Complaint Review: National American Miss

Based on your grammar and spelling, it scares me that you work in education!  Anyway, if you do your research you will see that National American Miss IS BBB accredited in many of the BBB associations. In case you weren't aware...there are MANY Better Business Bureau organizations across the United States, not just one. Also, the BBB doesn't really mean anything. If you pay their fees, you're accredited. It's that simple.

I don't know anything about NAM...just thought I'd clear up BBB misconceptions.

In February of 2016 when my 6 yr. old grand daugther was recommended to NAMiss, I was hesitant.I searched the internet, feeling this was a "scam". After reading many pages, I thought, "what the heck, we will go to the orientation and see what it is all about."

My husband and I took our grand daughter to the orientation. The staff was wonderful. They were very open about all the cost for the pageant and explained how we could manage sponership. While there, Olivia had 3 interviews. We left with a better feeling about the program.

The next day we received a phone call to inform us that Olivia had been chosen as a state finalist. We were all quite please and yes a bit nerveous too. Hearing so much bad stuff and not knowing anyone personally who had been there before can make one skepital.

NAMiss kept us well informed with mail, phone calls and the the next time we went in April for the work shop. THis is when you have to pay the 1st half of pageant fees. Now it takes a diligent parent ( grand parent) and someone who is not shy to ask for sponsership money, which is what I did. By this time I had more than half of what I needed. When we paid the $240.00 I did get a receipt and signed a paper that said it was non-refundable. (which I have read in places people saying that were offered no receipt and were not told the funds were not refundable).

Olivia and her Poppop and I worked hard and had bake sales and raised enough money it cover all expenses, including her formal gown, 2 different slips for her gown, the alteration of the gown, interview dress, 3 new pair of shoes, assessories, Poppop's tie to match Oliva's dress and most of our hotel stay.

Olivia did not win princess of her division, but we came away happy. She won 3rd place on Top Model Search, 1st Runner up in Miss Pereonality, she was names as Miss Photogenic in the Princess division.

It was a great experience for this little outgoing 6 year olf girl. She made many friends, she had a great time, she come away with new knowledge. Her Popop and I came away knowing new, wonderful parents and children and a wonderful program for any young girls.

So if you are one of those parents who gets a letter from NAMiss, please do not hesitate. You will not regret it and neither will your little girl. It is well worth the money to see the smile on that little girl's face, and who knows, maybe one day she will me Miss America!!!

Let me be upfront. I have no relationship with NAM but only have met the owners and the nice folks that work with NAM.

As a rebuttal to the review indicating that NAM is a profit oriented company. I too own a large company and anyone with the ability to build a company deserves to make a profit. Of course NAM grosses millions but it costs millions to operate the company. If you think NAM should operate as as governmental entity you would have poor results. Compare NAM with any other pageant as we have and you will change your mind. In fact, if you don't want to invest in your child then don't blame NAM.  It is the lowest cost life skill course in the market place.  

My daughter and wife worked weeks and hours to prepare for a Florida pageant and the hard work paid off And won a Florida Miss.  We participated in the National pageant and my daughter won a few events but not the National  Competing and losing teaches a child to work harder and that they are not losers but lost a competition.

My wife as a Royalty Mom, worked hard at the recent Orlando July 2015 pageant and said she loved every minute of it. In fact, my daughter had to help the other girls before they competed and she too honored. Behind the scenes there's so much that goes on and she said that the amount of care and love in NAM toward the girls is remarkable.

As a father, I am so pleased to see a company with great value and integrity. The experience for our daughter and all the other to compete with hundreds of remarkable young ladies while exercising their life skills is worth more ththe cost. Getting up in front of hundreds of strangers introducing oneself and having to interview in front of 8 judges takes pure confidence.  

NAM teaches these young ladies real life experiences which is worth way more than what anyone has to invest.  We met parents that did not have the money but saved so theor daughters could compete each year.  In fact they take their vacation this time each year. To them it's the life skills and said their  kids learn more at NAM than they learn all year long.

How can you put a value on your kids future. Give your daughter the best. Invest in her future. Be open minded. Trust NAM. They are the best. And as a Father I am so pleased in the transformation in my daughter.  Once you start networking with other parents at the events you will never kniw the value of what NAM will do for your child.  If you don't get involved with her 100% before the pageant don't go.  Kids need parents guidance and not coaches that you hire.  You will bond with your kid.  

I just finished the pageant this weekend and my daughter participated ---all I have to say is she had NO CHANCE because there were 102 finalists (obviousl they have no limit) and we dont have thousands to spend on various competetitions- it is clear that if you have money to invest, you win! the concept is good for the girls to have an experience but realy comes down to deep the parent's pockets are.  Its mostly about money.

We were at a store and a"modeling agency" saw us and said the SAME exact thing, free shoot, free blah blah blah, only 500 bucks for the modeling classes held at the hotel, the free shoot and such were on a saturday, in texas we have 3 days to cancel an order on our card. the only way that the company would do so is through fax machine m-f Sat, Sunday Monday, weekends count in this cancel rule in texas. after you come off of the high that your kid could be a star you realize, HUHnow that i have come to mt senses what a joke 

aww crap its tuesday, they wont refund my money :/ BOO barbrazone, in Califonia

Going to tell you why your "rip off" is full of you-know-what. My daughter participated in this program, and it was a great experience. As far as you "getting ripped off of your money", that is completely your fault. At the first meeting you attend, they tell you, out loud, spoken, not written in small print, that the cost of initial pagent entry is $480.00. You are advised to not just pay out of pocket, but to help your child go around your community and get business sponsors. That $240 was your first payment, and you payed that willingly. If they don't give refunds, it was your fault for not checking on that anyway. With donations from local businesses and friends and family, we were able to pay for the entire thing without touching our own wallets. All of this information was given to you when you signed up. 

My daughter went out, earned the money, which was a life experience in itself. They are not exploiting children. They have a "no make up" rule for contestants under the age of 12. There is not judging on beauty. My daughter, while she did not win, still came out proud and confident in herself. 

Any "rip offs" you experienced here were solely your fault. This program was amazing and we would do it all over again if given the opportunity. Next time, actually listen, read, and know what you are getting into before you throw a hissy fit about what YOU signed up for.

this is our 2nd yr attending Nam, and its anything but a scam.. my grandaughter 9 has gotten so much self confidence and self esteem. made many friends and took away so much....being just myself and NO help from family or friends,  the team at NAM offered us a partial sponsor-ship  and with out that help i would'nt have made it. So i am very grateful to them, and through out the pageant they were very helpful..Now back for our 2nd yr off the bat we were offered a 200 dollar discount for returning...All girls returning get a discount!!!!! plus a single parent discount!!!!!! so this time i had to pay very little!!!plus we came away with 5 trophey's last yr... and hope to get more this yr...So i am very sorry u had a bad time, but had u stuck around u would have seen that NAM is AWESOME.. All the team is awesome , including ms Dawn Lee(lady in charge of advertising contest). Sincerely Rebecca Reyna

Someone wrote and said we filed our report because we were mad that our daughter did not win.  If the writer read our report, he or she would know that we asked for a refund for a competition in which our daughter never participated.  What we asked for was that NAMISS be upfront with parents at the very beginning about all the costs involved.  Is it too much to inform parents, "If your child is chosen as a finalist, in addition to paying $480 to enter this round of the competition, you will also have to pay for accomodations and food at a hotel where the pageant will be held over a three day period"?  Why anyone would question the need for transparency in these matters is beyond our comprehension.

I work in the Chicago School System.

I was speaking with a student who was rather excited by the prospect of being involved with this group.

She went to the open call I guess and was informed that she was in.

I was happy for her. She informed me that she needed sponcers and did not know how to go about it.

I told her I would help her. She gave me a brochoure detailing sponcership. It is indeed geared toward businessness.  It clearly states on the broshure that NAM IS BBB ACCREDITED. So I went to the BBB , just to find out that they have a F rating and are NOT Accredited. So why would this professional brochure have this on there?

I did not know how much the sponcership was until I researched the net.

I have printed all out for the student. Along with complaints from around the net, as well as postive comments.

I would have still sponsored her, however this false info on their hand out has me very concered, for it is indeed a lie, and that is good enoug me to NOT place any of my hard earned money into the hands of false and mis leading pratices.

National American Miss is not a scam. NAMiss is a peageant, a scholarship pageant. 

The company is a business, therefore they require money to run. They also give every competitor a trophy and give away hundreds of prizes. This is expensive. 

I competed last year and did very well. I had sponsors pay for my $480 (which is higly suggested by the company rather than just paying it.) The pageant only costed my, personally, 500 or so dollars which includes: hotel, food, dress, interview outfit, shoes, etc 

So, it is expensive becuase it is a business. You would not complain about Tory Burch's prices making them a rip-off. 

It would appear that the complaint comes from a parent who is mad because their child didn't win. First of all, the complaint wasn't filed during the time period between open calls and state level pageant. The complaint was filed after state level pageant took place and about a month before nationals.

Second, the price given is an incorrect price. The true cost for National America Miss is as follows: open calls-FREE, state level: $495 any other costs are your choice to make (such as hotel stay, wardrobe costs, and any optionals that the child chooses to do & NAM is very upfront about all of this, they also inform you that the $495 entry fee is for the main pageant which includes intreview, personal introduction, & formal wear. Optionals are judged by a completely different panel of judges than the main competition.), and national level: $795 any other costs are again your choice to make.

Open calls are just that, there is no competition and they only try to see if the girls are truly interested and give very detailed explanations and other information to the parents.

Third, yes the payments for the entry fee can be made over a period of time. Maybe you and your wife didn't pay attention when the went over this information and therefor should only blame yourselves for not paying attention to details.

Fourth, once again if you or your wife would have paid attention then you would know that most girls go out and get sponsorships to cover their entry fees. Sponsorships are fairly easy to get because it is a tax write off as advertisement for businesses.

Fifth, it is very clearly stated in the paperwork that is handed out at every level in the NAM pageant that there are no refunds!

NAM is a great opportinuty for girls to gain life skills that they will use in the world! They focus on public speaking, interview skills, and teach the girls the values of helping each other. They also require each girl in every age group to do volunteer work and maintain good grades.

My daugther had never participated in a pageant before joining NAM in 2013. We do not have lots of money. I watched my teenage daughter blossom during this experience and grow into a caring young lady. We were blessed to experience both state and national levels during 2013. She is already preparing for 2014 state level, and loving every minute.

The state and national staff for NAM are very caring people and help in any way possible.