New Censorship Policies on M4RN.com

[migueldeltoro]

I've been unhappy with M4RN.com for years regarding censorship. However, this email I received today makes using their site even more annoying.

 

 

"Dear migueldeltoro,

 

Ad guidelines on Men4RentNow have changed to remain compliant with our

billing company and VISA's regulations. There are terms that are no

longer acceptable and will be removed or cause ad denial. These terms

include, but are not limited to: erotic, sensual, BDSM and porn.

 

Additionally, rates will no longer display on the site.

 

Your business is very important to us and we want to make sure you

understand that this is not our choice but a necessity forced upon us.

 

We wish you continued success and look forward to our continued

business relationship.

 

 

Sincerely,

Management

Men4RentNow.com"

 

 

Besides now not allowing certain keywords we also won't be able to display our rates. Not only is this in an annoyance to clients, but I feel it will now increase the number of emails and phone calls that I get from not-so-serious clients who think they can get an overnight for $100.

 

Perhaps M4RN should just drop Visa altogether. I always pay a year in advance by money order so it doesn't affect me if they did discontinue it as a payment option.

 

Thoughts?

[Keenan]

Rates is one thing we rather not discuss over the phone for obvious reasons.

 

Anton.

 

I agree, this makes it harder now to do business using M4RN. Along with the prices they charge is it still worth it?

 

Keenan

[migueldeltoro]

Considering I generate very little business from M4RN I tried to cancel my account and get a refund for the remaining months. They of course refused. Unless I travel, I doubt I will be engaging their services. I will focus on premium ads on Rentboy.

[JoeyBryant]

Hi Miguel, you beat me to the punch and said it alot nicer than I would have. I am APPALLED at what they are doing and really I'm just in total disbelief at the direction the site has gone at this point. I was initially upset about rate increase given by the site and the changes regarding the number of ad upgrades...but I got over that and continued using the site.

 

Here's my email to them earlier:

 

To customer service at men4rent,

 

I was informed that the site changes were due to guidelines by Visa. Well then, if I use a MasterCard would the rules be any different? I just find this to be killing me. I can't list my rates...so whats going to happen is clients will call us not knowing our rates, it may invite them to bargain us and talk us down cheaper. It's basically going to make it harder on us to feel like genuine providers if we can't establish a firm rate listed on our profile.

 

That's only AFTER I found out and tried putting on my ad the fact that due to recent regulations, I can't describe myself or list my rates or say anything about myself and pretty much have no idea about the person they are trying to hire. Of course, they kept rejecting my ad not allowing me to say that. At this point, My ad is a jumbled couple of sentences that make absolutely no sense...and I have to rethink about everything I have to say.

 

I'm pissed. I've suggested in the past we boycott men4rent (so they either listen and change, or drop off the radar like gay.com has over the years) because they are behaving like a monopoly as far as escort sites are concerned. I hope this has been the last straw to start getting us to take action...and I am considering to email all my favorite clients about this and suggest other websites to look for me on.

 

If they don't allow us to put our rates back up, come next month I just won't renew. I don't know any website except perhaps backpage that does more editing than men4rent does.

[migueldeltoro]

Well that's a good one. I imagine a client who found an escort on M4RN and calls or emails him.

 

Client : So what services do you exactly provide?

Escort : Oh, please check my ad on Rentboy.

 

Client : And what are your rates?

Escort : Oh, you can find that also in my ad on Rentboy.

 

LOL, I love it!

 

Anton.

 

Hilarious and exactly the conversation I had 8 times today.

[+ not2rowdy]

Time to walk away from M4RN? Is rentmen.com a viable alternative?

I look at rentmen regularly.

[ragazzolupo]

Well that's a good one. I imagine a client who found an escort on M4RN and calls or emails him.

 

Client : So what services do you exactly provide?

Escort : Oh, please check my ad on Rentboy.

 

Client : And what are your rates?

Escort : Oh, you can find that also in my ad on Rentboy.

 

LOL, I love it!

 

Anton.

 

 

So Anton, I have advocated that American providers should consider putting up ads on gayromeo. Yes, I know that the site is very popular in Europe and that there is not quite a critical mass even in in NYC yet. If, however, Miguel and Joey are mad enough (and not going to take it anymore) they could e-mail every provider on M4RN and ask them to sign up --- free on gayromeo. Then there WOULD BE a critical mass and M4RN could just happen to fade away.

 

You have the experience with gayromeo in Europe. Does it work well enough to compete with a neutered M4RN?

[+ Ace]

It just goes to show how "out of touch" they are with THEIR clients..

Having to discuss rates over the phone makes me very uneasy..I too pay in advance & requested a refund..(DENIED!). Once the ad runs out, I'll let it lapse...

Even if we ALL pulled our ads, they'd keep them up anyway.

Time for Rentmen & Rentboy to offer incentives....as M4RN fades into oblivion!

[Kevin Slater]

Just a reminder to all the guys deleting their accounts on that horrid site: remember to delete the text and pics from your ad before it expires, otherwise your phantom ad may be stuck on the site for eternity with no contact information, making client's think that you're the irresponsible party.

 

Kevin Slater

[Decatur Guy]

I posted the same thing in the other thread, but I hope you providers look into Rentmen. It's the best of the three from a client's perspective, minus the rather big problem that very few of you post your ads there. But if a lot of you did it at once, I think you could effectively migrate there and the clients would follow.

[migueldeltoro]

Rentmen: Not a viable option in my markets. I had a subscription for two years and only got three jobs. Secondly, most of the inquiries I got off that site were for PnP and bareback. Not sure how they market their site elsewhere, but it does bring a certain client (in my experience) that I don't want to deal with. This might not be the case for others outside the west coast.

 

M4RN: Spamming escorts to go to a different site is a very bad idea. I read an article once where M4RN in fact sued someone who did that. I think eventually everyone will move to the other sites out of frustration.

[Decatur Guy]

Rentmen: Not a viable option in my markets. I had a subscription for two years and only got three jobs. Secondly, most of the inquiries I got off that site were for PnP and bareback. Not sure how they market their site elsewhere, but it does bring a certain client (in my experience) that I don't want to deal with. This might not be the case for others outside the west coast.

 

M4RN: Spamming escorts to go to a different site is a very bad idea. I read an article once where M4RN in fact sued someone who did that. I think eventually everyone will move to the other sites out of frustration.

 

I'm sorry to hear that Rentmen had those negatives for you.

[nate_sf]

Just a reminder to all the guys deleting their accounts on that horrid site: remember to delete the text and pics from your ad before it expires, otherwise your phantom ad may be stuck on the site for eternity with no contact information, making client's think that you're the irresponsible party.

 

The distinction may be deleting the ad, rather than letting it expire, though I can't guarantee that. I checked my current m4rn ad and it has about a week left, so I cancelled the auto renew and figured I'd keep it up until right before it expires. After I did that M4RN sent an email that pretty much said that once the ad expires, it will stay up until renewed. BUT I've deleted ads outright in the past rather than letting them expire with no problem, so I think the thing to do it delete it rather than let it expire.

 

I've had an ad on rentmen for a while. I like the site and the price is decent, though it's hard to tell how successful it has been. Rentboy is hit or miss in SF, but there are enough hits that I renewed it to replace my M4RN ad. Problem I see with both of these sites is that people will lump them together... I'll ask a client where he saw the ad, and he'll say it was on "rent something or other." But WHICH one I want to know? So it's hard to tell which is more successful.

 

An interesting apsect of rentmen that is unique is that I've networked with a few escorts through it. If you click on the "who saw you" icon you can see which other escorts have looked at your profile, and I've had a couple contact me just to make and acquaintence or network. You can also see which clients have viewed the ad, but I feel its infirnging on their privacy to contact them without being contacted first.

[unsub2O17]

I am in no way a fan of M4RN. I just want to point out that if you've already been reviewed on M4RN, your rates are listed in the review, and that hasn't changed.

[seeker630]

I am in no way a fan of M4RN. I just want to point out that if you've already been reviewed on M4RN, your rates are listed in the review, and that hasn't changed.

 

Any rate info in the written review is only what the reviewer put in, as far as I can tell. (Those are fields to fill in when you submit a review).

 

The written reviews are a separate web site - I'm nost sure what the relationship is between M4RN and CruisingForEscorts.com ?

[Michael Wayne]

Guys I posted all this in the lounge thread too but briefly there appears to be a way around it: In my ad copy (body of ad) on m4rn they have left my rates In the ad and not deleted them so far. Dont know if this is the long term policy yet. I personally have ALWAYS believed in posted rates as it is the most PROFESSIONAL way to conduct business. Speaking of professionals the rentmen.com site is the most professsional and I highly reccomend them. Posting videos there really allows a new client to see the escort in action and hear our voices. it makes a real difference. http://www.rentmen.com/mikeyusatop or http://www.rentboy.com/mikey9nola1

[migueldeltoro]

I had rates listed in my ad as well. They replaced the "$" with "XXX." When I went to update my ad, they removed the rates altogether. F@#$ers!

[Michael Wayne]

interesting. site is called men4rentnow and you cant state what the rent is?? fucking ridiculous.... almost like a really high end restaurant where the prices arent even on the menu then you embarrassinly have to ask the waiter, " How much is the filet?"

[Michael Wayne]

update: now they have censored my ad in the copy and removed all rates and info about rates. So why now is m4rn any different than manhunt???? Site is called men for RENT and you cant even say what the rent is. I THOUGHT that our published RATES were for our TIME only which is LEGAL and above board and what we choose to do with the clients as two consenting adults in privacy was up to us. When I used to run a service in Texas me and my partner would make our new models sign a contract promising not to exchange sexual services for money. Are these type of contracts and terms of use no longer legally protective?????