Complaint Review: Model and Talent - Nationwide

We heard a radio ad for a company holding auditions for children 4 and older by a company that places actors on shows, commercials, etc on the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and other popular networks. I called and made an appointment for my daughter. They were held at the Omni Hotel in Charlotte at 2:00pm on Saturday, 3/14. There were also 2 earlier time slots that day as well. They emailed me a script for my daughter to learn and audition with.  

When we arrived I signed my daughter in, there were no lists of who to expect or proof that we even had an appointment, anyone could have signed in. After being seated they insisted that NO CELL PHONES OR ELECTRONIC DEVICES WERE ALLOWED. They made it clear that you would be THROWN OUT if caught on an electronic device. That makes perfect sense looking back, since it took me no time to research this fake company and realize they were lying about who they are and who their "talent scouts" were and what jobs they had done in the past.

Example... "Peter" who was supposedly a big Prada model was no where to be found on the internet. I searched all male Prada models back to 1980, before he was even born! The information on the other "talent scouts" were even too vague to search. They brought in the "red power ranger" to talk to the crowd and provide motivation and enthusiasm. He also felt the need to explain why you could not access any actor/actress profiles on their website. Instead assuring that all of the appropriate networks did have access and could find your child. This is COMPLETE CRAP!

After about an hour of talking, they lined everyone up and started the "auditions". These were a joke. The "talent scout" asked a few questions and wanted to know about our commitment level to my daughter's acting. (They were big on total commitment since they would be asking for $1,950 - $9,700 the very next day.) My daughter was very nervous and did not do very well on the lines she was asked to repeat. She has no experience and no talent that would make her desirable, such as dance, singing, etc. She is a normal, shy, average child. Somehow, she got a callback to the final audition the next day at 9:45am.  

This was by way of a text message that said congratulations and again mentioned that we needed to have decided on a "program" ($1950 for 3 months, $2900 for 6 months, $5900 for 9 months and $7900 for 12 months... 15% more if you have to make payments.) AND be "ready to financially commit". After reading over the booklet they handout (with extravagant pricing), researching the company itself and reading multiple rip-off reports, needles to say that we did not return for the final audition. I felt that enough of my time had already been waisted.

Luckily, I did not lose any money on this venture but feel so bad reading the other rip off reports of lower income families who have. My husband is a physician and I am a nurse, we could definitley afford this opportunity if I felt it was appropriate. Unfortunately, they do not provide enough information up front for you to research them, obviously that's on purpose.