I met Tony Gray from Kids.com in Edina, Minnesota in November. Due to several factors that screamed scam and fraud I decided to terminate the agreement shortly after signing.
To begin with, Tony provided misleading information regarding the agencies Kids.com uses within the Minneapolis area. Tony led me to believe Kids.com had a direct relationship with Caryn's Modeling Agency and does business with them on a regular basis. I called Caryn's after Tony repeatedly told me not to and I was told they knew who Tony was but they only use Kids.com occasionally. I was led to believe there was a direct one on one relationship resulting in many job opportunities and obviously there is not.
I was told I would receive a packet in the mail and to call the photographer to set up an appointment. I called the photographer twice for the first week after receiving the packet and the phone continuously rang, eventually giving a message stating the person was not available, not giving an option to leave a voicemail message. That makes absolutely no sense and another obvious sign of a scam in place.
In any case, I called Tony that Friday hoping he would be able to resolve the issue. He said he would call the photographer and make an appointment for us no later than Monday or get us an appointment with another photographer. Well it has been almost two months and I am still waiting.
I sent a termination letter to their headquarters in New Jersey and received no response from headquarters or Tony Gray.
I am in the process of sending another letter to Kids.com, the Attorney General's Office & the Better Business Bureau in New Jersey and Minnesota. I will continue to write until I am reimbursed my deposit of $250 (Luckily I stopped payment on the remaining three payments of $148 before it was too late.) or warn enough people of the scam Kids.com is pulling on a daily basis.
I would also like to remind people that there is no need to sign anything before doing your homework. Like a fool I did my homework after I signed and when the obvious signs started showing.
Another word of advice, no respectable agency requires an upfront fee and a percentage of the earnings. If you sit with an agency and they ask you for money upfront, get up and walkout. They get paid when the child gets paid, hence the reason they would be aggressive in finding work.
I learned a valuable lesson, unfortunately it cost me $250. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me! Now I know.
As for the comments on their website regarding the complaint: The owner of this site didn't rip me off or take my money, Kids.com did. If Kids.com spent as much effort running a respectable business as they do defending their actions I would have been a satisfied customer! That is pathetic Kids.com, don't blame the forum or the messenger for your corrupt and dishonest business practices!!!
Lance
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
U.S.A.
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