Complaint Review: Trans Continental Talent - Rutherford New Jersey

The person who filed the rebuttal above still works for TCT!

gee, why did people pay less just to go on a regular cruise. have you ever heard of Model Search America, Manhattan Model Search, Pro Scout, etc. they bring the agents to a hotel (not a cruise ship) and you pay 500-900 (depending on the company) for 2 nights in the hotel and the chance to walk in front of the same agents that Options had on its cruise. do you really think it costs 250 a night to stay in a ramada or hilton?? hello???? are you that silly. duh, the cost goes to pay for both the room AND the cost of flying in all the agents. same thing on the cruise- or did you think the agents from Elite Singapore (yes, the same Elite that claims they don't know about TCT but their Elite office was there) paid 4000 for their 2 tickets across the Pacific??? ( I helped book the flight- it was like 20 hours long and it really cost almost 2 grand a ticket) or the other 60 agents. DUH!!! it went to pay for all the agents including the one that picked a ton of models, ASAP. did it occur to you that a NATIONAL company that does promotions in 50-60 different cities a year, needs tons of models in all different cities. you're right- you don't need a lot of training to hand out promo material- but you were also seen by Elite, Wilhelmina, NY Models, LA Models, Click, BOSS and tons of other top magazines and agents. or did you not see the Marie Claire magazine editor- just because she didn't pick you didn't mean we didn't have to pay for her to be there, JESUS I don't even work there anymore but if you're going to criticize, criticize fairly. You are 100% correct that it's bullshit that they double billed you and then couldn't find you to get you a confirm packet. missing files affected maybe 25 people out of 1500. but that is b.s. and you have a right to be angry. you have a right to be pissed off that they double billed you- it is incompetent. but as for anything else, I can PROMISE you if you find your old confirmation packet it specifically said you would have a roomate b/c that was an issue at the first convention and we made sure to address it both on the phone (we said "this confirms your reservation for our SPokesmodel Cruise, your SHARED cabin (emphasis added), all meals and drinks except alcohol, etc eetc......) I know this b/c I helped write the script, and in the packet....IN WRITING. you have a right to be angry about losing your confirmation and double billing. but as for the extra charges, 65 agents and magazine editors had to be paid for, put up in a hotel the night before, etc. and the hotel in the bahamas also had to be rented, 35 buses to drive people back and forth from the boat to the hotel, the stage, lighting, dj, and everything else. If you check the public filings, they LOST money on the trip- I know it seems ludicrous and it is, but they lost money. guys, I hate TCT and that's why I don't work there anymore-0 but we need to stick to cold hard facts when attacking them. that is our best chance of bringing them down. peace out!

Hi Carey, I am not going to write 5 or 6 paragraphs explaining the sign up process for how to get on a model search cruise. I am trying to reach out to people and make them see that TCT is a scammy business.....I am not trying to bore them to death. However, if you want details I will give them to you. I was interviewed over the phone by one of TCT's reps. When I decided to go ahead and pay the money to go on the cruise, another person got on the phone and went through the details with me. It all happened very fast, because that is how this scammy business works. I do not remember anyone telling me to call the Orlando office, I was probably transferred to the Orlando office (I do not see how this is relevant anyway). About my confirmation packet. I am glad you brought that up. That would have been the icing on the cake for my first report. I was told I would get a C.P. with in two weeks. Before I found out that TCT took $2,000.00 out of my account instead of $1,000.00 that was my focus. I waited and waited and waited for it (all excited to find out what would be expected of me for this cruise). It never came Carey. The packet became a secondary problem once I found out I was in the hole $800.00. At that point, I was just trying to get my money back from TCT or the cruise line or my bank. Everyone pointed fingers at each other for my missing $1,000.00. No one wanted to take responsibility for it. When I spoke to the owner of the Rutherford NJ office about the missing money, I also mentioned that I did not get a Confirmation packet....but at that point I really didn't care. I needed to pay my bills and Christmas was coming up. Did I mention that this whole ordeal ruined my Christmas? By mid January I talked a man (from my bank at the time) into taking $1,000.00 out of TCT's account and put it back into mine. Then I closed the account. It was then, that I focused on getting my confirmation packet because I still spent a grand on the stupid cruise and I was not about to lose that money! When I called about the confirmation packet, I was told that I was not on the list. I had to fax over receipts and prove that I paid the damb money and finally I was on the list. I am sorry Carey, but I do not remember seeing anything in that packet about having a roommate. I can write honestly that my room mate had no idea either....and neither did a lot of the people we met on the cruise. Ahhhhhhh, I am so glad you mentioned call backs. Yes we all got call backs. One of them was ASAP right? Yeah we all got that one. Most of the models got call backs from that one agency. They are a promotional agency. Big deal, I can go on Survivor if I want to. I can hand out cell phone brochures at malls. Sweetie, anyone can do that. I didn't need to go on an over priced cruise to get that kind of call back. I saw at least 50 people with the same two promotional companies on their call back cards. These were good looking people too and they were also in great shape, I might add. I will also add that a lot of them were more beautiful and in better shape than the winners. That is my opinion anyway. To wrap things up once again, I am not writing to vent about a cruise line. I am not against cruise lines or how they run their business. I think that they should think twice before they hook up with scammy so called model scout talent agencies. Have you ever heard of guilt by association Carey? I say this because most of the people I talked to on the last day of the cruise said they would never go on a cruise again.especially not that cruise line. The cruise line and TCT were in on this business deal together and they made a lot of people unhappy.A LOT! They made alot of money off of this scammy deal. Like I mentioned in the title, there were a lot of people fighting back tears on the bus ride back to the airport. Thank you for your comments. It helped me to give more details about the shady business of model scout companies and those who are along for the ride.I mean cruise. Gail One more thing! I met a few other people on the cruise who were not part of the model search. They were on a little vacation. They only paid half of what we paid for the same cruise. Isn't that sweet? You have to love that!

I sent in this rebuttal a few days ago, and am somewhat surprised that it hasn't been posted. My e-mail address is valid and I am a current employee of TCT. Perhaps it is more interesting to casual surfers to read letters from disgruntled people who are still laboring under the misconception that TCT is a modeling agency (for Pete's sake, that's even the category The Rip Off Report has them listed under!) or who are unclear on what services TCT provides and does not provide. Or perhaps my Internet connection was faulty. Either way, I'm trying again. I do think that my earlier report was hard to follow. The way I laid it out was a little confusing. I've edited it but kept all the same information (removing only a superfluous anecdote about a less-than-honorable local news team, as that should technically be filed as a rip-off report elsewhere on your site). While editing, I have tried to group the important points into sections. To answer an earlier question: Yes, Options (and Edge) have both been purchased by TransContinental Talent. 1. TCT IS NOT A MODELING AGENCY. This means that talent that enroll with the company do not have to pay TCT a fee if / when they are requested for work. It also means that complaining about TCT being a modeling agency scam is ridiculous. TCT scouts for talent and sells interested parties a MARKETING TOOL. Talent in then potentially hired by agencies and casting directors and so forth who USE TCT'S SERVICE. This is made very clear to all scouted talent who attend Open Calls. But let me stress it again: TCT is NOT a modeling agency. TCT makes it clear to both scouts and to those people who are invited to Open Calls that they sell a MARKETING TOOL. They promise talent ONLY that they will be given global exposure. They do NOT promise that everyone will be discovered and made rich and famous. Instead of being a modeling agency, TCT's service gets interested talent EXPOSURE to over 5,000 (soon to be close to 6,000) agencies, casting directors, reputable photographers, and other entertainment industry decision makers. Since TCT's service is FREE for any agency or individual in the entertainment business who is in a position to hire talent, more and more decision makers are choosing to use the service. It is true that not all of these decision makers and agencies are "big name", but a large percentage of them are (as noted in a previous rebuttal), e.g., Wilhemina, Aziza, producer John Daly (Platoon, Terminator), Nouveau, Hip Hop, Maz Azria (BCBG), and many more. An interested prospective enrollee is cordially invited to go to the TCT website (http://tcttalent.com) and to look at Model News and Actor News. Non-interested persons, of course, are welcome to look out of curiosity. These listings show the enrolled talent that have gotten exciting jobs or have been signed by major modeling agencies RECENTLY. For example, Courtney Cooper from Atlanta was scouted as a model by TCT, enrolled, and won guaranteed modeling work worth $100,000. (I believe that her total is over $400,000 at this point.) However, realistically, not everyone is a Courtney Cooper. What you are purchasing from TCT is a tool that WILL be seen by industry decision makers. Whether a particular person gets hired is out of TCT's hands, as they merely provide the searchable database to their clients, they do not actually hire talent directly themselves. All scouts and scouted talent are told that more than 85% of all enrolled talent get REQUESTED within the first 90 days. A REQUEST is not a guaranteed job. However, many do find work. (Again, see the Model News and Actor News sections.) Customer service would have a hard time answering Liuba as to why TCT's fee is competitive because she seemingly is confused about what is being offered. First of all, TCT is the largest network of talent on the planet, and there really isn't a similar company to compare rates with. Secondly, if Liuba has never purchased comp cards before, then she has no basis of comparison and can't recognize that a digi-comp costs far less, is endlessly renewable when your stats change, and gets you more exposure to industry decision makers. That's an understandable confusion, but during Open Calls, these clarifications are made. Repeatedly. And talent is urged to check the website, ask questions and state concerns. If they choose not to do so, TCT can't do anything to help answer their questions and address their concerns. Someone also, rather unkindly, complained that some of the people at the Open Call they attended were unattractive (in their opinion, anyway). Yes, people come in to Open Calls and see some non-supermodel types sitting in there as well. WHY?, you might ask. First, not ALL models are supermodel or runway types. Fashion and runway modeling makes up only 10% of the industry, actually. Second, many of the non-model types may have been scouted because they were musicians or actors, not models. TCT is, again, NOT A MODELING AGENCY. OF COURSE some of the talent in there don't look like models. They aren't! they don't even have any interest in that. They are looking for exposure, and TCT's service works just as well for aspiring actors and musicians. Third, many of the non-models may be GUESTS of scouted talent. Open Calls are by invitation only, but about half of the scouted talent choose to bring along a guest, and are urged to do so. Their guest may not be very attractive. Fourth, even if you see non-supermodel types, there IS a market for petite and plus modeling. (It also makes up about 10% of the industry.) So someone you think is too short or fat to model could be exactly what a client is looking for, provided they fit petite or plus model standards. Fifth, if you look at print ads (this makes up 80% of the industry and includes television work), many of the people getting jobs are NOT supermodels. Madge the Palmolive lady, the annoying teenaged boy for Dell, the fat bald middle-aged man for a sweetened cereal, the motherly looking woman in most cookie or cleaning supply item ads...the list goes on and on. Atlanta, for instance, is the second largest print modeling market in the country right now. If you were to go to an Open Call in Atlanta, you might see some pleasant-looking but not stunningly ethereal people attending. These people stand a decent chance of getting work from folks who need to sell, say, an umbrella or toaster. (Those products are promoted best by people who are comfortingly "average" but pleasant-looking, because buyers can relate more to a happy-looking, fat, bald guy eating sugary cereal than they can to a severe-looking, seven-foot-tall twig with pointy cheekbones who looks like she never eats anything whatsoever.) 2. TCT is NOT a photography studio trying to "bait and switch" scouted talent into buying an expensive package of photographs. There are two clarifications to be made here. Some (NON-TCT!) disreputable photographers and photography studios lure people into "open calls" and take their picture, and then try to force them to purchase the "professional" shots they just had taken. TCT does not do this. The digi-comp (digital composite card) can have whatever photos you prefer, and you can use a professional photographer or take your own. (TCT has access to photographers, of course, and can, if asked, refer talent to one and the photographer often rewards referrals by pricing photographs far below his or her normal retail rate. But this arrangement is not something that is automatically offered to every scouted person.) Professional models and experienced actors are well aware of the high costs of getting their "head shots" and "comp cards" done. Whereas it is theoretically *possible* to run down to Kinko's and slam something together that doesn't look half-assed, many inexperienced people who want to break into the business don't even know what tools they need to have. They don't know why agencies prefer certain types of cards over others, for example. Once they have the pictures taken, then developed, then design or have someone else design the card itself, and have it proofed and printed (estimate: approximately 50-100 cards per agency you want to work with), talent then needs to get the cards in front of people in agencies who are in a position to hire. Unsolicited comp cards end up in File 13 (e.g., the TRASH CAN) more often than not. And that means that you have just spent $$$ for 50-100 nice comp cards that are going to end up in a landfill somewhere. If you lose or gain weight, change your hair colour, get a prestigious job or in any other way need to update your stats, you must then start at the beginning again and spend more money for new comp cards. It is no exaggeration to estimate the cost of PROFESSIONAL comp cards, printing, distribution, etc., at being anywhere from $1000 - $5000 dollars EACH and EVERY time you alter your appearance or have new information to add. TCT's digicomp is fully customizable by the enrolled talent and instead of having to dig up possibly disinterested agencies to drop your cards of to, TCT's talent's digi-comps are SOUGHT AFTER by people who have used the TCT database to look for a person with a specific look. In other words, the clients seek the talent, the talent does not have to beg local agencies to give them a fair shake. THIS is what is being sold, NOT 100% guaranteed wealth and stardom. And experienced models and actors are well aware that the cost of a digi-comp is PEANUTS compared to a traditional comp card, and that they are going to get GLOBAL exposure when they enroll, which they certainly aren't going to be able to afford to do on their own--the cost of printing up 50-100 comp cards for every agency in their own hometown ALONE would be, no doubt, astronomical. 3. TCT does NOT promise that every enrolled person will ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY get work. That is important. Let me repeat it. Again, TCT does NOT promise that every enrollee will be hired. They discuss the possibilities and share success stories. This is not evil or immoral. They do NOT invent any fake people, fake agencies or fake successes. There is no need to do that! Enough people find jobs through TCT that lying about success stories would be stupid and counter-productive. TCT can and will back up their assertion that thousands of clients (just remember, NOT all of them are modeling agencies!) use their service. Just ask a senior scout, Talent Coordinator or Office Director and they will gladly produce the documentation you wish to see. 86% are contacted, but not necessarily by an AGENCY and not necessarily with guaranteed work. 86% get a REQUEST within the first 90 days. There is a difference. I believe that wanting to hear "agency" and "guaranteed work" when no one ever had said that is part of Liuba's problem. She apparently did not understand the distinctions and did not ask anyone to clarify them if she was confused. 4. Lastly, TCT does NOT scout "just everyone". There ARE industry standards that scouts must be aware of and follow. If someone who does not fit industry standards is absolutely dead set on purchasing a digi-comp, they are, of course, allowed to. Like every company, TCT is in the business of turning a profit. BUT someone who does not fit industry standards is not likely to have been scouted in the first place. If by some chance they were, possibly by an over-eager new scout who has not familiarized themselves well enough with the standards they are supposed to follow, a Talent Coordinator is going to gently tell them that they are not likely to become the next Cindy Crawford. Of course, some people who don't fit industry height / weight requirements insist on purchasing digi-comps despite being gently urged to reconsider. Some DO occasionally still get work. Their success rate is just a lot smaller because they don't fit industry standards. More information: My roommate signed up with Options (now part of TCT). She is slender, relatively tall and not unattractive but she is definitely not a supermodel type. Even so, she gets ONE TO FIVE REQUESTS FOR WORK every single week (mostly for promotional modeling or print work). One sample: near Hallowe'en, she was asked to consider working for a client who needed people to wear a costume for four hours at a large corporate party. She'd be fed and allowed to have some drinks. To attend this party, she would be paid $300 for four hours of "work". As for disgruntled scouts...well, yes. It's VERY hard work. And you have no control over whether the talent you scout will enroll, therefore you have no control over who much you will earn from paycheck to paycheck. A smart scout increases his or her odds by not wasting time approaching people who they sincerely don't feel are within industry standards, and by explaining up front that TCT is a talent scouting NETWORK (NOT an agency) selling a marketing tool that WILL get enrolled people EXPOSURE (NOT guaranteed work). By being up front and honest, you increase the number of genuinely interested parties attending the Open Calls, and have fewer confused and unhappy people walking out. I, personally, always tell the people I scout that we are NOT a modeling agency, that we ARE a talent network, and that we DO SELL a digital composite card. I get fewer people into the Open Calls, but more of them are well-informed and actually interested in the service TCT provides, and NONE of them are under the mistaken impression that they are going to a modeling agency and getting signed on for free without any financial investment on their part (which hardly EVER happens in the industry!) I think disgruntled scouts would have a better success rate if they made a point of being very direct and up front about what they are offering the potential talent client. I know my scouted talent have told me they appreciated my honesty. And yes, some enrolled and are happy with the service TCT provides, at least so far. There ARE frequent Open Calls (it depends on the size of the office and number of scouts in it as to how many and how frequently they are held) but in Atlanta, at least, they are ONLY held in the office and ONLY invited parties (and their guests) may attend. Incidentally, the BBB in Atlanta shows that TCT Atlanta has a clean slate. Call and see. I urge concerned parties to talk to a TCT employee, preferably one in a position to acquire documentation for you, if you have any questions. I hope this helps. Regards, Malinda P.S. FYI, the plural of "Modeling Agency" is "Modeling Agencies". Correcting this minor grammar blunder will add even more credibility to your otherwise excellent site.

I used to work at TCT in the special events dept (the one that put on the cruise) so even tho I don't work there anymore I'm a little suspicious of some of the stuff you said- you may have had a crappy experience with an incompetent office. first, NOBODY could sign up for the cruise thru a local office- EVERYBODY had to sign up thru the orlando office- EVERYBODY. so you're saying you signed up in the local office doesn't make sense. second, the philly office closed and opened in king of prussia- a big suburb outside philly. it was closed for maybe 2 weeks at most. third- everyone who went thru Orlando to sign up for the cruise was read a verification that said in part, you will have a roommate. THEN, EVERYONE WAS SENT A CONFIRMATION PACKET. you were told on the phone if you didn't get the confirm packet within 2-3 weeks to immediatley call because it meant you were NOT confirmed. you obviously never got that for some reason b/c in there it AGAIN says you'll have a roommate onboard. Lastly, hundreds of models got callbacks from various agencies. Yes, there were only 2 winners, but dozens of agencies called back hundreds of talent- and most were not 5"11- and by the way, the male winner was not even tall enough to do runway- so your stereotype that you had to be runway height is 50% wrong- the female winner happened to be beautiful, 5"9 and in great shape. but the guy can't even do runway. As to how they double deposited the money, I don't know the facts about it- if it's a mistake they shou;d've paid any bounce check fees you had- and if that occurred I'm sorry. but please make sure to state some of the facts correctly thanks,