Guidelines for Agency Selection

[Admin]

I have never used agency services, so this is a bit 'foreign' to me - however - for the past several years of running RWD, I have had more than a few opportunities to interact with agencies and their owners. I am going to offer some ideas for a newbie on how they might perform 'due diligence' in selecting which agency they wish to conduct business with. While there are, of course, no guarantees, the guidelines should help to minimize the odds of getting caught up with a sleazy business.

I encourage all of you to add your suggestions, and maybe we will make this a sticky in this section for future reference.

• RWD has a section containing Scam Avoidance tools (look in the left frame). Use those.
• RWD is the chief sponsor of the Certified Marriage Agency program. Included in that program is the Agency Code of Ethics. Read that, and explicitly demand any agency you contact to state their support of the principles.
• When reviewing an agency website, look for the "Who Are We" (or similar). Does it provide any specific information? If it appears they are hiding their personal identities, consider their motivations. Would you provide your credit card information to a stranger? You may be doing exactly that.
• If you find a "Contact Us" page, or an email - send something. If they have a telephone number - call it. Consider sending a link to the ACoE described above and ask if they endorse the principles. Point being - find out *if* they will communicate with you, and HOW they communicate. Establish those communications early in the process.

What else?

Try to focus on those things that are reasonable to expect from ANY commercial organization.

- Dan

[SANDRO43]

It has probably escaped everybody's notice, but an Agency Card BETA has been sitting idle in the "Scam Avoidance" menu for a couple of years now .

[Admin]

It has probably escaped everybody's notice, but an Agency Card BETA has been sitting idle in the "Scam Avoidance" menu for a couple of years now .

Sandro,

Working with that tool right now - here are a few comments:

My test case was an advertiser I saw recently appear in the Google Ads - OdessaDarlings.com.

* Question 3: affiliation to other agencies. If an agency has NO other affiliations, and their website is silent, can it be reasonably assumed there is no other affiliation, and the answer should be "yes" - or ??? It seems to me this question LEADS with the assumption there *is* an affiliation and it should be disclosed. Is that a reasonable starting assumption?

Interestingly, this particular site seems to have connections to at least 2 other sites - ManilaDarlings and CaribbeanDarlings. I only found the latter through reading their FAQ's, and it looks like they did a poor job of copy-and-paste.

When I see this sort of thing, I immediately wonder about the source of the profiles. Is it reasonable to expect a service to have global contacts in Ukraine, The Caribbean, and The Philippines ? I am not sure - but it makes me curious.

Question 4: Profiles in Newsletters. This is something I would only know AFTER I enroll with an agency, I *think*. In fact, the same comment could be made about a number of the questions. I am not sure how applicable are many of the questions for making a "Pre-Sales" decision about engaging an agency.

Generally, I like the concept. Since it has been available here for quite some time, it seems not many guys are making use of it. I wonder why?

- Dan

[Gtex]

Dan;

Thanks and this should be a useful additional tool.  Checked the "beta" and it looks good.   Some things should be hard questions.  Example:

Do you only accept applicants in person?
Is proof of Identity on file?
and
Specific questions about validation of details in profile...
and, yes
It is fair to ask the same (general) question of men AND women.

There are a few things currently being done by some sights that are useful; the date of last visit by a member is one that is excellent.

[SANDRO43]

Glad to see some reaction, at last . Thanks for your comments, Gtex & Dan.

Do you only accept applicants in person?

Wouldn't that be covered by:

20. Identity and photos are verified at agency premises

Is proof of Identity on file?

Meaning what, i.e. ID/Passport No. recorded somewhere for possible later retrieval ? For what purposes ? By whom ? I suspect some privacy legislation may interfere with this, so it may be pointless to include.

Specific questions about validation of details in profile...

See above.

It is fair to ask the same (general) question of men AND women.

I could make them non-gender specific. The Card was initially conceived with WM seeking FSUW in mind  .

the date of last visit by a member is one that is excellent.

No problem in adding that, as well.

* Question 3: affiliation to other agencies. If an agency has NO other affiliations, and their website is silent, can it be reasonably assumed there is no other affiliation, and the answer should be "yes" - or ??? It seems to me this question LEADS with the assumption there *is* an affiliation and it should be disclosed. Is that a reasonable starting assumption?

This can be remedied by simply adding an initial "Any" to the question .

Question 4: Profiles in Newsletters. This is something I would only know AFTER I enroll with an agency, I *think*.

Yes and no, many sites will send NLs to whomever provides just his/her email address, without necessarily enrolling as a free or fee member (probably to flood your inbox with Viagra/Cialis/penis-enlargement spam as a result ).

In fact, the same comment could be made about a number of the questions. I am not sure how applicable are many of the questions for making a "Pre-Sales" decision about engaging an agency.

If such questions are in the "Agency Services" section, this could be remedied by modifying the section title to "Agency Services To Subscribers" or "Agency Services To Enrolled Members" or similar.

Generally, I like the concept. Since it has been available here for quite some time, it seems not many guys are making use of it. I wonder why?

Maybe the name is not eye-catching enough, "How To Successfully Select A MOB Agency" might have caused more attention  .

[Admin]

Glad to see some reaction, at last . Thanks for your comments, Gtex & Dan.
Wouldn't that be covered by:Meaning what, i.e. ID/Passport No. recorded somewhere for possible later retrieval ? For what purposes ? By whom ? I suspect some privacy legislation may interfere with this, so it may be pointless to include.See above.I could make them non-gender specific. The Card was initially conceived with WM seeking FSUW in mind  .No problem in adding that, as well.
This can be remedied by simply adding an initial "Any" to the question .Yes and no, many sites will send NLs to whomever provides just his/her email address, without necessarily enrolling as a free or fee member (probably to flood your inbox with Viagra/Cialis/penis-enlargement spam as a result ).If such questions are in the "Agency Services" section, this could be remedied by modifying the section title to "Agency Services To Subscribers" or "Agency Services To Enrolled Members" or similar.Maybe the name is not eye-catching enough, "How To Successfully Select A MOB Agency" might have caused more attention  .

Or even tying it into the "Risk" theme being discussed in other topics, entitle it something like "Risk Avoidance: Agency Selection".

It would be TERRIFIC if some of our members who have used a number of agencies (Gator, BillyB and others) would spend a few minutes applying this tool to agencies with which they have first-hand experience - and vett the tool more completely in that manner.

Also - and importantly - need to be clear on whether this is a "Pre-Sales" tool - that is, an aid to make a better selection PRIOR to joining (a/k/a spending money), or a "Review" tool which is useful post-sales to advise others of the pros/cons.

- Dan

[SANDRO43]

Also - and importantly - need to be clear on whether this is a "Pre-Sales" tool - that is, an aid to make a better selection PRIOR to joining (a/k/a spending money), or a "Review" tool which is useful post-sales to advise others of the pros/cons.

I'd say it's both, most of the questions can be answered simply by browsing an agency's site even prior to joining for free/fee.

[Admin]

I'd say it's both, most of the questions can be answered simply by browsing an agency's site even prior to joining for free/fee.

Yes, but,,,, if I only answer some of the questions, will the result still be valid?

If yes, then the question is - how many questions need to be answered (at a minimum) to be valid - and/or which questions need to be answered to be valid?

- Dan

[SANDRO43]

Yes, but,,,, if I only answer some of the questions, will the result still be valid?

Questions that require some form of membership (free or fee, depending on the site) to be answered are 11 out of 42:

4. New profiles are periodically sent via newsletters to subscribers
5. New profiles are ALL of newly registered women
8. Letters are censored to remove personal information without notifying the writer
10. Men can see if their letters have been read by addressee women
11. Men are informed if addressee women are not interested in replying
14. Men are informed of women who have read their profiles and/or marked them as 'favorites'.
15. Men can express their match preferences
16. Men's feedback is
17. Agency womens' letters to men are notified via personal email
19. Womens' letters to men can be answered
41. Scam reports are

As an alternative, an initial question ("Member ?") could be inserted, with a "No" answer filtering out the above.

If yes, then the question is - how many questions need to be answered (at a minimum) to be valid - and/or which questions need to be answered to be valid?

The current calculation method simply totals points from each answer, and assigns a final 'rating' based on a grid of values, regardless of the number of answers (remember, it's STILL a Beta ):

0 ="This Agency is very bad !"
>0<100 = "This Agency is bad !"
>= 100<200 ="This Agency is just average !"
>= 200<300 ="This Agency is fair !"
>= 300<400 ="This Agency is good !"
>= 400<500="This Agency is very good !"
>= 500="This Agency is excellent !"

It could be converted to a 'percentage' method (total of answer points over best points for each answer given) In other words, if one gives 5 answers totalling, say, 60 points and the best possible score for those same answers is 100, then the result would be 60% and be assigned a rating of 'Fair'.

In addition, the percentage of answers given could trigger some sort of warning message(s), like:
"CAUTION: You answered only N questions out of 42, the resulting score for this agency may not be sufficiently reliable."

There are a host of different ways in which this can be handled, maybe further member feedback can guide us in the right direction .