Saucytime

What the platform is

Saucytime is a booking service for private adult video calls over Apple's FaceTime, run by SaucyTime Ltd from an address on Regents Park Road in London. Its home page calls it the "World's first FaceTime web-app for adults" and describes the product as an "Adult FaceTime booking service" at £2/min with "No Subscription" and "Instant call back." The performers, whom the FAQ calls "Our saucy boys and girls," take one-on-one calls rather than broadcasting to a room, and the site describes its calls as FaceTime with a glamour model. The service is aimed at an English-speaking audience worldwide: the FAQ says the company has service providers "across the globe in all time zones" and that every model speaks English, as a first language unless the profile says otherwise. There is no membership fee, but a call needs a FaceTime-compatible device, a Wi-Fi connection and a credit card, which the FAQ lists as everything required.

What you get and how the money works

There is no public room, no tipping and no token currency here. The model is a prepaid call. A visitor creates an account, buys credit, picks a model whose status reads online, and books a FaceTime call. The home page shows a strip of models who are online now, and each profile has a status line that reads OFFLINE or Online, a "Mail Me" button, a link to the model's full gallery and a link back to the model list. Profiles carry a first-person introduction written by the model, covering her background, her work and what she is like to talk to, and the profile page repeats the "Models Online Now" strip so a visitor who lands on an offline model can move straight to one who is available. The site's page titles describe the format as "Adult FaceTime sex webcam" and say it works with iPhone and iPad.

The FAQ spells out the payment logic in a few sentences. "You only pay for the minutes you use, there are no membership fees, premium rate telephone numbers or recurring charges." Credit lands on the account at once: you "pay for the amount of credit you would like and your account will be credited immediately to use now or whenever the mood takes." The credit is bought up front: "Credits are bought in blocks of 5 minutes, with a minimum £10 purchase which will be debited from your card at time of purchase." Credits "do not expire." The Saucytime account is then debited at the time a call is booked, not when it ends.

Extending a call is a separate step. The FAQ says: "Should you wish to extend the call, you will need to confirm a continuation booking, we do not automtically charge your debit card or Saucytime account." The spelling there is the site's own. The practical effect is that a call cannot run on and quietly drain the balance; the caller confirms each extension, and each extension is a fresh booking against the credit already bought.

Video is optional in both directions. To the question "Can they see me also?" the site answers "If you prefer. Or not. Entirely up to you," and adds that the models "prefer to get up close and personal but you can turn this option on or off depending on your mood." So a caller can watch without being seen, or switch the camera on partway through.

Availability is the part to understand before paying. The FAQ says "Models may only be available at certain times." When a model is not on, a registered member with credit on the account can reach her or him by personal e-mail or iMessage, and "We will never charge you to send or receive messages." The same FAQ says the models "deal with all their correspondence personally," so messages go to the model rather than to a support desk. The profile page repeats the gate: an unregistered visitor who clicks to mail a model is told that "although email is free, you must be registered with available credit to contact the girls." Messaging costs nothing per message, but it needs an account with credit already on it, which makes the minimum £10 purchase the real entry ticket even for someone who only wants to arrange a call for later.

Geography is handled in one line. "If your can make and receive Facetime calls in your country, then our service is available to you." That is the whole eligibility rule, and the typo is the site's. The FAQ says card payments "are sent using SSL (Secure Socket Layer), a form of safely encrypted Internet communication."

Privacy is a stated commitment: "Confidentiality is important to our customers and performers and Saucytime respects and protects the privacy of our members. We do not release your confidential information to anyone." It adds: "Neither Saucytime nor it's representatives will contact you unless requested." For news, the FAQ points members to the site's Twitter and Facebook accounts, and it says "Saucytime run regular webinars" on a daily schedule that members can ask for by e-mail.

The roster is not split into sections. The site has a single Browse list of models, with no couples, fetish, mature or similar categories, and the FAQ's "boys and girls" is the only indication that men as well as women take calls.

The figures from the pages

The standard rate is £2 per minute. The home page prints it as £2/min and the FAQ says "The standard rate is £2 per minute." That phrase, "standard rate," is the only qualifier given.

Credits come in blocks of 5 minutes with a minimum £10 purchase. The charge to the card happens when the credit is bought, the credit shows on the account immediately, and the account is debited when each call is booked. Credits do not expire, which the FAQ states in so many words. There is no membership fee, no premium rate number and no recurring charge, and messages to models are free once the account holds credit.

The company is named as SaucyTime Ltd, First Floor 349 Regents Park Road, London N1 3DH, which appears in the footer of the home page and the FAQ. The footer also carries Apple's trademark notice for iPhone, iPad and FaceTime, a reminder that the service runs on Apple's calling app rather than on its own video player. The footer links a Privacy Policy, Terms and a Contact page. The site does not publish a refund policy.

Who it suits and who it does not

Saucytime fits a caller who wants a one-on-one video call without joining a crowded room, who already uses FaceTime on an iPhone or iPad, and who prefers a stated rate in pounds to a token calculation. The prepaid, non-expiring credit means a small first purchase is not wasted if the evening goes nowhere, and the confirm-to-extend rule keeps the spend under control. The optional video both ways suits someone who wants to watch without being on camera. Because messaging is free once an account has credit, a caller can arrange a call with a model who is offline before committing minutes.

It suits less well anyone who wants to watch before paying: there are no free previews and no public rooms, and the first spend is a £10 minimum. A caller who wants a menu of niches, a large searchable roster or a choice of payment methods will not find those here; the FAQ names a credit card as the payment requirement. The service also depends on FaceTime working where the caller lives, and on the model being on: the FAQ itself says models may only be available at certain times, so the "Instant call back" next to the rate applies to whoever is online at that moment.