Snuggle Buddies review: The WORST cuddle company

124678

Comments

  • @missy87 what was Evans explanation for not paying you?
  • [Deleted User]RScarf1 (deleted user)
    I have been a customer of The Snuggle Buddies a few times.  In order to receive the contact information of the snuggler, I have to prepay.  I assumed that the snugglers would eventually be paid by the company.  If I am with the snuggler for more than one hour, I pay cash for that time and any travel expenses.  I also saw someone from this Cuddle Comfort website which I paid cash for one hour.  
  • edited June 2017
    The thing TSB tells customers is that we have to prepay for "new hires," but not "established snugglers."  He says he has no way of knowing what the new hires' work ethic is, and whether or not they will forward him his 50% cut.  So they are effectively on probation until they have seen a certain number of clients over a certain time period. However, when these new hires put in for their cut of prepaid sessions, he has reportedly given varying excuses for not paying them. Two MA pros told me this, as well as one in NY. And the NY cuddler added her dismay about "the way he talked to me, though."  Another MA pro I know quit over nonpayment, but apparently worked things out, as she has since gone back to TSB after several months away. On the other hand, I am aware of at least one pro who has been with him for years --- pretty much since he started --- and claims to love it. So I don't know what the explanation is.

    My suggestion for those who use TSB is to stick with established pros who have been around long enough not to fall under the prepaid rule. No chance of the pro getting ripped off that way.

    One other difference between there and here is that TSB has no karma or ratings system clients can use to rate cuddlers. Several pros on each page of his site feature "5 star" displays on their profiles. But I've never been asked my impressions of the pro after the session, and have never seen anywhere on his site to input a rating. So I think he gives those himself, for marketing purposes.
  • I've used snugglebuddies several times and have never once had to pre pay
  • Hi everyone, 

    I just noticed this thread and figured I would read what all the fuss was about. I then checked out the reviews on Yelp and noticed this company, according to Yelp, is ran out of New Jersey, and I'm in NYC. 

    Does anyone have this guys full name and know what he looks like. Just curious, thanks. 
  • edited June 2017
    @MrSoloDolo Reading back through this thread, it seems the issues are with how the Pros are sometimes treated. Clients seem to get a pass which might explain why you've been ok.

    Either way, seeing the endless stream of damning complaints, such as the owner racially attacking a Pro like this, must give some clients pause for thought before they support that person's business.
  • [Deleted User]RScarf1 (deleted user)
    edited June 2017
    I deal with whoever runs TSB in Florida.  There doesn't seem to be a lot of turnover of employees from Florida, so I guess they are being treated okay.  If they were dissatisfied, then they would leave.  I know that two of the snugglers from Florida are not there anymore due to lack of availability because she was busy with a second job and another not coming to a scheduled appointment.  I noticed that one of the snugglers from Florida is listed as having "low availability" and is at the bottom of the list of TSB snugglers from Florida.  I don't think TSB in Florida is managed by the owner of the whole company.  It is true that for new hires, customers have to pay by credit card first, but I still have to prepay if I want to receive a snuggler's contact information whether they are a new hire or an established snuggler.  
  • @lotsofcuddles, the guy's name is Evan Carp. There is a pic and a little background on him and TSB in this article from 2015. https://mic.com/articles/126926/i-went-under-the-sheets-of-new-york-s-pro-cuddling-industry-here-s-w...  Once you start searching, you can find lots of other articles and video; TSB has gotten lots of press.   

  • edited June 2017
    I'm not justifying anything, just sharing my personal experience.
  • I had a horrible experience also-Evan is a jackass-rude, unprofessional, not customer service oriented, and NEVER paid me for the one session I was foolish enough to have.  I have photos of email to back it up but no idea how to attach on here. 

    DO NOT work for Snuggle Buddies! You will regret it!! 



  • An interesting aside: One of TSB's pros is a woman named Lisa from New York. A few years ago, she booked a session with a celebrity, and the appointment quickly turned into a topless make-out session. After which she spilled her guts to The National Enquirer. http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/taye-diggs-sex-scandal-snuggle-girl/  Despite her candid admission of the not-so-platonic behavior, she remains on the site as one of TSB's longest-tenured pros.

  • [Deleted User]Unknown (deleted user)
    @RScarf1.  Did you say prepay to receive the snuggles contact info ? That's absurd !   

    i did have a nice cuddle with one of their five star snuggle bunnies . Paid in cash 
  • I have been with TSB for a long time.  While Evan is "special", so are many of the people you will deal with in the cuddle business.  A good many of us are nerds, or socially different in some way.  For me, I think this is a great thing. Evan is pretty easy to talk to and work with. Set your boundaries and be polite.
    I think the people overreacting on here are expecting a lot from someone facilitating business and vetting the customers.  At times, I wondered how much TSB actually did for me, but after being on this site for a short amount of time, I can say that the TSB clientele is made to understand the agreement they sign before they are linked to you and are far more respectful.  You also get a ton more hits - so much that it's impossible to actually see everyone, unfortunately. The number of inappropriate requests I've had on CC, in just about a month being on here, already outnumbers the number of inappropriate encounters I had with TSB in the 2.5 years+. That says something.

    Pre-pays - it's not surprising people are having issues with this. It's explicitly stated that the first cuddle is a sort of trial, and you'll only get an established client who has pre-paid. I don't know what happens if you immediately quit after that, but I'd be completely unsurprised if they kept it to cover their costs (I know they spelled it out in the agreement, but I don't remember now  years later). Tell your cuddlers you accept cash, and then you're in charge of giving them their cut.  I'm honest and value the service they provide me, so I actually do pay - but they have no way of knowing if you don't, honestly.  I rather suspect the cuddlers who have issues are ones trying to run some sort of scam or keeping the entire amount or offer extra illegal things for more.  Stay away from that stuff, and you'll be fine.  If you want to be treated right, you need to treat others right.

    For clients: if you showed up, tried unbuttoning cuddlers cardigans (Seriously!?!?) or pushed for sexual favors (completely against the rules and the legal limits), the cuddler will report you and you will be denied service.  Since you people are on here now complaining, and going off of my personal experience with this site, I'm guessing there's a good chance you fall into that category.  It's intellectually dishonest to complain about being denied a service when you tried to harm the providers of that service.  I, for one, am glad that they screen cuddlers and block without hesitancy anyone who makes a cuddler uncomfortable.  You feel truly valued and autonomous with TSB, and it's been a wonderful experience.  I have not personally had them call anyone names, though at times they will express frustration with vetting and screening rude potential clients, usually using the words "it's exhausting".  I do, however, see some posters here name calling and using rude language. 

    I noticed a couple comments stating they are being required to prepay now to contact.  That seems strange as Evan has said they no longer accept prepays as it causes too much confusion (did they end up seeing anyone for the charge /  Was it used, etc.  Lots of investigation that isn't pleasant for anyone).  I'm going to inquire about that.
    Overall, TSB is very easy to use and is one of the friendliest sites for cuddlers to sign up with.  Now with CC exisiting for pros, it's also pretty easy to use and sign up but without the protections, so it's a trade off.  I'm happy with both and understand each for what they are.  Look at each site you're considering using, **read** the agreements in full both for you and the client, and then make your decision.  Do what feels right and is best for you at the time. Cheers!

    Please DO NOT send me pms regarding this posting unless you are a current client.  Also, if you contact me for cuddles here, we are abiding by CC agreement and TOS as well as the rates listed in my CC profile. 
    To respond to this post, please comment in-thread. Thanks.
  • @PinkLipstick22 the pre-pay option is still live on the TSB site as of today. Here http://embracetherapeutics.com/prepay.html 
    This is a long thread, and I haven't read it in its entirety in a while ... but did anyone commenting on this thread also confess to inappropriate behaviors such as unbuttoning people's sweaters?  Trying to figure out where that came from.  As I have said earlier in this thread, I have had no personal run-ins with Evan. But I am appalled at some of the screen shots of his texts that appear here and elsewhere online.  I stopped patronizing his business on the basis of those vile diatribes alone. "Special" is too nice a word for someone who speaks to people that way.

    The person who started this thread to complain about TSB is a pro, not a client. Quite a few other pros chimed in to agree with her, and many of the clients expressing issues here were just speaking out against the idea of their pros not getting paid. If it says somewhere in the cuddle pro agreement that the first session or three's fees will be escrowed, then shame on those pros for not reading their contract. But if it does not say that --- if it suggests that the pros will get paid for each session they complete --- then shame on him for not honoring his agreements. Maybe you, or @Buffyswan, who started this thread, could post the relevant section of the agreement here and settle that question.

    It does not surprise me that you get more appointment traffic from TSB than from here. This site began its life entirely devoted to "enthusiast" cuddlers --- by which I mean, non-paid.  Pros, including the occasional one from TSB, occasionally snuck on to advertise. Then, later on, CC decided to let people register and get the Pro tag. So now both kinds of cuddlers are represented here. TSB, on the other hand, has only pro cuddlers. So there are no guys going there hoping for a non-paid cuddle buddy, unlike here. Every guy who goes there goes to hire a pro. And with fewer TSB pros to choose from --- currently three in Massachusetts versus more than a dozen Boston area pros here --- I would expect TSB to send more traffic your way.

    I'm glad TSB has worked well for you. I would just note that similar companies (Cuddlist, and the Samantha Hess deal, and Cuddlefix while it lasted) don't seem to have garnered nearly as much animosity from former workers and disgruntled clients as has TSB.  There may be valid reasons for that.

  • I have always wondered how is it that so many people complain about TSB and they are still in business, my point is that I believe if Evan kept all the money from the snugglers and didn't pay them that would be fraud and the turnover would be really high and they wouldn't be able to stay in business because nobody would wanna work for them and I do check out their site regularly (although I've never used them) and most of the cuddlers are the same and it seems that turnover is low so they must be doing something right. Also I have read to published news articles about two different cuddlers on their site, one in Boston and one in New York and they actually make a nice secondary income working for TSB.
    I am not calling anybody a liar, I am sure some workers might have had a bad experience but it seems that for the most part it works for all parties involved.
    Also it was pretty interesting to hear a current TSB worker and her experience which falls in line with what I was thinking.
    I personally don't think I'll call them for a session because at $80 plus travel it is more that what I am willing to pay for a cuddle session but it seems that they have a good customer base and also workers that make a good side income from it.
  • edited June 2017
    I just noticed, after their Yelp page resulted in 1 star rating it seems they have moved to TrustPilot: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/thesnugglebuddies.com
  • @Quietman775, I saw the starting post of the thread.  Doesn't change my opinion or stance. I personally have never seen or heard Evan use any vile language against clients or cuddlers, though he has expressed frustration with some in the past.  We used to talk daily, and he would ask for some business tips, and now we mostly text/email.  Over these years I've been in contact with him, I have never had him swear towards a person, call anyone a vile name, and certainly not use a slur.  I would have told him exactly what I thought - do not use language that like for your clients. I won't call anyone a liar, either, and i have not seen screenshots.  I will base my opinion on his interactions with me, his treatment of the clients I have seen, and what I know.  Screenshots can be faked pretty easily, but I wouldn't say that anyone would do that.

    People very rarely read the agreements they sign.  I always do, and am quite often remarked to that I'm the only one who ever has. I will look and see if I have the original agreement somewhere from TSB, and what I do remember is that there was a two week holding period of funds and it did require that you sufficiently completed your sessions - with confirmation by the client. I believe that before the two week holding period, I had seen enough clients adequately that I was  moved to cash payments, and the cash cut at least matched the prepay cut.  They didn't owe me anything so I don't know how it would have worked.

    I've been happy with TSB, and I'm quite happy with CC.  I've had enough interest here, that it' s worth my time to post and log on, and through both avenues I've met some wonderful people.  This is what's important to me.
  • [Deleted User]VIPirate (deleted user)
    edited June 2017
    @PinkLipstick22 I understand what you're saying since I don't like judging others without having personal interaction with them either. In this case, I did have ugly exchanges with Evan which is why I'm not a fan. Coupled with what I've read from others, it cemented how I feel the way that I do. I have known people who are very kind to some but are the opposite with others, so I wonder if that's why your experience with TSB has been positive while others have not been as fortunate. I hope that you always feel that way, truly. One thing I do want to mention is that, yes, there are rule-breakers and scammers in every crowd. I can assure you, however, that not everyone complaining here are among them (banned cardigan guy excluded).
  • [Deleted User]Unknown (deleted user)
    @PinkLipstick22 What is the recourse for a cuddler on TSB if their client never confirms that an appointment was completed but it actually was?
  • edited June 2017
    This must be a very difficult business for both Mark and Evan to run. There are many things that present challenges.
  • [Deleted User]Unknown (deleted user)
    The Snuggle Buddies BBB rating: F

    https://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/holistic-practitioners/the-snuggle-buddies-in-port-costa-ca-875364

    This is just for the San Fran area, and TSB is not BBB accredited. Already see those comments coming from a mile away. But, an F rating still doesn't give that warm fuzzy feeling you'd hope to have from a snuggling site.
  • [Deleted User]RScarf1 (deleted user)
    To sparkyblue-eyes: I did prepay to receive their contact info, but I was always with new snugglers who never did a session before and the company wants customers to prepay when snugglers have never done a session before.  I think this is because the company wants to make sure that they get their share of the money with new employees.  If they were not new, then he probably would have provided me with the info without me paying online first and then I could just pay cash in person.  It states on their website that payment is given at the beginning of the session or before the session using an online payment method.
  • edited June 2017
    @Starlight, I never had that happen, but you can always show the emails and texts setting up the appointment and confirming.  Use the email and/or phone # given in the form TSB sends to you. 

    TSB vets their clientele pretty well; issues are very rare and small stakes (mostly boundary pushing, never about not paying). The first cuddle you book with them is set up with a known, repeat client.  You are quite unlikely to have issues. 

    ETA:  I'm posting here to give my honest experience with  the company after many seemed to be writing unfair and unwarranted rants. No one needs to use any company they don't feel good about.
    Those reviews on the BBB link are pretty merit less.  The "customers" were turned down potential cuddlers, and the information left by one is pretty suspect.  The one about texting the wrong person doesn't make any sense - you are given one contact # so  I don't know how she found a different one to use.  Don't do that - they tell you that right from the start. As for the owner(s), you are given their full names and address immediately (Evan for me, and I assume Jeff if he contacts you.  He wasn't there when I first joined) and phone calls are REQUIRED as a condition of hire.  If you are hired, at first they call and ask for you to call them a lot - especially in the first few cuddles.  They check in on safety, make sure your questions are answered, and generally want to make sure you're still okay after starting. I suspect some of that is to tally your cuddles and monies owed them, as well; no one is pretending they didn't start this up as an income thing.

    The cuddlers I see on the site are more or less the same as when I started.  MA has higher turnover, and I can say that's because the demand is extraordinarily high and a lot of us aren't natural cuddlers so for some it's not what was expected.  You can burn out pretty quickly around here, but overall that's better than the alternative I think.  

    You agree to the advertising when you sign up, and they are very open about where they do that - we're even given the information of where each person found us when they send the form.  Let's not pretend we don't know that suddenly and become prudes because we want more to complain about.  Speak up immediately if it's an issue, and if it's not then its not.

    I'm not going to continue answering on here.  A lot of the same posters keep complaining and "digging up" dirt they think they've found (maybe they have).  I have better things to do with my time, and I suspect many of us have as well.  If you feel you've been mistreated, that's no good, but after a bit try to let it go.  Lots of cuddles to be had in life!

    Cheers.

    End ETA.
  • [Deleted User]RScarf1 (deleted user)
    I was a new client with a new snuggler.  We were both new.  TSB wants to make money, so a new client can have a session with a new snuggler.  
  • [Deleted User]VIPirate (deleted user)
    edited June 2017
    @PinkLipstick22 I have a question. What is your view on the company's advertising? I ask because your image is being used in it. The cuddler that I saw, many moons ago, is also featured. The problem with that is that she hasn't worked for them for roughly two years. She was also never asked permission to be used in the company's advertising and, when Evan was asked to take her off of it, he failed to do so. According to law, commercial advertising requires a model release as detailed in the link below.

    https://artlawjournal.com/need-model-release/

    Even if it wasn't required, it's just bad form to sneakily profit off of someone's likeness, particularly now when they're no longer on the payroll. When I asked him to remove her, myself, he told me she was "fine" with it, which was a statement that I knew to be an outright lie. Furthermore, some of the sites where the advertising is being done are known to attract people who are seeking escort services. If the business truly wishes to call itself a platonic service, I don't understand this, particularly since the ads advertise both the professional cuddling and Evan's foot fetish site.

    http://www.escortwiz.com/canada/ontario/toronto/domination-fetish/-private-fetish-sessions-foot-worship-professional-cuddling--25

    I'm honestly not attempting to be snarky. I am just genuinely curious about how many of the employees, yourself included, know about this end of it and how it makes you feel. The majority of the women in the advertising don't work for the site anymore, like the lady that I saw, and haven't for quite some time. That definitely needs to be fixed. He needs to make sure that he has consent to do so, as well.
  • [Deleted User]Unknown (deleted user)
    edited June 2017
    @PinkLipstick22 Oh, sorry if I gave the impression that I was going to sign up with TSB. After all I've read on my own (including looking at their application and the client's, and payment policies), that would be a hard NO.

    I don't discount your experiences or any client's who've had a good experience. I've just got a bad gut feeling. I always go with that.

    @VIPirate Wowwwww I am flabbergasted. If someone is no longer on TSB, CC, or really any site which uses their image for advertising, it should not be used if they leave the service. You de facto rescind your permission upon leaving. The exception would be models and actors, who are paid expressly for their participation in advertising for a product or an entertainment program.
  • [Deleted User]RScarf1 (deleted user)
    In Florida, there were two snugglers who I tried to make appointments with.  One was a bartender and she told me that she had no time because of her bartending job.  She was new, so she accepted a job with TSB, but did not really have the time to be a snuggler.  The other one cancelled after I drove to and arrived at a restaurant nearby where she lived.  She was somewhere else and could not be back for hours.  I informed TSB what happened and he removed their photos and bios from the site eventually.  He talked to them first to get their side of the story.  The second one actually lied and said that I was the one who cancelled.  I was there.  I drove there.  She was in another county.  The guy from TSB was mad at the whole situation.  Why would a woman want the job and then say she has no time to do it?  Why would the other woman not be there when she knew she had an appointment?  I stated that I am the customer and I paid.  He did not believe me at first.  He could not believe what I emailed him, but it was true.  He believed me eventually, but I feel like women lie because they know they can usually get away with it.  I've dealt with it at work a lot because I have worked in professions that mostly have female workers.  
  • edited June 2017
    @RScarf1 Just a thought. When reading some of your posts it seems like you take jabs at women, not just cuddlers, but women in general. Do you feel that might be part of the reason for some of your negative experiences? I cant say whether you express these things to some of the women you encounter or not, but if you did, it will likely impact your ability to form a decent rapport.
  • edited June 2017
    @quietman77 - Thank you for sharing and I didn't read all of the postings on here. In short, is he some kind of a con artist and if so, is it directed at professionals, clients or both? Either way, my curiosity is stirred so I will be checking them out. 
  • [Deleted User]RScarf1 (deleted user)
    It was not my fault that these professionals did not act professional.  If a man says the truth about his experiences, I don't understand why that would be considered a con artist.  I am sharing my experiences, so read my posts.  That is why I posted them.  I have had much more positive experiences than negative ones.  I am not against women, but some women are against men.  
Sign In or Register to comment.