BBB Comments and Analysis - BBB Rating = F
This company's principal, Erik Desando, has previously owned or operated other talent agencies or talent management companies in Southern California. Our past experience with Mr. Desando's companies has been that the companies failed to obtain and maintain licenses required by the State, and some developed complaint patterns alleging misrepresentation of services. Some of these past businesses include, but are not limited to, Kids and Teens Casting, The Hollywood Group, and Hollywood Handbook. These companies advertise for talent that imply that by responding, you will have started on your road to stardom. If you answer an advertisement, they will often tell you outright that they will help you obtain acting or modeling employment. The catch is that everyone who responds needs lessons or training to go before a camera or down a runway, they say. This training is really what these companies are selling, and their courses can obligate you for thousands of dollars. In reality, they cannot guarantee you employment, and you will not find such a guarantee in their written contract. California law contains certain requirements of advance-fee talent services and prohibitions against certain practices. If the company promises you auditions or employment, or if they even ask you for a fee in advance, a talent service is considered to come under the provisions of this law. Under the law, they are not allowed to charge you, for example, to provide photographs, filmstrips, audition tapes or videotapes, lessons or training. By law, you are entitled to a refund of anything you pay to an advance-fee talent agency if you do not receive the services you were led to believe would be performed. The refund is to be made within 48 hours of your request for it. Additionally, you have the right to cancel your contract, for any reason within 10 business days of the date of the contract. If you cancel, your payment is to be returned within 10 business days. If your written contract does not inform you of your right to a refund or to cancel, you may demand your refund or cancel your contract at any time, without regard to these time limits. If your money is not returned within the 48 hours or 10 days, respectively, the company is required to refund double your money. Despite the law’s protections, if you are not dealing with a reputable talent service, you may find it difficult to enforce your rights.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Gonnabe Child Talent "Club" is a Scam!!
Here is our story.
We were enjoying a great weekend at Six Flags. We walked by a booth that had a couple of people asking to take pictures of our 14 and 15 year old children. They told us they were talent scouts looking for kids to be on TV and in Movies. We stopped and our kids had their picture taken.
About two weeks ago we received a call saying our daughter had been selected to go in for a screen test. She went for the screen test and did quite well. Our daughter is extremely talented. They called us back and informed us that we MUST show up to the second interview because our daughter was selected as one of the finalists for THEIR talent search.
We asked time and time again, "Is this going to cost us anything?". They replied time and time again "NO". When we went in for the second interview Anthony, one of the talent scouts made it seem like things were going to be free. Head shots, free; Six week acting bootcamp, free; Talent Showcases in front of Hollywood agents, free; and everything else was free. He was even so bold as to ask for applause from us in the room when he said these things were free.
After all of the kids in the room had been hyped up by videos they started calling us into rooms for our "Final Interview". This was EXACTLY like a Timeshare sales pitch. High pressure and in front of our daughter. They victimized our daughter by getting her hopes up with false promises and then dropping the bomb that it would cost a minimum of $2500 for the most basic package. $5000 was the "Everything package".
The woman actually said we could not think about it. She told us that she does not know if there will be space if we did not decided that day. I asked the question "If you guys selected my daughter out of hundreds, and you want her in your program then why can we not think about it". She then started back pedaling by saying she was going back to San Jose and we would not be able to sign the contract if we did not decide right then. I told her I would drive anywhere to sign a contract for my daughter if we found the program to be valuable. She then began backpedaling again. What she was actually saying is...Whoever pays first fills the spot.
My advice is to NOT do business with this organization. They lied to us time and time again. They falsify claims of what they have done and who they have helped. The talent scouts themselves drop names of people and programs they supposedly have been in but if you do the research they are nowhere on the roster of the program. The high pressure sales tactics tell me they are not a respectable company and can not operate their business on their success. They can only prey on young kids and force the parent to have to be the bad guy.
The first thing that tipped me off that they DO NOT HAVE all of the connections they say they do is when they showed a video of the BE talent showcase. This is supposed to be the final talent show at the end of the bootcamp program. The girl that won the singing portion was asked by the MC what is next for you. She replied "American Idol". I thought "WTF".
If this company has so many connections and if this person was the cream of the crop then why did she not have doors opened for her. Why was she going to have to audition for American Idol just like someone that had never been through the gonnabe program. Her parents spent all of this money with gonnabe and she won the talent show and she is still forced to waiting in lines and auditioning just like everyone else. So what did the thousands of dollars do for this child? NOTHING! She is still standing in lines trying to promote herself.
Here is our story.
We were enjoying a great weekend at Six Flags. We walked by a booth that had a couple of people asking to take pictures of our 14 and 15 year old children. They told us they were talent scouts looking for kids to be on TV and in Movies. We stopped and our kids had their picture taken.
About two weeks ago we received a call saying our daughter had been selected to go in for a screen test. She went for the screen test and did quite well. Our daughter is extremely talented. They called us back and informed us that we MUST show up to the second interview because our daughter was selected as one of the finalists for THEIR talent search.
We asked time and time again, "Is this going to cost us anything?". They replied time and time again "NO". When we went in for the second interview Anthony, one of the talent scouts made it seem like things were going to be free. Head shots, free; Six week acting bootcamp, free; Talent Showcases in front of Hollywood agents, free; and everything else was free. He was even so bold as to ask for applause from us in the room when he said these things were free.
After all of the kids in the room had been hyped up by videos they started calling us into rooms for our "Final Interview". This was EXACTLY like a Timeshare sales pitch. High pressure and in front of our daughter. They victimized our daughter by getting her hopes up with false promises and then dropping the bomb that it would cost a minimum of $2500 for the most basic package. $5000 was the "Everything package".
The woman actually said we could not think about it. She told us that she does not know if there will be space if we did not decided that day. I asked the question "If you guys selected my daughter out of hundreds, and you want her in your program then why can we not think about it". She then started back pedaling by saying she was going back to San Jose and we would not be able to sign the contract if we did not decide right then. I told her I would drive anywhere to sign a contract for my daughter if we found the program to be valuable. She then began backpedaling again. What she was actually saying is...Whoever pays first fills the spot.
My advice is to NOT do business with this organization. They lied to us time and time again. They falsify claims of what they have done and who they have helped. The talent scouts themselves drop names of people and programs they supposedly have been in but if you do the research they are nowhere on the roster of the program. The high pressure sales tactics tell me they are not a respectable company and can not operate their business on their success. They can only prey on young kids and force the parent to have to be the bad guy.
The first thing that tipped me off that they DO NOT HAVE all of the connections they say they do is when they showed a video of the BE talent showcase. This is supposed to be the final talent show at the end of the bootcamp program. The girl that won the singing portion was asked by the MC what is next for you. She replied "American Idol". I thought "WTF".
If this company has so many connections and if this person was the cream of the crop then why did she not have doors opened for her. Why was she going to have to audition for American Idol just like someone that had never been through the gonnabe program. Her parents spent all of this money with gonnabe and she won the talent show and she is still forced to waiting in lines and auditioning just like everyone else. So what did the thousands of dollars do for this child? NOTHING! She is still standing in lines trying to promote herself.
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