Just had the same experience with him. I’m in New Orleans until tomorrow morning. I text and he was polite and we went back and forth with details & locations …. I set a time and he said he would come to my hotel. Then for the first time he said he needed a deposit. I told him I’d love to meet but I don’t do deposits & had been hiring in multiple states for years and never paid a deposit. He said he had been harassed in the past and that’s why he charges a deposit. I told him if he changed his mind to let ne know and he responded and said I guess you will have to hire someone else.
side note : I messaged the one person who did his review on RM & asked several specific questions. There has been no response.