oceanic7777
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Ohio
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What is the name of your state? Ohio
I now know never to pay anything for "representation." In fact my agent (and other agents) told me no reputable agency will ask for $ up front or force you to take acting/modeling classes; and they also told me online modeling/acting databases are worthless, if not scams. But the fact remains, I fell for the trick a while ago, and now I am dealing with my gremlins. Here is my story:
In March I signed a contract with Modamodeling.com ("MODA"), which supposedly makes available my online profile with pictures and composite card to casting directors and such for work in the talent business. The company also posts relevant jobs for talent on its website, accessible using a password it gave me.
The contract included a highly overpriced setup fee ($500), which I paid with a separate credit card. The contract also stipulated that I would be their client for 12 months, paying a monthly fee of $29.95. And finally, the contract lays out that my card will be charged the monthly fee between the first and fifth of every month; I gave the company a check card for the monthly charges.
The problem:
1) MODA has not charged me the monthly "service fee" since March -- for the past two months.
2) I made clear before signing that I am interested in acting moreso than modeling; the company told me their services could serve my interests. So I signed. But mostly promotional modeling jobs have been posted on their talent jobsearch site. The company is not serving my interests, and I have no need for the company. (Now I realize I signed a contract and the "interests" point is based on verbal communication, which may be hard to prove if we ever go to court).
I have emailed the company several times about the concerns I'm not getting what I was told I would get; And on the phone, the company has told me it will reply to my email as soon as possible; it has been more than a month since my first email.
Note: I never mentioned the fact that the company is not charging my card monthly. But I know the company has the correct card number, because it is correctly listed on a copy of the contract; furthermore, the company has not sent me any notice of non-payment. One possibility is that the company lost my contract; another possibility is the company is in financial or legal trouble and has lost its merchant account. The company will not accept checks.
FRUSTRATION: The company's not charging my card has meant that the money is still in my account each month and is building up; I budgeted for the monthly payments. But I may need that money that is building up for some other things -- I am a college student.
The company has also "acquired" First Call Talent ... and MODA told me they didn't receive my first few emails; so the company had me resend them to a yahoo account. This all makes me doubt whether the company, whose primary business is online, is even living up to its promise to provide my profile online to casting directors; I have no way to know this, because I access my profile from the back end.
GOAL: To get out of my contract. It seems almost obvious the company is having trouble. It also seems like it is not "living up to its end" of the contract, by not charging me in the time period set out in the contract's terms.
I am not looking to get back my $500 setup fee. But I do want to not pay the $350 in monthly fees; I have some knowledge of contract law, and it seems to me I am not obligated to pay. One more tidbit: I JUST cancelled the check card I gave the company (for personal reasons); if MODA tries to charge my card, the charge will not go through and the company will need to contact me personally -- it has not. I spoke to a law expert about this:
LAWYER:
An attorney told me MODA has technically breached the contract, by not charging my card within the time period designated on the contract. He also says it sounds like the company is in some sort of trouble.
LETTER
He then told me to write a formal letter outlining my concerns and have it certified at the post office. But in case not charging my card is an accident, I don't want to clue MODA in.
QUESTIONS:
"Can I say, in the letter, I have reason to believe MODA is not living up to its end of the contract"?
From expertlaw: In a typical "breach of contract" action, the party alleging the breach will recite that it performed all of its duties under the contract, whereas the other party failed to perform its duties or obligations.
I believe I have performed all my duties under the contract, but MODA has not; it is MODA's dutie to charge my account.
Should I ask MODA to close my online profile immediately? Why/why not?
(My goal has been to get out of the contract politely; I have made several failed attempts to talk with the company. And I want to avoid a legal fight. But this is so frustrating; the company should either charge me NOW, or be done with me. I'm tired of waiting in limbo.)
*If MODA is breaching the contract, am I automatically out? Or is some sort of legal action necessary to officially declare the contract breached.
If, after MODA receives my letter, the company does not reply, what is my next step? Ohio attorney general's office?
I suppose I could also file a Better Business Bureau Complaint.
Thanks!
RGMD
Interesting facts:
*"MODA" was associated with "First Call Talent," which originally administered my online profile.
*MODA and First Call Talent were owned by the same person
*MODA and First Call Talent merged
-------
What is the name of your state? Ohio
I now know never to pay anything for "representation." In fact my agent (and other agents) told me no reputable agency will ask for $ up front or force you to take acting/modeling classes; and they also told me online modeling/acting databases are worthless, if not scams. But the fact remains, I fell for the trick a while ago, and now I am dealing with my gremlins. Here is my story:
In March I signed a contract with Modamodeling.com ("MODA"), which supposedly makes available my online profile with pictures and composite card to casting directors and such for work in the talent business. The company also posts relevant jobs for talent on its website, accessible using a password it gave me.
The contract included a highly overpriced setup fee ($500), which I paid with a separate credit card. The contract also stipulated that I would be their client for 12 months, paying a monthly fee of $29.95. And finally, the contract lays out that my card will be charged the monthly fee between the first and fifth of every month; I gave the company a check card for the monthly charges.
The problem:
1) MODA has not charged me the monthly "service fee" since March -- for the past two months.
2) I made clear before signing that I am interested in acting moreso than modeling; the company told me their services could serve my interests. So I signed. But mostly promotional modeling jobs have been posted on their talent jobsearch site. The company is not serving my interests, and I have no need for the company. (Now I realize I signed a contract and the "interests" point is based on verbal communication, which may be hard to prove if we ever go to court).
I have emailed the company several times about the concerns I'm not getting what I was told I would get; And on the phone, the company has told me it will reply to my email as soon as possible; it has been more than a month since my first email.
Note: I never mentioned the fact that the company is not charging my card monthly. But I know the company has the correct card number, because it is correctly listed on a copy of the contract; furthermore, the company has not sent me any notice of non-payment. One possibility is that the company lost my contract; another possibility is the company is in financial or legal trouble and has lost its merchant account. The company will not accept checks.
FRUSTRATION: The company's not charging my card has meant that the money is still in my account each month and is building up; I budgeted for the monthly payments. But I may need that money that is building up for some other things -- I am a college student.
The company has also "acquired" First Call Talent ... and MODA told me they didn't receive my first few emails; so the company had me resend them to a yahoo account. This all makes me doubt whether the company, whose primary business is online, is even living up to its promise to provide my profile online to casting directors; I have no way to know this, because I access my profile from the back end.
GOAL: To get out of my contract. It seems almost obvious the company is having trouble. It also seems like it is not "living up to its end" of the contract, by not charging me in the time period set out in the contract's terms.
I am not looking to get back my $500 setup fee. But I do want to not pay the $350 in monthly fees; I have some knowledge of contract law, and it seems to me I am not obligated to pay. One more tidbit: I JUST cancelled the check card I gave the company (for personal reasons); if MODA tries to charge my card, the charge will not go through and the company will need to contact me personally -- it has not. I spoke to a law expert about this:
LAWYER:
An attorney told me MODA has technically breached the contract, by not charging my card within the time period designated on the contract. He also says it sounds like the company is in some sort of trouble.
LETTER
He then told me to write a formal letter outlining my concerns and have it certified at the post office. But in case not charging my card is an accident, I don't want to clue MODA in.
QUESTIONS:
"Can I say, in the letter, I have reason to believe MODA is not living up to its end of the contract"?
From expertlaw: In a typical "breach of contract" action, the party alleging the breach will recite that it performed all of its duties under the contract, whereas the other party failed to perform its duties or obligations.
I believe I have performed all my duties under the contract, but MODA has not; it is MODA's dutie to charge my account.
Should I ask MODA to close my online profile immediately? Why/why not?
(My goal has been to get out of the contract politely; I have made several failed attempts to talk with the company. And I want to avoid a legal fight. But this is so frustrating; the company should either charge me NOW, or be done with me. I'm tired of waiting in limbo.)
*If MODA is breaching the contract, am I automatically out? Or is some sort of legal action necessary to officially declare the contract breached.
If, after MODA receives my letter, the company does not reply, what is my next step? Ohio attorney general's office?
I suppose I could also file a Better Business Bureau Complaint.
Thanks!
RGMD
Interesting facts:
*"MODA" was associated with "First Call Talent," which originally administered my online profile.
*MODA and First Call Talent were owned by the same person
*MODA and First Call Talent merged
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