Talent 6
Note: Please read the entire entry from top to bottom before adding a comment. New information has been added due to recent findings.
The reason I’m writing this post is to warn my fellow viewers and anyone else about a notorious company called Talent 6. (Hopefully this post will show up in an internet search for Talent 6) I signed up with this company because it claimed I would be paid $250 a day to be a movie extra. I said to myself well hell a pregnant woman could do this. When I called they claimed I had to pay a $39 registration fee that was refundable during a 10 day trial period. I told the lady I would think about it because that was a pretty high price, but the lady insisted on me trying them out. So the next day I went to the site she told me about and found that there were hardly any listings in my area for things I could do. Many of the listings that were so-calledly in my area required me to travel to a different state. How could I get this job if there are so many others applying? I would be wasting $39 plus the $19.99 monthly fee for this useless crap. I tried calling them back to cancel, but they were closed so I called the next day and canceled the whole thing meaning getting my $39 back after arguing with the dumb foreign guy who kept trying to convince me not to cancel. I received a cancellation number and expected my money back in my account within the a 3 day refund period.
Of coarse that never happened…I also went shopping about 4 days later and returned a lot of stuff including a dress and a shirt to DEBS, sneakers to Foot Locker, a shirt to Rainbows and a necklace and earrings to Afterthoughts. I received my refunds from all 4 of these places in about 4 days total, but from Talent 6…no refund. The actual day I asked for the refund was March 27, 2007. So I inquired about the refund with my bank and they advised me to cancel my card out. A few days later my refund still hadn’t appeared so I inquired again and they said I should receive it in a total of 4 days from the cancellation period. I told them that I asked for the refund on March 27 and it was now April 4th. When they wrote me back they asked me to call Talent 6 again and see what’s going on and gave me a number. So I called Talent 6 and gave them my name and cancellation number and they claimed my refund had already been processed and I should receive it in about 4 days(The foreign guy again). It is now April 11th and guess what? No refund. They haven’t gave me anything back. Now I have to file a dispute form with my bank and sign an affidavit for Talent 6 to be investigated and the return of my $39.
Please people please! DO NOT fall for Talent 6′s great offers of making $250 a day…it’s a complete rip off and their keep your money! Their just some kind of scam business/website that robs inspiring models and actors of their money and dreams. If they were so legitimate I wouldn’t be going through this whole ordeal for a refund.
You call and speak with a professional obviously well speaking American and then when you call for a refund you’re talking to some foreign person whom can barely speak English. It’s all a big scam just to steal innocent models/actors money. DON”T DO IT.
Talent 6 should be called Rip-off 6!
I paid talent6 45 and they said I needed to pay another 3 dollars for a video on the company. When she asked me where I was born-I kept thinking that was a dumb thing to ask and had a bad feeling. I called back in 15 minutes to cancel. The guy said that I would have to wait 90 days for only the 19 dollars a day to stop. I said I never agreed on 19 dollars. He then let me hear a recording of me talking to the girl. You could hear me say after she mentions 19 dollars a month- I dont want the service if I have to pay 19 a month. And then she agreed that it was just a trial period. and that I would not be charged. The guy on the phone -comes back and says Im sorry-we wont charge you that service -but the 48 cant be refunded till 90 days. After– I call my bank and file fraud. They cancelled my card and they refunded my money the next day-the bank must have had a record on talent 6.
My son signed up for Talent6 after seeing the ad on juju.com. He thought that he would be able to get work as an extra. He signed up before checking out the site…silly boy! But I did some checking and found out that the site is a total rip off. He called his bank and got his card cancelled and Ive been emailing the company trying to get him a refund only to get nowhere. He has called and been very rudely told that he has to wait the 90 days to get his refund. Well at least they wont be charging him the 20 per month like they think they are gonna cause he cancelled his card! He also cancelled his membership on the second day. He has received nothing but rude service from them and they have told him not to call again until May when his 90 days are up. I know that his bank is going to take care of this and he will eventually get his refund but I must say that this company is a total rip off and something has to be done about it. If there is a class action suit anywhere please let me know about it. We are willing to add our names to the list of dissatisfied customers. We are real people and my son is a student who was just looking for some way to make money for school. I dont understand what is taking the FBI so long to investigate this bogus company. We have filed both with the FBI and the BBB and anyone who thinks they will benefit from signing with TALENT6 is going to be very disappointed.
This blog is really rather ignorant. I didn’t/won’t being paying Talent 6 any money as poor investments are easy to spot. I do however want to comment on the fact that even after Igor refunded the money and apologized for the problem that the owner of this hate sight in fact has slandered Igor’s name and after finding out that the IP went to a location in Texas did not remove the false statements, so that if someone was to read only a partial amount of the site they would think the company unprofessional. What a one sided deal. I myself am in the IT field and started to laugh when the IP address was posted. The owner of this blog tried to seem like she knew anything about IP routing and tracing. If she had captured the mac address I would be impressed but the IP address of a company would more than likely lead you to their firewall or router being that their intranet would have separate IP addressing to protect their systems. I am not better than anyone nor are they better than I. Until the owner of this blog removes the conversations of the imposter that reflects badly on the company along with the ones with her comments in regards to that person. I view this site one sided, inaccurate and misinforming. Congrats on the new arrival. But please, if you want a company to be professional and courteous then do the same and remove what was falsely posted along with your replies. I have no ill feeling or wishes toward you but feel it only fair as they did do as they advertised by giving you a refund. I would have been upset with the long delay myself, but I do understand the technology of it all and how things go wrong. Have a great day and enjoy your children while their young. They grow up way to fast.
If you read the beginning of the blog it states for everyone to read the entire post and comments. Quote: “Note: Please read the entire entry from top to bottom before adding a comment. New information has been added due to recent findings.”
Also as you may know I did not have time to do a thorough check on the IP for I was preparing for my little one among other stressful things, but to call my blog ignorant because I was venting about my experience I think that is rather shallow. I never expected nor did I post this blog to ruin Talent 6. This is my personal blog and I vent about everything. I just happened to get a lot of feedback. I wonder why it’s such a concern of yours for me to remove all the comments from my entry. I kept them there to illustrate the ignorance of the imposter.
The way this company handles complaints and calls is what makes the company unprofessional. I’ve read tons of complaints about how the reps would hang up on potential customers because they wanted to research the company first. If you feel my site is misinforming then so be it, but sweetvanillasugar.com is not a site based on the Talent 6 Scam. This is my personal blog about my life and thats that. I only wrote what I went through and so did the commenters that comment daily which proves that my claims were actually accurate. –Samara
I want to commend the person that respected other people to inform us of this potential scam.
My Son is developing his acting career and people of this aspiration can be very vulnerable. Thank You for caring. God Bless. AL Barr http://www.medicalsavenow.com
I’m with talent6, and so far things seem to be the norm.They seem to be just as good as any other agency of this sort. Besides, If something does’t suit you, the best thing to do is just to move on to what works for you. Just look at all the extra time and energy that your’e wasting blogging, and arguing back and forth online. Me personally dont think that $39.00 is a lot of money spent when youre looking to acheive your dream. Thats what makes the difference between people who acheive their dreams and the one who dont.And if it sounds like i’m taking thier side, I’m not. I just feel that If you did’t have 39.00 to maybe lose, than maybe you shouldn’t be wasting it on something like this to start with.It would have probably been better spent on maybe your children’s college fund,or something.
First off all I make money from my website and it’s not really your business what I do in my spare time, but you really need to mind your business. –Samara
Hi Samara, i read your blog from top to bottom. I was bored just looking to see what kind of job opportunities are new in my area when i came across Talent 6. I knew it was a scam right away when i read the description on hotjobs. Because i was bored and it seemed entertaining to explore into this scam a little, i came across this page. After reading your blog, i am filled with a new kind of rage against these fools that try to take advantage of the public. I have seen this way too often and its getting so out of control, but yet these people get away with it every day. Maybe i should create my own career? Maybe i should start my own public service that investigates these crooks and smokes them out. I know that the BBB is who makes these companies comply, but usually when it comes to them its too late.
If my job was to search the net for crooked companies robbing people on a regular basis and get paid for it, my work would be plentiful and satisfying.
How many of you would support that idea if i could actually bring it to fruition?
I know you will have my total support! With the way the net is today and all the scams you will never be out of work! — Samara
hey,
Just out of sheer boredom and interest I paid the 45 bucks. I was told about a 34.90 per month membership charge. I went to fill out all of the info, and when it said click next step it took me back to the main page. After all the blogs I read on your page, I should have checked this out first, but it was a spontaneous decision and it was only 45 dollars and I can always have a stop pay or CC number change made. If I try to pursue a refund it will be the same old story. I had this same problem with netzero.com, you know the internet company? I signed up for the 9.99 per month service and immediately cancelled due to my computer wouldnt support the program(2003) and they continued to charge my bank account 9.95 a month without my knowledge. Now who misses 10.00 a month? Anyway, this went on for years, and when I finally caught it they had charged me close to 300 bucks over a few yrs, and when I disputed it after getting nasty with them they sent me half of my funds back. So, with all this being said, I learned a lesson about online companies. If Talent6 ends up being a scam, then I only lost what I put in, which was lost the minute I spent it. Zero Risk is Zero Reward I say, but thank you for the insight. If there is truly a deception to the public, I guess everyone could go in on a class action, but the most you would end up with is your original funds. I however did do a BBB.org check on Talent6 and their rating was “F” due to complaints about the refunds…so your quest is not misguided or emotional from what research I did. If my businesses retained an “F” I would be ruined for life. So hats off to you for informing the public. In this case you were dead on the money. 56 complaints filed with BBB. THANK YOU
I wish I had seen this site a few hours ago. I called, and got the same script: “Is this your first time calling?” and “What is your zip code?” I was abruptly put on hold for a minute when this Jennifer Garcia came back and went through the whole thing. “Oh we have many in your area, is $100 to $300 ok for you in a day?”
Stupid me went along with it. Well I found this blog moments after hanging up the phone, so I put in a lost card request online to my credit card company. The $45 charge was already pending on my account!! I’m hoping it won’t go through. I called the customer support number, but they’re not open on weekends. Funny, they’ll take your $ 24/7, but won’t answer to you outside of business hours.
I called the “registration” number and argued with the guy about cancelling my account. He persisted that they are unable to cancel accounts at that center, and I would have to call the other number tomorrow. I continued to argue, and he firmly stated; “I told you that you can call customer support Monday through Friday 6am to 6pm PST. What didn’t you understand about that?” He sounded like a parent condecendingly scolding a child. I hung up, and am calling first thing tomorrow.
Thankfully, even though I did sign up, I caught this blog in time to hopefully avoid any problems. Thank you so much for this.
Woooooooooooooooo lord am I glad I read all this. I unfortunately had already signed up for this BS but I just called, the girl was perfectly polite about it and she just voided the purchase. I made sure everything was okay with my bank so no worries.
Its sad how big companies like this just don’t give a rats ass about us poor working class people. Its just take take take.
I need to chime in with these posts. I know that when you go on line and read reviews about just about every company out there there is always bad reviews. Please don’t get mad at me!!!! but I actually had a GOOD experience with Talent 6! Believe it or not. Here’s my story: I called on St. Patrick’s day (monday) and I was skeptical about giving my money away but the lady I spoke with on the phone (her name is Jenna S.) was very patient and answered all my questions. She basically told me that I need to set up my profile right away and that I need to sumbit to casting calls asap in order to take advantage of the service before the 2 week trial is over. Today is the 22nd (litterally 5 days later) and I’m set up for 3 auditions. 1- for a horror movie, 2- for a commerical for marijuana, and 3- for a film as an extra. So, I don’t know what happened with all of you, but I live in San Francisco and I guess the head quarters are up here and I might of gotten the advantage to have more connections. But so far so good. Maybe your representive mis-informed you guys, but so far I’m happy ::knock on wood::. I’ll follow up on you and let you know how I’m doing.
Mimi, rofl.
Sadly Samara, i think talent 6 is trying to advertise in your blog now. Using plants and thier so called “good experiences”.
HIGHSTICK I am not associated with Talent 6 in any way. I don’t understand why just becuase I am the ONE person out of hundreds of posts in this website to have a decent experience I’m now considered fake. Listen, get a life HIGHSTICK. At least I’m doing something for myself and I’m actually getting call backs. Maybe it’s not for YOU. Besides, since you called a 1-800 number what do you expect? I was smart enough to use a pre-paid card in case this was a scam, but so far so good with me.
Hello..I just wanted to say that I’m grateful for this post. I was on careerbuilder and found something about Talent 6. They followed the same script and when I acted uneasy used very general terms. They even asked me how long it took to go “downtown”. I explained that I was interested, attended modeling and acting school, and would contact them again tommorow if I continued to be interested, which I’m definitely NOT. The guy got very rude with me and short tempered when I refused to give him my credit card numbers. Not the best way to win my business. Thank you for putting the word out..
HI!
I was checking the jobs on myspace and when I clicked on Film and TV, almost every audition seemed to come from talent 6. So I wanted to find out more about them, because the job descriptions semmed to be unprofessional. Then I found your website and I´m glad that I read it even though I would never ever in my life give my creditcard numkber over the phone!If Talent 6 was professional, why would they get so defensive and why wasting their time by reading your blog? If I had a company like that and was really proffecional I might would write once to you to apologize but never waste my time with arguing. There would be no need to defend my company because I knew I had nothing to hide.
and what I read about raping children and the real bad language…come on…no proffecional would ever talk like that.And the weird successtories sound completly fake to me. I know a lot about the buisness of acting and sorry but such sites are most of the time scams. Why don´t you guys trie out the real sites like LA casting or casting now?
anyway, concratulations to your baby Samara and thank you for tring to help other actors, I wish ther were more people like you out there.
Thank you very much for your blog, you have saved me $45. Your are a blessing against the cancer site talent6.
I just saw that igor has a myspace page.i hope people don´t fall for that!
When I was a kid, we used to jokingly call ignorant people “iggorant.” It was a quote from “Kids Say the Darndest Things” or somesuch. Seems it was somewhat prophetic. Igor Reiant. Take out a few vowels and you have Igorrant. LOL – so true.
He should fall from the face of the earth. If he doesn’t get his on earth he will in the hereafter.
I am a member of Talent6 and I have had a bunch of success with this company. I have attended multiple casting calls and events. I was proactive and actually did what I should have and i got great success. You can’t be lazy and expect people to contact you. Maybe thats why all of you are having so many problems. Talent6 gives you the resources you need to succeed in the entertainment business, they can’t force you to submit to casting calls. And they have a 90 day guarantee, scams dont offer that, so maybe you should rethink your statements. As adults you should have figured all that out by now. No ones going to hold your hand and nothing is free, it’s a service, theres going to be a fee!
My name is Igor Reiant and I am the CEO of Talent6. I’d like to personally apologize for any problems any former member or employee may have encountered with our service. We’ve worked with over a million clients in the last two years and have designed our sales and customer support procedures to accommodate every one of them. However, as with any company, problems and mix-ups do occur, and we do our utmost to solve them and prevent similar issues from happening in the future.
We are not hiding anything. Members of Talent6 have the ability to cancel online and send questions through the site directly to Customer Support. If a client prefers to speak to the Customer Support Department by phone, our toll free phone number is provided during the initial sale and on the website. By calling 1-800-710-4210, you will be directly routed through to a real person who can answer questions, provide refunds and help you with any problems you may have. There are no phone prompts or mazes to go through and wait time typically does not exceed three to five minutes.
Talent6 is constantly working to improve our Customer Support Department, Sales Department and our website as a whole. We post thousands of new casting calls every week for people working to break into the entertainment industry. Search for Talent has also signed up hundreds of Casting Directors and Photographers who contact our members every day with upcoming opportunities. We are consistently growing and expanding, but it’s not because we’re a scam, it’s because Search for Talent works.
IF ONLY I HAD USED MY NOGGIN BEFORE I FELL FOR THIS SCAM A FEW HOURS AGO. I am a poor college student and figured that I would look up good summer jobs online. My results took me to talent 6 and reading on how great this sounded, I called and became hesitant when asked for my credit card number. I dont know why i fell for his, but I did. Right after i hung up, I decided to do what i should have at first, and that was look it up. I was brought here and realized what a great mistake I made. IM a broke college student and those 45 dollars are something I could have saved. I called to cancel and get a refund but that didnt happen. THe girl did however cancel my account, but said that I will not receive my refund until 90 days have passed.I argued why they would wait 90 days if I was cancelling my account and she didnt really give a good reason. IM happy that i did get it cancelled and avoided the monthly fee, but I still want that refund. IM gonna call me bank to cancel and get on there case and make sure they do not take out money. A complaint to the BBB is something i may just have to do with this scam agency..HOPefully this helps anyone who is trying or considering signing up..DONT DO IT
legitimate talent/casting/modeling agencies will NEVER ask for money up front. NEVER. really. any place that is asking for YOU to pay THEM is scamming you. period. real talent agencies look at the people they represent as a product and are willing to invest money in them, because they are counting on a return on their investment. that’s why you will never see a legitimate talent agency saying that “anyone can do it”-they only want to represent actors/models that will get jobs.
again, agencies that ask you for money are SCAMS. DO NOT DO IT.
Personally I do feel like talent6 is a scam. They ask u for $45 for registration & portfolio. Guarantee u will be contacted within 90 days. If u don’t u get a refund. If u get contacted and u don’t except the job no refund. Plus two weeks after u sign up u get charged $35 to get access to veiw casting calls. Scam.. There’s really no casting calls or productions period going on in any small towns. So bullshit talent6 is.
Don’t sign up for talent6. Get your money back.
Sweet Vanilla I will join you in a class action.
I am so glad i googled talent six and found this page before i made a huge mistake! Thank you so much Samara!! By the way Talent 6 is all over the employmentguide.com now. Someone should really do something about that. Thanx again.
Is talent 6 a scam? It depends on how you look at it. Aquisition of new talents comes from the right type of ad. Usually thru job hunter website, entertainment publications, or word of mouth. Generally most of the calls come from job hunter websites such as career builer or monster. Once you see an ad like this with an 800 number your guard should go up. Once you call the first thing that the agent will usually say within the first few sentences of their script will be a zip code lookup. This should be a sure fire sign that a script will follow. Now as long as all terms and conditions are read and or accepted by a newly aquired client, it is up to the consumer to follow thru with the instructions provided by the supplying service. Pay close attention to your bank statements. It seems that services like this have glitches in their computer systems when it comes to billing cards. Mutliple charges that are off the billing cycle you agreed to are quite common in this industry. At one time yes the customer service department was over seas but has been since return to the US after talent 6 found out that most of the people from “their country” were idiots that couldnt get and idea of how to speak proper english to english speaking people. The funny thing about my experience with talent 6 is the lack of respect and lack of morals excercised by the chief officers of this comanany. I stopped working for talent 6 abouts year ago. I have an extensive knowledge of ALL talent 6 poilicies and procedures both in the sales as well as the unethical treatment of talent 6 employees. Trust me its not the reps your speaking with that is the problem its the management. I was once of talent 6′s whores for a long time. Now its time that they are my whore. Let me know the position you want them in so we can screw em.
ask me a question and I will have an answer and or solution to any ones questions. i know everything, more than what think i did.
I called this company today and after hearing of a $45 registration fee, hung up the phone. I found this blog and read all of the entries. Me being a guy out for laughs decided to call them back and proceeded to argue with the representative on the other end. He was very blustered and sort of outraged at my request to do research before submitting my any account information. He ‘informed’ me that I had already done whatever research needed to be done when I found the ad. Ha ha, he didn’t like it when I asked him for his name. I repeated, in a german accent, that I was gong to research the agency regardless. He hung up on me…
Talent 6 Quack Fact #1
Did you know that you can obtain casting calls by visiting craigslist? As a matter of fact, Talent 6 aquires about 75% of their casting calls by cutting and pasting the information directly from CL!!!
Talent 6 Quack Fact #2
Did you know that any information you have given to talent 6 can be shared or sold to other companies? Up to and including names, adresses, phone numbers, and any picture submitted to their database.
Talent 6 Quack Fact #3
Did you know that a former female employee of Talent6 had a miscarriage while on duty? Miscarriages are a completley occurance however the female rep complained of not abdominal pains while working and Igor Reiant himself would not allow the agent to take a break. Another supervisor waited until he left the office and sent the female rep home for the day. Its turned out that if she had waited just a little while longer her health would of been in grave danger due to internal bleeding from her uterus. She bleed thru her pants while waiting for approval to go home
Samara I wanted to formerly apologize to you on behalf of all the talent6 reps that have read your blog. as a former employee of talent 6 i would like to offer you and your attorney any information that would help your case.
all my typos are igoresque arent they olo
Talent 6 Quack Fact #4
Did you know that employees paid for health insurance and did not receive coverage that was paid for? Talent 6 did not pay the insurance provider and employees werent notified that the insurance was cancelled. This date employees have not been reimbursed for their contributions.
Talent 6 Quack Fact #5
Did you know that some casting directors listed with talent 6 claim to be but are not affliated with any major motion production companies?
Talent 6 Quack Fact #6
Did you know that talent 6 is attempting to run a campaign with companies like Reputationshield.com. These webesites specialize in suppressing negative plublicity search engine listings similar. What that means is if you googled X company then all negative sites about X company would be located lower than the 1st ten listings.
Samara’s site is the main reason why talent 6 is inquiring about these services.
Any companies that require any type of fees are scamming you, it has been said so many times on different venues and forums of discussion. If an agency thinks you have what they are looking for they will bring you in and once you begin making money that’s when you pay, when you are asked to pay upfront it’s total b.s. period, end of discussion.All these people from talent 6 and Igor posting here only makes talent 6 more pathetic looking, and these so called success stories are total scripted, force fed garbage. If you were having such success you wouldn’t be posting here arguing a mute point, and Igor for a “CEO” you have quite a bit of time on your hands, aren’t you supposed to be running a business?
THANKS FOR THE WARNING!….I just got off the phone with one the reps from TALENT 6 and immediately he began requesting all of my personal info…and when I started asking questions about them, he referred me to their website..That made me skeptical and I DID NOT give them my credit card number..Also, he even questioned why I was not ready to give the “my money” and became very short with me and hung up once he realized I was not going to budge and fall for his fast talking!
BE AWARE OF SCAMMERS BECAUSE EVERTHING IS HIGH AND THE ECONOMY IS LOW!!!!
Sorry for the misprint..
***BEWARE OF THE SCAMMERS EVERYWHERE IN REFERENCE TO JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING****
********PRICES ARE HIGH AND THE ECONOMY IS LOW!*******
*****Research, check with the BBB, ftc.gov., etc.
****BE AN ADVOCATE, NOT A VICTIM OF THESE PREDATORS!***
***GOOD LUCK***
Being experienced with casting directors in NYC, I have to say Talent 6 and Hollywood Profiles sound like scams. First and foremost, a reputable will not charge you any up front fees. They will have you pay for your portfolio and won’t charge a commission until after you have been paid. I would recommend calling or visiting the Better Business Bureau online and calling your local Consumer Affairs Dept to check out any complaints as well to if they have their license. I also would have to strongly recommend that you buy a few books on talent scounts and agencies at your local book store.
There are so many online scams and unlicensed management companies, scouts, etc out there, that it’s better to be prepared then suckered into something you think is legit.
Thank you SWEET VANILLA SUGAR,every time before to sign-up somewhere, I double check on the internet the compagny. And sometime I find interesting blog like your. There is a simple rule for me: never pay to get a job. If a recruiter is asking you for money, IT’S A SCAM.
You are doing a great job for the internet community, keep on doing it, thank you again and good luck!
Patrick
This talent 6 company is really a waste of time and waste of money. They give you the BEST PROMISES in theworld and you will HEAR the SWEETEST WORDS EVER in welcoming you to be a part of their SO-CALLED COMPANY.I think it will be FAIR ENOUGH if they willjust REFUND the MONEY of those people who are CANCELLING their membership. They must not HOLD the money that was not THEIRS in the first place. If you will not use their service, if you want to stop being ONE of their VICTIMS then they MUST GIVE the MONEY BACK…Unfrtunately, I am one of the VICTIMS and it’s TOO LATE…I haven’t read your reviews first. So for those who are planning to be part of TALENT 6..PLEASE THINK A MILLION TIMES and even if TALENT 6 is the LAST COMPANY in THE WORLD, DON’T EVER DARE TO BE PART OF THEIR UNFAIR COMPANY.
hollywoodaduitions is a scam and thanks for this blog thing.More times than none the internet agencys are a SCAM research before you sign on with anything. look into what they are promising you. if they are promising you tons of jobs and different things than you need to be questioning them usually a legitamate agency would sceduele an audition with you before they even tell you that you’ll be getting all of these jobs. its supposed to be a TALENT agency if they havent seen you or if they do everytinhg over the phone then how are they supposed to know that you have TALENT if you want to act, build up your resume dont just jump into things that look promising because chances are they are not. this industry is full of hard work and climbing your way to the top. alot of rejection is involved too. best of luck to everyone whos aspiring
Samara, I would like to commend you for starting this Blog regarding Talent 6. Not only did it serve as an expression of your personal experience and opinion it “WARNED†potential victims of Talent 6 and gave an open forum for those who were victimized to speak out.
To all who are even considering Talent 6 or any other agency asking for $$MONEY$$ no matter how little…DON’T PAY A DIME. The bottom line is that if they want to employ you, it WILL NOT COST YOU ANYTHING up front. When an agency mentions upfront Processing Fees, Handling Fees, Operational Charges, etc.. RUN as fast you can in the opposite direction this is a dead give-away of a Swindling Con After Money.
I have worked for two of the largest corporations in the world, which were/are very reputable and honest. During those years, I hired and represented many people to perform various service oriented work and I know that the proper business practice does not include collecting a fee upfront. Currently, I am operating independently as an agent marketing for a couple of models and a Pro-Racer and I never asked for or requested one penny up front. In addition, I have never been charged to use their photos in magazines or on Web-site. These clients are paid by companies who want to use them and I “only†am paid when they are paid.
I am very disappointed by the fact that with BLOGs like yours and testimonies from victims as well as horrible BBB reports that this company is still operating. But, then again you never know whose pockets Talent 6 is “greasing†to stay in business (this type of dirty business practice goes on each and everyday). EVIL has NO Conscience. Nothing irritates me more than CROOKS and LIARS.
Again, “Kudos†to you for being a catalyst in getting people to open up about their experiences with Talent 6; hopefully everyone will read your testimony and the “BAD†experiences of others on your BLOG and eventually force these people out of business.
Keep up the FANTASTIC work and for anyone who does not agree with the fact that you BLOGGED the truth, I personally would not waste my time if I were you responding to such IGNORANCE. Whether they like it or not you are speaking from personal experience and there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with that. Plus, with the economy the way it is for most people throwing away money is not an option. Best of luck and I hope that you find work with a legitimate company soon.
BTW, I did not see the horrible comments that you spoke of from the CEO of Talent 6. Apparently, this tortfeasor does not know that there a civil laws in this country against fraud, slander, defamation of character, deceit, and infliction of emotional stress.
Samara,
Thanks for the alert on Talent 6. Saw their ad today on Yahoo.com, so I did a google search and found your blog. You saved me alot of time and I thank you. If your looking for “extras” work, consult your states film organization. They list reputable casting companies.
Here is Massachuesett’s website http://www.mafilm.org/ .
Find your state’s version of this site.
By the way, work for extras is more like $112 plus OT over 8 hours. Most calls are 12 hours. You get extra for things like smoking if they need smokers etc… $250 is for SAG (union) extras. To join SAG you have to have had a speaking part and pay a fee of 2K + and monthly dues.
Scams like Igor’s (name is a gas, since the majority of fraud being commited over the internet is from Russia) are everywhere on the job search boards. If they ask for money, they are a scam.
By the way the people you talked to on the phone, are people who responded to ads like this that promise potential wealth, working at home. On Commission, they sign you up, they get money. Like you and me out of work,and suckered in.
The world’s going to hell, everybody’s scamming. If it sounds to good…it’s a scam.
So I pretty much read all of the comments.
Talent6 is lame.
Igor sounds like he’s twelve.
Everybody else- I have no idea.
Thank you for this review. I was already suspicious but now this confirms it.
Thanks for this blog. I was on the phone with a Talent6 “agent” and immediately upon reading this I called my credit card and cancelled it. Also, read this
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportExtensionPage.aspx?CompanyID=100046204&sm=#ComplaintExperience
The Better Business Bureau gave Talent6 an F. I called them on the phone and tried to argue to get my money back, but no need- my credit card company already recognized them as a fraudulent business and I canceled the card immediately.
Someone please take these sickos to court.
Hi,
Not to prolong the conversation, but I read this a few minutes after signing up with talent 6 because I had a bad feeling in my stomack about it. About two minutes in the call the rep starts asking you for credit card info, actually, lethan that. When I kept interrupting to ask questions, he sounded a little anoid and rushed. I went through with it because of the refund policy. Fortunately I was able to close my account and will get the money back from my bank.
I have learned my lesson.
Thank you for this website.
I was just on HotJobs looking for stuff and Talent6 came along. Has postings everywhere. I figured I’d give them a call and see how it is. Within 2 minutes, they are asking for money. Got me very suspicious. So I figured before I fork over $45 to this company, let me see what comes up about them on google. Well I got this site, as well as a few other reader’s comments sites. Well, I dont think I will be calling them back. Than you very much.
Thank you very much. I saw the post on careerbuilder.com and was about to call and decided to search the company. I’m glad I read your post.
WOW! This is so sad, I hope everyone decides to google Talent 6 prior to giving their credit information over the telephone. I am a fashion stylist and was looking for some part time work to make ends meet. I contacted Talent 6 because as everyone else it seemed legitimate being it was posted in my local newspapaer. I contacted them and they immediately requested my credit card information even before giving me their compnay information, so a red flag was immediately raised so inquired further on exactly what the money was needed for and they said my portfolio that consisted of pictures and a professional website, so I told them I already had a portfolio and website, they then became very aggressive and almost angry because I was not an easy sale. I googled the company and found your blog, so I know what I felt was correct and did not sign-up. THANKS! Also please know that these companies have been in business for a while and they consistently change their names like Wilhelmina, Pro Scouts, etc. Please due your due diligence and research these companies, as said before if they are legitimate they will not need money from you.
I keep getting someone named Hunter, who refuses to let me wait for a supervisor, and hangs up on me. He reviewed the call once and I did not hear the terms on the phone. Hunter will not play back the call for me agin and hangs up on me every time I call.
omg…
i can’t believe that igor guy would say all that ignorant and foul crap…just him replying with those awful things would make me not want to sign up…
thank you so much for this blog!!! I saw the ads on yahoo jobs and thought i’d be smart this time and research it…..that company and igor are soooo awful and pathetic
When I first called Talent 6 they told me my membership was $45 and that was on August 8. Today I noticed a $34.90 debit to my account from Talent 6. When I called they told me that was a monthly fee that I agreed to. If I agreed to it dont you think I’d be aware of the charge. They played the recording to me and basically what they did was trick me and not come right out and say they would bill me. What they said was that I would get a 2 week “FREE” access to casting calls….they did not tell me I needed to call to cancell anything otherwise I’d be charged $34.90. Anyway they told me it would be refunded within 3 days but after reading everything here I am not convinced that it will be that easy.
I read with great interest all the comments made with regards to talent6. After speaking with a friend who has been in the talent business, as a real talent and location scout, he informed me that one should only deal with talent agencies that are members of SAG (Screen Actor’s Guiild) of AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artist).
There are many talent agencies out there that do look for extra work for people. But there are a lot more “talent agencies” that look for money. So you have to be very careful when dealing with “talent agencies” because everyone wants to be on television or the movies.
That’s why television reality shows are so popular, everyone think they have hidden talent and are just waiting to be discovered.
One catch is the continous monthly fee the so called talent agecny charges, a legit talent agency will charge usually a very low one time charge-that’s to get you registered and to handle some paper work and when they find work for you the agency will be paid by the production company. One should look at the talent agency as one would look at an employment agency. YOU should not have to pay for them looking for a job for you–they get paid by the production company to include as many people as they need.
Just like all of you- I found an ad on careerbuilder.com so I called up Talent6 to see what they were all about. And within minutes they were asking me for cash without even going into what the program was all about. It’s awesome that this blog is up- just saved me a good amount of time
So just signed up for this talent 6 for $45.00. I normally research companies before I give out my credit card info. I feel like an idiot. I am going to call the company today to see if I can get a refund, if not, then I guess I will contact my bank. i feel like a big idiot.
ert
Samara, that whole bit about crossing your path was no joke. Will you marry me? Your awesome. you single handedly stopped thousands of poeople from sending money to this idiot. People, Any time a company asks for money up frontit is either a scam or they are desparate with a service that rarley works. Think about it. If they really placed 50,000 people with jobs then all theyd have to do is sign agreements with these acting agency’s (the people who use you for extras) and have them take a small percentage of that 250 they pay you every day and pay talent 6.example(if they payed 250 to me for days work, then talent six gets ….say 15 bucks of that for finding me the job.) The reason talent six deosn’t do that is cuz thier placement rate probably sucks. so they want to make sure they have money. Think about it. That is how legit staffing agency’s work!I love you samara
Job well done Samara.
I bet you’ve saved hundreds of people from wasting their time and their money only by putting your feelings up and lookin out for people.
I myself was almost scammed.
Thanks.
I’m glad I read this blog before I called talent6. I had no idea about the fee. They really sound like they’re big scams and all the members on talent6.com need to be aware of this. Samara you did a good thing by trying to take them to court. A company like this deserve this. I’m 4real.
Igor, why does Talent 6 charge for service? Every other agency I have heard of takes a percentage out of the check that talent makes, not necessarily charging them before they even start working?
Thank you Samara!!! I called Talent 6 today. The guy who answered the phone(heavy accent) refused to answer my question right away. I kept asking is there a registeration fee? He ignored me and kept reading a script of some sort. After he finishes he proceeds to yell in the phone that it will cost $45 for sign up and portfolio!!! In the middle of me saying that I will have to think about it…he hangs up in my face. Wow!!! Very professional. I definitely know that this is a scam and a company like this should not be in operation. I hope you are successful in this case…and wish plenty of luck.
thank you for putting this up. I was contemplating calling them but now I will never. How that man reacted is so unprofessional and I would never network with people that behave such as that. Samara, I’m sorry you had to go through this.
Samara-
Thank you so much for posting this blog. I will now be more aware of talent agencies (or anything else, for that matter) that sound fishy. I will also remember to do my research!
Thanks again!
Hello everyone, I am here to share my story about Talent 6. I was looking for employment adds in the internet and came accross their “$250 a day, no experience required” BS, and I did not hesitate to call. By the time I knew it this salesman who by the way talks like @ 80 mph convinced me to pay a $45 enrollment fee in order to create my profile website or something…. After I gave all my info I started thinking that something that “easy” was a little fishi, so I decided to google it and came up with this web page (Thank you Samara for taking your time in doing this). I inmediatelly called like 10 minutes after I “enrrolled” and they were giving me crap too. Thnak God I have a pre paid legal membership so I decided to be polite and tell them “Ok, then I guess you will be hearing from my layer”. Thank God for pre paid legal!!! I called my lawfirm and someone immediately gave them a call. In less than 30 minutes the same dude who made me sign up, Mister Ralph Valdez, called my cerll phone and aplogized for the inconvenience. I just checked my credit card account on line and the money was refunded in full!!! no wait. That is the benefit of having a lawyer ready on call 24/7!! PRE PAID LEGAL ROCKS!!
I tell ya, I almost fell for it, but I did not!!
Samara-
I met this guy Igor in person. I think he can scam people not only in the internet but in person too! I did almost fall into the trap but I did some research and came across your website and I caught myself. I cancelled my registration just a few minutes ago, no way I’m not giving Talent 666 my money (They’re evil) Thank God for you Samara and I wish you and your children all the best.
I live in San Francisco and frequent the L.A area. I signed up for talent6 about 8 months ago, and I have received many jobs thanks to them. Some have been paid while others havent, but I have gained a lot of experience. If you live in some small town, dont expect to get the best out of this service!
Youre paying for a service, and like others have said LISTEN to the script the customer service reps read!! Keyword is SERVICE…
I just worked as an extra on a set with renee zellweger and the casting company i went through did not ask me for one red dime they in fact are real insistent on how to pay me for my services. THey never did ask for one dime and to add to the pleasure i experienced they were very kind and helpful and respectful. I would not advise anyone to ever pay a agency for anything that has to do with being an extra. it is more than likely a scam because a legit agencey would never ask a extra to pay a dime for anything they even feed you on set you will not spend a dime for anything nor should you. THey will not even ask you to go out and buy clothes since there is a wardrobe dept on set that can and will dress you according to the theme of the movie or show. I just had a great 2 day exprerience and hope to have another with the agency i went through. I suggest anyone wanting to do this contact your states website and look for the section where there is filming commission they might have a link to a reputable agency. Little did they know I would have done this for free just for the experience and it was great. how many everyday joe blows can say they worked with the likes of renee zellweger? now i can!
i forgot to say….the agency i went through WAS NOT talent6, i went through a agency out of New Orleans. Always be cautious of an agency wanting money to just be an extra…after all it is a non speaking non union part and there is no need for “fees”.
I just wanted to earn some extra cash since being unemployed. So in my search for a job I came across this company Talent6 and say it sounded real good getting paid to be an extra. Of course I signed up on 9/20/08. Now $45.00 + $2.00 handling fee later, I’m still looking for a casting call. I did find one for today 10/28/08 in Chinatown, I went and no one or I did not see anything looks like a movie going to be shoot. So I left and came back home, placed a call to Talent6 to see what’s going on. I was told that the director/producer did not complete his information with them, so there was no way to contact him. I then requested my money back. She told me that I had a 90 day commiment to end 12/20/08 and needed to wait. I was so dumb not to Google them. If I had, I would not have paid this money. From now on, I will Google any company asking for money while looking for a job or extra work. I wish others would Google any company now so as not to fall for all these scams that’s out there.
sorry you guys had to learn the hard way…if they ask for credit card info over the phone, hang up…Jane Tillman who i spoke with gave me the “are you paying with a visa?” line and i laughed at her…any luck on an investigation or BBB report?
Thank you so much Samara! The world needs more people like you. And as far as Igor is concerned we all hope you get hit by a bus or better yet a train.
I’m fifty fifty. I’ve actually gotten a few casting calls with this company. A few independent features, nothing really outlandish. One gig was unpaid, but they gave me credit, food, transportation costs etc. It really just depends on the area the person is located in. I do not agree with the unethical ways to actually prying someone’s CC info from you. It should be the persons choice if they want to sign up or not. The sales business is really cut throat and the legal limits are substantially broken. So, this service will work for people who know how to use the service and actually have work going in their area. But if someone is calling from bumfunk nowhere and wants to be the next Peter O’ Toole…yeah…no. Use it for what its worth and then get your money back.
Hi everyone,
I first want to thank Samara for having the guts to post this anti-Talent 6 blog!
Now I live right next to Danbury, CT and Connecticut is supposedly going to be “Hollywood East” so I called the number just to see what it was about. The little shit on the other end just couldn’t wait to get my credit card number. They also want to know how many days of the week you are available- you knnow if you’re a student, or out of work they figure you’re desperate! When I stated that I thought it was a scam after a minute or two the little shit says “I don’t care what you do get off the couch! Ha Ha”. Fuck you, little shit… Hey, Igor I just put a complaint into the BBB. Maybe someday soon you’ll be outta business prick along with your NASTY sales person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what a relief i found this blog before i followed through with the apparent transaction!
while i was telling her my cc info, i googled talent 6 and found this… then retracted my intent. the woman on the other end gave me a really hard time and even continued to try to persuade me… even going so far as to ignore my request and tell me “when you log on tomorrow morning, you’ll find tons of opportunities…” ha! she then hung up without giving me clear confirmation that she had indeed canceled the charge on my cc card.
that said, and with new fear, i instantly called my credit card company to attempt a “stop-pay.” they’re unable to do that, but i didn’t hesitate in canceling my card altogether. why not? atleast i’ll have that security knowing that this sketchy scam artist company “based in san francisco” and accepting calls at 10:30pm easter time doesn’t have my information.
i highly recommend you do the same.
thank you, samara.
and good luck to all who are out there trying to make a quick buck. wow, we should know better this day and age…
First I would like to thank Samara for creating this post as it as helped myself and hopefully others from getting involved in Talent 6. Secondly, the more I read this post the more ridiculous it somehow seemed to get. (no offense) But, I imagine that this Igor person either has to be a real idiot or a fictitional character. I somehow find it hard to believe that a real person would slander a person (that is so easily trackable) knowing that they are putting their own in jeopardy. However, I do hope you catch the real culprit/idiot who is behind this madness because these blogs have gotten way out of hand. Keep fighting the food fight.
sorry…”their own [company]“
Hey Thank You so much for this site. I enjoy going to auditions and getting rejected, but I dont like getting ripped off by jerks like these people. Thank you once again for the information you have posted.
I commend Samara on a job well done.
I was looking for P/T work when I came across the Talent 6 crapola on the job site. Any time I see something that does not add up; I look it up to second or third source the material.
I came across this blog, and what an epic effort. It’s a good read; provides entertainment; and Samara you have what my Yiddish friends call Chutzpah.
You’re probably too bright to be an actor, Samara…may I suggest a writer perhaps?
Wow, alot of stuff on this blog.
I JUST called 15 mins ago after running into thier ad on careerbuilder.com
I figured, sure…seems like a cool way to make some dough in my spare time. Once I got on the phone the script started:
“Hello, is this your first time calling? … And your zip code to check to see if there is work in your area… Great, looks like your in the Phoenix area and producers and directors are looking to hire in that area.”
“There is a $45 portfollio setup fee which will give you access to our website where you can upload pictures and videos. How do you spell your first name?”
THIS IS WHERE I STOPPED. I hung up because I figured something was fishy. Off to the internet I went.
Thank you so much for posting this information Samara and others. I’m glad I didn’t waste my time and money with this company.
I’m not basing my decision soly on this blog or on Igor, but on countless other complaints I have found on the web about this company.
I’ll bet they make good money with thier psudo-scam setup though.
THANKS AGAIN!
Hi Samara! Thank you for your Talent6 information here. You should create a facebook group about them.
talent 6 is a joke….they acted very weird when i called but i thought that it was just a company wanting money…but after reading this i got the exact same questions and i was skeptical….. he hung up on me after not giving him the credit cARD NUMBER…. And to the guy who threatend this young lady and called her beligerent names your lucky we do not know who you are….THANKS Samara
i wish you and your family the best of luck!!!
Thanks for posting this.
This “company” is flooding the listings on every job searching website I’ve been browsing.
I had to do a quick search to confirm that were what I expected them to be: a scam. I thought as much, but it is nice to read a first hand review.
Wow… just… wow.
I actually found out about Talent 6 from my daily CareerBuilder.com email listings. At first I thought it was a little strange because I set up my account to have the site send me job openings related to a specific area (this is coming from a web development job listings too…
. It got me curious about Talent 6 and did some research and I stumbled upon your site and this entry. Luckily I did research first.
I live in California. In fact, I just live across the bay from Talent 6′s headquarters. It kinda scares me a bit that rip-off agencies such as this one would even exist here, but then again our location is only 400+ miles north of Hollywood so it should be obvious that scams like these would exist here.
I give you props for taking care of this entire matter and it just sucks to see so many posers and haters posting malicious hurtful comments just because you’re speaking out against Talent 6′s advance-fee policy and its poor customer service. Seriously I commend you for writing this entry.
Thanks for spreading the word and I wish you well.
I too was interested in this agency and decided to call. The lady gave a sales speech and then told me I need to pay a fee of $45. to get started. I told the lady I didn’t have $45 and she then started asking me for my debit and credit card info. Doubtful and suspiscious of a scam, I told her I didn’t have a bank account. She then got smart and started asking me how old I was and then told me she didn’t have time to waste on me. She had to get back to people who were interested in going to work then hung up. It was funny to me cause that proved to me it was a scam. Reading this blog just confirmed my suspiscion. Thanks
Samara – I’m a Hollywood baby, grew up in the industry and have been reporting this company’s fraudulent so called employment offers for years. I noticed you haven’t made any comments in while. 1.) Hope you had a healthy baby. 2.) Have you not commented in so long because the lawsuit is in proccess and cannot comment or did you settle – and cannot comment as a result? Or just tired of the whole darn thing? I’m an advocate – not legal, but a squeaky wheel, like you. I was curious how this turned out for you.
Samara, if you still read the stuff that hits this site…God Bless You and yours. You’re an angel. You are serving America as one if it’s protectors from those out there who would pickpocket people from afar. All one has to do to find this site is to Google “Talent 6″ and your in the top five on the list.
I’d never give my credit card number to anyone who slaps up a website and fails to offer verifiable evidence of a business. I Google every company name to see what pops up. I do this for legitimate ads for employment. It takes only a minute to discover the actual name of a business from an e-mail address. If the e-mail address is generic, don’t bother. Legitimate companies don’t use “Hotmail” or GMail”.
Let this be a lesson to all, and remember one thing if nothing else. Any request of you by someone else to pay any fees up front for any claiming that it will generate an income for you, no matter how believable it may sound, will be nothing but a waste of your money and your time. In many cases, it may well lead to your identity being stolen.
The fact that Career Builder actually hosts ads from these sites is a disgrace, and as soon as I finish here, I’m going to pull all of my information of of their site and blast them in an e-mail. They ought to be ashamed.
Honestly I’m just tired of Talent 6 and I’m glad that my blog and experience with them can help save potential victims from the hassle of being scammed…
so i saw a post of talent6 on carrerbuilder.com so i was like why not lets call. everything was going ok until the guy that was talking to me said how are you paying today debit or credit. i was like none i don’t have one he was like well is there anyone in the house that can let you use their card after that i was like no way this is just a scam so i typed typed feedback on talent6 on google and got to this blog. what a reading has this been! Samara thank you!
I checked this out and guess what you can do if you really want to. Go to thier site, and just copy thier listing and paste it back in a google search. The original add will come up and the contact info for that add. Prety sweet. Thanks Samara
WOW! I am so impressed with your courage to take on Igor and Talent6! I can’t believe they haven’t already been shut down! I called after reading a job listing today, but as with many others, I chose not to give them my pmt until further research–thank God for this info you’ve provided everyone! Also, I can’t believe Igor and his slander! What a frickin’ lunatic! Good luck with all you do and stay strong! It’s people like you that I look up to!
This is insane. I’m really at a loss for words. I just read all of the comments between Igor and Samara, that was just so out of order. Did she really take him to court. And apparently, they are a scam, they have their own little section of ripoffreport.com and yahoo. So yeah.
http://www.sag.org/content/casting-scams
http://redbirdstudio.com/AWOL/scams.html
Where To Go For Help
If you have paid money to modeling/talent agency, and believe they are involved in a scam, first contact the company and request a refund. If you are not satisfied, register a complaint with your local consumer protection agency, Better Business Bureau, and state Attorney General’s office. Also, contact the advertising manager of the newspaper that ran the ad you answered. For ethical and practical reasons, the advertising manager may be interested to learn about any problems you have had with the agency.
You should also write the Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580. Although the FTC cannot represent you directly in a dispute with a company, if the Commission finds evidence of a pattern of deceptive or unfair practices, it can take action.
The Federal Trade Commission has regional offices in the following cities. Check your phone book for the most current address and phone of the office nearest you.
* Atlanta, GA
* Boston, MA
* Chicago, IL
* Cleveland, OH
* Dallas, TX
* Denver, CO
* Los Angeles, CA
* New York, NY
* San Francisco, CA
* Seattle, WA
The main office of the Federal Trade Commission is in Washington, DC.
You might find the AWOL lesson on agents, “I GOTTA GET AN AGENT ! ! !”, helpfu
Beware! I have a friend who took pictures for someone who works for talent 6 and this person has been making up every excuse possible to not give her her money that was supposedly promised. First, this person is too busy, they don’t have time, and when we asked this person to mail the check they refused to do so and now this person is “supposed” to be flying out of town for a couple of months. yet its probably just another excuse.
Okay I’m confused about this whole site of who’s real and who’s not, cause this back and forth is really unprofessional on both parts. But anyway is there anyone out there who has had a good experience with talent 6. I just hope it’s not a watse of money as some making it to seem. Anyone in the Maryland or New York area had any experonce with Talent 6. I actually found the company on career builder. idon’t beleive career builder would allow false advertisement.