eclipsemodelmanagement.co.uk

Be careful with parting with money before asking too many questions

I arrived at the agency for a shoot/interview assessment type appointment. They sent out a confirmation in a lengthy email discussing what the process will be - I read the e-mail thoroughly and it mentions a deposit that is taken, known as the refundable security deposit (RSD) See quote from the email:"The deposit starts from just a hundred Pounds [depending on what model board you are eligible for if accepted]. You will easily make it back from your first job and is included in the legally binding model contract you will be offered upon acceptance onto the model books. If, of course, you do not pass the interview, nothing will be taken."As you can see, the last line lead me to believe that this will be discussed AFTER finding out the outcome of the interview.I went in for my assessment, they took a few pictures of me, I then waited for a bit before I was seen by another gentleman, who said that the interview would be done by someone else if I'm happy to pay the deposit now.I wasn't comfortable paying a deposit before doing an interview, and he said that it would be returned the same day if I wasn't accepted, which didn't make sense to me at all - the email doesn't say anything about thatWhen I told him that I wasn't comfortable doing that he then said "then I am not allowed to interview you"??????So I left without seeing or taking any of the pictures (also doesn't make sense if they offer the pictures for free without passing the interview, why would you want to take a deposit just to return it, and what difference does it make giving me the pictures whether I pay a refundable deposit or not either way you are saying I'd get it back)Something about it just didn't seem right, and beyond the money, it didn't feel very transparent, especially when the e-mail itself was very detailedI mentioned it to him as I was leaving just as feedback, and he said that they don't put everything in the emails because most people don't read everything??? I beg your pardon? What kind of answer is that? LOL I had to laugh to myself - in the same email they send out they talk about the importance of always reading emails - and now he's saying they didn't put it in because people don't read them? In the same "pre interview" (if I can call it that) he asked me if I read the email - and asked if I was sure...... doesn't make sense to me and it didn't smell rightThis isn't to say they are a fake agency or not I have no idea, I don't know the experiences that other people have had, but I'd just like to heed a warning so you know beforehand what to expect, as I felt a little bit misled

Date of experience: Nov 04, 2024