John Robert Powers Modeling
School
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this message in regards to a company by
the name of John Robert Powers.
I have never been involved with the acting industry
and likewise do not have any close friends in the business.
I was naive and got caught up in a scam.
My three-year-old daughter is beautiful and very bright.
I heard an advertisement on a radio station for an audition.
On a whim I called the number and (of course) there
was an opening in the schedule for my daughter to come
in the next evening.
My husband and I took her to the "audition" to
find out that it was actually to get her into their "academy."
These people are trained professionals. They are very
convincing (for people like me who are uninformed).
They asked everyone at the audition to call the next
day at a certain time to find out about acceptance.
I did this out of curiosity. My daughter had not behaved
well at the audition and I did not think she would be
accepted.
My phone call was returned by the "director" and
I was informed that my daughter was accepted along with
a spiel about how she is going to be great and that children
her age are in demand and that she'll most likely be
picked up by an agent while attending the academy.
In fact there was going to be an agent there that Saturday.
"This will pay for her future college," they
said. Blah, blah, blah.
I was hooked.
I was asked to bring a down payment of $300 to get her
started right away.
I was very nervous, as this was a large sum of money
for a young family to spend, but I was excited.
I brought the money in CASH and signed a contract in
the director's office. I agreed to pay $50 a week while
my daughter attended the academy for 10 weeks. This would
pay off the entire $795 by her last class.
I asked the director about my daughter's age since the
youngest class was listed as ages 4-7.
She said that she really wanted to work with my daughter
and would make an exception.
Upon arriving home, my husband and I started to have
very bad feelings about my decision.
My husband called right away to cancel and ask for the
$300 to be returned.
He was told that we could cancel by certified letter,
but that a $500 "registration" fee is non-refundable,
and that we must send the other $200 to them regardless
of cancellation!
Sure enough, in my nervousness and haste, I did not
read the contract carefully and, in the fine print, it
does say that this fee is non-refundable.
How can it be legal for a company to force someone to
pay over 60% of a cost with NO services rendered?
They already have $300 for NOTHING and have still been
harassing me for the other $200!
I also did not get a response to my complaint with the
Better Business Bureau.
I am taking them to small claims and the hearing is
in two days.
Wish me luck... and do NOT do business with JRP. They
are only out to get your money no matter what. They are
ripping people off!!!
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
A.M.
A.,
In certain states, there is a three-day cooling-off
period to protect consumers from hard sales pressure
and emotional manipulation. The grace period allows you
to cancel within three business days and be fully refunded.
Find out if this is the case in your state. The three-day
cooling-off period must obviously supercede any contract
statement about non-refundable fees, otherwise companies
would simply be able to get around the law and make it
meaningless.
You asked: "How can it be legal for a company to
force someone to pay over 60% of a cost with NO services
rendered?"
It may not be. You'll have to check. If it is legal,
it is extremely unethical. Not only have they provided
you with nothing, it has cost them nothing!
The idea that they could get and actually harass you
to pay for something you have not already received and
which cost them nothing is so twisted it really shows
what they are made of, doesn't it? What kind of people
think like that?
Why don't they just say, "We want free cash. Why
should we have to earn it!? Give it to us now!"
Report them to the Attorney General.
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