Ethanlawrence85
Chandler,#2Author of original report
Fri, November 09, 2007
SITUATION RESOLVED 11/09/07
W Management
Salt Lake City,#3UPDATE Employee
Tue, November 06, 2007
What is W talent? W talent is a full service modeling & talent agency. We represent talent for: modeling, runway, print, film, TV commercials and voice over. The company has two major roles in the talent industry: 1) Develop talent to be ready to work with clients and agencies locally to internationally. This consists of personal image development, training in the areas of acting, photo movement, style, runway, fitness and many others. We also produce the necessary marketing materials to be able to compete in the industry; photo shoots by some of the top talent industry photographers, composite cards, headshots and website presence. 2) Represent professional talent for work with local clients, advertising agencies, TV/film production companies, and placement with national/international modeling agencies. Now let me address the situation behind the unhappy customer: I would like to state that W talent does feel that this customer is entitled to an unhappy attitude toward the services he received. I too would be unimpressed with the product delivery. So as an empathetic individual and on behalf of the company we would like to express our apologies. The rebuttal points I would like to make are in regards to the mentality of the consumer about the talent industry. The first point I would like to address is the importance of development before representation. Next I would like to discuss the reasons for the lengthy turn around time on the photos production. Last I would like to make a few points on the brand of the company and explain the atmosphere of our business. There are many valid points that were made in his report but also points that were misconstrued. It is a standard in the talent industry that an individual without experience will first need to gain that experience through professional training or workshops. No agency that I know of will take someone off the street and represent them without previous experience. I realize this was not the main concern by the disgruntled customer but it is a valid point to bring up that the idea of an agency providing this education for free is unrealistic. The clients that work with W talent have learned to expect the best and we would like to continue that reputation. The customer makes a very true and valid point that there should be no upfront costs to be represented by an agency. At no time during the customers relationship with W talent did the agency promise representation, a job, a booking or a casting. This is the key element that is missing from the customers report. As an ethical business we have tried very hard for the last 6 years to deliver products on time and be very upfront with our messaging, marketing and pricing. The investment the customer made enabled him to receive the training which he would need to potentially be represented by W talent as well as receive a photo shoot. We have a process after an initial training period to re-evaluate the customer to decide if we can start sending them on casting or auditions and sign them as a new talent for representation. As in any business there will be periods of growth. Actually, that is not true for all businesses but it is true in this case. At no time did the company go into "hiding" or ignore the customer and his concerns. The staff at W talent was very helpful to address his concerns and try to resolve them, however, there were times when our resources were stretched thin. W talent makes no excuses for growing it's volume of business but does need to address the importance of managing it effectively. W talent has quickly become a "consumer's champion" in a sense that we are upfront and very economical for the product we deliver which has proven very successful and we hope to sustain this growth with a better ability to deliver products. Again we apologize for the lengthy time behind the delivery of the photos but would hope that a worried customer could be compensated by a valid excuse or other means. Finally I would like to discuss the brand of W talent and the atmosphere found in the agency. W talent has a strong company culture. We promote creativity and entrepreneurship. We maintain a celebratory workplace built on teamwork and taking pride in our work. We are passionate about what we do and we have fun doing it. We genuinely care about our employees and treat each other with respect. We make a positive impact on the people's lives that we work with. That passion can carry over into our attitudes in a way that may seem unwelcoming only because we are very busy and hard at work with our individual tasks. I endorse this behavior and feel that it creates a workplace of winners! I celebrate the fact that a company like W talent is found in Utah. I think it is a very limited mind that thinks Utah cannot have the caliber of company as W talent. I find it humorous that this particular customer is uneducated and ignorant to the fact that we work with the largest and most prominent agencies in the world on a daily basis. I would like to thank www.ripoffreport.com for offering W talent the ability to express our thoughts on this matter and I hope this answers any questions that the unhappy customer might have as well as other viewers reading this website. Thank you, W Management Salt Lake City, UT