Complaint Review: Industry Model And Talent Studio

Read the disclaimer as taken from their website -- Submitting an application to Industry Model & Talent does NOT guarantee that you will be contacted.
It is at the sole discretion of the company to decide whether they are interested in scheduling an appointment to meet with you! Applicant understands that INDUSTRY is not a modeling, talent, or employment agency or modeling school. Applicant represents that he/she is either 16 years of age or older or has consent from a parent/legal guardian. If you cannot upload your photo now, you must mail it to 115 River Road, Suite 9 Edgewater, NJ 07020
within 10 days for this application to be processed. All photos will not be returned.

Please be advised that it is illegal for them to solicit minors under the age of 16 as posted on their website. If your child is under this age and you have dealt with them they can be sued and your money can be refunded as they are violating their own regulations.

Yes, I was also contacted by Industry Model and Talent Studios in Edgewater, NJ a week ago. They claim that they saw my 14 year old daughter in Willowbrook Mall and that their scout was very impressed with her. Now my daughter was on the other extension and I asked her when was she at the mall without me and she told me that she went with her friends sometime in November. Okay, nothing new. I asked her if she filled out the card and she confirmed that she did. They also gave me the whole song and dance about how pretty she was and that out of all the people the scout saw that day; my daughter impressed her the most. They wanted us to come in for an consultation with one of their directors. I asked how about this upcoming weekend because I am off of work on Saturday. Omar, that is the person who called me, insisted that I had to come in within the next two days (monday or tuesday) because the directors are coming all the way from Long Island and they will only be on-site those two days. Now my daughter was still on the phone and begging me to let her go. I said Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. because my daughter had a basketball game that day and I don't get home from work until 6:30 p.m. I asked him for the address, he proceeds to give me directions, and not just any old directions -- the long route directions as if he read them off of mapquest or something and tell me how my daughter should dress and what sort of ID I should bring; drivers' license and credit card to be precise. This got me wondering because I can understand the picture id but I do believe that any bill would be just as good as a secondary form of id. Was not even thinking about bringing my credit card/checking account information. Now I have lived in NJ for over 10 years so I pretty much know how to get around and I asked him why was he giving me directions for the turnpike when I could just hop on Route 3 East and be there in no time. He was dumbfounded, didn't have a thing to say. So I agreed to bring my daughter in at 8:30, Tuesday evening and then I went to work the next day and did some research. I googled their name and found them listed on this website. I went to the BBB and saw the complaints again them, I found their website and read the disclaimer I posted at the top of this thread. I printed all of this stuff out and presented it to my daughter and told her flat out -- we are not going, this is a scam. The one and only question she had was how did I know? And I told her because I research scams.

So the next day a woman from this agency called to confirm our appointment and I told her that I was not going to be able to make it due to other obligations. She asked me if she could call me tomorrow to make sure that I would still be unable to make it. Me not wanting to be rude, as she did not financial harm to me yet, told her that was fine. Now my appointment was scheduled for 8:00 p.m., why did this lady call me back at 8:20 p.m. asking me if I was still coming. I told her that if this agency was so interested in my coming why would they wait until 8:20 p.m. on the night that the appointment was scheduled to call me when the appointment was actually at 8:00 p.m. and why didn't they call my contact numbers and leave a message? She said they had called both my cellphone and my house. I informed her that there were no messages from them on either one of those phones and she insisted that someone had call both phones. Once again I informed her that no one left a message and if they were really interested in a client someone would have left a number to call back or called prior to the scheduled time to confirm. She got huffy with me and said "So I guess I will tell the directors that you are not coming." I told her that was correct and hung up the phone.

I have no idea what might have happened had I went but I know that I checked their site and found things that made alarms go off. First of all read the disclaimer, they cannot solicit clients under a certain age. Second, read the testimonials - Isn't it odd that the majority of their so-called clients have been on one form of Law and Order? I look at that show regularly and they don't use that many extras, finally, don't go somewhere signing anything on a promise, ask them to show you proof in writing and finally read before you sign/commit yourself to anything. I had to learn that the hardway -- I got scammed by CedarBrook Lending Group in October 2008, so I know from experience what to look for now.

Cagedbird714
Belleville, New Jersey
U.S.A.