If you’ve written me a review on TheEroticReview.com, and it’s not been posted, or if it’s been changed, please let me know.
I’ve taken escort review boards such as TheEroticReview.com with a grain of salt, and beyond a few idealistic thoughts, believe pragmatically escort reviews (including reviews of myself) are a necessity in this day and age of scammers and shady not-as-advertised ladies. There has to be some sort of way for people to see who is “legit” and to get an idea of what turns a lady on, and escort review sites, for now, are an effective way of accomplishing this.
However, when a site downgrades or otherwise changes how a lady is “ranked”, it makes me question the legitimacy of other reviews on it.
When real reviews are not posted, and yet ladies talk privately (or not so privately, on Twitter) about fake-reviews being posted on that site, it makes me question its integrity, and the genuineness of any “review” posted there.
When reviews are “turned down” because they’re not explicit enough, that makes me question the value of a the site that does this.
Unfortunately, especially since ASPD died, TheEroticReview.com is the biggest review site, with the most “traffic”, and, for some reason, trust. Ideally, this site would have left its scandal and bias behind when TER founder Dave Elms stepped down. Ideally, all review sites would post all reviews submitted that meet clear minimal guidelines (to protect privacy, discretion, and thus safety), with no editing or censorship.
Anyone who has been on the internet for very long can get a feel for reviews that might be fake, especially if the real ones are also all posted as originally written, unedited by review-site staff. After all, isn’t the point of the review system to give consumers authentic “field report” material from which to make an educated investment of time and money? I encourage the staff at TheEroticReview to make an appointment with me for an evening or longer, if they have any doubts about my personal integrity; but do not downgrade the 10 that one person experienced to a 9, and post the real blurbs along with the fake.
Please let me know, mainly to sate my curiosity, if you’ve had any similar issues or experience any issues at all in posting a blurb on our time together.
Hi Rachel,
TER is not perfect, but let me offer a small defense and explanation. First, many ladies (and many reviewers) complain when a 10 given for performance is downgraded to a 9 or a 8. There is actually a rational explanation behind this. Every time a new review is completed, the reviewer is required to fill out the entire “profile” for the escort, including whether or not she engages in various activities, such as DFK, BBBJ, Greek, etc. A provider can only earn a 10 for performance if the reviewer affirms she is willing to provide all of these services. Otherwise, even if the reviewer gives her a 10, the automated TER program will downgrade it to a 9 or a 8. This is not intentional or malicious, but rather a byproduct of the TER review guidelines.
Second, it is legitimately hard for TER to screen out fake reviews, which are often posted simply because a reviewer wants free VIP days or is looking to settle a score. If TER dropped every review as asked for by providers, what would stop unscrupulous providers from claiming a poor review is a fake even if that were not the case? When in doubt, TER will leave the review up.
You will find that thoughtful, well informed hobbyists will take the time to go beyond the scores and read the reviews and take those reviews written by well established clients much more positively. Lower scores and fake reviews only deter casual reviewers who are looking for a quick screen and not willing to invest time in research to find the right lady for themselves.
Thanks for the comment and clarifying how things work. I was honestly, very confused.
Respectfully, I disagree with TER’s adjustments of ratings based upon “whether or not she engages in various activities”. To me, it makes as much sense rating a 5 star sushi restaurant lower for not offering Barbecue.
Except this isn’t about Sushi restaurants not offering Mexican chorizo, or French dessert cafes not offering Missouri steak & potatoes.
The “menu” is explicitly there on the womens’ profiles, so by lowering the ratings based upon what is NOT offered— unsafe sex acts— or raising ratings based upon what IS offered (unsafe sex acts)… this grips me in the pit of my gut the wrong way.
Speaking as someone who came of age during the height of the AIDS scare, who watched a teacher of mine die slowly and painfully of that disease the same year I got my first bra… I just cannot fathom why offering anal, bareback whatever, “privates to privates” massages, anal, and other risky, potentially bodily-fluids swapping activities, would be ranked or valued any higher than more protected & health – conscious activities.
As dinner dates are my minimal time period, which allow lots of time to get to know each other and creates a very natural setting for seduction, I find myself introducing many newbies to this world of adult companionship and entertainment. Without your disclaimer about how these ratings & rankings “work” being explicitly posted on TER, these new guys do NOT know that a chick is ranked a 10 because others have reported unsafe sexual activities with her– or that a chick is ranked a 7 or 8 because she is reported to not engage in the “full menu”. The written content of these scenarios tells what supposedly happened behind closed doors, so these unaware men assume that a 7 or 8 is how the chick was ranked based upon what she DID offer in the written review- not based upon her “menu”. Marketing 101 and any consumer psychology stress the importance of a quick first impression, and the skewed rankings feed into that- however smart and thorough someone is.
Furthermore, when reviews are sent back for not being explicit enough, when reviews are not posted because of whatever reasons (but alleged fake reviews are allowed to stand, as you say)… I don’t see how the validity of anything posted on TER can hold up.
Makes me feel lucky that those whose reviews got posted were gentlemen who I felt exceptionally comfortable with, or who knew how to play the TER review writing game.
Rachel, you make a very fair point that the quality of a provider’s service should not necessarily be correlated with the menu of services she offers. A woman can be a top-class courtesan without offering the full menu of services, especially those that can cause risk to one’s health. And, truth be told, some of us hobbyists are not interested in everything either; for example, I have no desire to engage in anal. I prefer BBBJ, but it is not a deal breaker if an otherwise lovely lady does not provide that. My only deal breaker is DFK — gotta have it!
I still think many people, both ladies and clients, get too caught up in the numbers. A quality courtesan will have her service reflected in the reviews written on her, even if the scores may not be 10/10. Indeed, that is a screening tool I use myself. If I see a lady with reviews from gentlemen who write in a respectful and discreet manner, that increases the appeal of the lady to me — I know men like myself see her and like her. On the other hand, thirty word reviews focused entirely on “scoring” are not so appealing.
TER is an important element of the adult services ecosphere, but it is not the only element. The finest providers always shine through ….
Thanks for the nice comment. The “menu” on TER and elsewhere is probably fairly accurate as to what I’m open to. Many women do not like to offer a full menu for a variety of reasons including health. If this is what prevents a girl from getting a 10, or a 9, or an 8 or whatever… it doesn’t make much sense.
I’ve stated before that I think that “field reports” are important for business, both to protect the patrons and to reward those who do a great job. Not like you can have a doctor of escorting or very much other public, legitimate, professional recognition.
On the business end, I can understand that TER might have a problem posting reviews that are not explicit enough or those which for whatever reason seem a little off… However, this inherently biases the system when all reviews don’t get posted. How is the decision made on if to post or not post a review? What defines “explicit enough”? As escorts, we go out with a huge diversity of men (that is one thing I love most, the variety). Not all those with money enough to see me and who want to post a “field report” know how to write a review so that it will get approved and posted on TER. I thought that the point was to avoid ladies writing their own reviews, and this would seem to encourage that type of shadow-writing, when the guy is new to review writing and the escort knows what will be accepted by TER. I see that as a business decision & business practice by TER, which I personally disagree with because of the bias involved both in what reviews are accepted and posted, what reviews are disapproved, and that reviews are specifically turned down for not being explicit enough.
I strongly believe that it is important that these “reports” are communicated effectively and in a way that the maximum number of people can easily understand. It would be nice if all people were critical thinkers and looked beyond the 8s, but even those with college degrees don’t always. Many men, new or not, have the mentality of “I see only top rated girls”, who would do a search on TER by numerical ratings and select based upon that, not knowing how those rankings are biased towards chicks who engage in unsafe sex.
Hi Rachael,
Interesting blog. I would like to respond to JP. First I don’t agree with much he has said. I do agree though that TER is not perfect and also agree that his defense of TER is small.
So now let’s move on to his “rational explanation”. The fact that JP admits that the TER review can be downgraded and changed without the author’s permission is damning enough. And if this policy does exist, is it written anywhere on the their site prominently. And if not, why not? Would this not change the way readers view reviews if this was public knowledge. And if a review has been changed, where is the footnote that says…this review has been changed by TER for the following reasons. Again wouldn’t this change the perception of readers. If 2 girls both get a 9 but one has been knocked down to a 9 is this the same 9 for both? By this twisted logic an 8 girl should be moved up to 9 not because she is deserving but because she has a better menu. This however does prove your point though that TER is not perfect…but also they are not rational or ethical by changing a writer’s words based on a hidden policy and then not tell the hobby public what they have done.
Let us move on to JP’s second point about fake reviews vs real reviews. He poses the question of dropping reviews of a questionable nature but when in doubt TER leaves the review up. Alas, what about the reviews they don’t print at all. When in doubt TER leaves them up??? Hmmm…me thinks you don’t know what you are talking about. I certainly hope TER is giving you some nice perks for your “small defense” or has already made you a mod because the reality is… review posting is very random. I have had a legitmate review denied. When I asked for a “rational explanation” they said I needed more history. What does that mean? How does one get history when reviews are not posted? And why were my reviews accepted elsewhere and only rejected by TER. The only “rational explanation” is that things are very random at TER. Again no statement policy written anywhere as to how reviews are accepted …therefore the random tag. The irony is, I have talked to Hobbs who have written fake reviews to get access to VIP. They laugh as they tell me they haven’t even seen the girl. Others write reviews to gain favor from the girls and finally some are written by the girls themselves. And then there is me …waiting for some miracle to happen so I can get my legitimate review that is everywhere else published on TER. While it is annoying to me, it is hurtful to a girl’s business to be denied a good legitimate review.
So I guess we don’t really agree about how TER operates. Ah, but it is good to make your acquaintance JP. Maybe you can put in a good word for me. Maybe that’s how things are done at TER. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rachael Benedict, Rachael Benedict. Rachael Benedict said: New blog entry, on escort reviews: http://rachaelbenedict.com/files/2010/06/reviews-on-theeroticreview/ [...]
I’ve had number of reviews downgraded from 10 to 9 due to TER policies. The way rating system is structured, escort can only get 10 if she is either bisexual or participates in certain activity.
So unless reviewer is explicitly told of the lady’s bisexuality or interested in that “extra carricular” activity, his grade will be lowered.
Some clients get very upset with this policy, others just give up.
Lina
I’m not going to get into a pissing match with someone here. If you don’t think TER is fair or accurate, fine, ignore it and use another website. As I said, TER is far from perfect and the original founder, Dave Elms, seems to be a major scum bag. But if you take the time to read the reviews, (as opposed to automatically assuming a woman with a 9 rating is better for you than a woman with an 8 rating — in most cases, it doesn’t matter), it can make your hobbying very worthwhile. At least it has for me.
The fact that our lovely Ms. Rachel has three reviews on TER, all of which are glowing and very complimentary, should speak for itself.
Not only do you have to do unsafe sex acts which many quality providers will not do for the highest ratings, you are admitting to illegal acts.
This is a big issue here in Phoenix. Escorts have been arrested with mandatory AZ jail minimum usually in Tent City for solicitation solely on the content of ads or websites. A jury convicted based on GFE as the industry word for illegal sex and many reviews/sites are much more explicit.
Elms is now in prison (I was the one he hired a hit man to get) but will be out in a few years).
Desert Diva’s with about 100 arrests and mostly felony convictions is an admitted criminal enterprise with very direct connections to TER. Police evidence book full of TER reviews and unconfirmed rumors Feds may be looking at.
Sadly we do not have adult freedoms most of the rest of the world enjoys for in private consenting adult sexuality.
I have had good discussions with the new management of TER and am convinced (but others are not) that Elms is gone and none of the blackmail and rape that he did going on.
Yet the policies are still highest rating for highest risk activities and reviews have to be juicy and detailed often escorts tell me are “juiced up” to get accepted and escort will not do what reviews say because she has the intelligence not to risk or health with high risk activities.