In Mid July I took my 7-year old daughter to an "open call" at John Robert Powers in Fort Worth. At this event there were probably 80-100 parents and their aspiring children who were told that they would be given an "honest evalution" of whether their children had potential or not for the acting/modeling business. And that only those with "potential" would be evaluated further.
The process was "group" auditions in front of an "agent". After my child's audition we were ushered into a private room with a sales agent who gushed about how talented my child was, but that she needed some training to "get her ready for a career in the entertainment business." It was a hard sale which I initially resisted under the excuse that I needed to discuss it with my husband because it was almost $3000 and a year comittment of driving from Dallas to Fort Worth for classes - for a 7-year old! I was skeptical that she was actually that talented to justify this much expense and level of effort.
Over the next few days, I received repeated high pressure follow-up calls to sign my daughter up ASAP so that she could be seen by all they "talent scouts" and L.A. "agents" that they had scheduled to come to JRP to audition their students in August and September. They wanted to know more and more about my child's abilities/interests with each call, which they used to emphasize why she needed training at JRP and "how special" she was, based on how many kids they see. (You had to be a enrolled student to be able to be seen by these agents and talent scouts.)
I was suspcious, but eventually, their repeated calls worked. On July 29 I gave in and enrolled my daughter at John Robert Powers in Fort Worth. I was told the JRP sales representative, Vicky Cannahan, that we would be going out of town during the month of August for vacation and she assured me it was no problem to miss a class or two and then pick back up when we returned from vacation, without forfeiting any class time - as she said this situation happens all the time and they understand. She wanted my daughter to "hurry up and get started - ASAP" rather than wait until we got back from vacation to begin the program.
Two classes were initially scheduled for Saturday mornings from 10am to noon. I paid $1470 by personal check on July 29 for two classes to start immediately, which was 1/2 the total tuition for the year.
Saturday, July 30 my daughter showed up for her first Saturday classes. She attended the acting class but, there was no instructor for the singing class and we were told the instructor had a previous commitment and couldn't make the class that day. All students were dismissed without any instruction.
The following Saturday, the same situation occurred. I spoke with "Nathan" at John Roberts Powers and told him we would be on vacation for the next two weeks and would miss those classes. He said, due to the problems with the singing class not having an instructor he told me that when we returned from vacation we would be allowed to "just start the program over" due to the problems we had experienced and start the 10 classes of both the acting and singing after we returned from vacation.
Upon returning from vacation, I called Nathan and told him that I had decided to cancel the contract, and withdraw my daughter from the school. I asked for a refund of my money, since my daughter had only taken two classes and the added inconvenience of driving to Fort Worth from Dallas for classes that had no instructor and never made. He agreed and asked me to put my request in writing and he would process my refund with in 30 days. I faxed and emailed him a letter that day, September 3
I waited and waited, but no check arrived. I called Nathan again on October 13 at 1:50pm he said he would "check on the status" of my refund, but he never called back.
I called again on October 19 at around noon and was told that Nathan was not there any more and that "Brian" was the new person in his place. I explained my situation and I was told that it can take 60 to 90 days to get a refund. I told him the contract expressly states "Refunds will be totally consummated within 60 days after the effective date of the termination" - not 90 days. I waited but no return call or check.
I called again at 10:30am on October 26 and was left on hold for 15 minutes, which I finally hung up. I waited, but no check and no return phone call. I made several other phone calls in early November and just got the automated recording about the school and left messages.
On November 29 at 3:10pm I called again and "Rachel" answered the phone. She explained that the school had been closed for about 3 weeks and she was just there answering the phone and explaining that the school had been closed while they worked out a "licensing issue". She said she would take a message for the school owner, Angela Norton, to return my call. She said she would give my message to Angela to return my call. No call back from Angela ever came.
I called again on December 5 at 1:20pm. Rachel answered the phone again. I told her I had not gotten any call-back from Angela. She told me all she could do is take a message and put it under her door. He told me the school was sold to a new owner, Phil Barry, from California and that Angela Norton would be staying on as a "consultant".
Since this time, I called on January 18 at 2:15pm and left a message. I spoke with Rachel and she said the school was under construction and new management but that Angela Norton was still managing the school. I told her that this was frustrating that no one ever returned my calls. On January 20, I received a return phone message from Rachel saying that I needed to put my refund request in writing and submit it to the school. I called Rachel back and told her I had already done this back in September. She said I should re-submit it again.
Meanwhile, I filed a complaint with the Fort Worth Better Business Bureau and they responded that they could never reach or speak with anyone from John Robert Powers, but they were familiar with them from previous complaints.
I also contacted the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and found out that the school no longer had a license and was not supposed to be opperating in any capacity. I also learned that their are many more victims than just myself and my daughter - who are out much more money than my initial $1470 payment.
I have also heard that the Texas Attorney General is looking into this situation.
I called JRP today and their phone still is operational with a recording that "You have reached John Robert Powers..." I spoke with TWC people and they inform me the school currently does not have a current license and no one has put in an application to have it re-instated. Why does their phone still work and imply that they are still in business? Has anyone seen any money or refunds from these people?
Everyone should know that lots of people got ripped off by JRP! This company is a real scam that hurts people's dreams and pocketbooks!
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