Kids.com - Justourkids.com Ripoff Fraud Currently Soliciting by Mail Edina Minnesota

Just to alert people that Kids.com is alive and actively pursuing "prospects" to their Edina, Minnesota office.

My husband and I and our 4 month old son met with a man named Tony Gray on Monday May 16th at 5:30 p.m. near 50th and France. He was fast talking and high pressure. He did state that we were only offered a deal if we signed then and there. The cost was $595.00 for 5 years of photos every 6 months. There was a $20 sitting fee at every session and photos could be bought from the photographer seperately if you wanted. We were directed to a Maple Grove photographer but then changed to a Hopkins one. It was sold to us that the cost/time/trouble of us taking shots every six months would not be worth it and the $595 would more than pay for itself. We were told a woman named "Star" would contact us very soon.

They claimed to place kids for the "top 5 agencies in Minnesota, including Caryn's Modeling" as well as for "Target, Huggies" and several other big name companies that I can't quote because I can't remember for certain.

There was never any promise of our son working and we were fully aware of that aspect. We did not have stars in our eyes and expect riches to befall us or our son to be famous. However, because we are not familiar with the ins-and-outs of the modeling business, we were not sure what the "norm" is when dealing with this field. Getting caught in this fraud scam is no different than falling prey to dishonest auto repair centers if you don't know anything about cars, or appliances, or life insurance and other financial investments. If you need to trust someone to lead you in one direction or another, then you can become a victim of a scam.

We signed the form because we saw the "3 day cancel period" on the form and decided we'd use that and our credit card protection if there were any problems. One of our family members works in a law firm so we started checking today, Tuesday May 17th, 2005. We also found the news reports, this website and many, many other sources of information about this company being a scam.

Today, we went back to the agency in person and delivered our cancellation "in writing" to someone and took her name. Tony was in his office with another family at the time. In the back room, when we asked for a card with their phone and fax on it, there were numerous boxes of letters and envelopes, just like the ones we all received a few months after our precious child is born.

I contacted a news agency regarding our experience. I will take the time to fill out a BBB report as well as contacting and assisting our Attorney General, Mike Hatch, on this matter.

There is a modeling market for children so if you are interested in this field for your child, contact the agencies directly and be persistant if you don't get a call back right away. Find out what you need to do and then do it. But avoid throwing money away for this hoax.

I hope others can take this lesson and avoid a mistake. Cancel your plan in writing if you are still within 3 days. Do it anyway if you are over 3 days. Contact the Attorney General Mike Hatch.

We felt terrible leaving that office today knowing another family was sitting on the other side of that door being told their child was "showed a great personality and had the right look, was definately very cute, and was what they are looking for right now" and that their clients, including Target & Huggies and Caryn's Model & Talent "were in need of a child in his [or her] age bracket".

Good luck everyone. Knowledge is power.

Dawn
Minneapolis, Minnesota
U.S.A.