P411's new policies and pricing changes to enforce said policies... Good, bad, indifferent?

Referencing touring or visiting providers placing ADS.... it sure wears on a full time Man Whore when providers place these "FISHING ADS" as Gina stated. I can't help but wondering if Hobbyists booked with multiple providers and simply just decided which one to go see and cancel the rest by post or pm simply stating "oh I'm sorry I'll have to reschedule" or "I won'' be able to make it this time" how providers might feel about that? S anything P411 does to minimalize the placement of these "fishing Ads" would be greatly appreciated at least from this hobbyist prospective!
Originally Posted by Still Looking

Actually, I've had more than one gent send me an appointment request.. then say that they were sorry, but they booked someone else. One openly admitted to sending multiple requests and seeing who responded first (Mind you... I answered 15 minutes after he sent it). So your gender DOES fish as well......

More to the point... if a lady is posting 7 or 8 fishing ads in different cities.... then it stands to reason that they don't mind blowing a huge chunk on advertising.... I don't think its going to deter the real fishers as much as it will deter the average traveler.

In your mind should a lady lay out multiple hundreds to fly somewhere and HOPE there will be a receptive client base?

Touring isn't for everyone, because it's a gamble.

If a provider is relying on pre-bookings to determine whether she's going to tour, I can tell you that a huge percentage (90%+) of those "tours" are going to fall through. Very few clients like to pre-book in that manner. Most (if not all) touring providers also rely on short notice appointments to be successful.

So if a provider isn't willing to make the gamble of committing to the visit, she is almost guaranteed to not have enough bookings to want to follow through with the tour. Which is a waste of time and energy for the clients who have contacted her, and affects the providers who were actually available in that city because those clients could have contacted them instead.

Fishing ads suck, not in a good way.

Always,
Gina

The clients ARE fishing, as is any consumer. It's called "shopping around", or being a typical customer.

The provider is supposed to be a professional..... the good ones understand this and don't jerk clients around with fishing ads. They also know that dealing with "shoppers" is part of running a business.

Always,
Gina

I strongly disagree with your percentages when it comes to prebooks. If I advertise 20 potential visits in a year... 18 of those trips will "make" based on prebookings. The last trip I made... everyone I saw booked before I even hit the ground... I did not have a single additional booking after my arrival. There are only 2 or 3 cities on my normal list that aren't big on prebooking.

I strongly disagree with your percentages when it comes to prebooks. If I advertise 20 potential visits in a year... 18 of those trips will "make" based on prebookings. Originally Posted by GracePreston

I'm only going on my own personal experience, and that of the touring providers I booked for through Private Connection. Prebooks were very low, but that was 5+ years ago, things could have changed.

Grace, if you are following through on 18 out of 20 of the cities you advertise in, you certainly are not part of the problem and your ads are not "fishing" ads because you are serious and follow through 90% of the time. Unfortunately though, the vast majority of providers who post multiple ads in multiple cities have a far smaller success percentage.

The number of providers cancelling "tours" because they didn't get enough pre-bookings is high enough that I handle complaints about it every single day. In fact, fishing ads posted by providers who don't have any sort of real plan to visit the city are the number one complaint from clients and providers alike. Those providers really don't have an intent, they just want to see what they get.

Always,
Gina

It has changed to some degree. A lot of gents have learned that the best insurance to get a girl to come is to let her know that she has some guaranteed money if she makes the trip.

Back in my early days of touring (2004-2006ish).. prebooks weren't as common. But since coming back to the hobby in 2009... it is a different game in terms of prebooks on my end of things.

I don't get the complaining when someone cancels a tour, as long as she lets people know. To me, that would be like me complaining every time a gent cancels last minute or NCNS. Sometimes, the fishing is obvious. It is not humanly possible to be in 4 cities at the same time.

I just think if someone is posting visiting ads at the same time in more than one city they should be put in the corner. That's what eccie does. Takes the ads down and hands infractions.

A guy getting upset because a tour is canceled? Huh? Doesn't matter if it's a touring lady or not, cancelations are a huge problem in our line of business. There is no true punishment for it on either side. It's lame as all that one thinks their time is more valuable then another. Just a lot of whining about it on both sides.

Men will always ignore multiple alerts on a lady and so many ladies don't even know what the main "lady only" site is.

What can you do? I guess complain about it until you get sick of it and move on to something else to complain about.

Gonna have to try it out.

Gina, I have NO problem with the increase but would you consider giving us 10 points with each clients ok instead of 5???? I honestly thought that's what we were currently getting, was I wrong? Did that change too?

Lexi

It's been 5 for as long as I have been using it.

Gina, I have NO problem with the increase but would you consider giving us 10 points with each clients ok instead of 5???? I honestly thought that's what we were currently getting, was I wrong? Did that change too?

Lexi Originally Posted by lexilove

I made a comment a few months ago about it dropping from 10 to 5. Another girl chimed in with me, but everyone said it's always been 5. Lol. Not sure why three of us think it was 10. So much to keep up with.
Xx

It was 5 points years ago. After a discussion posted on this site it went to 10 points. Now, it's back down to 5 points???

No, I don't believe the four of us are wrong or crazy..

However, it is what it is..

I travel fulltime...so I post ads in about 5 to 10 cities a month depending on where tour...so this increase may hurt me and limit my posting ads in EVERY city to just posting in a few select cities.. my rates are already so low that it costs me a big cut out of my profit margin with this new increase...I won't be able to do as much needed advertising ..... I understand to a degree why the increase;but I just wish there was a way to "reward LONG standing/reputable"providers like me who spend ALOT of money....I do not think my ads are fishing...I will usually actually tour most cities I put an ad on...there may be a couple that do not work out so I delte them..but most t times things do .........p411is a great tool and assett to me and many providers here....feasibly business wise ..


I HAVE to use it...I guess I just gotta limit where I post.. and I am gonna have to raise my rates a tad bit to offset my spending....I guess I will hope for the best.

I agree with you Dallas. I tour 7-9 cities a month

Maybe those ladies "fishing" should get booted off the site and the problem would be solved..

Or..Just go back to the way it was by giving a lady 10 points for a clients ok.. That seems to be fair and more balanced..

It has never been 10 points for an okay... It used to be ONE point per okay, but when the system changed to where the guys have to ask for the okays.. it went up to 5.