Deposits

cuddleyloveycuddleylovey
in Pro Cuddling

I need to start taking deposits. A month ago I drove 45 mins to a no show in LA and tonight a client cancelled the session and blocked me right as I parked by his hotel cause I asked him if he has issues with Europeans after he made a joke “I’m not some euro trash”. He said the vibe is killed and he doesn’t want to proceed. I think I should be the one getting an apology instead of being accused of not having a sense of humor. I do not want to ever drive even 5 mins to anyone who doesn’t pay a deposit. But many guys already showed resistance to it. Even though I have 17 glowing karmas. Thoughts?

Comments

  • Mike403Mike403

    I would charge a deposit of half the session fee if they're a new client of yours. There's a lot of time wasters on here.

  • TxTomTxTom
    edited August 2024

    @Tatsy I'm sorry to hear you had your time wasted again. However, he probably did you a favor blocking you, as he might have been even more trouble in person.

    Our society today produces a lot of life losers who are intimidated by intelligent, sophisticated, and gracious women like yourself, and the only thing they can manage in their sad little lives is amusing themselves by causing inconveniences for other people.

  • jackwallacejackwallace

    What you are describing as a reason to charge a deposit is the normal cost of doing business. Sometimes, the sale falls through at the last minute.
    You are your business' salesperson first. Only from your sales, do you become a cuddler second. Anyone who understands sales knows it's a tough business. There's quite a bit of wasted time and energy. Uncompensated. [I have worked by commission only.]
    You have 17 glowing karmas. Now, is that your entire client portfolio? What percentage of your client base has left you karma/a review?
    Since you mentioned it, one did talk about spotty communication. His karma was a 4, not a 5. Nitpicky? Possibly. His honesty is appreciated.
    I have been reading how dubious the review system is here since most are perfect scores. Although you seem to place much emphasis on it, many find it suspect, and even dishonest.
    If you are going to require deposits, you will need to check state and local laws, as "non refundable " isn't always legal. Many states require receipts be provided for business transactions at the time the money is collected. Since you admit doing business in multiple states, you have to find out the laws in each one. It is not just follow the laws of your resident state.
    It only takes one knowledgeable client to complain to the correct person or department. It is never fun to end up on the radar of the IRS or a state's treasury department. Audits are not fun. You can face significant fines and legal consequences for not following laws.
    All for a deposit.

  • cuddleyloveycuddleylovey

    @jackwallace a lot of cuddlers here charge a deposit that goes towards the session and then commission is paid. What is exactly against the law here? Non refundable deposits? Every business owner sets their rules and the customer can agree or not. Isn’t it how it works?
    Not sure why you had to bring up one guy who said communication was spotty and you forgot to mention the rest what he said that communication was spotty cause I had way too many requests and messages. And “spotty” could be subjective and biased based on a personal opinion. Responding within 24 hrs is reasonable for me. For someone it could be spotty. He also insinuated my dog was trying to hump him. So my “spotty” communication was not the only thing that contributed to a 4 star review. Anyways, no one has left a karma that I was a no show or took their deposit or ghosted or anything of that nature. So I think I make a pretty good impression of a trustworthy reliable person.
    I understand what you are saying about sales. But I’m not in such dire need of money right now to be wasting my time on no shows or overly sensitive “men” who get bend out of shape and cancel the session cause I didn’t appreciate their stupid joke and just wanted to make sure they are not racist and have nothing against my ethnicity. I had a client tonight wanting to extend the session and another client wanting to meet as well. So I missed out on other opportunities. I believe if someone is willing to pay a deposit, they are serious about cuddling. I’m going to give it a go.

  • cuddleyloveycuddleylovey

    @Mike403 thank you

  • cuddleyloveycuddleylovey

    @TxTom thanks for your words honey

  • sg89sg89

    Do what you want to do. Looks like you have your answer.

  • jackwallacejackwallace

    You are not understanding my point to know the laws involved in running a business. What you are doing here IS running a business. Talk to a lawyer. Talk to a legitimate tax professional. It is obvious that you have not done anything of the sort.
    There are laws that need to be followed, despite this site not mentioning them. If you want to be taken seriously as a business professional, you need to take your business seriously.
    Just because others do something, doesn't mean it's legal. Or even legal for you.

  • CuddleDuncanCuddleDuncan Mod
    edited August 2024

    What you are describing as a reason to charge a deposit is the normal cost of doing business

    This is complete nonsense. For a start it does not take account of the site's terms of service, and it ignores basic contract law. And anyway the sale is made at the time of Booking, not when the cuddler arrives.

    From the Client Service Agreement to which the client agreed:-

    12. The Cuddler has the right to include a deposit requirement as part of their service. The terms of such an arrangement falls outside of our purview.

    13. If you cancel within 12 hours of the appointment we ask that you pay half of the session price. This is to compensate the Cuddler for lost business as it's unlikely they would be able to find another client for that scheduled period at such short notice.

    In other words it is on the face of it reasonable for the professional (the 'cuddler) to require a deposit of up to half the session fee. However, I would suggest a much smaller amount. 10%, rounded up to a sensible number, is adequate in almost all cases: it is the principle of the deposit that makes the difference, not the amount. But the higher the amount, the more potential clients will be put off. (There is a problem of scammers setting up fake accounts, collecting deposits and then disappearing. Clients are right to be cautious about deposits.)

    It is true that the law around deposits can be complex and, in the US, varies from state to state. But the restrictions will mostly be around things like reasonableness and disclosure. In other words if the professional states clearly in the profile what the terms of the deposit are, and the deposit is equal or less than half the session fee, it is incredibly unlikely that a legal or tax problem will arise. This is a fairly common practice in the cuddling world.

    @Tatsy you are completely in the right, and I'm sorry you had such an unpleasant experience. If you do start asking for a deposit, just be clear about what you require and understanding of the reluctance that some [completely genuine] clients will have. You may wish, for example, to offer a refund of the deposit if the cancellation is more than a week before, or allow it to be rolled forward to a postponed session.

    Note that there is subculture of men clients who are viciously anti-deposit and campaign against them at any opportunity. I read somewhere recently that part of this antigonism could stem from repressed feelings of inadequacy. Such people are terrified of being fooled by a scammer, because that would make them a fool, so they ignore common sense and try to bully the world into not doing anything (e.g. require deposits) that could make a fool of them. The irony is that it's being a fool entirely in their own eyes, the rest of us would just feel sympathy for them. Some scammers are simply undetectable and would fool anybody, and a whole bunch more are very, very good. It's the criminal who's at fault, not the victim.

    In other cases, the anti-deposit expressions come from feelings of entitlement. Such men feel, perhaps on an unconscious level, that they have a right to women's touch. This feeling is exacerbated by the current lack of touch in their lives, which - ironically - the professional cuddler is trying to help them with.

    Because it's the principle that bothers them, such clients are unwilling to distinguish between a well-established professional with years of experience and many Karma, and a new account with no profile text and zero Karma. Obviously there are also completely excellent clients who can make such a distinction but still decline to pay deposits for perfectly sensible reasons.

    And yes, I have been scammed in a small way on the internet, although not on this site. Far, far more often I have sent payment or deposit and had a successful outcome, including for cuddling.

  • Mike403Mike403
    edited August 2024

    @jackwallace - If that's illegal then so would paid cuddling since nothing tangible was exchanged and the service is not an acknowledged licensed profession.

  • Katelyn_BKatelyn_B
    edited August 2024

    I think a small deposit is perfectly reasonable. Time wasters, whether you are a pro or enthusiast, can be very mentally draining. When I was a pro, I found that a small deposit weeded out that sort of behavior.

  • cuddleyloveycuddleylovey

    @jackwallace I bet you are a lot of fun at parties 🤣

  • cuddleyloveycuddleylovey

    @Mike403 exactly!

  • cuddleyloveycuddleylovey

    @CuddleDuncan well said! Thank you so much.

  • cuddleyloveycuddleylovey

    @jackwallace we professionals run business on the platform which designed this business opportunities and outlined the rules and guidelines. CC would not suggest to engage in anything that’s illegal and they clearly specify that deposits are allowed to be requested by a professional. We abide to the rules of this platform. I don’t see any way on this earth or another universe any of this resulting in legal issues. You need to lighten up and get a cuddle 😃

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