It's been a long time, but I am a former employee of Wilds and Associates. A "christian" business that operates under the umbrella of Wilds and Associates, but has several "affiliate" companies. New City Talent, Premier Talent, Crystal River Records, Christian Voice Magazine, SGM Fan Fair, C&R Duplication and West Alabama Shirt Prints. For a complete listing see
www.wildsandassociates.com I am reporting illegal and unethical things that were done to me, other employees and consumers.
First, let me say that when I was hired, I was asked to sign a confidentiality statement. It was suppose to be something the company lawyer drew up and I was to receive a copy of it. It was a piece of paper copied from a copy that the owner, Randall Wilds, made up himself. I never received a copy of it, even after requesting one on several occassions.
Next of all, I asked about taxes (assuming that it was like any other business since there were 8 employees during my time) I was told to take care of them myself that he didn't do taxes, as requested by his lawyer since it was contract labor. However, we were told what time to be to work and how to do our job. It was an office job like any other.
After my departure, I shared this information with my lawyer and was told that this is a normal practice by con-men trying to get out of paying taxes. My lawyer also said that the wildsandassociates.com website is a dead give away of a scam. Many "affiliate" companies operating under the umbrella of a "big" company, but not registered with any state as a business.
Already feeling uneasy about the situation, I started to see things internally that did not seem right. I found myself on the phone with angry customers who were not receiving what they paid for. I received complaints such as: I am an Artist who paid $1,000.00 for a radio single and promotion and did not recieve my radio reports. Other said they DID receive reports, but when checking on the report, found that the radio station had not even received a call about their song. Others complained that they were paying hundreds of dollars a month for New City Talent or Premier Talent to do their bookings and were not receiving any at all. Now, while a booking agency is NOT a magic wand, your agents have to call about the Artist to try and book them.
As an employee I, along with other agents, where told NOT to book for certain artists as they were just fillers on the roster who paid an agency fee. I also remember the day that two different customers called complaining to me that their credit card had been charged for things they did not authorize. One was for a bill they had not paid yet, and the other for a magazine ad they did not ask for. Both were attempts to make money in an illegal fashion. Others called complaining about not receiving their Christian Voice Magaine after paying a year subscription. When questioning my bosses, Randall Wilds and John Lanier, I received nothing but answers full of confusion and requests to mind my own business. I knew my time was drawing to a close.
Upon my departure, I was later informed by other former employees that I was going to be fired. The other employees were told I was stealing money and information from the "company". I did no such thing, but was getting to close to the truth about the owners Randall Wilds and John Lanier and their business practices. I simple had quit before they could fire me. However, the groundwork was being laid. I also found out they had talked two (now former) employees into "investing" into the company. It was the the tune of $30,000.00 collectivley. One employee was fired after the investment and the other quit (but was soon to be fired had this person not quit) All for the sake of taking their money as part of the Wilds and Associates scam.
I did some checking of my own and found that Wilds and Associates, nor any of their subsidiaries are registered with the State of Alabama, or any for that matter. Makes me wonder now about the tax issues and why taxes were not taken out on the employees. I also see that the "confidentiality" statement was nothing more than a scare to keep us quite about bad business practices. I have also found that Randall Wilds has been in legal trouble before with a former business. He was head of a Golden Corral that went defunk for bad business. Someone needs to check on this guy and stop him and partner John Lanier from defrauding any more aspiring gospel artists.
If you are a gospel artist, or aspiring artist, DO NOT do business with Wilds and Associates. They are thiefs that live off people that want to serve God through music by promising them services of a better career, but give nothing. They will take your money and lie to you just to keep you giving them money. DO NOT do business with these people. They are crooks and thieves.
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