What: Get paid to hug, touch and talk to people with your clothes on and without sexual touch or intent.
Expected pay: $40 per hour, plus tips
Husl$core: $$
Commissions & fees: 50%
Where: Nationwide
Requirements: Be a woman over the age of 18, accepting of both male and female clients, many of whom are over the age of 50; be reliable and have strong interpersonal skills.
Review:
SnuggleBuddies purports to find high-paying “snuggling” work for women. The idea, pressed by a handful of psychologists, is that touch can soothe loneliness, depression and other ailments. But not everyone is in a position to receive this warmth. Thus, you can buy it for $80 an hour, half of which will go to SnuggleBuddies, the other half goes to the snuggler.
The things we like: The site requires clients to sign a contract that acknowledges that there is to be no sexual contact; no removal of clothing; no touching of private areas; and that snugglers can leave if the rules are violated or if they feel unsafe. Snugglers are also told to contact the site immediately after the gig is done, so that the site can monitor their safety. Workers are paid for travel time and they keep their tips.
Things we don’t like: Clients have the ability to pay in advance with a credit card or pay the snuggler in cash at the time of the appointment. If you’re paid in cash, you’re supposed to send half to the company. But if the job is paid by credit card in advance, you may or may not get paid at all, according to a number of complaints made with the Better Business Bureau and Trust Pilot.
A snuggler who calls herself BuffySwan also wrote a review about getting stiffed, which got loaded with similar comments from similarly situated snugglers. In addition, complaints maintain that the site doesn’t take profiles down, even after snugglers have left the site. There are other places that will hire you to provide companionship. If this is your idea of a great side hustle, we’d suggest you sign up with RentAFriend or CuddleComfort.
What their snugglers say: (from Trust Pilot)
Evan Carp is the owner of this place and is a scam artist who also goes by other names, most notably “Jeff Smith.” He has a habit of sending nasty, abusive texts and emails to employees and clients alike when he doesn’t get his way. Numerous people have worked for him only to never see a dime of payment. Surely, this cannot be allowed to go on forever and Carp will see legal consequences for his crimes. Edit: Evan truly is a deceptive individual. He now blames his depression for being an abusive thief and seems singularly focused on a 3 month period of alleged health issues in 2017. Don’t let his cries for sympathy fool you, because his bad behavior has been going on for years. You got caught, dude. It’s called karma. Deal with it.
They seem more interested in getting photos of people who are interested and phone numbers, from the texts. Once they get that, they don’t care.No way to get in touch with anyone at the company. I gave a one start only because that was the lowest number I could give.The website has no indication as to where the physical address is located, not even a PO Box. No phone number, no email address. This clearly is not normal for a legitimate company. I guess they are not legit.
Tried numerous times to become a client. No response from anyone after many requests. Have subsequently read dozens of postings indicating that the owner is a jerk and cheats his snugglers out of money. I recommend one not get involved in any way with this outfit.
(from the Better Business Bureau)
The website has me up as a snuggler. I did one job and he neverpaid me and refuses to take me off of his website. I have several texts, emails and pleas to take me off an he will not. I am not his employee and I want my information down now. This man is ascam artist and he is advertising my picture on his website.
I filed an application, but later decided it was not for me. When i emailed even to mention that i do not want to continue the application process or be hosted on the web site he wrote this: “why the **** did you apply then? ******* moron”
I became a snuggler with this company. I rarely got a response from them regarding status. They proceeded to continually give out my private information, which is against their own procedure terms. Said that because I texted the wrong person, I would not be credited with the job I did, and refused to pay me.
I signed up as a snuggler in August of 2017. I performed 5 sessions with clients. I texted the wrong message, and was barked at via E-mail, but then remedied that and messaged the correct one. I have sent multiple E-mails about being paid $140 that I am owed for my sessions and no one has responded.