Thanks to usacomplaints.com, and other sources, I was able to get out of a contract with them before I even went on to work with them. I don't know how everybody else found out about them; Yet, I found out about Alpha, when I saw a newspaper ad looking for 20 promotional models to do a weekend event to promote a product; it then said to come to a hotel location to find out more information because the promotional assignment could lead to more work...
I did just that, and was prepared that this could be just like other modeling agencies; where they run an ad, and then there's some catch, so I prepared myself. They did need 20 promotional models, but you had to be 21 to do the assignment... Which there wasn't but like a couple of people who were that age... So I could imagine how dissapointed everybody felt knowing that they could have stayed home if they had known that.
Anyway, they introduced their agency very presentable, but then toward the end, they told us all to line up in two lines. (I knew exactly where it was going, but I did not let up) Basically, they asked you this and that, and you filled out the stat sheet...
To make a long story short, you had to call back the next morning to see if you were chosen, and there... They basically wanted to sign people to their agency, when people thought all they wanted were 20 promotional models. So if you were picked, which I was, I was asked in that same day, could I bring a deposit down at $169.00; which was ridiculous because people just don't have money like that to pay in the same day. I told the scout I did not have that amount, so she asked if I could do $100, which was still pushing it... Dumb as I was, taking a risk in life just so I could see what could happen, I took the $100 by because you know... Some agencies want their WHOLE FULL AMOUNT, and they don't care if you have money or not. Since I didn't see that in Alpha, I thought, HMMM, this is going to be okay, but I was still iffy... Reading certain stories on here, I notice that some of the package prices have varied over the years which also makes me believe, they keep doing that because these models are not getting any work!
Yes, I declared myself naive and ignorant to the modeling industry because after sending my money in, I found out on the net that if agencies ask you for any up front fees, no matter what, that means that the models within their agency are not getting enough work, which means the agency isn't getting paid; so what the agency go out and do is; go out to a public place, or run an ad looking for 'new talent', which is also another warning sign from www.modelingadvice.com. If a modeling agency runs an ad, once again, their talent is not getting any work for them to get paid, so... They have to do that.
Anyway, a photo shoot was coming up for them in August, which that package was $319.00 $295.00 to put the pictures on the website. You also have to update your pictures every month. For the photo shoot you had to bring a total of up to 9-12 outfits in the categories of casual, sporty and professional, in which that would have been more money to purchase those clothes if you did not have them already. I thought I could just go ahead and get another photographer, but you had to go through SO much if you wanted to do so with copyrights and all that. Thank goodness that I called one photographer just to get info anyway, and this is what put the icing on the already messed up cake...
I had spoken to a photographer in my area, when I asked did he do TFP's (Time for Prints); I then asked some questions about comp cards and portfolios and things like that. He told me that he only does TFP's with rebutable agencies, so he ask me which one I belong to... And I told him, "The Alpha Model Group". The man then let out what I called a sobby moan, like a bad news type of thing. And I asked, "What? Are they a bad agency?"... Well the man went on to tell me that two years prior, he had did a shoot for 90 of their models, and he didn't even get paid by the agency for his work! They wanted him to give them ALL of his negatives and the copyrights turned over to them, which is completely BS, but anyway... He was told by the agency not to even show the models how their pics came out UNTIL the agency got a hold of them...
I have to be honest and say I forgot why they did not pay him (it wasn't a legitimate excuse though)... The man also said that they did not want to do 'On location'.. They wanted all 90 models to be photographed in the studio which is even more ridiculous because some modeling agencies want modeling pictures to be versatile... Something that looks like an ad right out a magazine. Not just one boring location inside a studio with one basic color for a background. So when he told me that, that to me was saying that, the agency was looking out for themselves more than the models, because they know better about how to do portfolios than just being in a studio. Anyhow, the photographer still never got paid, nothing was never resolved, and the agency sold his photos to the models. So basically, he said they were selling photo packages. Bad business. HA!
The man told me that in his opinion, OTM had a bad rep and said even if they are under a new name now, that does not mean anything. I had heard enough from the man, here at usacomplaints.com and other sites, that it just made me want to cancel the contract. The man had told me not to give up on modeling, but to cancel the contract ASAP. I knew that I would not get my $100 back; but that did not matter because I just wanted to protect myself in the future. I wrote them a letter, just like the contract said to cancel the contract. I certified it on July 21; through the UPS website, the info provided that my letter was forwarded to ANOTHER address on July 24th, which I do not understand, AND... I am still waiting to see if there is any furthering processing that I will have to go through to make it official.
Basically to wrap this whole thing up, www.modelingadvice.com provided me all of the warning signs to look out for when signing for an agency; And Alpha had like 80% of those warning signs. It tells me that, their talent is definitely not getting any work right now, so they are going out and getting all this new talent, when their work could be just as slow. I'm not saying these models will never get work, but it takes time and knowledge to sign with an agency who knows what they are doing. No agency should EVER EVER EVER, ask you for any type of money regardless of what it is, because no rebutable agency has to run an ad to get work. All an agency have to do, is find you work, and from there, they get a 10-20 percentage, while the model keeps the other half, that is IT. The model may get a test shoot done, or a photo shoot, but no other fees SHOULD be required, because that means that agency's models are getting work, and their agency has enough money already. So pretty faces of the world, PLEASEEEEE know all you can know, before making a desperate decision like I did, or from hearing other stories off of the net. I just hope all the people I saw at the hotel, don't go on with that shoot! Take care everybody!
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