Was going to come in here and share some stories ... then I saw the thread ... and ... wow.
Kind of disappointed, I must say. Was hoping for a useful thread with tips/advice, but just stepped into a flame war. Let's all cool this down and relax. Let's keep this forum fun, interesting, and informative.
In any case, I've had several very bad experiences. I've been hobbying for a long, long time and have seen 1000+ providers, so the bad experiences represents a small portion of the total but have nonetheless had an outsized impact on my rules and my outlook.
When I started, the streets were still very popular, though online was just starting to be a thing. I can not emphasize how extremely dangerous and stupid this activity was, both for johns as well as sps. Prowling streets in seedy neighbourhoods at 3am with a wallet full of cash makes you a target for stick up artists. My worst two experiences there: an sp pulling a weapon on me to (rob?) me and me running for my safety, and second, running from the cops after propositioning an undercover agent and getting seriously injured jumping a fence.
I haven't done anything street related in a decade. And, I don't visit any provider who does "car calls". I would urge the same rules for anyone here.
I have had a handful of bad experiences since, and in general, I have become very cautious over the years. I hope it is not beyond anyone's notice on this forum that purchasing sexual services is still very much illegal. Even if police aren't actively pursuing johns like they were a decade ago, very many places of employment would have cause to terminate you for said behaviour should it ever leak out. For that reason, and the fact that I work in a very sensitive industry, I don't go for real ID checks. That is my personal boundary. Sps are within their personal right to ask for it ... and I am within my personal right to not visit with sps who require it. Whether you feel confortable providing id or not is up to each person to decide according to their individual circumstances, but for me it's a hard no.
As for deposits, that's a bit more of a tossup. I've never given a deposit personally - there are simply too many scams out there. As one person mentioned, if you give a deposit, prepare to lose it. The only instances where I would consider giving one was if the sp was extremely well established, and I had confirmed as much after careful scrutiny of this board. As of yet, I haven't taken the plunge. However, one thing to consider with deposits is whether or not your bank account (or paypal or whatever) is shared with another person, or if another person in your household can access it. Whether this is your wife, your parents, your sibling, or whatever, having mysterious money transfers to sps is not something that is easy to explain away. Most of us here most likely do not lead completely transparent lives, so that is something to consider unless you are single and live alone, or else have completely private money accounts. I've seen lives ruined this way, so beware.
I will keep the rest of my tales for another day. Rest assured, the good experiences have outweighed the bad. Hobbying is still an engaging pursuit for me, and we are all richer for having a board where we can share useful information.
Peace!