Tru Talent Management review: FRAUD 49

I worked for them for 2 years and have not been paid over time.

Tru Talent Management has worked with me and for me in everyway. They are the definition of "management". I am in constant communication with the booking agents and have had several key opportunities. Those who are dissatisfied have not used their "management" company to work for them. Tru Talent is a great agency. Having being represented by other agiencies in Utah and Las Vegas I strongly feel I have found my home with Tru Talent Management.

Any agency that asks for money upfront is not in your best interest. I haven't even taken ONE class and I tried to cancel my contract because I simply cannot afford the classes or the time to go and they REFUSED. It has only been a few days since I signed. I am overwhelmed with there extremely incorporative response. They are only interested in taking peoples money. I researched similar stories and they told me the exact same speech. It makes me feel violated and ###ic for even listening to there sales pitch. Excuse me for being so trusting. Any company that is not willing to work within your best interest is not a well off institution. They are desperate and need to be investigated. Which is why I cancelled my credit card and they are not being looked into. I will not give in to something I do not feel happy about doing.

these people have scammed me out of money here in las vegas. so i cancelled my debit card. they have been harrassing me for a year and a half. does anyone know if they will take me to court? or will this affect my credit? they are a fraud. and i refuse to pay them any more!

Hi, I fell into the Tru Management situation. The sales pitch was a bit pressuring and I fell for it. They told me how beautiful my infant daughter was, etc. I gave them over $400 I couldn't really afford, and tried to cancel the account. We didnt even live in Nevada at the time and was told a office was opening right away in San Diego. Never heard back from anyone but a amout of almost $4, 000.00 collections debt is on my credit report right now and has affected my life pretty bad. The original debt was $1200.00 plus cost of photos. At this time im trying to work things out with this company to cancel the account or re age to orgiginal amount and remove the negative information from my credit report. Ill update everyone on results. I'm considering filing complaints with the Nevada Attorney Generals and other government agencies but will attempt to work this out with the company first. Anyone who wishes to discuss their experience please email me at mrsbrnsugar@yahoo.com.

Thanks and good luck to all of us

I totally agree that Tru Talent is scamming and misrepresenting the public. I am one of several representatives for a
company Tru Talent claims to represent. Their claim is NOT true. Nobody at my company has ever heard of Tru Talent and did NOT ask or authorize Tru Talent to supply talent.

I can't go into alot of details now, especially because I am not an attorney so I can't provide legal advice, however I'll tell you a few things that others are doing to use to your advantage.

First, contact the Las Vegas BBB (Better Business Bureau). While I normally don't recommend dealing with the BBB (because the BBB is NOT a gov't or law enforcement agency and typically can do little to help consumers), it seems as though the Las Vegas BBB has successfully handled complaints about Tru Talent in the past... so this may help.

Secondly, whenever contacting law enforcement agencies, the BBB, or any gov't entity, it's best to know a little bit about the law yourself. You shouldn't just say 'they ripped me off" and expect the legal team to go after Tru Talent... you have to give reasons why they
'ripped you off'.

The full NV statutes regarding employment agency law can be found at
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-611.html

Here are some of the most important excerpts from the laws you to
know, and to inform the others about:

In short, these laws basically state that

* Employment Agencies must be licensed by the state.

* An agency is not allowed to collect more than 65% of the first
months gross salary. (This statement is also supposed to be posted
in their office on a form obtained by the state).

* An agency cannot charge for work unless the work for the specific
individual is obtained first. The agency must refund all money within
7 days if the job doesn't pan out.

* Agency is not allowed to charge any registration fees or require
you to purchase products or services... or pay for any of their
advertising.

* Agency cannot advertise false statements (they already are doing
that by claiming that Canon hired them for a job). They also must
have the state issued license number printed on advertising and
business cards.

Failure to abide by the laws is a criminal offense (misdeameanor).

Please note that SOME talent agencies are exempt from having to obtain a license, but I don't think Tru Talent is one of them.

Contact the BBB, Channel 13, NV State Labor Commission, and probably the city of Las Vegas District Attorney for more assistance and
information.

As far as paying any bills... I'd stop immediately. State and Federal laws mandate that it would be illegal for a court to have you pay the
fees that Tru Talent is requesting, because the actions of Tru Talent itself is illegal. It's the same reason that a coke freak can't sue a drug dealer because the cocaine he sold wasn't "pure". The actions are illegal... the court can't enforce an illegal action.

I have have just recently fell for there scam in UT and I have been with them not even 24 hrs and trying to get out of it. I dont know what im going to do. Its physically making me sick. they dont have any of my credit card info but they do have my social. SO they can still send collections after me. there selling tactics are pressure and they hide everthing. He says I only have to pay 150 and now its 1500 over 13 months. I cant afford to pay that and there is no way that i can pay that for that long. Me and my Mom are trying to get me out of it. Any legal advise for me here in Ut?

Okay,

I'm a victim of this fraudulent "agency" as well. I am so upset right now and do not understand how this can be allowed for so long. I was told to try and get others to stand with me to fight against this company. We all know that they are scam artists that prey on well intentioned people. I have lost hours of sleep at night rumenating over how nieve I was to believe the crap that came out of their mouths and gave them as much money as I did and didn't have, but thought I was making an investment into my childrens' future. This is evil and should not be tolerated and allowed to effect others in the way it has us. I am amazed at these people to heap a lie and a lot of trouble on people backs to deal with on the count of greed and deception.

I have emailed my complaint to channel 13 and will continue to call them to submit my complaint about Tru Talent. I am sending a letter of complaint to both Consumer Protection Agencies Utah & Nevada, and both BBB's. I am taking one step at a time as well to get this matter resolved and hopefully put them out of business. Please contact me so that we may link out claims to build stronger cases for ourselves as a group and individually.

Contact me at princesst82@hotmail.com to discuss how we can help each other.

Thank You!

I was just at a walmart doing some shopping and some lady ran up to me telling me how adorable my daughters is . she then asked me if i had ever thought about putting her in modeling and acting?she told me she was from True management and thought she would be perfect for some commercial. she gave me a card and asked for my number. she told me her agency would be giving me a call. sure enough 1 day later i got a call ... they left a message. the only thing that saved me from wasting my time and money was the fact that i googled the company and saw everyone scam stories. A good friend of mine came over later that day. i had forgot to tell her about the lady that ran up to me at the store. She then tells me about how she was at a walmart and a lady stopped her to ask her if she had thought about acting or modeling. i guess they are just walking around walmart pretending like they are shopping looking for victims. How can they go so long with out being stopped?

I joined Tru Talent Agency, and I personally believe that any person who would add to this thread with a complaint needs some sense knocked into them. Do you really feel you need to bash on the company because of some minor offense you probably recieved? My agent is amazing, he has not pressured me in the slightest, and I know that his acting skills are uncomparable. I am taking an acting class from them once a week from one of the most talented coaches out there. If you didn't receive any work from them, maybe you simply weren't what the agency was looking for. As far as the money is concerned, I never have or will give them my social or credit cards. I know some of the actors and actresses, who I have grown to love and respect over the past year, I have seen their work, and they are like brothers and sisters to me. I don't care how many complaints I hear, I have enough good sense to know what is a fraud and what is not, and this IS NOT A FRAUD!
Get your facts straight.

you need to go to the labor commission and file a report to collect on back wages.

I went there and I talked with a lady with short blonde hair. She was nice but said I would have to pay for photos and that it would be $1200 for lifetime photos with this amazing photographer that has done major magazine and editorial work. She showed me his pics and they were pretty g0ood. Since I knew I dident need to spend this much money for pics I asked her if I could bring my own pics to them, she said that was fine and to send them in once they were done and they would send me to the booking agent. When I got my pics I sent them in, and when I called to follow up a new lady said that they wouldent send me to booking without using their photographer. This is not how all the other agencies work in Vegas so I said forget these people. A couple months later I talked to a lady on the phone about a photoshoot and she said the only agency her son has had alot of success getting great auditions from was Tru Talent. So I dont know really what to believe except I am glad that I dident use their services and that their is a reason for all the complaints against them.

"a new lady said that they wouldent send me to booking without using their photographer. This is not how all the other agencies work in Vegas so I said forget these people."
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This common scam tactic is called "Portfolio Mill".

The Tru Talent rep is LYING when they say "all agencies work this way". As a matter of fact there is no REAL, LEGITIMATE AGENCY that operates in that manner. In many jurisdictions it's actually illegal for an agency own, operate, or require you to purchase products or services from other companies such as photo studios.

It's also AGAINST SAG rules and regulations for an agency to charge for photos or require a certain photographer.

The SAG (the Screen Actors Guild) is the governing union for screen talent.
For more information about REAL, LEGITIMATE AGENCIES from the Screen Actors Guild check out:
http://www.sag.org/news-advisories

In Clark County, Nevada, find a REAL, LICENSED AGENCY at:
http://sandgate.co.clark.nv.us/businessLicense/businessSearch/blinmult.asp
(category 529 for modeling agencies, category 340 for talent (employment agencies).

... and by the way, you WON'T see the scammers from Tru Talent in the list of licensed agencies in Clark County!

I just now signed up for tru talent and am maybe thinking twice after reading all this! I wonder if i can back out. I have paid 100 dollars so far and signed aa contract to pay 1000. all together. does anyone know if i can back out now?

bdunson, contact Tru Talent and request your money back as soon as possible. Not that these crook will honor your request, but at least it will be on record that you wanted your money back.

Even if a company is legitimate, most states have at least a 3 day 'cooling off' period where the customer can rescind a contract without penalty. Tru Talent isn't legit, so the contract will most likely be void anyways... but you may have to go to court to get your refund back because those scammers at Tru Talent sure as hell won't be willing to return it to you.

Additionally, contracts that are signed under duress (such as a salesman pressuring you), or while under the influence of alchol or drug (even if it's a legal prescription) may also be easily voided.
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You have to admire KSL, one of the few TV stations to investigate the frauds at Tru Talent.
Towards the end, when they interview the Tru Talent representative about the scam, the agent says something like 'We are not a talent agency, we don't get jobs for models and talent. We train them'

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=309&sid=7104545

Whoever wrote the one or two pro Tru Talent comments were either employees or the crook owner, I guarantee! I was ripped off by these creeps 2 years ago when my son was 17. He is almost 20 now and has never gotten one job from these jerks. He attended idiotic acting classes that were less legit and professional than taking them at The Community Ed. classes for $15 bucks. My son missed his photo choot because he had to work and the jerks had the balls to charge us $150.00 for missing the shoot. I refused to pay them. I lost my job a year ago and haven't paid them since. They have hounded me mercilessly. I will NOT pay those jerks anymore of my money. I dont know what they can do to me. But someone has to recognize that this is a aclassic SCAM and help us victims get out of this. If anyone has any ideas let me know. dahlquist@hotmail.com Thanks, Lori

I just signed up for tru talent management today. They made a copy of my visa and payed 100 dollars in cash but the whole fee is 1000 dollars so i have to pay 100 a month. I didn't realized a lot of people think this was a scam. No wonder the guy whose doing our business seems not really interested with my kids. He talked too fast so that way he'll finished all the papers for us to pay them. I'm really stupid thousand dollars is a lot of money now I'm going to try to cancel the contract but don't know what to do. Is there anybody there that can help me how to cancel this contract. please email me at Daybrepoels@gmail.com

My mom and I were shopping at Wal-Mart the other day when this lady came up to my mom and said "is this your daughter? Shes pretty. Have you ever thought of putting her into modeling?" and everything went off from there, she asked for a phone number and she gave us her business card and said that she would have someone call me in a day or so to set up a free appointment with one of the agents. When she left I didn't see her again and the weird thing is that she wasn't even looking at anything in the isle. My mom told me she saw her looking over in our direction a couple times before she came up to us.
I didn't have a good feeling about these people so I thought I would do a little homework on them. I found the KSL news report on Tru Talent and All of your comments. Once I found all of this out I canceled my appointment. I would have feel bad that my parents would have to pay money we don't have and for things I'm never gonna get if I went along with these people.

I was approached by a 'talent scout' named Courtney yesterday in a mall in Las Vegas, where I live. She came up to me and asked me how old I was, and I told her 18...a little confused and taken aback that this random lady was asking me questions. She preceded to say that I had nice hair and that I could do hair shows. I asked her what that was, and she said that they style your hair then take pictures of it, for advertisements etc. She kept talking to me about it, gave me tips for hair care, and gave me her card. Then I thought okay she has a card...this must be legit...I've always wanted to look into some kind of modeling before and thought it was a good idea. She continued to talk to me then finally asked me for my name, and my number. Usually I would be very cautious about giving out my cell phone number. But I felt sort of pressured so I gave it to her, she said that she'd be giving me a call within the next couple days. Sure enough, I got a call this morning from their receptionist or whatever she is. She asked me if I wanted to come in tomorrow for an audition. I had a very busy day today so I didn't end up calling back until they were closed. I left them a message just asking if they could call me back and explain more what this was about. Then I came online and read everything about their company. When they call me back tomorrow, I am going to tell them about the web research I came across, and to take my phone number off of everything they have because I am not interested in being scammed or paying money for things that talent agencies shouldn't charge their clientele for. I am just glad I did my research before I went in and agreed on anything, and I feel really sorry for the people who are in that situation and hope they can get out of it and hopefully 'Tru Talent Management' can get closed down soon.

Can someone please help me. I signed my son up for Tru Talent and now I am going to have to back out. I will be canceling my debit card and sending them a letter. I would like some advice on how to keep fighting this in case they start to harass me. I am a SINGLE mother no father he left us. I work 50 hours a week to try and keep me head above water and I have to get help from the government for child care... Please some one e-mail me.

m_medina1227@yahoo.com

Thank you.

ok me and my friend just signed with tru talent and it was a HUGE mistake instead of just paying them and a bunch of other crap we want to start up a website and a ton of other stuff to help raise awareness about these types of scams and prevent other girls and guys, parents or anyone from falling into this horrible trap! we really need help anyone who wants please contact me animallover777@hotmail.com

we are still tring to come up with a good name and get as many people to help out please please contact me thanks !

my mom signed me with trutalent and im afraid she wasted alot of money on nothing and that scares me. I mean i do go to photo shoots but i never get cast for any thing i just hope we didnt get scammed like this.

hey if you could write me i would love to talk to you :) and i would also like your help please email me thanks animallover777@hotmail.com

I am so scared after reading this, I just signed yesterday and I really feel like I need to get out of it, does anyody know if it's possible to get out of a contract with them?

I am so scared after reading this. I just signed with them yesterday and the guy said that the first payment would be due at the end of November then he wanted I didn't realize $150 would be taken out of my account that day, but low and behold he asked for my credit card. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I am really unsure. I can't believe I was so naive and trusting, I seriously hope I'm not screwed. Does anyone know if there's anyway to get out of the contract? I seriously need some help, I just don't know about this anymore.

ok hey i wrote you this morning try going down and demanding a refund or that you want out of the contract now! i dont know if it will work but its worth a try...

This people are fraud to the MAX! they would offer all this opportunities and photoshoots and modeling castings and commecials etc, after signing the contract they treat you bad and don't even want to pick up the calls, true talent is SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD SACAM FRAUD.

I just signed up with them today, I am regretting it after reading everyone's comments. Can someone please email me about getting out of the contract. I'm not sure what to do. Please help! wendybird020@hotmail.com

Wow! so what's an actual legit modeling, acting && etc. Agency then?

wow. i was approached by a nice girl at walmart who was a talent scout for tru talent management. she told me i'd be great for hair shows, and that in fact, they had one comming up in february that i'd be perfect for. i'm a hairdresser...i know what these shows are about. but she did sound convincing and gave me her card and took my number. now, it was like 9 at nite, and i was pretty grungy from running around all day. anyway, i shoved the card in my back pocket and promptly forgot about it. sure enough, i got a call the next day and whomever i was speaking to wanted me to come in for an audition. i thought "for what? so you can see my hair?" whatever. i made an appointment to go, but after doing my research, i'm cancelling. i was never interested in being a model or actress, and if i wanted to get into a hairshow as a hair model, i wouldn't need this company to do the leg work for me. all i can say is thank you everyone for posting your experiences here. hopefully you can save other people from spending their hard earned cash and wasting their time!

tru sucks they got me at valley fair mall and i really belived them but i got on the hunt for info on them and now forget them. i even made an Appointment today im not going any more i just hope they dont carge me for the interview.. lol

Tru Talent Agency should be shut down they are a bunch of scam artist only out to get peoples $$$$... something should be done with this company.. was approached by agent in store for my daughter, took her for her audition he told her everything she wanted to hear she was so happy she told me she really wants to do this... after wasting my time for 2 hrs listening to him convincing my daughter she is beautiful and talented and getting her hopes up than he tells me that it would be a total of $1500.00 payment plan and have to sign a contract... I seen my daughters face turn from happy to sad... they never tell you from beginning about any money they wait till last minute and try to make you believe it is for real when really it is all a joke and waste of time.. I do not recommend anyone to go to TRU TALENT AGENCY ...I Should have listen to everyone telling me not to take her and I should have read any complaints first... but I didnt and they broke my daughters heart... They should be ashamed of themselves how can they sleep at night knowing they are running a business trying to take peoples $$$$... All the complaints you read about TRU TALENT AGENCY is true, unless you want to have your child heartbroken I would not recommend this agency to anyone... Like I said before TRU TALENT AGENCY should be out of business...

Do Not Sign, they will tell you the money is for acting and modeling classes." NOT", my daughter went to their acting class for three weeks and they canceled it due to only three in the class. They called us a few weeks later and said they have a class for her now. She went, and again they canceled it. We paid and signed for days of the week convenient with our schedule to only have them change it at their convenience and then to tell us the days we wanted are not available, I think they do this so you won't be able to take a class because I think the acting teacher are just people they hire off the street, and when you are in the sales pitch they ask questions like, what is convenient for you, and what is not convenient, then they tell you about all their classes and that you need to sign up for one now because they fill up as soon as they become available, in the meeting they tell you they have classes every day of the week only to cancel the day that you pick that is convenient for you... No wonder the guy was taking notes while in the meeting. I think they do the old bate and switch scam. They find out what is not convenient and then after you attend a couple of classes for the day that was convenient for you, they switch to the day that was not convenient for you, so you tell them that you did not sign for that day and you would not be able to attend the acting class, and they say, well you signed a contract., since you signed a contract you still have to pay them and they don't have to teach you because you can't attend the class because of a scheduling conflict, and they know this (they took notes). My Daughters first class only had three people in the class so Tru Talent canceled it, and then they tell us 'the only class available for your daughter" is on a day we had told them was not convenient. The acting class was a JOKE, I could of wrote a few lines and had her read them...what a total waste of money, but I did give them another chance only because my daughter wanted so bad to believe in these people. Her next class was modeling. I tried for almost three months to get her into one of their modeling classes, but always got the run around story AGAIN. They would tell me that they would contact us when a class came available. I knew then that we had been scammed. I told them I was not paying for nothing and quit paying and then the threatening letters came. Interesting enough after a year of not paying them they started to email me auditions...Interesting...looks like they are posturing for something wouldn't you say. I will not pay and I am going to report them to all the authorities I can. I will fight them on this one and I hope you will too.

ok miss ebony B, whats your e-mail address? i would like to email u in privare

Tru Talent is horrible. I have been fighting to not pay them a dime. I had to call the Division of Consumer protection for help. Thankfully I got it, if anyone in the Salt Lake, UT area are having problems please go to these people. They can and will help you. You can e mail me if you ahve any questions. m_medina1227@yahoo.com

WOW! I am SO glad I decided to check out this company prior to my appointment with them! About a year ago I was approached while shopping in Wal-Mart by a Tru Talent agent. She stated that she "liked my style" and her agency would very interested in meeting me. I gave her my contact information but never set a date. COINCIDENTALLY I was approached by a completely different Tru Talent agent, once again while shopping, just a few days ago. She casually approached me, informed me that she was an agent for Tru Talent Management, took my contact info and called me shorly to set up an appointment. She mentioned that they were under new management and were much mire affordable than the previosly run administration. This caught my attention seeing as a REAL talent agency should NOT charge you anything! I decided to just "check them out" to see what this company was all about but have COMPLETELY changed my mind even about that after reading these complaints. It's so unfair, immoral, illegal and flat out WRONG to cheat people out of their money like that. Some people believe in the good of society and assume they'll get their money's worth and have been ripped off by the time they realized what they've signed. If these complaints are accurate- which I believe they are- Tru Talent doesn't even consider the fact of disturbing everyday peoples livelihoods by continuously charging their cards and deminishing their credit scores when they don't receive payments. I hope the Attorney General, BBB, Consumer Board, etc take notice of this company and shut them down. All ghost who have fell victim to this companies scam should press legal charges under the pretense of false advertisement. They "service" paid for has not been rendered. Good luck and thanks for preventing me from getting into what would have been an ugly delimma.

All I can say is WOW! I was in Walmart and got approached by a Tru Talent Scout, Ebony, lets just say she was dressed like someone from the ghetto. I was immidately on guard. She called me pretty, said I had a nice style, and I gave her my cell phone number and name. She said they would call and set up an appointment. Just 3 days later I get a call. The receptionist, Jessica, sounds like a high school kid and I'm in high school currently so I would know. We talked for a few minutes and she told me to come in the next Monday at 8Pm since it was convient for me. Then I researched them and found this crap. And all I can do is laugh at people being so nieve. I'm only 16 years old and I could smell the lies from this Agency. Then my mom told me that she was approached my the same agency awhile ago for my little sister to come in and audition. Now I don't know what these liars saw, because my sister is tom-boy extreme, shy to the max, and hates acting and modeling her dreams all revovle around soccer! I'm not stupid and I know how these people operate. I've taken acting classes for free that should have cost a couple hundred dollars my mom didnt have but the Agency I'm with believed in me. The classes were fun, helpful, and really cool. The coach was legit had his papers and was even an extra in the Hangover movie, I saw the proof. I did have to pay for photos but only 250 dollars. I've gotten auditons through them too, like the new movie Prom coming out but wasn't choosen but thats okay because you can't win them all. Anyways if half of you people would have done your research first you wouldn't be in the situations you're in now. Your looking for pity and comfort which is pathetic. Everyone makes mistakes now live with it and stop complaining. I may be just a teenager but I have the common sense to not be so careless with money. Anything asked upfront is a SCAM, too many complaints against them is a SCAM, and if your really willing to give money you don't have or can't afford to a bunch of strangers you don't really know you deserve to be taken advantage of. That's plain studpity and carelessness. get a backbone and stop being so trusting. The world is not perfect and reality is cruel. Tru Talent Entertainment is a fruad buisness and you've been played. Deal with it.

I may get to do a interview on my local news station against Tru Talent.

Tru talent is a huge scam.
here is my story i call to try to get my 2 year old son in modeling we went there to get some information on them and i asked

over the phone if there was a big fee they said ask the person that is interviewing you . so i went there and they filled up my head
with all this good stuff that they were currently working on stuff all the time and he "will" is doing kid gap that he needs kids so after
he gave me his "sales pitch" i Had a lot of Faith in him getting my son work he said that he dint get paid unless my son gets paid. so

he
told me that it was 1500 and i can make payments so i did 100 down and 107 a month . he said he had allot of work lined up that we
need to jump on Bord by the end of the week we were kinda rushed in to it so i did and after i signed the papers it was really hard to
get ahold of them you leave a message they never get back to you and all that stuff that he was talking about like baby gap never herd
any thing about it after i signed those papers . he said that we can get a life time worth of pictures and that we needed to get 6 done to
put on there web site we Had to pay 40 per picture so ya i get a life time of pictures but i still have to pay 40 per picture . Ive Ben
with them for almost a year now with my son having no work what so ever I'm telling my story because i dint want other people to
fall for there "sells pitch" like we did so ya allot of money went down the drain

This is messed up ### lol, I got appointment tomorrow and thanks God i did my homework before i go. :D ya'll have been played ha ha ha dummy ppls. True Agent don't ask Money cuz you are money :D get it