Marvel Models Marvel Models Preying on those who seek modeling/acting sucess - bait and switch tactics ripoff scam Elmhurst Illinois

Hello, my name is Brian.

I am very happy that you found this website. The information you are about to read is solely my opinion and I cannot verify for sure if this company is a scam. From my research, to the best of my knowledge, all of the information that I am about to provide is accurate.

Okay, enough of the disclaimer. Let me start out by saing I like to think of myself as a fairly smart guy. I am always warry of scams, however, I almost got trapped in this scam (my opinion).

A long time ago, I was stopped by someone on the street who said that I should put my picture up on onemodelplace.com and they would find me. One Model Place is a FREE website that allows you to put up pictures of yourself to be found by talent scouts, agencies, etc. I thought, okay, if I don't have to pay, whats the big deal. I decided to put up my pictures.

Since then I have gotten a few calls but nothing to special. Last week, I recieved an email from eplatt31@yahoo.com with the following message:

Hi Brian, MARVELMODELS.COM - ALL TYPES OF MODELS NEEDED - ANY AGE OR LOOK - FASHION, PRINT, & PROMOTIONAL MODELING JOBS TO FILL IMMEDIATELY! - NEW OFFICE IN CHICAGO - EMAIL ERIC AT EPLATT31@YAHOO.COM OR CALL 630-688-4179

I got this email through the Onemodelplace website so I thought that everything was legit. I should have realized that the @yahoo.com was a little sketchy, but I was flattered, so I didn't quite notice that.

I called the guy, I think his name was Eric, and he told me to come to an open casting call at their Chicago office (actually in Elmhurst). He told me that they were expanding so they were moving once their lease was up.

So, I decided, what the heck, I should open new doors, so I went to the casting thing which happened to be at 7pm.

I went to the casting call at their chicago office. My first question was: What Office? There were some college looking kids (early to mid 20s) that directed me to an elevator in a shared office building. I went down and was directed to a shared conference room (shared with the other companies in the building). I thought to myself, wait a sec, how come this top modeling agency or management company is in such a rinky-dink office in Elmhurst, IL? Once again, the flattery of being there blinded me from this reasoning.

I walked in, signed in, and they took my measurments. There appeared to be about 50 chairs set up facing a screen and there was some progressive trance music (like paul okenfold or sahsha) playing over the computer via mp3. There were pictures up on the wall of famous looking models and tables full of very outdated comp cards. I sat down and a woman began presenting about the company. She seemed very confident, and said that we were a very select group and if we were interested, and we were selected, we would need to decide right away. My thoughts were they were trying to give us a sense of false urgency and scarcity.

She told us that the website was locked and only could be viewed by their clients and scouts. This to me sounded a little fishy. How could I really do my research without seing what the product was that they were selling? I thought, whatever, I won't need to pay them a dime unless I get paid so there was no worries. Her speech backed up my assumption. They said that they make money when we make money. I thought it must be some sort of commission based program. I thought, I can deal with that.

The woman then went one by one reading people's names off and inspecting them and asking rediculous questions like "what do you want to be when you grow up" and "whats your passion". She then proceeded to tell each person what they needed to work on. For example I needed to "tone up".

After this presentation of basically nothing but info about the industry and what they so-call could do for us, we each were sent up seperately to meet with the executives. I had the honor of meeting with Dan Chesla - Vice President, who looked at me and made me walk back and forth, stand next to a measuring tape. He then proceeded to tell me that I would be perfect for fashion modeling.

I was very excited and I immediately scheduled a follow up appoitment for the next day. He gave me a packet that had some info about the company that I brought with me when I left.

I was very excited, until I read the packet and did a little research. First off, there was a background of the company that said that they had offices all over the world: NYC, LA, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, etc. I tried to look up any of these on the web and I found more websites about models made of marvel comic heros (model making) than anything about Marvel Models the modeling agency and I found no addresses for these agencies in these cities. I thought that this was very wierd, so I decided to read the packet a little further.

I noticed that the company was over 35 years old and was started by a guy named Edward Fa-Razzi who was supposed to be this big mover and shaker in the industry. I looked him up on yahoo and found NOTHING. I then went to their website to see if I could find any more info at marvelmodels.com and found less information than any web site I have ever been to. I decided to read further in the packet.

On the last page of the packet 6 pages back it gets down to what I thought would happen: what they charge.

"How much does it cost to have a digital comp card with Marvel Models?
After a one-time setup fee of $595 (fees may vary by country and region) Marvel Models then charges $19.95 per month for maintenance and representation of your digital comp card."

Okay, hold up a sec. Where did this come from??? From the initial email, I thought that this was some modeling agency that was trying to fill some modeling positions in their expanding Chicago office.....

To me it seems like a major bait and switch tactic. Also in the packet, it says:

"Be prepared to make a final decision about payment during your interview" (referring to the call-back interview)

How can I make a decision if I have never seen the product?

Okay, so this is where I am today...I have done the research and found very little about this company:

1. I only found two registered locations for this company however none in Paris, Milan, Tokyo, NYC, or LA.
2. I never found out any info about address of these locations.
3. The Vice President of the company has a office 1/4th the size of my bedroom.
4. The so-called founder (the big time guy) shows up in less google searches than ME.
5. The initial inqiry does not match what they were asking for in the packet.
6. A potential model should NEVER PAY ANYONE UNLESS HE/SHE IS GETTING PAID FOR A JOB (excluding maybe a photographer).
7. I have only read bad things from others about this company.

In conclusion, YOU should make your own decision about this company. Somehow they are in business and have not been put in jail so maybe what they are doing is legal. I just think that it is a complete waste of your time to even persue this company for representation. I wasted a whole afternoon trying to get there, going to the meeting, and then finding out in the packet on the last page that there is a charge to be on their website that you can't even view unless you are a member.

And finally, remember, you don't need a modeling company to validate your looks or self worth - be careful whenever you get any attention from so called modeling representation because it may be a scam.

Sorry to be so long...hope this helps.

Best Regards,
Brian

Brian
Chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.