Complaint Review: Transcontinental Talent - san francisco California

I was approached by one of TCTalent's scouts last week, like many of the others who have posted here. I was flattered, and though interested, was not DYING to be in modelling. I thought it would be fun but currently I'm very happy with what I already consider my dream job of being an artist, and some semi-professional dancing on the side. So they had a harder sell for me than to someone who hates what they currently do for a living and wants better.

Anyway, they piqued my interest enough to get me to go to the open-call that weekend. The night before I had a discussion with my boyfriend about it. He was really tickled about the idea of me being a model and so encouraged me to go although I expressed my doubts about where the company made money. I had read on the site that they didn't charge agencies to use their service, and didn't take a percentage cut. So where does the money come from? Only one answer came to mind -- me and other 'potential talents'. So when the time came for them to finally let us in on the hefty price tag at the open-call, it wasn't a huge surprise. Although the amount was a bit startling. I had expected something much lower. Still, they managed to keep me interested. They're very good at baiting and keeping you there. I agreed to a phone call with a talent executive on Monday.

So, today I got the call. I spent a good deal of time talking with Michael, and he was VERY convincing. I was skeptical the whole time and told him so very frankly. But he told me how his daughter was a part and was getting tons of work, and that he really believed in it. I came so close to being sold, but a gut instinct made me back off from something that demanded an response NOW or else having to wait a year. That just didn't sit well with me. I started pressing Michael about it and and he gave me some very glib responses that I didn't buy. It just wasn't logical why a legitimate company would NEED to be run this way. I asked why I wasn't told I would have to make an instant decision at the open-call. They do NOT tell you anything about the interview at the open-call. Only that our questions would be answered at that point. Probably because if they tell you that you will have to make a decision at that time, you would go home and research the hell out of it so that you can make an intelligent choice. They don't want you to make an intelligent choice. They want a hard and quick sell on impulse for the "chance of a lifetime."

Michael gave me an analogy about how if you went to a fast-food place and got into line, and then stepped out of line because you hadn't decided yet, you can't just hop back in when you figure it out. I returned that the fast-food place gives you the menu right from the start and lets you think about it BEFORE you get into line. Wouldn't it make more sense for them to tell me in advance that I would have to decide at this point so that I could do my thinking in advance and tell them right away instead of having him spend 3 hours trying to convince me? NONE of what they say is LOGICAL if you have the time to think about it.

That had him flustered. At last I told him no, I can't in good conscience make a decision on the fly like that. He asked how much time I needed. I told him a day. He said I can give you til the end of today, 3 hours, and he would call me back. I agreed.

In that time, I went online, and typed in "Transcontinental Talent" on google.com. I don't know what I expected, but I was extremely surprised but what I got. Two types of webpages came up in the search results -- tctalent.com pages, and pages of all sorts telling of the scam.

I felt like a fool for even sort of buying into it. And I felt so mad that I couldn't do anything for all those other poor people who had attended the open-call with me.

Now here's the fun part.

When Michael called back, I immediately confronted him asking if he felt any shame or guilt about being a part of this scam. He was taken aback and asked what I meant. I told him about searching online, and he instantly brought up google and did his own search. The next half hour he just read article after article, sounding extremely stunned. He really believed in the company and sounded horrified by what I was telling him. He even asked his manager about it and got some glib response, but I think I got through to him enough that he didn't fully believe the manager's answer. He honestly did not seem to know what was going on, and at the end of our talk he said he needed to do more research but if what I had told him was true he was going to start looking for a new job. I hope he tells any other unaware souls who work there about this.

Stephanie

Oakland, California

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