I know providers who do not spend any money on advertising, i.e. their only marketing strategy is their reviews on TER.

Well that's GREAT!!!!!  A girl who DOES good work, PROVIDES good service and EARNS her money has no need to further marketing!  

4.  On more than one occasion providers have complained to me that certain of their reviews contain false information, that acts described in the review did not occur (the classic examples being BBBJ and greek).  They said they've e-mailed TER staff in attempts to have the reviews revised, but to no avail.

Yeah .. that happens, too.  The deal is, the Magical 8 Ball that TER uses to deduce the "honest truth" has some of those "answer unclear" days.  Also, some hobbyists don't always have the best memories at times.   So what would you have TER do?   I'll betcha that if ONE review out of 10 mentions greek and the other nine don't, TER might be disposed to act .. or at least contact the reviewer for verification.  But what you USUALLY see here is that the provider in question (the one complaining) either has a number of reviews that wonder all over the board and no one can see any consistency .. or .. and the one I'd bet on ... the provider has a history of complaining about every inaccuracy (real or imagined) and TER just sort of put this one on the pile with the 100 others.

Girls ... here's a tip from your Uncle PIG:   IF you feel the need to complain to TER and take up their time to try to correct a mistake ... save it for a complaint that REALLY means something, OK?    ONE instance of imaginary Greek won't kill ya.  A mention of a BBBJTC  or NQNS won't kill ya (the ACT might, but not the mention.   Save your complaints for when he says you ripped $1,000 from his wallet when he was in the shower, are 425 pounds more than your pic or are in fact a man in drag  (unless you ARE a man in drag).  Don't sweat the small stuff.   Like they say in Hollywood, ANY publicity is good publicity.  TRUST that the body of evidence will win out.

5.  In almost an exact opposite situation of Number 4 above, after a less than positive experience with a provider I wrote a less than favorable review of her. The provider in question e-mailed TER staff and told a fictional story about me to convince them I had a "sinister motive" to seek "revenge" on her.  TER staff believed her and removed the review.  (In case you're wondering she was the one described in Number 1 above and she was one of the providers described in Number 3 above.)

HMMM .... I'm not TER .. don't run an online info board or anything ... but here's what I'd do:  I'd look at the tone of all your reviews of OTHER providers.  Then look at ALL her reviews.   If you're one review of her is (A) WAY out of character for you or (B) WAY out of character for her ... I might pull it, too.  Based on the fact that it's SO out of the norm that whatever happened probably WAS just between the two of you and your review is not REPRESENTATIVE of what the next guy might find.   That's what I'd do.  Life would go on and if she really IS the bitch you describe,  I wouldn't giver her the benefit of the doubt the second time.

6.  I've had providers ask me not to reveal certain information in reviews of them.  Examples:  the fact that she smokes, the presence of tattoos, the existance of a caesarian scar.  If I didn't include such information, it was only because it was not relevant to the review.  However, if such things effect the experience, they should be included.  (This is sort of a less serious version of Number 2 above, i.e that the provider thinks she should have control over the review.)

Well there ya go.  TER asks for YOUR experiences and that is naturally a bit subjective.  One person's "love handles" are another's "grotequely overweight"   One person's "businesslike demeanor" is another's "cold and unfriendly"    One person's "while she was on top of me, her boyfriend stole my car" is another person's ... hmm .. wait .... that one's universal.

I imagine that one day years ago, The Erotic Review was just that:  ONE review-the first one posted ("THE" erotic review, get it?)  and  from that one review we knew nothing.  But now there's like 200 million in the data base and more getting added every day.

The bitch providers AND the asshole hobbiests can't hide that fact forever.

WalterNeff,

Why don't you be honest with the class and first post under your username instead of an alias?  Next, tell the class how you were "bartering" your web services for provider services then submittting reviews of them.  Lastly tell the class how when a provider did not complete the second session you required you submitted a bad review of her.

The best way to clean up the database is to get rid of the member who manipulate the system to their own ends.  Let's start with you.

-- Staff

that puts a whole new spin on all his claims!  LOL

--

[note to self]  you can't hide from God!

I am a provider and I have nevered turned in a false review and you know what if some people are hurting so bad for business that they have to fuck with the system its not up to us to bust them. "Karma will always prevail" so don't worry I think if a person had any brains he would look at how many reviews a provider had... and are they consistant?

I think people take this too seriously and should be grateful for this because as a provider we "Never Get Reviews of you guys"!! So you guys are one step ahead of the game and remember some people always cheat and universal pay back always comes out in the wash

I just wish the money wasn't so good so that the providers were in the business for the love of it..not the love of money.

Anyhow this is Porscha's Two cents

Take care  guys and remember we are soo lucky to have Ter and should focus on the positive and not the negetive!!

Much Love and Respect

Porscha
santacruzsecrets.com

I myself trust reviews for the most part.  There has only been one occasion where a provider I saw did not support what the reviewer said, and she admitted that she may have changed her menu as she got more into the hobby.  I try to stick to providers with a lot of reviews, which balances out the numbers, and if there is someone I am interested in who has a review by a "reputable" member, I will PM him and ask him things to get a better feel.

I told you, But you didn't listen to me.

They never do.  It's like I am talking to myself here.  I do that a lot. )

Excellent reply.  Cleaning house is a good thing.

I for one read reviews and place a fair deal of trust in them.  What I look for is consistency.  If a reviewer has only that one review, I discard it.  I've also, over the time I've been a member, I've learned to trust the reiews of some members more than others.

Note to Singleton:  Some of us "high volume" reviewers aren't cheap and avoiding the fees.  Some of us simply enjoy writing.

F.

Hello. It's always great to see my home town represented. Your doing a great job of it. What a beauty!!
I now live in So. Cal.
I'm friends with Brandi\Mercedes. Not a client, just friends.
The best to you..
Funtime69...

d'oh ! -- PLEASE READ (Staff too .. pretty please?

Fort,  naturally i didn't think or mean to imply that you were one of those cheapskates.  afterall, any guy who contributes 70+ fake reviews would have to be superhumanly cheap ! LOL

i realize that prolific ones (such as yourself) would naturally accumulate these VIP days as a tangential "byproduct" of being good samaritans. i'm sure that if TER wasn't giving you that extra membership credit you'd still do exactly the same (as would i, except i have a LOT of catching up to do!

so there's nothing wrong with that. my gripe is with the obvious frauds and cheapskates who are in some (hopefully small) way contaminating the system for personal [cough] profit (if you can call $20/month "profit").  i once (somewhat brashly) declared on this board that TER can take away ALL my VIP days earned by reviewing -- not problem reports mind you, just reviewing, cuz problem reports can't be faked (but you watch, some cheapskate will surely figure out a way to fake them too! --  and i still stand by it

and for the umpteenth time (i'm getting tired of sounding off this soundbyte) for those of you contemplating whether to join not -- yes YOU! Mr. John Q. Hobbyist lurking out there:  the money TER membership saves you is many many many times greater than the membership fee ... so no serious (real) hobbyist should have any qualms about paying it upfront

---

ok, enough stroking ... Staff, how many VIP credits did i just earn?  

LOL

(just kidding God, please don't moderate me!)

LOL

no seriously

... for a clever alias. Film fans will remember Walter Neff as the character played by Fred MacMurray in Billy Wilder's "Double Indemnity," the too-clever insurance salesman who gets suckered by a beautiful dame, i.e. Barbara Stanwyck. The ironies multiply!lol

I look at the reviews in general, but I put a lot more credence in a few reviewers who tend to see things the same way I do.  Not saying I’m right or wrong, it’s that they tend to like the same things & Ladies that I like.  I often write those reviewers privately if they have seen a Lady I’m interested in, or seem to live in the area.  So far that has worked very well for me (and of course I do the same for them or anyone who writes to me).

I have been quite impressed with the overall accuracy of the reviews with regard to attitude and service(but I have only seen reviewed Canadian providers).  I try to "average" the reviews of a provider to get a sense of what to expect and whether to book and appointment.  I find the main deviations are that some reviewers obviously exagerate some of the unusual services they received (perhaps to create a "juicier" review to get over that hurdle), and descriptions of appearances seem to be in the eye of the beholder.  One guys' 9 or 10 is often my 5 or 6.

I would like to chime in on this topic. I don't know the original poster or his motives but I have found in my brief experience that many of the things he points out  ABSOLUTELY DO HAPPEN.  What I haven't been able to figure out is just how a provider can get a review pulled so easily. I submitted a review in May/June that was pulled at the provider's request almost immediately. Since I don't know if every member is a member of both major boards I post my reviews on both boards. My review on TER was actually more pleasant - I went out of my way to be nice even though I was displeased for being mislead. The post on the other board was a little less kind but not much. In fact I only posted it after I found the TER post removed. A hobbyist recently emailed me and was very upset that he had been duped into writing a fake review of this girl because they had befriended in chat. When I read his review prior to our date I thought she would be gorgeous. He later found out when some undoctored photos surfaced just what she looked like and contacted me right away-he feels horrible.  What I can't figure out is why would a review be pulled if it was not a lie? Why would I not be contacted to discuss it?  The girl is very much a participant on TBD and could easily get her review pulled there because she knows many VIPs. Yet its still there perhaps because she knows too many people know that what I said is accurate.
I was thinking of letting this whole issue die but this thread touched a nerve especially when staff got involved. It sort of connected the dots for me about the computer gods watching over us all. If they're watching over us all then they should allow truthful reviews to remain posted!