A Non Answer To A Rentboy.com note

[thickornotatall]

Thanks so much for your feedback and your kind words about our site. In regards to images. We take every available measure to ensure our users are authentic, and we value our reputation as the a site that only has actively working men. You may or may not know that all reviews for rentboy.com advertisements can be found at daddysreviews.com.

Have a wonderful weekend.

rentboy.com

 

Below is the comment and question I posed to Rentboy.com>>>>>>My opinion is that the Rentboy site is not quite candid about the way they verify photos and stats submitted by advertisers....Support Question: Problem with an Advertiser

I have a comment and or a question to ask. First I would like to compliment you on the sophisticated and informative site you have created. Hopefully Rentboy will take my question quite seriously and possibly take some action to make the site more concise and accurate, I have been informed and personally have experienced the use of false information and stolen photographs being used by members to advertise their business. In addition there are members of Rentboy depicting themselves with either photoshopped photographs or old photos not in keeping with the accurate depiction of the user. I believe this is false advertising and that practice needs to be striken from your site. In order to maintain a positive Rentboy site I am hoping you will take some action to verify the accurate statistics and the current photos being used are indeed up to date as the day they are posted. Also take the time to verify the identity as being the actual person placing the advertising on Rentboy. A clear and concise depiction is all I ask of your advertisers...anything less will diminish the trust Rentboy would like to claim. Respectfully

[thickornotatall]

In regards to that. Someone in Houston posted my photo to their ad it was up for a matter of minutes and was quickly removed without having to contact them.

 

The only way for them to know if someone is using fake pics is if YOU the client notify them about it. How else are they supposed to know? Step up to the plate, and ensure the hobby you love stays in check.

I did contact them with a Rentboy advertiser using photos at least 10 years old and a photshopped pic...that was my concern....which was not addressed...

[MiamiLooker]

We take every available measure to ensure our users are authentic...

I think that means they make sure the advertiser's check has cleared.

[Scorpio]

In regards to that. Someone in Houston posted my photo to their ad it was up for a matter of minutes and was quickly removed without having to contact them.

 

.

 

Had you not been personally known to Rentboy management, I doubt the correction would have been made as expeditiously....if at all.

[thickornotatall]

In regards to that. Someone in Houston posted my photo to their ad it was up for a matter of minutes and was quickly removed without having to contact them.

 

The only way for them to know if someone is using fake pics is if YOU the client notify them about it. How else are they supposed to know? Step up to the plate, and ensure the hobby you love stays in check.

Hobby?....what is wrong with you? Why would you write something like that?...I would think that as a Rentboy advertiser you would want to have a clean site with 100% accuracy. Liars...cheats...thieves all make your job (not hobby) more difficult....Anyone claiming to be someone else is an identity thief. You are indeed fortunate the ad was corrected or pulled. My writing to Rentboy was to clear up a certain person that is using very very very old photos....incorrect stats and is a thief...I didn't post that part of the letter.

I would hope that any legit Rentboy advertiser that has knowledge of anyone using stolen/fake pics and is misrepresenting himself would be turned in to the Rentboy webmaster...Is that too much to ask?....

[rvwnsd]

...In regards to images. We take every available measure to ensure our users are authentic...

 

There are not many available measures they can take to authenticate pictures. Given that Rentboy does not meet advertisers in person, they can't tell whether or not a pic depicts the advertiser or not. Even more difficult is detecting potential Photoshopping. What would they do, fly the escort to their offices and force them to strip? One could argue that they could require a face pic in which the advertiser holds up a card with the ad ID written on it, but how does that help when the escort does not show his face?

 

I get it: there are ads in which the advertiser uses old pics of themselves or pics of someone else and that is a bad thing. Just like any other false or misleading advertising, you can bring known examples of inaccurate ads and pics to Rentboy's attention and ask them to investigate. The original post includes the general comment about pics, but it does not mention a specific advertiser. Perhaps that part of the complaint was not posted here. I agree with Killian: the only way for Rentboy to know about false or misleading advertising is for it to be brought to their attention.

[thickornotatall]

When anyone advertises on Rentboy they claim that they "do their best" to verify the user....I wonder how that happens? Reading this forum for many years I regularly read of fakes...scammers..photshop users...and just plain thieves....

Speaking with 2 different members here on this forum in the last few weeks it appears that more people are being taken advantage by advertisers on Rentboy...and Rentboy knows!...I am not the only member here complaining....I may be the only one to post a letter....One member was contacted repeatedly by text to post a positive review and to first submit the draft to the advertiser on Rentboy..that sort of bullying is not isolated...Not everyone is as open about or can be as open as to what happens behind closed doors...I personally take offense with anyone that turns a blind eye or stand up for the liar....It should not happen...period....When a Rentboy is ripped off I hear all sorts of bloody murder .....Where is the Rentboy then?...

It is in everyone's best interest.....client and Rentboy to police the bad apples and out them....on both sides....bad client? bad Rentboy?....bad business....See it?....say it!

I specifically gave the name....phone...email address of a Rentboy advertiser that was a fake....a liar....and almost a thief....had I not scared the crap out of him he would have gotten away with that...Rentboy as far as I know did nothing....and instead sent me that shitty response...

This is a very personal interaction that needs to be as safe as safe can be....I believe that Rentboy can ask for current ID and keep it safe by encryption..If the advertiser cannot prove who they are and have current photos that match any ID that is called for.....don't post the ad.....if they want to do that...I just don't believe they care to be a vigilant as necessary....One day this will all be licensed and legal....until then keep it clean and keep it safe...

[buckguy]

OP, your message to RB has no specifics. You're polite but don't give any examples. My guess is more the better, because they will do nothing but give empty replies.

[instudiocity]

I think that means they make sure the advertiser's check has cleared.

More like their credit card was authorized ... But I get your point.

[instudiocity]

Dang, someone's heated. And for the record, I kind of just worry about myself. I'm not in the business of bad mouthing or tattle tailing, whether it may be true or not. I'm a believer that if someone gets into that habit, at what point do they stop and at what heights do they bring it to? I'd consider whistle blowing to be in the client arena 100%.

Boy, would I like to tattle on your tail. It would make for quite a tale!

[MiamiLooker]

Dang, someone's heated. And for the record, I kind of just worry about myself. I'm not in the business of bad mouthing or tattle tailing, whether it may be true or not. I'm a believer that if someone gets into that habit, at what point do they stop and at what heights do they bring it to? I'd consider whistle blowing to be in the client arena 100%.

 

Is there any other profession that would have this mindset? If this is how escorts advertising on RB feel, then there’s probably no need to use the words “professional” and “escort” in the same sentence anymore.

[wayout]

I can certainly understand the frustration, even anger, at such a situation. What kind of outcome were you looking for that would have satisfied you? I guess I am wondering how far we can expect a site like "Rentboy" or even this review site, to verify information/details about an escort even when a complaint is lodged. Is it realistic to expect that they have the resources to fully vet each ad and/or complaint? There is some responsibility to take proper steps to assure accuracy and authenticity, but for every safeguard there is also someone who will find a way around it. Could escorts be "verified" or "certified" through some mechanism such as using skype or something? Perhaps and that might ad another layer of verification but how far and at what cost can they or anyone go? And this doesn't necessarily only relate to Rentboy or Daddy's site, but almost any site or even newspaper that has some type of classified advertising. Enough complaints come in, then likely something may be done but after what time and possibly what damage has been done. I don't have any satisfying solution other than the old adage that puts the onus on us....buyer beware.

[+ WhamIAm]

In regards to that. Someone in Houston posted my photo to their ad it was up for a matter of minutes and was quickly removed without having to contact them.

 

The only way for them to know if someone is using fake pics is if YOU the client notify them about it. How else are they supposed to know? Step up to the plate, and ensure the hobby you love stays in check.

 

I think that was the OP's point. He did report it, and doesn't fee he's gotten a satisfactory response. Here, though, more info would have been helpful. OTOH, the clearly boilerplate response doesn't mean RB didn't actually take some action. Just as Daddy doesn't report the many, many, many things I think he does to keep fakers, cranks and stalkers off the site. RB may have done the same. I'd be interested in hearing from the OP whether he provided identifying info for the ad/escort in question and, if so, whether the pic remains on the site. And, maybe a little more transparency from RB as to what they do would help -- for all we know, they do reject advertisers or pull ads that are suspect. Some basic copy reading might help sometimes as well. (for example, the ad discussed in another thread re a guy who stated he would not provide additional face pics because his ad was "Rentboy-verified.")

 

Yeah, hiring is a caveat emptor kinda undertaking. (Hobby? Does that mean escorts are no more than model airplanes or superhero figurines? Inanimate objects are generally the subject of hobbies, not human beings.) This forum is a great resource for weeding out some of the chaff (and thanks for teaching me the wonders of Google Image Search). There are plenty of things RB can't do in support of that -- confirm the guy's advertising text is accurate as to what he's into, or even that his pics are recent. It seems to me they should be able to require verification that the guy's pics are, in fact, him. (Photocopies of drivers' licenses, at a minimum). It also seems to me it's in their best interests -- I'm betting that somewhere in the application for advertisers there's a provision granting RB IP rights to the pics posted. Many pics are posted with a rentboy.com watermark. Were something criminal/violent happen to a client tracing back to a guy with a fake photo, I think the opportunities for litigation would be endless.

 

Still, as in many things, the key way to be safe is to protect yourself (and others).

[MiamiLooker]

There are not many available measures they can take to authenticate pictures.

A simple Google search would be a good start. But as long as they're making money on both the legitimate and the faked ads, they have no reason to do anything. After all, it's mostly just old well-to-do fags that are getting scammed.

[nycbystander]

Frankly, with all due respect, your comment to Rentboy was silly. Absent a personal meeting with each advertiser by someone on Rentboy's management staff there is no possible way to verify the accuracy of the pictures of thousands of advertisers on an international website. Caveat Emptor.

[rvwnsd]

A simple Google search would be a good start. But as long as they're making money on both the legitimate and the faked ads, they have no reason to do anything. After all, it's mostly just old well-to-do fags that are getting scammed.

 

Let's think through the process. So they do a Google search, find that the picture is attributed to a different name someplace else, and reject the picture. The advertiser claims it is, indeed, his picture. Then what? In addition, Google searching will do nothing toward detecting out-of-date pics of the advertiser nor will it ferret out embellished dick size or years shaved off an escort's age. It will also do nothing toward preventing guys from collecting a fee upfront and bolting from a client's hotel room.

 

Frankly, with all due respect, your comment to Rentboy was silly. Absent a personal meeting with each advertiser by someone on Rentboy's management staff there is no possible way to verify the accuracy of the pictures of thousands of advertisers on an international website. Caveat Emptor.

 

I agree. The OP's complaint as stated in the post doesn't contain anything actionable. Absent of the OP copying and pasting the entire email, we don't know what he wrote in his complaint to Rentboy, so it is admittedly unfair to discuss the merits of the complaint. However, it is fair to say had it been me, the complaint would look something like this:

 

I would like to alert you to an ad that contains pictures I believe belong to someone other than the advertiser. The ad in question belongs to [insert name and Rentboy ID of advertiser here]. I Google searched his pictures and found that they were originally posted in the following places: [insert URLs here] under someone else's name. I think you should investigate this further to protect prospective clients from being cheated out of their fee and to protect your good reputation. Thank you, rvwnsd

 

Had I met the person and found that he was not the person depicted in the ad, the complaint would look something like this:

 

I recently met [insert name and Rentboy ID of advertiser here] after seeing his ad on Rentboy. The guy who showed up to our appointment is not the same person depicted in the ad. I think you should investigate this further to protect other prospective clients from being scammed and to protect your good reputation. Thank you, rvwnsd

 

The usual suspects will accuse me of making this the client's fault. The truth is, I'm not. I'm suggesting a better, more effective way of voicing a complaint that can be acted upon. In fact, when I found an ad that used pics another escort had posted on a different website and sent an email to Rentboy the offending ad was taken down within a matter of hours.

 

Actionable complaints result in action. Unactionable complaints result in politely vague responses. Choose which result you want.

[MiamiLooker]

In fact, when I found an ad that used pics another escort had posted on a different website and sent an email to Rentboy the offending ad was taken down within a matter of hours.

That's interesting to know. Do you know if they allowed the advertiser to simply place another ad? One suggestion I would make to someone reporting a fake ad is to note the phone number and any other contact info in the fake ad. It would be interesting to know if that pops up in a subsequent ad after Rentboy has removed the first fake one.

[thickornotatall]

Frankly, with all due respect, your comment to Rentboy was silly. Absent a personal meeting with each advertiser by someone on Rentboy's management staff there is no possible way to verify the accuracy of the pictures of thousands of advertisers on an international website. Caveat Emptor.

I am puzzled that a member would brush my complaint off as silly....Fact>>I gave Rentboy .com (name...link...all pertinent information as I saw it<<< The person I reported was in my opinion a scammer...He was indeed the person that placed the ad....That is where the truth ended....The photos were at least 10 years old....he arrived in some sort of frenzy...I'm not getting in to the whole episode here..I already had the review posted....I will be very emphatic about this....The Rentboy .com representative that answered me gave a very generic reply that others have told me was the same they received....If anyone here has any other way to make this a safer place other than saying..."silly" "caveat emptor" please let us know.....otherwise I will persue this myself..

You are all adults and hopefully know right from wrong....Speak up! or be taken advantage of....Anyone that has $3oo to waste or will put themselves and others in harms way is negligent beyond belief...I am under the impression this site is to further ideas....help others make wise choices..and yes...even keep us safe.....

[rvwnsd]

That's interesting to know. Do you know if they allowed the advertiser to simply place another ad? One suggestion I would make to someone reporting a fake ad is to note the phone number and any other contact info in the fake ad. It would be interesting to know if that pops up in a subsequent ad after Rentboy has removed the first fake one.

 

I didn't see another ad from the guy that posted someone else's pics. However, if he used a prepaid phone or a Google Voice phone number, he could easily have changed his phone number and created a new handle.

 

I am puzzled that a member would brush my complaint off as silly....Fact>>I gave Rentboy .com (name...link...all pertinent information as I saw it<<< The person I reported was in my opinion a scammer...He was indeed the person that placed the ad....That is where the truth ended....The photos were at least 10 years old....he arrived in some sort of frenzy...I'm not getting in to the whole episode here..I already had the review posted....I will be very emphatic about this....The Rentboy .com representative that answered me gave a very generic reply that others have told me was the same they received....If anyone here has any other way to make this a safer place other than saying..."silly" "caveat emptor" please let us know.....otherwise I will persue this myself..

You are all adults and hopefully know right from wrong....Speak up! or be taken advantage of....Anyone that has $3oo to waste or will put themselves and others in harms way is negligent beyond belief...I am under the impression this site is to further ideas....help others make wise choices..and yes...even keep us safe.....

 

My guess is your complaint would not have been deemed "silly" if the post was better written. The original post and the one quoted above come across as angry, rambling rants. No one but fans of Fox News and AM talk radio programs take that stuff seriously. You are correct in your assertion that this site is a place to put forth ideas. However, one has to take the time to formulate a clear idea before putting it forth if one expects it to be taken seriously.

[+ jeezopete]

Anyone that has $3oo to waste or will put themselves and others in harms way is negligent beyond belief...I am under the impression this site is to further ideas....help others make wise choices..and yes...even keep us safe.....

 

Just curious, did you in fact use this site before contacting & scheduling an appointment with the escort you later reported?

[nycbystander]

I am puzzled that a member would brush my complaint off as silly....Fact>>I gave Rentboy .com (name...link...all pertinent information as I saw it<<< The person I reported was in my opinion a scammer...He was indeed the person that placed the ad....That is where the truth ended....The photos were at least 10 years old....he arrived in some sort of frenzy...I'm not getting in to the whole episode here..I already had the review posted....I will be very emphatic about this....The Rentboy .com representative that answered me gave a very generic reply that others have told me was the same they received....If anyone here has any other way to make this a safer place other than saying..."silly" "caveat emptor" please let us know.....otherwise I will persue this myself..

You are all adults and hopefully know right from wrong....Speak up! or be taken advantage of....Anyone that has $3oo to waste or will put themselves and others in harms way is negligent beyond belief...I am under the impression this site is to further ideas....help others make wise choices..and yes...even keep us safe.....

 

Fact : Your original post contained none of the details as to the individual(s) you were complaining of, rather was a general, unsubstantiated complaint of unspecified advertiser(s) on rentboy. Had your original post contained those details of the false advertisers as well as the complaint and lack of specific action on the part of rentboy instead of a general unspecified complaint my response may have been different.

 

Caveat Emptor still applies. Your follow up suggestion is a subsequent post as to have rentboy maintain current ID of advertisers is not happening. Rightly or wrongly, regardless of the term "escort" or "companion" or disclaimers in ads about "all payments are for time only" [which probably do not offer the desired protection people think they do] we are talking about prostitution which is illegal in many of the jurisdictions rentboy operates in. No third party will take on the responsibility of monitoring it or regulating it until such time as prostitution is legal. Further, as suggested in one of your subsequent posts, no advertiser would give a current legal ID to such third party regardless of the encryption method used, as any encryption method can be undone by the next hacker who is a little smarter than whoever developed the encryption method, the potential for extortion of an escort later in life after retiring from the business would be mind-boggling . Further I would be surprised if any advertisers used their legal names for that very reason.

The safest method is to post accurate reviews here, to post warnings here on false advertisers, research reviews and the forum here for escorts you have not dealt with before or to post inquiries here as other members do on a regular basis Further, if you are using escorts regularly have a separate cell phone number and email address solely for that purpose that is not linked to your "real life" (as I do) and use outcalls only (as I do) .

 

Fact: we still do not know which escorts you are complaining of.

[thickornotatall]

Fact : Your original post contained none of the details as to the individual(s) you were complaining of, rather was a general, unsubstantiated complaint of unspecified advertiser(s) on rentboy. Had your original post contained those details of the false advertisers as well as the complaint and lack of specific action on the part of rentboy instead of a general unspecified complaint my response may have been different.

 

Caveat Emptor still applies. Your follow up suggestion is a subsequent post as to have rentboy maintain current ID of advertisers is not happening. Rightly or wrongly, regardless of the term "escort" or "companion" or disclaimers in ads about "all payments are for time only" [which probably do not offer the desired protection people think they do] we are talking about prostitution which is illegal in many of the jurisdictions rentboy operates in. No third party will take on the responsibility of monitoring it or regulating it until such time as prostitution is legal. Further, as suggested in one of your subsequent posts, no advertiser would give a current legal ID to such third party regardless of the encryption method used, as any encryption method can be undone by the next hacker who is a little smarter than whoever developed the encryption method, the potential for extortion of an escort later in life after retiring from the business would be mind-boggling . Further I would be surprised if any advertisers used their legal names for that very reason.

The safest method is to post accurate reviews here, to post warnings here on false advertisers, research reviews and the forum here for escorts you have not dealt with before or to post inquiries here as other members do on a regular basis Further, if you are using escorts regularly have a separate cell phone number and email address solely for that purpose that is not linked to your "real life" (as I do) and use outcalls only (as I do) .

 

Fact: we still do not know which escorts you are complaining of.

 

Fact! I have posted the review...written about it...If you bother to read the reviews you would know....for your benefit...http://www.rentboy.com/Listing.aspx?lid=583578&scid=162678052&sp=1&pos=1&locid=1569&iid=508022&type=escort

The above is the person and the review is under his name.... What this forum is designed to do is to educate and help the client...to keep us safer...

The "for time only" excuse is in your head.... Will you be happy when someone arrives....looks at their watch and just sits around?...That sort of appointment is a different fetish....We all know why we are here... your being coy is insultingly simple..

You seem to want to defend or ignore and reward poor behavior putting the blame squarely on the person that hires...That is an enablers attitude...I hope you never have an experience that I did....but if you do....caveat emptor......

I am 100% honest and forthright when I hire also very clear as to what I expect and hope the person is also....I didn't write this to be argued with...or told it's my problem or fault...Again the facts are clear...the escort was contacted and could have rebutted my review....but chose not to do that...

[thickornotatall]

I didn't see another ad from the guy that posted someone else's pics. However, if he used a prepaid phone or a Google Voice phone number, he could easily have changed his phone number and created a new handle.

 

 

 

My guess is your complaint would not have been deemed "silly" if the post was better written. The original post and the one quoted above come across as angry, rambling rants. No one but fans of Fox News and AM talk radio programs take that stuff seriously. You are correct in your assertion that this site is a place to put forth ideas. However, one has to take the time to formulate a clear idea before putting it forth if one expects it to be taken seriously.

[thickornotatall]

It seems as though anyone "complaining"...and telling the truth is judged more harshly than the real culprit...My lack of writing skills to your liking is of no consequence to me...I don't watch Fox News or listen to AM radio so that is your call....I only tried to be honest and warn others...As far as angry and rambling?...mildly angry ..yes.....rambling?...nope...I suppose you want a greeting card....not a chance that will happen...

[nycbystander]

1: Rather than read your review, I read the individual’s ad, and based on the way I review escorts ads, you got what you paid for.

 

There were multiple reasons not to hire this person.

 

1: His ad does not contain one simple, correct declarative sentence, yet claims in his ad to be well educated. This means he doesn’t care about his public image enough to write a proper ad for his audience. A few language mistakes are charming, this is not, this means you will be saying “excuse me can you repeat yourself” the whole time.

 

2: Out of town area code. This means he doesn’t plan on being around long enough to care about his rep.

 

3: Bisexual. Huge red flag

 

4: No safe sex response. Serious red flag, always avoid anyone that omits this from their profile.

 

5: Response to drugs “ask me”. Will he be coming down from whatever buzz when you meet up ? I have had that experience, never again

 

6: Laundry list of primary interests that include, among other things, “scat” and “pnp”. Seriously ??

 

 

All of the above, particularly 4,5 and 6 mean “Do Not Call”

 

 

Why anyone would think the above individual, or anyone for that matter, willing to have the above attributes listed about themselves on the internet for all to see, in perpetuity, would be worth contacting and/or reliable is beyond my understanding.

 

2: Your rebuttal comment :

 

“The "for time only" excuse is in your head.... Will you be happy when someone arrives....looks at their watch and just sits around?...That sort of appointment is a different fetish....We all know why we are here... your being coy is insultingly simple..”

 

This comment makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and in facts shows where your problem is; you do not take the time to read properly and comprehend thoroughly. In my reply I referred to escorts who use disclaimers of that nature in their ads to protect themselves from charges of prostitution, not stating or implying that I was hiring based on some type of “fetish” ( that you concocted out of thin air) Many escort ads contain this language in full “All fees are for my time only ! money exchange is exclusively for time and companionship . anything else that may or may not happen, is a matter of personal choice and personal preference between two or more consenting adults of legal age and is not contracted for, nor is requested to be contracted for, or compensated in any manner whatsoever .

 

My most abject apologies to you for not including all the language contained in the disclaimers in ads I have seen..

 

3: To summarize, you need to learn to read and comprehend an ad and not just look at pictures or you are going to continue to have issues.