One of the more reputable agencies in Seattle, Elliott Bay, banned and verbally abused a customer for writing a critical review.  

http://thereviewboard.net/forum/posts/17540.html

The MO for this agency is that the madame screens rigorously and keeps detailed records of her clients, and likes to keep all criticism "in house".  Not surprisingly, due to the consistent quality of her women, the screening gauntlet, and the fact that men want to return to use her, very few critical reviews (or many reviews at all) ever appear on TER, or on any local Seattle boards.  While I have no idea if she outright asks her clients to suppress reviews if not favorable, IMHO this banning episode is a clear coercion tactic to try to moderate reviews, and control information about her agency.

My concern would be that agencies, especially popular ones, are able to circumvent the review process.  By keeping complaints in-house, an agency can say "Hey, before you post criticism, come talk to me, I'll hear you, and since you weren't totally happy, send you out another girl at a discount, and make this right for you."  Less info gets out that the agency isn't perfect, and regulars become more loyal.  This has happened to a certain extent with this agency, because until this guys post, very little criticism or caveats had ever been mentioned, they outwardly appeared to be in rarefied air, never disspointing their clients.

So who loses? I feel this is unfair to independents, who have no buffer to shield them from criticism and reviews.  They have to take the good with the bad.  In a case where the man had a mediocre time, and didn't click, an indie can't usually use the "discount on a future session" trick to ensure positive reviews (or avoid a bad review), because it's unlikely the client wants to return in any case.  

My question is this, how common are these tactics? Is this uneven playing field just a fact of life as an indie vs. agency, or for providers/agencies that get popular?  Have you as a hobbyist ever been threatened, either by outing, or blacklisting, because the agency or provider had personal information?  Was this ever held over you?  Did you ever pull-punches in a review because you felt too exposed?  Did you choose not to review because you were concerned about fallout?  Did a provider or agency ever ask you to either do a nice review, or none at all?  Do you ever have agencies ask you to "come to them first" before you review?  How often are you asked for your review handle?

Any thoughts, experiences?

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Unskinny bop
Just blows me away
Unskinny bop, bop
All night and day
Unskinny bop, bop, bop, bop
She just loves to play
Unskinny bop nothin' more to say

iceman

Glad they're not the only game in MY town.  Shit was that an arrogant response from the service!  Maybe the guy is full of crap, but he even said that he'd still reccomend them!  I've had bad experiences, but I've never been told not to come back.  I've always gotten some sort of "we'll make it up to you baby" comp.  

Instead of firing their customer, maybe they should fire their provider!!

I'm not familiar with the Seattle area at all, so I don't know about the reputation of the agency involved...but certainly nthe surface it sounds like a bunch of crap from them.  If that were to ever happen to me I'd find it hard to control myself as much as that guy did.  And I'm actually pretty easy-going.

F the agency....All that shows me is that it's yet ANOTHER outstandng reason to deal exclusively with indies!!  

Of course I happen to be in LA, where (thankfully) we have a multitude of marvelous gals.  Aside from possibly price (ya get what ya pay for) there's no reason for anyone who has any experience to have to daeal with an agency.  I certainly don't.

The agency and "aggrieved" client have kissed and made up.  

Personally, if I had been the agency I would have been pissed at the client for an exagerated an unfair review.  Both sides over-reacted, and fortunately cooler heads prevailed.

To address your larger question.  A good agency is little bit like an internal information market.  You rely on the agency to screen and find high quality ladies for you, and vice versa.  If things go wrong, its reasonable for the client to complain privately and not to publicize it to the world, so that the agency can make things right.  As you say its just a fact of life, and it does tend to put independents at a disadvantage.

Perfect candor would only come, if at all, if the client were 100% sure that his review couldn't be traced back to him.  That's almost impossible.  Lot's of guys don't post reviews of so-so experiences because they don't want to hurt the ladies feelings.