Barbizon Modeling & Acting Centers

My daughter was accepted to attend a cruise this October 2012. In November, I had to put a $995 deposit down which I did on 11/8/11. On the form, it said cancellations had to be within three business days after acceptance date. The form did not state when the acceptance date was but after contacting Barbizon, they said it was the date I faxed it over. On 11/11/11, which was a government holiday (Veterans Day), my husband lost his job so I immediately sent an email to Barbizon stating I needed to cancel the trip. They responded back on Monday saying I needed to mail a letter which I did the same day, 11/14.

A month went by and I called asking for my refund and they told me I wasn't getting one. I explained that in reality I did send a letter on the 3rd business day since 11/11 was a holiday. The director Jamie thought about it and called me back saying they were going to count the acceptance day as one day so I was late. I explained that the 8th was not to be counted and then she said the 11th counts. Again, I told her it was a holiday and I did send an email on the 11th and the post offices were closed. Jamie told me I should've called and had the post office open to mail a letter. She said she could roll the funds over to another audition that costs $850 and I said no way. This is such a disgrace and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Barbizon Modeling and Acting is a complete fraud. They prey on average people and their daughters' desire to be a "model." I completely agree with Lars from Plano, TX. I was at the same place on Saturday, and our story is similar. Frankly, Barbizon should be extremely ashamed of their selves. No good will come out of your selfishness and greed! People, run if Barbizon "comes a-calling"! They just want your money and could care less about your child.

Scam alert! My daughter and I just got back from a Barbizon Modeling casting call at the StarCenter in Farmers Branch in Dallas on Saturday, April 04, 2012, to be placed as a model. My wife spoke to a person named Jenny who assured her after she asked a few times whether they were trying to sell us anything. Jenny assured my wife that placement was free and that we did not have to part with any money. On arriving there, they went through almost an hour and a half of "massaging" us for the sale that was about to take place. To cut a long story short, the casting call was merely a ploy to get us to come to the StarCenter to sell some modeling classes.

Although I am not against any school teaching modeling, I am against the deceptive practice and methods they use to get you there on the pretenses that you have been selected to work as a model. They then spring it on you that they can't send you out without you having first done classes. If they are selling classes, they should simply say so and not sell the poor girls and their parents a story that their daughter could be the next big thing, but only if they first attend classes.

Jenny was excited to see my daughter and told us that she would definitely be accepted, until I told her that we could not afford nor did we have the budget to shell out $2395 for modeling classes. Her whole demeanor then changed and she couldn't get us out there fast enough. If you are being contacted by Barbizon Modeling and asked to come to a casting call because you have been selected as a model, don't go: it's a scam. Only go if you are specifically looking for modeling classes.

People please read up! For those of you who do not know anything about the acting/modeling industry, first of all, if you want to know more about how to get into the entertainment industry, then contact the Screen Actors Guild! They have phone numbers and website! They have all the info on SAG agents, managers, legitimate classes, etc. For modeling, just send your photo with your height, weight, and sizes to the local modeling agencies (SAG has them, too) and they will contact you if they are interested! Yes, it is that simple!

Never pay an agent or manager beforehand! They work for you and receive 10% (agent) and 15-20% (manager) of that particular job. Until you get really established, you really don't need a manager anyway. Please stop falling for these places that have ** teachers and that try to way overcharge! And how is it even legal for high schools to allow people to come into them and solicit personal names, addresses and phone numbers? How is that legal and safe for our students? Aren't there any laws protecting our students from predatory salespeople? Just a thought!

My Daughter was called in to report to a hotel in August, 2011. That was all a scam. They promised the world they gave a me a story to pull me in. That my daughter was going to be perfect even though they had no room in there class they would make room for her. I payed a registration fee of $395.00. I was told I will be called for schedule and made a 4-month payment plan to pay a total of $1,195.00. My first charge would be on September 30, but, guess what? No call back or class date.

Then I called and spoke to Josie and was told class did not start because they didn't have enough girls. That made me so angry. I called Sarah to confirm this and she denied that. Then I called on the first weekend in October, the receptionist is clueless. I asked if the pre-teen classes would start that date and she said yes. I drove to their location and there was no class yet. It was some October event going on and they just sent me on my merry way. Still no call of when classes would start. Then the unexpected happen. I am relocating from Charlotte to Massachusetts.

I called Sarah right away to find out now that classes had not started and my contract has been breached I wanted a refund. Sarah was unprofessional. she was not understanding me. I spoke to her numerous times. Sarah was trying to give me the run around. She kept telling me to start my daughter until I leave. According to her, I don't want you to loose your $395.00. It's been 3 months almost and no return call. But Sarah wanted my $200.00 payments until I left. I asked Sarah, "If you are not giving me a refund, then I would like $395.00 worth of classes for my daughter." And she responded that only covers materials for class. So I responded, "Well, give me my materials." And she said that she couldn't do that.

I was furious. I called corporate in Tampa, all they did was transfer my daughters information to Windsor, CT, nearest location to my new address. But guess what? Another scam, they want $850.00 more for my daughter to attend their school. I was told to contact Charlotte ** for refund. I have left over 7 messages, spoke with Cindy **, she heard me out and still waiting for a return call for almost 3 weeks ago. Mrs. ** said to me, "Oh, I have someone in your same situation." I thought, I finally found someone in that office with some sense or a better understanding than Sarah.

Thank God I didn't hold my breath. Parents please be careful with greedy Barbizon.

Okay parents, listen up! If you want to know the real information about Barbizon, please read this! I was an "admissions director" for Barbizon! A Barbizon admissions director is a dressed up name for a telemarketing/sales representative. There are many ways to get into modeling/acting, and Barbizon is one of those vehicles. Personally, I feel the way they do business is a little unorthodox, but the company is reputable that they have been around for I think 70 years or more.

First of all, no! Barbizon is not a scam! Yes it is expensive and yes, your daughter (ages 8-18) can and will get real modeling/acting jobs. But first, the parents have to attend the information session. This is after an admissions director contacts you or your daughter. An ad gets the leads by your daughter! They can be: a) filled out at a mall kiosk, b) a Barbizon representative visits your daughter's school offering a scholarship where they fill out yellow forms (Yes, Barbizon actually gives out scholarships. This is true, but they also use the yellow forms to solicit you to coming to the information sessions. Unorthodox!) c) at a movie theater or d) at a bowling alley.

So, when an ad calls to invite you to an info session and you and your daughter did not fill out anything at all, usually the ad is using a yellow lead your daughter filled out at school. Your daughter won't remember because she signed up for a scholarship, not modeling and acting. After arriving at the information session, you will see a video then a manager will begin speaking about how great the company is. It really is a great company, if you want your daughter to build confidence. You will then be directed to interview with the director, so they can evaluate your potential for placement with the company.

So your daughter has her interview form in her hand with her picture stapled to the back of it. The director will evaluate her for modeling and acting divisions. You are handed a Barbizon bag with all of the paperwork inside and the director will present you with the pricing sheet. Plan 1 is $1,970, to be paid in full or split payment of $985 and $985; the director makes $250 commission. Plan 2 is a deposit of $495 then 5 monthly payments of $333 or 6 payments of $277.50; the director makes $200 commission. The director will always push for plan 1.

You are then asked if you want your daughter to be put through the selection process. This is just a sales pitch, Barbizon wants everyone to sign up. If you do put your daughter through, you will get a call the next day with the director saying something like "well, we saw 260 girls and we were only able to accept 56, but you made it!". There is no selection process. This is a sales job, but it doesn't mean it is a scam. If you want your daughter to attend Barbizon, it's totally up to you! Not Barbizon. They make it seem like it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, it's not. They fly all over the USA to have these big events. They usually visit the same state maybe 2 times a year. So if you and your daughter really want to do it and you have the money, go for it!

This is what you get: The Barbizon weekend (one weekend a month for 6 months), graduate, then become part of the placement division (really does not mean anything). They also (if requested after graduation) can receive their placement packet. When your daughter graduates Barbizon, she should request her packet. She can go on her auditions and get jobs, and when your daughter attends Barbizon, she can keep coming back (for free) until she is 65 years of age. Barbizon updates their classes every 2 years, according to industry standards.

Barbizon of Charlotte, NC is the biggest rip off ever. My daughter was contacted by Barbizon through her high school. After going to open call tryouts, we were contacted and, of course, told that my daughter was model material (of course, she is). She is extremely pretty and she does have all the makings of a model. We paid $1,700 upfront to get the "bargain" deal. Per Josi (at Barbizon), they need the money or the down payment in order to get my daughter's makeup kit ordered and for her to begin school the following weekend. I had to overnight the money. I was told that the school would be two Sundays a month (I have it in writing; it's in the information packet that we received at the tryouts).

When we arrived at the hotel room where the school was to be held, I was leery about leaving my daughter there alone. We were the first to arrive and the two young ladies that were the 'teachers" were not friendly at all. At the first class, we were informed that the classes would be every Sunday instead of two Sundays a month. This was in order to speed up the classes so graduation could be held on 30 Jan 11. This really made me angry because nothing was said about the changes prior to the first class. The next thing that made me angry was the "makeup" for my daughter was not individual kits. The makeup was doled out very sparingly by the teachers using Q-tips.

I called Josi at Barbizon and she, of course, denied the part about the makeup kit. And she really didn't have an explanation for the changes in days other than it was because of scheduling a time that was convenient with the so-called judges who would be at the graduation. So, we went along with that **. The "school" was very unprofessional. The hotel room was just that--a hotel conference room. It was bare to the bones and nothing indicated that the famous Barbizon Modeling was there.

The teacher that my daughter had, had been with Barbizon for three months as a new trainee. This was what Josi told me when I called to complain about how the teacher had been "corrected on things" by the supervisor during the first two sessions. After that, the supervisor was no longer at the sessions. This school was the most unprofessional thing I have ever seen.

After the graduation weekend--which was a real farce--each girl was given an open call to the U2 interview. This is where you go before the "judges" to see if you "qualify" for the big $3,800 cruise. The cruise will introduce the models and their families to "people or contacts in the business." Of course, my daughter qualified but we did not accept the cruise offer. And we have not heard another word from them since the 05 Feb 11.

I mailed the pictures and the required Barbizon form to Caren at Barbizon in Charlotte. I emailed her to let her know that we would accept the ICE representation from Barbizon. ICE is what Barbizon guarantees all its graduates; it's a so-called agency that represents its models and guarantees interviews. As of this date, we have not received any interviews or job offers as Barbizon promised. Barbizon wants only your money and when you decide that you do not want to invest any more of your money in their **, you do not hear anymore from them.

I am sure that had we paid to go on the upcoming cruise in October 2011, we probably would have had some contact from Barbizon. Also, we were told that Barbizon would provide a free photo shoot by a professional photographer, which we did, but the cost of the photos were over $240 (we received one complimentary photo on a disc).

Like I said, as long as you invest in Barbizon, you may get an opportunity to go on interviews and possibly get a job. We'll, my daughter will never know. Parents, please save your money. I know that kids (like my daughter) think that it is an opportunity of a lifetime. It all sounds so good. But please, beware. Do not throw your money away--at least, not with Barbizon of Charlotte, NC.

Elle was very nice. She spoke highly of my daughter. When I couldn't come up with the 295.00 down payment, I was told I could ask my mom or someone. All she needed was their info and she could run their credit card. I wondered about that, so I began to research the complaints of this company. What a shame of how they take advantage of people, kids and their feelings like that. Thank God I checked them out again before losing any money with them. Thanks for companies that let you post your complaints.

I asked my 18 yr old daughter to go for a 'looks see' of what Barbizon can offer. My daughter was a first time away from home student - 900 miles. This Charlotte Barbizon sweet talked her into signing a piece of paper and called it a binding contract that roped her in. I spoke to a "salesperson", claiming to be a model rep, and I only agreed to a payment to get them off my daughter's neck.

Consequently, they dug in and took a total of $1,500.00 from my account unauthorized. Better Business Bureau of Charlotte were no help. You had to pay $50.00 to get further assistance, but I believed that Barbizon had them paid off to win. I lost all the money, my daughter felt duped as well. They offered classes elsewhere, but she is going to college in Charlotte. What a joke they are. Parents, be careful.

In 2006, my daughter received a letter in mail about classes for modeling for Barbizon to be held in Richmond, VA at the convention center and she really wanted me to look into it so I did, classes held every weekend for like 6 week and promises of future career in the industry, all for about $1600. Of course, it was hard coming up with the money but being a single parent due to spouse passing away I wanted to give my daughter a head start in life with a career she could grow with. Well after the class and the graduation which was described to a tee about a fashion show was very disturbing to me but I dared not saying anything to upset my daughter.

Shortly, after that we would get notices of going to New York to the big IMTA or something but did not have that kind of money to get her there and I was already very disappointed about putting up the money for what really wasn't worth $1600. She is now 17 and still nothing has come from the school, actually getting ready to look up local agencies. But my reason for putting my voice out there is I had heard there was a news view on a scam about this agency and I don't want other struggling families to put out lots of money for a big letdown for your child.

The Barbizon "new faces" division is a total scam. Mom's don't be misled. Your daughter will never be placed anywhere! Neither as a model nor actor. Save your money for a real education for your kids. This program is total [lies]! When the "Talent Scout" calls, hang up.

This "school" is a complete and total joke. They make the kids believe that it's some ultra-exclusive honor to be "allowed" to go here. Well, news flash, they will take anyone who is willing to pay them over $2000. My friend went to the six-month course (2 classes per month) and I'm really confused as to what exactly her "tuition" was going towards. The only thing that costs Barbizon anything was the price to rent out a couple of rooms at a hotel two times a month.

At the "graduation" ceremony, which is a "fashion show", they don't do anyone's makeup, hair, and they all wear their own outfits. I'm pretty sure they don't give out fashion tips either because some of the girls just looked like a hot mess. You don't have to look like a model or have any talent to go here. I actually feel bad for my friend because she actually has potential (she's skinny, pretty and tall) and here she is in this class with a bunch of random girls that could've been picked up from off the street for all we know. The "ceremony" was very pathetic; the "instructor" was much uncoordinated and didn't know anyone's name. (I wonder if she even has any kind of experience in the industry). Bottom line, if you are serious about wanting a career in acting or modeling, do not go to this school. It is a complete and total waste of money and I don't even know how these people sleep at night.

My daughter received a phone call from Alyssa from the Tampa area saying they wanted to audition for local commercials here in MD (my daughter has acted before in the past). I asked her if this was going to cost me any money. She told me no. She told us she was given my daughter's name because she was told she was talented. We were told we had a 1:30 appointment time. Once we got there we saw a lot of other girls there. They took us in a conference room and started to explain the company. We were there for 4 hours. They took my daughter last, I think, because we put down that she had experience and was ready to audition. My daughter did her monologue and did very well.

Alyssa said it was bad. They said they build confidence but she was extremely rude and hurtful. She told my daughter she needed more training and for $3,000 they would do that. She misrepresented the company and I told her so. I told her she lied to me on the phone. So please do not be scammed by these people. If Alyssa from Tampa, Fl Barbizon ever calls you, hang up. This place needs to be shut down. Stop allowing them to take people's money. It is not fair. They were mentally abusive to my daughter.

My daughter was referred to this school when she turned 6 for modeling/acting. She had to audition in front of Shane to see if she would do well we did all of this she told him she wanted to be a model her whole life and at 6 that is a hard dream to admitt and mean it, but she did. We believed this man and he said there is a fee for the classes and we needed to pay at least 215.00 so we did to hold her a spot because she had what it took he said!

We waited and waited while these classes had to be rescheduled and rescheduled over and over month after month and come June we were tired of waitng, so we asked for a refund. He took my card info again because we did a debit and they had their money right away but he said it could be up to legally 60 days for a refund. So we have waited nothing. I call back and they no longer exist! My daughter mean while has told her friends her relatives that she is a model. she is one day gonna be on tv...that she cant wait because she has what it takes. Now I as a mother have to tell my daughter it was a lie!

This is insane, she was crushed so we try to drive to the building no one is there! I get a hold of corp. office and they procede to tell me we are on some list of refund. it is now Nov. 2 and we are still waitign for an answer and have nothing to be said except for us to wait and i refuse to wait any longer! They did not have to wait for my money and I want it back. I want answers now!

I have been kind and pstient but I am done. what ever I have to do to make sure this school never runs in houston again and be successful and take little girls and their dreams from them I will do. this is crazy and these are childeren they are hurting. How cruel and ignorant of Barbrizons and to think at onw time i trusted them. they are a JOKE!

Also, when I first went in they told me I needed to lose weight. I was 5'7 and 110 pounds. Because of the constant pressure I ended up developing anorexia nervosa and came dangerously close to death.

They probably only offered contracts to no more than 10 percent of the women that go there. To this day it makes me sick how they took advantage of me.

I worked over 60 hours per week and was paid less than mininum wage. I never received my commissions for enrolling students into their school. I am owed about 1000.00. First I was told that this was due to accounting errors. After many weeks, I was told I would get paid, then that the check was mailed. Finally I was told I would not get paid because my boss had taken my commissions and was no longer with the company, so they couldn't be deducted from her check to pay me.

well i dnt believe dat barbizon is a bad school you only get as much as the effort yu put in im doing really well and so are a few others from my class at barbizon i just paid the $1995 dollars got make up kits for every girl in the class and the photo shoot was free we paid nothing extra and my teacher was recruited because she had been a barbizon student before she at first started with simple jobs sum even unpayed but now she participates in runway shows and photoshoots she is well payed has done shows with dior and well many others so it just comes to show that you get as much as you put in

My daughter(Lindsey) whom was excepted into the school was treated in a manner unexceptable. The School was made aware that she has a disability and that this was an attempt to improve her self image and gain social skills. Lindsey has not been able to attended School from the age of 11 due to epilepsy and the school(Barbizon) was made aware of this issue. We trusted our daughters care to them as they did accept the responsibality. The school cost thousands of dollars and we had trouble with them leaving her unattended ,they had another child with disabilities team up with her so they could watch each other, as they were out of the room alot and left them unsupervised.

I did contact the School (Barbizon) several times to let them know I felt this was unacceptable and moved on because Lindsey wanted this so bad. Lindsey got to a point where she could not attent some of her classes due to her condition and was told she could complete her assignments from home. She worked on a VERY thick model magic book for months on end and we even put a down payment in for her to go to L.A.,CA. of approximately $3000.00

Her Book was mailed to the address that was provided to us on Sept.18,2008 with delivery confirmation and on Thursday November 20th 2008 after returning from Birmingham from Lindsey having surgery it was on our front pourch with a lable unclaimed. They didn't even bother to pick up her book that she had worked so very hard on for months and months. When I spoke with them about why it had been sent back they saidthey didn't get mail there,yet that was the address we had been provided and when I have mail that does not get delivered to my personal home I DO get a slip informing me that there is something at the post office to pick up!

Lindsey was crushed and discouraged and now does not feel excepted and has a fear of traveling to L.A. and would rather have the Money that was to go toward the trip to go toward Collage(she will have to take online classes due to seizures) I have made an attempt to obtain a refund because there has been no service rendered for this large amount of money and her schooling at the Modeling school had already been paid in full.

Barbizon , however does not want to refund the monies in which we paid although they have been neglectful to the needs of my daughter. So, In essence it's free money to them.

Consumer beware. I have learned a great leasson in trust ,but only had the well being of my child in mind, wanting to see her gain in self confidence.

This company has schools across the United States and in my opinion pray on the hopes and dreams of our youth.

We have lost thousands of dollars and my daughter has been emotionally scared by her hopes being shattered. Barbizon represents itself as a top promoter in the modeling and acting business, when in fact they really just want your money. I am ashamed for putting my trust in this company and now my daughter will have to put her education on hold until we can better afford schooling for her. She does not have alot of options, due to her seizures,for employment.

We showed up to the Open Call to find that it was a number of people (maybe 20). We watched a movie about IMTA and whatnot and then individually they said it was our Interview and Evaluation. A few days later we got a call saying that they usually don't take siblings, but they were taking my sister and I. We were ecstatic.

The training program was a waste of time. Although it would have been helpful to a geek who turns into a beauty queen, my sister and I had workshops for acting and whatnot that already taught us the tools we needed. Nevertheless we were blind and had fun making friends with the fellow students. Near the end of the training program we all (a class of about 20 of us) signed contracts together. I thought completely nothing of it, and neither did my sister or my mother. We thought this place was legit, even though my mom had already put out a few thousand for the program, for each of us.

I got my comp cards done at the agency, by the agency's photographer, and also the agency director. I didn't get work until I was 18, where I booked a photoshoot, a few modeling shows and in between all of the shows I was doing.. they booked me to recruit models. What I did was while a bunch of the models were in windows doing mannequin modeling, I was getting people to give me their information. After a while it seemed wierd, and after a while the actual modeling jobs stopped coming for me, and all I was doing was recruiting. I would give the agency 45-50 names at a time, and after a while I started to think about it.

On my own and without Barbizon's knowledge I went to New York City to get professional coaching in Singing and Acting. These coaches are the key for me and I'm still working with them today. They told me to do lots and lots of research on this so called Agency. I googled Barbizon Scam, and hundreds of hits came up. I emailed a few women who hosted blogs about scams and the acting business, and they helped me a great deal.

Almost all of the red flags had been done at Barbizon of Harrisburg:

The Open Call, The photographer running the agency, They wanted models to pay thousands for IMTA when in reality a showcase costs under $50, and most of the time, nothing at all. The recruiting in malls, and the fact that legit agencies don't charge you for training you. If a real agency wants you they will train you for free. There's so many more red flags that bothered me and my conscience got to me. So the next time I recruited, I faked the names on the leeds, because I didn't know how many lives I had unintentionally corrupted, and I didn't want to do it again. Barbizon found out when they were all wrong numbers and my hand writing was similar on almost all of them.

Another thing that really REALLY concerned me was when we found out how strict the rules are for underage people in show business. And both of us signed that contract when we were underage. And there were no licenses, there were no work permits no nothing to keep us protected or to prove that they were anything legit.

I talked to my sister who got a call from One Source Talent, which in our research we found that IMTA, One Source Talent, Explore Talent and a few others are all in the same family and they just pass your information around. She also researched, she's 17 and still underage. We both decided to leave the agency, because we have contacts in New York and my cousin is a director in NYC. All this time we had the correct contacts, but settled for trusting frauds.

When I sent the agency director the letter, he retorted by saying how I was unprofessional and lied about the leeds, but never addressed all of the concerns I had dealing with the agency. He then told me that I had until a set date to mail the Barbizon materials back to Lemoyne or they would have to take immediate action. So the materials are sent back. But I still don't know how Brittany and I are going to get our contracts voided.

It cost my sister and I all of our time and money when we could have been working with real professionals in a real agency. They told people they had to lose weight indirectly. And they built you up so you think you can achieve everything, but then most of the people never get jobs. I'm very wounded because they used me because I was a good worker, not because they were a legit agency who wanted to get me places.

However, I refuse to stop moving in the direction of where I want to be professionally. I'm working on getting a lawyer who can also be my manager, someone who specializes in the business, as well as my sister.

Legally, my sister and I are changing our names, because for anyone who knows anything about Barbizon, they use faces and faces and faces of famous people. When in reality, Barbizon never got them famous. And I know that if my sister and I do get that big, that they'll use our faces as well. And since we don't know how to get out of that, we're legally changing our names.

This was very recent, I'm still 18. And I encourage anyone who reads this to stay away from Barbizon, tell your family and friends. Tell everyone. And if you have a complaint, please make it even if it's anonymous. It could save good people from making the biggest mistakes of their lives.

I a well as dozens of other young ladies were recruited by the Barbizon modeling agency. I and my mother received two phone calls and a letter from Kerri Horton inviting us to an audition for Sunday, May 21st at 2pm at the Hilton Hotel at 598 Broad Hollow Road, in melville, NY. When me, my boyfriend, and my mother arrived there were over several dozen young women auditioning and a dozen women in dresses and suits claiming to be agents, talent scouts, certified teachers, and IMTA directors of Barbizon.

They spoke to us about talents discovered through Barbizon or IMTA, the experiences they had modeling or acting for Barbizon, their experiences working at Barbizon, what they were able to buy with their earnings from modeling: cars, books, pay off loans, and the services they will provide to us. The speakers suggested we apply for modeling if we were already applying for acting in order to keep our options open. The representatives of Barbizon then told us if we weren't professionally trained in both then anyone hoping to be signed would have to take courses in that very same Hotel for one weekend a month for 4 months starting the following week, May 27th and ending August 6th.

All of the girls there auditioning including myself were told that we would receive equipment necessary to complete the course which were included in the price:brushes, combs, makeup, makeup brushes, blush, eyeliner, mirrors, a hand bag, face exfoliaters, and the barbizon guide book. The only tools/materials not included were tweezers and face and hand towels which we had to bring the first day of classes.

The representatives also told us that anyone who was qualified and lucky enough to pass the interview would be accepted by the agency or asked to take the course. Upon completion we would have a fashion show where we would receive our diplomas, meet with a talent scout from the Ford models agency, and be allowed to go out on auditions and be allowed to work and it would all be for the price of $1,995 with the option to attend any further courses free of charge. Anyone who paid cash or all the money at once received about a $200 dollar discount and we were later promised a $50 payment for referring other people who would pay to enroll into the course. later on I even went so far as to ask one of the teachers, Ms. Sabourn, how she got her job. She then told me she applied for a position answering phones or mail in one of the offices and they called her back weeks later offering her a job as a teacher with no certification, training, or experience.

When we arrived for the first day of classes, we as the students were broken up into three groups based on our ages: 12 and under, 13 to 15 and 16 to 19, and instead of receiving our own makeup cases, brushes, combs, makeup brushes, and etc., we only received a handful of each item we were promised instead of our own and we had to share them within our groups and take turns using the materials before or after another group.

I had an allergic reaction both times i used the makeup along with at least one of the other girls in my group as well. We were also told that we had to do a photo shoot with a photographer they picked on July 16, with only a day's notice in advance. We were also told that we would have to pay a fee of $250, $450, 0r$600 for the pictures and Barbizon would be keeping over half of our comp cards we purchased.

I haven't even graduated or received my diploma because Barbizon announced changing our graduation date to a time after they have received final payments. With all of the fees I was charged, all the money spent on transportation and commutes, the reactions my face had to the makeup (which was probably cheap and contaminated), and the broken promises, I have become convinced that Barbizon hasn't done anything but put a strain on me emotionally, mentally , and financially. I feel hopeless, depressed and cheated. I made friends at the Hilton we met at every month and I was befriended by the woman claiming to be my agent and the women posing at teachers. I never thought I would have been so betrayed by people I thought were suppose to help me.

My daughter signed up for classes at Barbizon approximately 2 years ago for a total of $650. She was 19 at the time. The agreement between Barbizon and her was that her parents (me) would pay $325 and she would get modelling work from Barbizon to pay for the remainding $325. The parent $325 was paid within a month of the agreement. As far as my daughter's end, she did not go to all the classes nor did she get the work to pay her bill. She had just 1 job 2 years ago, but nothing since. Her amount due is $252.75.

Barbizon is now asking for the money and has turned the matter over to Remex, Inc for collection. Prior to their threatening notice, there was no previous communication from them. I have asked for a copy of the Barbizon contract in writing from Barbizon and to date have not received it. With this letter to them, I also sent a check of $25 to hopefully avoid the matter being turned over to a collection agency until the matter could be discussed.

Also, on the day I received the threatening notice, I called them and left a message for the billing person to call me. Phone calls have not been returned. They also have lots of excuses why my daughter didn't get work to pay her bill.

Since Barbizon has now handed the matter over to the collection agency, Remex,Inc. in Priceton, NJ, it's double trouble. Now we have to deal with another company who is even more frustrating to work with. When we received the collection notice from Remex,Inc, I called them and explained the agreement that was between my daughter and Barbizon and also that we had wanted a copy of the contract from Barbizon.

I was told by Remex that they would get this for me. This was over 2 months ago and, to date, nothing has been received from them either. I recently have called Remex to inquire about the status of things and was treated very rudely. I was told that they have no record of my previous request.. only that the Barbizon bill was 2 years old. They didn't want to hear anything that I had to say. The man at Remex didn't give me a chance to talk. He then started yelling at me, which made me yell back and then he hung up on me. I tried to call them back but they didn't answer (they must have caller id).

We know now that getting involved with Barbizon was a big mistake and a waste of money. They do not abide by their agreements and tend to have short memories on what was agreed upon. The personnel also tend to push the blame for things back on the consumer and assume no responsibilties for agreements made or even phone messages not delivered. Remex also does not hold themselves accountable for any committments or agreements they make either. They obviously don't record all the facts in their records. If they did, they would have a record of my phone call and my requests.

i got a postcard in the mail from barbizon saying they wanted me they would be in my town for one day and to call and make an appointment. my mom tried to discourage me from this but i wouldnt hear it so i called and when i went i found that 300 other girls had the same appointment as me and that we would have to sit through a presentation,

well after looking around for a while i relized that they just send these post cards to anyone and everyone. after the presentation i got a 2 minute interview with a scout who didnt care what i looked like or wanted as long as my mom had a major credit card and let me tell you, the conversation ended there. my mother said she wanted time to think about it and read over there material..they didnt want to hear it they said i would lose my spot if i didnt pay right now, then she handed us some crap about being selected if your selected..everyone with cash was selected. they dont care who you are or what you look like.

when my mom said she didnt have that much money on the spot to put out the told her to find someone to borrow it from, and that she must not really care about my future if she doesnt. well after going home and doing some research i found that barbizon has the lowest success rate with turning out working models and that they are only a school, they cannot get anyone jobs anywhere and they do very little to keep there promise of getting you any kind of exposure.

i feel really bad for the kids who believe in this scam and the parents who get suckered out of thousands of dollars for nothing.