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Interface Interface Talent Network Interface Scams $ by giving false marketing hopes to children East Brunswick, New Jersey
Interface is a deliberate marketing scam (just lookup the Better Business Bureau), aside from all other evidence out there. I believe the people at Interface should feel ashamed for the amount of money they're scamming from people during such tough, economic times. The management of this company should be ashamed for supporting such a Marketing scam. My husband, son and I were requested to meet with a Director since 10 year old son was interested in acting. The Director gave us false hope, convinced my son of his abilities (without ever seeing them) and pressured us to sign-off on pictures for the next day. The Director never asked for our son to act out the lines he prepared for, as there was no audition, as we had anticipated, but was immediately requested to purchase the pictures for the 'required photoshoot'. When we asked about owning the pictures, we were told that we would need to purchase the amount needed for them to distribute. The Director never explained everything in the contract, especially the part where Interface states they own all of the pictures from the shoot. Apparently we would need to purchase more pictures after the photoshoot and and the contract never states that they need to prove that they send them anywhere. In addition, the contract is only for the ability for Interface to take pictures but it doesn't include anything about us seeing them or having them. In other words, they don't need to show us anything b/c it's not contracted.
Aside from that, the contract has a clause about nullifying the contract by providing them info. in writing. Our appointment was the next day so that would be impossible. We tried to cancel our apptmt by leaving voicemail messages, however, interestingly enough, they don't check voicemails at all and most of all they don't have voicemails setup for option lines, including the one for agents. However, they tried to cash our ATM card for $1225 even though we verbally were cancelling and the photoshoot never took place. We never rec'd the services (b/c we went to cancel apptmt next day) but they attempted to cash the $ anyway. We notified our bank fraud department immediately and they're all over this. Another interesting thing is that the company claims they have agents, modeling companies, producers, etc. seeking their services, however, when you pretend you're one of them (e.g. their voicemail states this as an option) the phone line keeps ringing. If an important modeling agency or TV producer needed Interface, why wouldn't they get a voicemail. The reason is that they don't check voicemail and they don't get calls from any agents.
I feel awful for all of the people paying money to this company in such hard economic times. I saw a lot of people in the lobby, looking financially distraught with a faint glimmer of hope in their eyes. And the poor children believing they have a chance when they'll never see anything from their money. The poor parents who think, what if (b/c they do have cute children), even though it may hurt their ability to pay the mortgage. Just look up the company lawsuits from a yr ago (they changed their name once already due to that) and/or lookup the info. from the Better Business Bureau. How sad that people at Interface are trying to justify their work by now verbally twisting their spiel by stating their a 'marketing company' when in reality they're pressuring the vulnerable...they're gaining a lot of money at the expense of the young and desperate and they should be ashamed
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1 Updates & Rebuttals
USBountyHunter7
InterFACE took $1450 from us and NEVER rendered services
#2Consumer Comment
Fri, September 20, 2013
TO: Bsiegel@nj.interfacenetwork.com,
fbravo@nj.interfacenetwork.com
Hi Brett,
Here is email correspondence sent to Franklin Bravo within 4 business days of being in his office on Saturday July 7, 2012.
You'll notice although we feel he purposely left critical information out and misrepresented to us what we were getting in order to make a sale, we originally gave him the benefit of the doubt in the correspondence below.
He never responded, but we were continually called and pressured by various customer service reps to reschedule.
This is terrible customer service. All we ask is that our hard earned money be returned. It is no loss to Interface as we cancelled more than 36 hours before the schedule appointment. No services were rendered to us. Interface had plenty of time to cancel any photographer booking.
Unless our money is refunded completely, we will pursue litigation. In addition we will continue to warn people and let the King of Prussia mall recruiters and other potential mall victims know to avoid what a financial loss this was. We will work with other Interface victims and help them through the legal battles necessary to get their hard earned money back from Interface and it's untrustworthy business practices.
Please refund the money, then at least we can tell people Interface is honorable enough to do that.
Thank you,
Josiah K****
from: Josiah K**** (((email redacted)))
to: fbravo@nj.interfacenetwork.com
cc: Tiffany K**** (((email redacted)))
date: Tue, Jul 31, 2012 at 9:53 AM
Franklin,
We have not heard back from you but instead continue to be harassed on the
phone by a different person each day from Interface telling us our money
will not be refunded.
Please advise.
Thank you.
Josiah
On Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 11:04 PM, Josiah K**** ((((email redacted)))
wrote:
>
> Hi Franklin,
>
> It was a pleasure meeting you last week, and we liked your interaction with the children. Unfortunately we need to cancel our plans to work with Interface. We misunderstood your explanation and thought marketing and website was included as you stated there would be monthly reports on the status of the marketing and website efforts. This clearly is not included when we read the fine print in the contract. We only have $1400 as I stated and you were able to get the pictures to $1450 which we appreciate, but due to the increased expenses we cannot afford this with 3 children at up to $360 per month. We cannot afford even $15 a month extra ontop of the extra gas and travel expenses. We had no idea the minimum order of composite cards for our 3 children would be an additional $675 (4.50X50X3)
>
> We also are extremely uncomfortable with the F- rating from the Better Business Bureau and the recent complaints filed there. Most conerning is the current litigation against InterFace and Roman Vintfeld especially the government actions and NJ State Attorney General's suit against them.
>
> We are serious about getting into this industry, but the problems and poor business practices of InterFACE and the confusion already, this is definitely not the company we will be working with.
>
> Please see the attached letter that was sent by certified mail. I wish you the best and if you find another talent marketing firm or modeling agency with an A+ BBB rating we would still like to work with you.
>
> Thank you!
> Josiah K****
On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 10:11 PM, Citi Cards <citicards@info.citibank.com>
wrote:
>
> Cardmember: Josiah M K****
> Account Ending In: 4784
> Member Since: 2012
>
> Add citicards@info.citibank.com to your address book to ensure delivery.
>
>
> ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-4784
>
> Dear Josiah M K****:
>
> Why we're writing you
> This is a billing dispute update on your Citi ThankYou
> 3 Preferred account for the following transaction:
>
> o INTERFACE NJ 732-993-4220E BRUNSWICK NJ
> o 07/07/2012
> o $1,450.00
Josiah and Tiffany K**** July 12, 2012
1920 Hemlock Road
Jeffersonville, Pa 19403
To Whom It May Concern,
This is certified letter is notice that we would like to cancel the services we paid InterFACE for but did not yet receive for our three children, JayDonn K****, Truett K****, and Hadassah K****. We would like a full refund in the amount of $1450.00. To be clear, there were NO services rendered.
The reasons for our canceling are as follows:
1. Misrepresentation of the fees – We met with Fraklin Bravo, a very polite man who was great with our children. However, upon our meeting with Mr. Bravo we were told that the InterFACE would market our children after the photo shoot so they can be selected for different modeling opportunities. We specifically asked if this was part of the fee we would be paying and told yes. We were never told there would be additional fees. Mr. Bravo quickly said the prices of the head shot and card but did not explain that there are minimums required to be purchased or that they had to be purchased in order to be marketed. We were NEVER told of the yet additional fees from $12.50-30.00 per week per child to be marketed!
2. Better Business Bureau - Today we did some research on InterFACE and learned of the F- rating with the BBB. With over 200 complaints, we do not want to do business with a company that has such a poor rating. The BBB has 163 complaints about the products/ services and 31 complaints about advertising and sales issues.
3. Government Action against InterFACE -
July 26, 2011 NEWARK - Attorney General Paula T. Dow and the State Division of Consumer Affairs have filed suit against Industry Model& Talent Studios, InterFace 1 and their owner, alleging, among other things, that they engaged in deceptive practices in order to entice consumers to enter into written agreements to pay for services that would purportedly assist their children in obtaining modeling and acting careers. More than 200 consumer complaints have been submitted to the Division against Industry Model and Talent Studios, LLC ("IMTS"), or its successor corporation, Interface 1, LLC. IMTS, formerly located in Edgewater, was owned by Roman Vintfeld. Interface 1, located in East Brunswick, also is owned by Vintfeld. The State's four-count complaint, filed in the Superior Court in Middlesex County, names the two companies and Vintfeld as defendants. The State alleges that the defendants violated the Consumer Fraud Act through unconscionable commercial practices; false promises and/or misrepresentations and/or knowing omissions of material fact; as well as failing to provide copies of sales contracts to consumers. The state is seeking restitution for consumers, which at present totals approximately $170,000, as well as civil penalties against the defendants and reimbursement of its attorneys' fees and investigative costs. The State's complaint alleges that the defendants approached parents with children at malls and theme parks, commented on how attractive the children looked, and obtained contact information from the parents. The State further alleges that defendants then induced the parents to come to their offices for a free evaluation, at which time defendants pressured the parents to sign contracts that they were told included marketing services, but in reality only provided for a photoshoot. The State's complaint further alleges that the contracts defendants required consumers to sign contained clauses that prevented cancellations or refunds for scheduled photoshoots, and also waived the consumers' right to a jury trial and to assert any defense, set-off, or counterclaim in any action. The alleged violations committed by the defendants include: o- Misleading consumers into believing they were a model or talent agency; o- Misleading consumers into believing they could place someone in the modeling or entertainment industries; o- Misleading consumers by using the name "Industry Model and Talent Studios, LLC," when in fact they were only in the business of doing photoshoots; o- Misrepresenting to consumers at the time of initial contact that there were no fees involved with any initial meeting or evaluation; o- Making oral misrepresentations that differed from the actual terms of the Photoshoot Agreement and the online Composite Card Membership Agreement; o- Requiring consumers to execute written contracts or agreements without providing them sufficient opportunity to read and understand the terms; and o- Deceiving consumers by telling them to sign the Photoshoot Agreement, to read it after they arrived home, and to call back with any questions when, by terms of the Agreement, it could not be cancelled and refunds would not be given; An initial violation of the Consumer Fraud Act may result in a civil penalty of up to $10,000, with each subsequent violation subject to a civil penalty of up to $20,000. To file a complaint with the Division of Consumer Affairs, consumers should use the form located at www.njconsumeraffairs.gov or call 1-800-242-5846 (toll-free within N.J.) or 973-504-6200.
After reading about the reasons for the Government action being taken, we believe InterFACE is continuing with their misleading and omitting the facts in their advertising/sales pitch. We were under the impression that InterFACE would be marketing our children for the expensive fee we paid. However, when we had time to read the contract in detail we learned those were additional fees, more than we can afford to pay. We cannot pay up to $30.00 per child per week. That would be $360 per month that we were never told about upon signing the contract with InterFACE. If a full refund for the amount of $1450.00 is not returned to our credit card within 30 days, we will be contacting the Division of Consumer Affairs and filing a complaint that could possibly result in a penalty up to $20,000 for InterFACE.
Thank you for your time and for your cooperation in this matter. We look forward to hearing back from you that you will be returning our money.
Josiah and Tiffany K****