Well Iam to, a victim of kids.com, only I didn't know this till I found this website. I too received a letter from kids.com about 7-8 months after my son was born. How do they get our information? Anyway I called, talked with Tony Gray and he asked a couple of questions as to how my son looked, did he have any marks on his face and he asked for a code that was on the letter, like my kid was special. He stated that both of the parents had to show up for the interview, which made me wonder why?
When I got there I expected the office to look more professional and bigger. The pictures on their walls of models looked old and there was one desk by the waiting area that had a stack of letters that a couple of girls were stuffing, probably the same letters we all got. Tony was meeting with another family at the time and it took a whole hour for us to be seen.
We interviewed and Tony was a fast talker, he explained what kids.com did and how they work with all the major modeling agencies mainly "Caryn modeling agency". He said that African American children were becoming more of a request to these modeling agencies and that my son had the "look".
Then he sprung it on us, all we need to do is give him a one time payment of $595 and they would take care of my child's modeling career for the next five years. I would just have to pay $20 every 6 months to their photographer to keep my son's picture updated on their website.
I said I don't have $595 and he offered an installment plan of $250 today and then another two payments of $175 and $172 that would each be post dated for the two months after the first payment. I thought it was ok because my first son did modeling and I had to pay about $150 each year to have him placed in an agency book. I wrote out the three checks signed the contract and all that time Tony was still fast talking to my boyfriend about his hobbies and I was too busy listening to their conversation that I didn't even read the contract before I signed. The reason he wanted both of us there.
My son took the pictures with their photographer, and when I got home to check his pictures online, this web site popped up. After reading all the similar stories to mine, I realized I had been scammed. The signs of a scam were there I should have went with my gut and cancelled before the first check was cashed.
I called the bank and cancelled the two remaining checks and they said that it was illegal to post date checks. Another sign of a scam.
I was so embarssed about what had happened to me that I was going to keep quiet about the whole situation and take it as a lost and a lesson learned, but about a week ago, guess who's calling? Tony, he left a message saying that my checks didn't clear and that if I didn't make payment I would be sent to collections. Can he do this? We should all get together and take this company to court.
Thanks to all you parents who posted your complaints.
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