A Norwalk-based photo agency that pressured customers into buying high-cost photo packages of their children in hopes of landing a modeling or acting career has signed a written legal agreement to adhere to all state laws in the operation of its business, Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Jerry Farrell, Jr. said today.
Earlier this year, shoppers at several malls in Connecticut complained to the Department that InterFACE Talent Network employees used pressure and deception to sign children up for photography contracts costing as much as $5,500.
“It was particularly concerning to hear reports that InterFACE solicited information from children without their parent or guardian’s permission,” Commissioner Farrell said. “formation should never be solicited from children by a business without a parent or guardian being involved and giving consent.”
In September, the Department obtained $21,610 in refunds for 18 Connecticut families and demanded changes in InterFACE’s cancellation policies, but left its investigation open in regard to the solicitation of children issue.
“I was insistent that any legal agreement whereby the Department would close its investigation must contain a clause where InterFACE acknowledged that they will not solicit information from children without the involvement of the parent or guardian,” Farrell said.
The legal agreement, called an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, prohibits InterFACE from soliciting information from children and holds the company responsible for providing a 3-day cancellation policy to customers who sign a contract and for promptly refunding consumers who cancel within the 3-day cancellation period.Â
“While we cannot stop InterFACE from all person-to-person solicitation, we can ensure that all solicitations of children involve a parent or guardian,” Farrell said.
“Many companies have pro-active internal policies, such as InterFACE will now have, that mandate that a parent or guardian must be involved in any transaction with someone under the age of 18,” Farrell said.
“This becomes critically important when one looks at an individual’s ˜personal identifying information, such as date of birth, Social Security number, and other data. Children need to be taught not to give this information out, and to let their parents evaluate where one legitimately consents to give such data, and where it should be withheld.
“That is often a difficult judgment call to make, and therefore the involvement of the parent is essential,” Farrell said.
“I encourage all consumers, adults and children, to always ask how their personal identifying information, once collected, is going to be used and how it will be safeguarded,” Farrell said. “Is the information going to be sold? What steps, once collected, is a business going to take to ensure that the data is not stolen or lost, and therefore becomes vulnerable to identity thieves.”
The commissioner said that his department will continue to monitor the firm in regard to its adherence to the legal agreement.
Crack down, seems like a slap on the wrist. We need a smack down of this kinda loophole that allows the continued operation of the explotation of folks inspirations.
The real problem isn’t that they obtain personal info from kids or teenagers without a guardian present!
The *real* problem is that they use high-pressure sales techniques in which they tell you — *in front of your kids,* who by then are all excited about their upcoming glamorous modeling, singing and/or acting career — that you’ve either got to pony up with an immediate payment of $550 to $1000 (or God knows how much more) in cash or on a credit card, or else the whole deal is immediately off, and your kid’s dreams are dashed and their heart broken right there in front of you!
Yes, there’s a 3-day cancellation policy, but the contract gives them 30 days to issue the refund, and I’ve seen reports (e.g., here: http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/2033915860/11) that the refund checks are repeatedly “lost in the mail,” and that many people needed the help of muscle from the Connecticut Attorney General to get their money back. Also, some people may be too unsophisticated either to discover the deception in time to cancel within 3 days, or to handle the requirement that the cancellation be made in writing and sent via certified mail, return receipt requested.
And that’s just problem no. 1. There are also the unsubstantiated advertising claims. For example, they call themselves a “marketing” company, when *all* they do is take a low-grade “photo shoot” and prepare a CD-ROM of photos of your kid, which, btw, you must come and pick up yourself within 90 days or they throw it out. In the contract, they don’t agree to do *anything* in terms of contacting talent agencies or otherwise publicizing, exposing or marketing your child’s talent, even though their sales patter repeatedly *states* (not “implies,” but “states”) that is what, as a “marketing company” they’ll do.
And they claim that you’re just coming in for a “free evaluation,” with “no obligation,” when in reality you’re going to be subjected to the high-pressure sales technique *in front of your kid* described above.
This is disgusting emotional manipulation of both children, and parents through their most vulnerable point, their love and solicitude for their children.
I can’t believe the Connecticut AG has allowed them to continue these practices here since at least the middle of 2008. I have a basic understanding of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act (“CUTPA”), and I believe InterFACE has violated it in at least 3-4 ways. It is also clearly against the public interest to allow these shysters to continue preying on children and parents in this way.
Hello i am going through the same ordeal myself and i put down a 300.00 deposit i sent in the certified mail only to find i had 3 days but the so called director told me I had 7 days and when i said i no longer wanted their service they offered all kinds of other deal which im not interested its become long and drawn out i left their office in East Brunswick N.J @ a lil after 9pm on a friday 10/21/11 i have phone recoreds from my cee and my daughter s from the moment we left and have not received no results the original guy i spoke with Rich Vielna is never nowhere to be found now prior to getting my money Interface call on the daily basis now i here nothing or get put on hold or deals i dont want I would just like to be refunded my money back
I recently put down 300.00 dollars for my daughter and have been waiting for over 2 months and still havent received anything. How did u finally get your refund?
I’ve been waiting for just about 90 days now to get my $500 refund. I cancelled in time and did everything right but they can’t seem to do the same. I call them all the time and they often tell me it has been processed and should be in the mail or about to be in the mail. The lady I talked to today said just the opposite surprisingly, that the check had not been marked as mailed yet and told me I can check when it will be mailed next week. All this hassle makes me want to go sit outside their office and warn families going in with fliers.
More about their deception. I thought I was only putting $50 down because I was worried about over-drafting my debit account, and the lady said that as long as I pay the full amount before the photo shoot, that would be ok. So I signed and it wasn’t until I got the credit card receipt that I realized they billed me the full $500. I addressed it and she made an effort to convince me that that was what we agreed on. She also said that if I over-drafted, she would pay the penalty for me, I should have gotten it in writing, thankfully I missed over-drafting by like 40 bucks, I never would have seen that money.
Also, after I cancelled and they called me to offer a better deal and whatever, they tried to tell me that they are very selective with who they take and that I was one of only 2 people selected that day. They said the other person was an elderly man (I’m over 18, they were trying to tell me 18+ models were highly in demand and would do well). So I thought back to the waiting room and remember at least one or two other families leaving the office with the same contract package that I had, and all of a sudden their story changed to 3 selections that day. They are so full of bull crap it’s ridiculous.
I appreciate your postings. I am trying to get my 5 month old looked at by a “legit” agency. I came across interface and we were SUPPOSED to have an appointment with them in their new brunswick office TOMORROW!!! I am so thankful I came across your posts as I as searching for their reputability. I feel so sorry for you and your children. I know how heartbreaking it is; and how awful it feels to be deceived. My parents and myself fell victims to a similar scam when I was a child. So I am very leery of ANY agency, but still, I’m going to need to take a chance at some point. Do you know of any reputable agencies in the New Jersey area????
I should have known better!!! I went on the interview with my children on a late Thursday afternoon. I realized I made a mistake !!! I called Friday to cancel the photo shoot , I asked what should I do for a refund , they stated I need to send a certified letter. They told me that on Friday at 3:45pm .I mailed out the certified letter on Monday . Two weeks later they said I did not send the letter in three days . I have two problems with that 1 you can not go to the post office on Sunday 2 I canceled on Friday and they did not get back to me until the post office was closed . If you are an honest business person you treat people with respect !! I feel like people that want to be disrespectful and have no business ethics should not be in business !! It is not the AMERICAN way !!! This country was built on honesty and hard work . THIS COMPANY STILL STALKS ME EVERY TIME I GO TO THE MALL !! NOT GOING TO THE MALL ANYMORE!!!!
The article states: “In September, the Department obtained $21,610 in refunds for 18 Connecticut families and demanded changes in InterFACE’s cancellation policies…”
It also says the State recently imposed an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance that “holds the company responsible for providing a 3-day cancellation policy to customers who sign a contract and for promptly refunding consumers who cancel within the 3-day cancellation period.”
I’m sorry but it sounds like the State handed Interface another loophole for scamming its victims: Did the people who got refunds sign a contract that said “three days to cancel?” Probably not — and that’s why the state was ABLE to get their money back from them, because there was no defined cancellation period in the contract prior.
Now that there is a section added to the contract that says you must cancel in three days, the State has, in fact, made it even more likely that Interface will walk away with everyone’s money. Very few people will realize what the company is really about within that three day period. The three day cancellation policy ONLY has the effect of giving Interface another point of leverage over its victims.
Also, Interface is flooding the Internet with bogus (i.e. “fake”) websites that include articles saying how great the company is — with comments from “readers” saying nothing but great things about the company. (Here are a few however they might not be around for long: http://www.mytalentedkid.org/, http://www.healthy-model.com/, http://www.bestmodeling.info/) This is so when people search Google using the term “Interface Talent Network” nothing but positive things come up on the first page of the Google search results.
They’re doing this to further deceive people. Just take a close look at some of these websites and visit the “About” section for each one. You’ll see that each website is in fact a Wiki (a message board where people self-post content) and is not owned by an actual publisher or other entity. Plus each one has only about 4 to 10 articles. InterFace is obviously paying developers to build these websites and optimize them for the Web purely for the purpose of deception.
One thing that is interesting is that when you read these “fake” articles, the language used is very similar — almost as if they are written by the same person or people. Furthermore, note how literally ALL the comments on these articles are either positive or at least benign — yet when you visit other websites not behind the scam (such as http://whocallsme.com/Phone-Number.aspx/2033915860) suddenly all the reviews are negative. It makes no sense when you think about it — why would some websites have entirely positive reviews while others have entirely negative? Wouldn’t it be a mix?
This is deception to the Nth Degree and the fact that this company continues to operate in area malls makes the CT Dept. of Consumer Protection look like a complete and utterly ineffective JOKE…
just send me links where I also pay for a supposed interview that little game yours but I’m going to show domestic taxes each money that I gave to you and yet do nothing .. We’ll see you in court and I have many more you made them the same story. I PAy 3,000 the photos telemarketing everything never call me
Thanks a million for your posts. Thanks to them I will not attend a interview today in Boca Raton, Florida. Interface Talent Group agents talked to my daughter in a mall, she gave her info and I was contacted by them (harrassed) yesterday and I felt they were putting to much pressure on me to go to the interview. The conversation lasted about half an hour. I have the feeling that was something wrong and assured them over the phone I was not going to pay for nothing. They replied that they would not charge anything and I just needed to take 3 photos of my daughter and TWO of my official IDs, for them to verify that I was her mother. They also insisted me in taking my husband with me to decide together. I told them that I was a single mother so they asked me if I have the full custody, if my daugther’s father was giving financial support to my child, etc. etc. I told them I have not contact at all with him and then they told me that I could take my boyfriend so the interviewers can see a couple ??? They said that I needed to sign a written consent since my daughter was a minor (less than 22 years old). I was told also that I would not have any other chance to sign a contract with them. It needed to be signed the day of the interview.
Hi ,anyone no a number to someone that could help me get my money back?
I didn’t know anything about this, i sign my son a contract for four years and I only had 2 phone calls from them, and I write to them asking for my money back but never heard anything, I pay $2400 which I wish to have back, When they told me the amount of money I have to pay I say no, but she use her technique in front of my son, after I look my son face I couldn’t say no one more time.
I really will love to have my money back, I’m a housekeeper who works really hard to support my son dreams, it’s not fear for people like this take advantage of people like me, and for other people as well.
Okay so I saw interface online a couple months ago and I was super excited! I’m a teenager and modeling has always been my dream. I thought interface would be my way in. The golden ticket. I signed up and went with my parents. They thought it was very organized and fairly real. Although the sales people were extremely pushy and kind of annoying. We still payed about $1250 and signed up and everything for the photoshoot. I got the second most expensive one cuz even my parents said that it would be a good investment for my future. The whole week I was waiting I was super excited and pretty much my dreams touched the sky. I took the pictures and yeah it was glam but something felt very wrong. Then another sales person took us in the room and pushed pushed pushed us to buy the most expensive 4 year deal. She even said she would give me an extra photoshoot for when I get my braces off (which she ‘forgot’ to include later unless I had to remind her). My parents paid again like $2400 and we were super happy with the investment. I don’t think I ever smiled for so long in my life. They said I had to wait 4-6 weeks and I did. Like 9 weeks passed, my hopes are crushed to the ground and also they moved away from where I live. They’re office is not here anymore. Those bastards. I was really stupid not to do a little research on them before paying and I regret that so dam much. I’m super upset now that I made my parents spend all that money on such stupid causes. I really hope nobody else makes my same mistake!!!! DONT GO TO INTERFACE!!!!!!!!! ITS A TOTAL SCAM! THEY’RE LIARS!!!!! SAVE YOUR MONEY!
The same here, maybe $2400 doesn’t sound to much for InterFace, but it’s a lot for us I wish we can get our money back, and the authorities stop this type of people in the future.