This was exactly the shot in the arm I needed, the wake-up call, and the validation of "You did the right thing, girl."
I am new to the DC area. I am not, however, new to this. My screening requirements are clearly laid out on my website as well as on my Slixa page and another review site.
I received an email from an interested party. I laid out my screening requirements. He ignored them twice, and just kept talking about what HE wanted. Third time around, I firmly laid out the information I needed. It was then he finally admitted he wouldn't give me "private information". He then suggested I go to his references. I stood my ground. He went on and on how he was "safe" and I was just nervous because I was "new" (which he referred to several times, which became a red flag). I finally said, "I have my way of doing things, period. I don't care how many references you throw at me, I still need the minimum information I requested. If you are not willing to abide by my screening requirements, I suggest you move on." Needless to say, I haven't received any more emails from him.
This has been nagging at me for days. Should I have gone by his Date-check references alone? Should I have "given in" a little? But now that I have read this, I am proud that I stood firm. Broke, but proud, lol.
There are so many stories out there of how things have gone terribly wrong, and more stories come out every day. So this guy had a bunch of "recommends" on Date-check-- would I be that ONE person who wasn't careful enough, just took him at his word, and ended up robbed or hurt or worse? And if something did happen and I blacklisted him, would anyone believe me or think it was just "sour grapes" over money or service or something? I'd rather be considered "slightly difficult" rather than raped or dead.
There are many providers who require full legal name and check IDs. I'm one of them. Being lazy or careless, whether on the provider or the hobby end, can spell disaster. Although I don't have a lot of reviews here, I am very well reviewed on another site. And ALL those gentlemen gave me the info I requested.
Again Lee, thank you so much for writing about this and reminding us that we simply cannot get complacent.