Quote from: ladyofthemansion on 01 July 2013, 09:32:01 pm

It is good to see you on here talking to us. Please don't put your rates up again though lol.

I ought to point out that Vivastreet are here following a couple of months of email discussion regarding their previous terms and conditions, and the problems they had seen members referring to here on SAAFE - the changes to the photograph rules are a direct result of input from people here relayed by me, and I have been very reliably informed that not only have the customer service operatives been retrained, but that they do intend to listen.

Anybody who does have a query, this is your chance to have it addressed. I don't use the site, so there are plenty of things I may have left out and don't forget there's some free ads up for grabs for anybody who doesn't mind answering a few questions afterward.

Its worth saying a big thank you to Amy, she has managed to deal with numerous emails from us (when she didn't need to) and really helped to educate us on Saafe user views and opinions. As she says now is the time to raise any thoughts you may have, but hopefully we will be live on the site and able to offer ongoing support if needed.

Vivastreet, stop adding your bloody website address to every free text box on your profile summary, please. No URLs .

My bad sorry 

Hi there,

I really appreciate the changes and am now considering rejoining the site and advertise there if all is true!
I used to have lots of clients from there but lost faith after the moderating problems again and again.

for the amount you charge i expect very good customer service and fast changes as somebody mentioned automatic changes otherwise its just not worth it.

Also, when i place an ad at lets say 6am but its moderated only at 3pm its only reposted at 3am and 3pm its really not good. if i place an ad at 6am i want it to count the 12hrs from that time, so appear at 6pm and 6am and not 3pm when its moderated. (hope it makes sense) i used to experience this problem.

going to have a look now on the site i hope you will offer good value for money.

I have only advertised on there sporadically and gave up because the one or two quality enquiries I received just weren't worth all the previous hassles. The rates thing is great because many of the guys contacting me were wanting something instant and much cheaper. The other thing I found was everytime I put up an ad the same guy would send a message via your message system, he was a bit of a pain in the neck and you seemed to take away the ability to reply or block these messages.

Regards listing services I also found a lot of guys would ask for 'massage' when enquiring, and when I said I was an Escort or even that "No I'm not a masseuse, but I do provide a sexual service", there'd be this awkward "Oh, err, right, err". 

I'd also like us not to be under the 'Free adult personals' banner, I think it makes it look as if we are a bit more casual than we are, and not to be taken seriously. I'm guessing we probably pay as much if not more than other advertisers on there, and to be stuck under a 'free' banner is kind of taking the piss.

If I can get an ad up and running within a few hours of submission in the next few days I'll give it another go.

Would also be good if you will allow us to state which services we do and don't do.

Hi Ladyofthemanson, we definitely need you in our focus group! Yes this is always going to be a tricky one for our site, as its not just aimed at the escort market. The majority of our users are posting and browsing ads in the non-adult part of the site, we hoped allowing the rates to be advertised would be a step in the right direction to give posters in this category more flexibility - perhaps this is something I can add in to allow links to your own websites, as here you can clearly state your do's and dont's.

Thank you,

The Vivastreet Team

I have only advertised on there sporadically and gave up because the one or two quality enquiries I received just weren't worth all the previous hassles. The rates thing is great because many of the guys contacting me were wanting something instant and much cheaper. The other thing I found was everytime I put up an ad the same guy would send a message via your message system, he was a bit of a pain in the neck and you seemed to take away the ability to reply or block these messages.

Regards listing services I also found a lot of guys would ask for 'massage' when enquiring, and when I said I was an Escort or even that "No I'm not a masseuse, but I do provide a sexual service", there'd be this awkward "Oh, err, right, err". 

I'd also like us not to be under the 'Free adult personals' banner, I think it makes it look as if we are a bit more casual than we are, and not to be taken seriously. I'm guessing we probably pay as much if not more than other advertisers on there, and to be stuck under a 'free' banner is kind of taking the piss.

If I can get an ad up and running within a few hours of submission in the next few days I'll give it another go.

Hi Strawberry, thanks for your feedback. We know that in this category we can send around 200-400 contacts average per month (depending on ad type), we understand that some of these are going to be 'time wasters' or asking for further information. As you say the rates should hopefully weed out some of these calls, if you wish you can also add you are an 'escort' not a masseuse and we actually rolled out a VivaProtect phone system which allows you to mask your own number but also you can have a message play every time some one calls (before it start to ring) you could include more information here to potentially weed out more time wasters - the cost to the caller is ?0.51 per minute.

The 'Free personals' point is an interesting one, let me add that to the discussion points internally and hopefully we can feedback with an answer. I believe this is just the site structure, the main group being Free personals, but the subcategory being named adult 18+.

Feel free to take place in our online forum for a free ad on site, so you can have a 'no strings' trial and provide us some feedback.

Thank you,

The Vivastreet Team

Even my local rag's got a section called 'Personal Services' - there's no reason on earth why our ads should be near the ones where people are looking for dates or potential relationships, surely? Where do ads of other people charging by the hour for various services go?

As for the phone number, I think expecting punters to pay a premium to do something they can and should be able to do for either free (in terms of looking at our websites) or very little (calling us) is going to result not only in making the site look dodgy but us too, as punters won't always realise that it isn't us doing the charging. There have been a couple of attempts by other advertising resources to force premium '070' numbers on us (without permission in some cases; the Sport was one, I think) and they were not popular, to put it politely.

Hi Amy, Thanks again for the invaluable feedback. I understand all your points, but we unfortunately cant get away from the fact that we are a 'classifieds' website - so we have to work within these confines. The escort and massage section was added into the 18+ section (whilst I appreciate in the main category of personals, which is far from ideal) and as you say in the newspaper these ads also go into the personal section also, I guess its a legacy thing.

I think vs newspaper we now on site have greater flexibility (although not a 'free for all') for people to advertise, we are more than happy to try and find a happy medium for all parties involved and I will certainly discuss the options with regards to category placement / naming and feedback to everybody.

On the VivaProtect point its only opt in on the Vivastreet site, and its understandable that some people will not want this service - but some people also like the service and the features it offers. I also understand if others in the industry have forced the issue of 070's, it may have caused some bad will - this certainly isn't our intention at Vivastreet. I will also see if we can make clearer the costs involved and also the fact that the advertiser is not the charger.

Not to labour this point, but I will see if we can push the website link project and then posters can tell visitors to visit there website first before making a call, again its not going to solve the issue 100% but hopefully will be a step in the right direction.

Thank you,

The Vivastreet Team

I wouldn't like to change any thing on my ad as can't be doing with being inconvenienced yet again. Finally have the plain and simple smart look there with simple words. I just refer them to adult work to find out more goodies and services offered. It is working for me just fine.  There is bound to be some thing else wrong with the way the whole ''relaxed thing'' is interpreted by each individual.