Complain about a product or service

Barbizon Modeling & Acting Centers

Dawn of Harvest AL (11/26/08)
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.

Kristin of New Ringgold PA (10/14/08)
When I was 16 years old, my sister and I both recieved letters in the mail about an open call for Barbizon School (& Full Service Agency) of Modeling & Acting. We didn't know how they heard of us, but since I was very young (7 years old I made my first cd) I was singing around the state of Pennsylvania. So we figured that was how I was found.

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.

Amber of Rocky Point NY (08/23/06)
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.

Pamela of Collegeville PA (09/30/05)
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.

Angela of Jupiter FL (07/10/03)
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.

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