Negotiating

[vw48 516]

This has been an interesting read. I was thinking Perhaps it simply works both ways .... many hobbyists go into each experience knowing full well and with their eyes wide open that in terms of the experience, Y.M.M.V. ..... but your donation will not!

 

Personally I'd consider it just odd to try and negotiate for a lower rate/price .... and I can appreciate the frustration of a sp who must constantly field this question.

 

In terms of if or not negotiating is disrespectful .... in some cases I remain dubious -- but I'd never do it myself.

 

I've been a hobbyist for a number of years and I realize fully that I'm paying for a service .... I'm in search of an experience. While I have zero experience on the sp side of the equation I do have experience from the POV of the customer.

 

Negotiation in the form of add ons or up selling after the fact, early departure etc is not exactly rare and certainly not non-existant .... and while there may be many sp's reading this that this type of thing does not apply to ... it happens.

 

Add to that the fact that "customers" and "providers" generally find each other initially (these days) via an internet search. I'm confident everyone would agree that the advertisements vary greatly in detail / accuracy / quality etc .... It's not uncommon to see a listing that says "weekend specials" or "Early Bird Specials" or even on here "x Discount for cerb members" along with any number of assertions designed to make the listing stick out from the rest and hopefully generate interest from new clients (I'm assuming "negotiation" isn't an issue with regular clients generally becaus if it was they wouldn't be regular clients). None of this is all that remarkable ....however when hobbyists raise negative issues they've encountered it is often recommended that they / we should look for more reputable service providers like many of the terrific sp's on CERB and avoid taking our chances on BP, CL whatever. While I do not dispute that this is likely good advice ..... I'd expect that service providers would also experience considerably less annoying/disrespectful requests, no shows etc if they booked and interacted exclusively via PM on CERB ...-- That's however likely very unrealistic as it leaves out a large population of potential customers, among which are included individuals that are going to want to haggle on price YMMV.

[mod 135644]

I see no issue with the poll or the time I added the poll. Only the people who either (1) want to cause drama or (2) want to negotiate are going to be against the poll as it shows how wrong it is and they don't want to be told that. Think it is time to close the thread.

 

I will suggest to council as well that a new policy/rule on cerb should be that negotiating with a SP who does not specifically say her prices are negotiable will be against the rules. I see no reason why every lady needs to put that she does not negotiate in her ad (it makes her sound mean and negative and the ads should be positive) you don't walk into a restaurant and negotiate your dinner price (and if you do your an ass). Some things in this world should be non-negotiable and I feel in this business this is one of those things (and obviously I am not alone in thinking this). I will however let the council vote and decide if this should become policy here. Thanks for your votes and contributions on this important topic.