I want to have a sincere and honest, yet polite conversation on what the community in DC thinks of agencies in the area?  

What are the Pros and cons?  

What issues have you had with agencies in the past if any?  

What would make an agency better for you to utilize?  (Both guys and gals)?  

Thank you,  
M

Politeness is more of a function of your own perception of what is polite and harsh...

The Cons outweigh Pros by a huge margin - at least in the DC area.  

The agencies are always under the Fed's scrutiny. Guys are scared that their info might get in the hands of the LE and can become public. When the agency collects info from the guys, and hangs onto the info, that information is at risk if the said agency gets busted. Fortunately, with last two major busts (DMV and CDC) the info never surfaced on the web. The guys who write reviews of the agency girls also come under the scrutiny.  

Even the most cockiest of the agency owners are not immune from the leaks - as events in last few months has revealed.

Another issue is most agencies is the perception surrounding the agencies that most of them overwork and abuse the girls.  This was very true with CDC and DMV. Although not an absolute fact, the stigma still remains.  

No matter what the agencies might tell their patrons, there is a huge deficit of trust between the Agency Owners and the Hobbyists.  

Pros -  

Same day appointments available in most cases with hot young ladies without having to chase them down.  

A relatively lower price point than most indepedents.  

A huge variety of ladies at a single entry point.

P.S - Posting from alias for obvious reasons. Its a rather sensitive topic in this area.

-- Modified on 12/31/2013 8:00:22 AM

This is a very good post/analysis. Spot on

As noted, suspicions arise when things like the weblink to your website on TER is just a placeholder.

Things that make you go hmmm.....

Previous poster is spot-on.  

In regards to screening and wanting a real name and work number (and Its not just agencies, but independents), they all say they discard your information when you're approved, but what incentive is there to do that?  If something goes wrong, you want to keep that information.  Its been proven time-and-time again that its the case where the agency/madame/ etc, has kept the information exposing clients.  Can we say Elliot Spitzer?  IMHO, an agency is more apt to have the focus of Uncle LEO as has been since of late.

BFM was a good agency, but we know where they are today.

where the agency by the name of Desert Divas got busted and the Police Dept decided to publish the list of the Johns.  This was back in 2008.  Once the local media picks up the story, its only a matter of time that some of you married folks will start getting calls from attorneys.

ConservativeHobbyist's assessment nails it. There are genuine advantages to agencies, but better treatment of the escorts by the agencies would improve the experience for both escorts and clients. A stressed out and tired escort who only found out about a long-set appointment ten minutes ahead of it doesn't make for a good client experience either. This is not something that happens with independents.

My only quibble with his assessment is that it seems to me that it is mostly local police that are focusing on agencies (and escorts), hence the very different level of LE scrutiny between DC, Arlington, Montgomery, and Fairfax counties, for example. An agency is a bigger target of course, and the system is much less sympathetic to agency owners than to independents or escorts working for an agency. However, an agency needs to really step out of line like CDC and its sister agency DMV did (threatening an escort with a gun) to get Federal attention. This was a case where better treatment of their employees might have left the owners still in operation rather than in the federal prisons they are now calling home.

Also, guarddog111 is also right. A dead link to an agency site with a TER profile that hasn't been updated since April 2012 raises reasonable suspicions. Why post a link to a seemingly defunct business?

Perhaps they want to get back in the business and are testing the waters...  

While I would certainly NOT roll the dice and see any of their girls right away, even if I ever decide to hobby with agency again, the question itself does seem to be quite innocent.

I agree that it is a relatively innocent question; otherwise I wouldn't have answered.  

However, the link to the seemingly long-dead site seemed to detract from rather than add to the credibility of the post. It did make me think twice and reply with an alias just as you did.

y apologies we were an agency in Atlanta that I retired after 8 years in March.  

I was looking at going National.  

A True story on how discreet our agency was.  

a couple of years ago, I received a deposition from an attorney of a high profile business executive.  (My business was listed as an LLC back then with a business address).  Anyway it was a man getting a divorce again this was a high profile case because of who he was, but because his wife found different escort sites, including where he had visited our message board, legally I was to provide her attorneys with information such as if he was a client, who he saw, when etc. along with his username on our board.  

Why I could NOT legally provide the information they desired.  
1.  Our company REALLY did not keep client information unless it was a dangerous client that was black listed and not only that we never kept details.  
2.  So how did we know if a client had used our service?  Each client was listed with a first name (alias) and a 4 digit code that they could remember, of course it was obvious that they could not share that with anyone else.  These aliases and 4 digit codes were encrypted under a password protected online password protected form (not home based on a local hard drive).  So I asked what what his alias and his 4 digit code were, there was a long pause and I explained to them this is how we know who uses the service, but keep in mind this does not mean that he is doing what his wife thinks, seeing that we offer dinner dates, cocktail meetings, etc.  (Which was clearly listed on our site).  We never used language such as Greek or PSE on our site either.  Of course they could not provide me with anything.  
3.  The next thing I asked for was his IP address as I explained that's the only way I can look up usernames on our message board and then again, just because they are on our message board does not mean they utilized our service either.  They got quiet and asked if they could get back to me, turns out they could not give me an IP address because an IP proves nothing as several people can have the same IP at some point.  

My point is there was NOTHING there to find and agencies CAN do this, I was taught this when I first started by an agency owner who befriended me.  I really NEVER kept any information, keeping information not only incriminates your clients, but it incriminates YOU (The agency owner) and Independents.  

In the 8 years I owned my agency I made sure I invested legally, technologically, etc. and these other  agency owners need to take some of that income that is earned to pay for attorneys to legalize their business the best they can and so they can know how to protect everyone this includes their clients, the girls they work with and them selves.  

It is NOT illegal to hire a professional companion and people need to remember that.  

As far as abuse it is ashamed that agencies do this, as for me I have always been remote, the biggest thing I have been accused of is "stealing" money from women which is hard to do seeing that they are the ones who have to pay our company, I guess the fines just pissed people off.  Either way, I always ran my business like a business, the women I have worked with have the right to make and create their own hours and see who they want to see, I also never believed in over-booking women, heck many women I worked with had worked with me for 4 to 6 years at times.  

I guess this post was to check the climate on how clients feel about agencies, I feel the danger with agencies is providing an incall location, I know hotels can be iffy too if people do not know how to handle that, for example having 4 girls at one hotel who see 7 to 10 guys each in one day causes attention and LE does not need a warrant to come into that.  The safest way is girls (no more then 3) who may share a private incall who do not run in and out and how do not see a dozen guys a day).  There is a way to not draw attention to yourself and it is thinking of these little details that people fail to do, all people (agency owners) see is $$$$$, but if people want to succeed and keep clients and the women they work with happy, they really need to use their noggins.  

Guys, I want to thank you for your feedback and I am sorry DC has been under such scrutiny.  

Play safe

Thanks for the detailed response.  

There probably is room for new (good) agencies here, especially since some like the late Classy DC and others have left the scene. Of course, many independents get their start with agencies, so a good agency can provide a relatively safe starter platform for future independents too.

The information security and data retention policies that you describe seems good, although I am certainly no expert.  

Screening and the information disclosure needed in that context remain a hotly contested topic among hobbyists and between hobbyists and escorts here. However, I don't suppose that we are than much different than other metro areas in that regard. I have often though that the more rigorous the screening, the better it protects me as well as them. On the other hand, many if not most other hobbyists here would disagree with me.

As you note, not making it obvious with hotels or neighbors is a key thing. I don't think that the hotels around here have any illusions about why many of young single women without obvious business reasons for being here are checking into their hotels, but they aren't going to make an issue of it if they don't feel the need to. However, if Joe and the kids from Cleveland here on their Spring Break visit to the Nation's Capital notice a parade of men going in and out of the hotel room next door or women checking into the hotel in hooker-chic attire, that creates problems for the hotel which will in turn create problems for the agency. For private apartments, people can get very upset about their parking spaces of course.

If you are thinking about coming here, there are big differences among the major local jurisdictions. Operating an agency in Montgomery or Howard counties in Maryland or even sending escorts to one of those counties on outcalls would be only slightly less likely to get law enforcement attention than walking into the local police station smoking a joint. Prince Georges County in Maryland seems to be most focused on shutting down obvious sleaze and therefore going after the BackPage escorts and clients as well as traffickers, but they are in the midst of a crackdown that they don't mind publicizing. DC and Arlington and Fairfax counties in Virginia seem more relaxed about enforcement if they see it as truly victimless, although they do prosecute cases. I am not sure about Alexandria or other smaller or more distant suburban jurisdictions. However all jurisdictions here are on the liberal side, ranging from deep blue in DC, Arlington, and Alexandria to merely pale blue in Fairfax, so I think that most of the local police do not prioritize consenting-adult escorting unless it raises trafficking, underage, gang, drug, or quality-of-life issues for the neighbors. Preserving morals isn't going to get anybody elected to higher office here, but stopping exploitation or improving neighborhood environments might well do so.

-- Modified on 12/31/2013 8:35:34 PM

Thanks for the response, insightful.

Quick and easy answer for you is to do a quick search and see how many agencies are still in the Washington, DC area and how many are now defunct - including AMPs.  This isn't from a client perspective but from a potential agency perspective.  While a good agency would be appreciated, it would be a proceed with great caution for mongers

his is a descent way for a new agency to build a reputation. Both parties get to "test the waters>"
I don't know the technical issues here and I'm sure you've considered many models.  

If you do venture into
our area I hope that you are indeed true to your word as far as treatment of employees/clients.

I wish you a joyful and safe new year!

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