Castinghub BEWARE! Chicago Illinois

Went to a casting call from Castinghub on 1 Feb 2014 at a hotel in Buckhead, GA.  Sons were trying out for acting.  Sounded legit.  Oldest son received a "call back" for the following day to see if he would get the job.  He was instantly accepted and his head filled with "amazing" things that will happen to him now that he was signed with Castinghub.  The signing of paperwork commenced.

I knew I should have left immediately when I saw the price for a service that doesn't do ANYTHING for you whatsoever.  Everything they do is what I figured out I could do myself upon leaving the casting call.  Yet, my gullible self went ahead and signed my son up for a networking service, spending $5,900 of money I didn't even have in the first place.  

So upon leaving, we went home and started searching the Internet to find out what this Castinghub was really about.  Come to find out, there were many people and reviews complaining about the company, saying they were frauds and the whole thing was a scam.  Everything mentioned in those reviews was the exact way the whole process played out for my family.  I was shocked.  The services they provide are services that any hardworking, diligent, and committed parent can do.  All they do is give you a place to put your pictures up and "hope" that casting agents and/or companies look at your profile and contact you for a potential audition.  That is it.  They do not promise any jobs, as they stated in the casting call.  So paying thousands of dollars to have your pictures on a website is an absurd amount of money.  I can do that for free on Facebook or Instagram.  So I immediately went to the contract to re-read the cancellation policy and that very night, I rushed to the post office to ensure my cancellation was expressed mailed to Castinghub prior to the deadline.  It made it, so I had no worries.

So today, 10 February, I email Castinghub to check on the status of my refund and was told via email that "due to the Sponsorship Agreement that was signed as of February 2nd 2014 we will not be able to cancel the contract or you or issue a refund.  Attached to this email is the signed Sponsorship Agreement..."  The "scholarship" canceled out a refund although the cancellation paragraph in the contract did not mention that if you receive a scholarship or "sponsorship," your right to cancel will be voided.  Amazing. 

So I respond to the email with "I will be in teh process of contacting my local lawyer concerning this issue because I have received information that your service is a scam and I do not want to participate in this service under those aspects." I received a threatening email back from a woman concerning accusatory, defamatory statements and aggressive threats...we will NOT tolerate the use of defamatory words or threats against our company and are committed to protect our reputation and the safety of our staff..." 

So this response email from the POC at Castinghub only showed me that they have dealt with this issue before and have prewritten emails when complaining customers email or contact them.  In no way did I THREATEN Castinghub as the POC tried to make it seem.  I specifically said I will be contacting a lawyer to see if I can get a refund, because this is a lot of money for me to lose to a service that does not do anything special; anything I could not have done myself.  So to all those intending on going to a Castinghub casting call, PLEASE read everything before you give them your hard-earned money.  Do your research BEFORE not AFTER the fact, as I did and get taken for a lot of money.  It's a shame that I am now going to have to potentially fight with a company over money they really do not deserve or should not have received. 

BEWARE and RESEARCH.

- Out-of-$5900-upset-parent