Gary Spatz BBB Ripoff?

I know from experience. I have been there done it. Let me save everyone some time, money and most importantly your child鈥檚 hart!

The scam starts like this. You and your family are out shopping and you are contacted by a woman. She tells you how cute your child is and asks 鈥渉ave you ever thought about getting in commercials or TV?鈥?She chats on and you are convinced you should attend the big 鈥渢ryout鈥?or should I say the big set-up. Well, after an hour or more of driving you arrive and there are many other children waiting for their 鈥渂ig break鈥?also. After two hours and a dog and pony show were they try and get your child all excited. This is helpful in the big picture of trying to sale you an expensive acting class.
You now drive home and wait for the 鈥淐allback鈥? Everyone gets called back. The next day after a brief conversation on the phone you take another drive to their office and this is were the big hustle starts. We saw a man named Mike and his office looked like a move set. What a joke. All the phony photos on the wall and phony props, a real cheese ball this guy was.

After 10 minutes of b.s. he gets to the real reason for all the deception.
You need to spend $3000 on classes and then you will be invited to attend 鈥減erformance鈥?night. I then asked, what about all the negative things people are saying online? His reply was 鈥渄on鈥檛 pay any attention to what people are saying online. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just some crackpot鈥?I then asked why they have an F with the BBB? He said they have only one complaint and that was the reason. NOT TRUE! They have an F because of their deceptive business practices. Well, I thought long and hard and decided to give it a try for my child. (I also new if I put it on a credit card I could dispute it later if need be)

We attend the first class and I start talking to some of the other parents that have been there for awhile. A LOT of them are NOT that happy with the whole operation, contrary to what 鈥渢he Playground鈥?wants you to believe.鈥?The complaints were numerous including the fact that Gary dose not even teach! We attend two more classes that I sit in on and I talk to more upset parents.


My family finally decides to cancel this whole thing and get a refund. Boy that was not easy. Once they get your money they do not want to give it back. I guess the 鈥渃heese ball鈥?had already spent the commission.

Here is the long and short of it. I have nothing to gain and my only goal is to share
my experience and offer some advise.

DO NOT DO BUSSINESS WITH THIS SCAM COMPANY
Go online and look up acting schools in Los Angeles. Call and talk with them. Go see a few places. I know this will take a little time but, your child is worth it. Make a decision after you have all the facts. Don鈥檛 let your child鈥檚 dream be ruined by Gary Spatz and his group of scammers. Just make sure you do a little research and then proceed. It can be a lot of fun and great for your child.

Want to complain? contact the Department of Consumer Affairs. They are already aware of Gary Spatz and this Eric Rottman guy.

I wanted everyone to know the man we got scamed by was named John Phillips not Mike. Stay clear of this guy! He will say anything to get your $$.

YES, we went through the exact same thing. We even had an appointment with the same guy. After reading this we did not bother to show up. I'm calling the BBB and the City Attorneys Office and file complaints. It may take some time but they will reap what they sew! Here is more on Eric Rottman.

Disappearing Act

Best: O鈥橞rien Rottman Talent Agency vacated its premises and skipped town after D Magazine exposed its highly advertised model search as a 鈥済lam scam鈥?in our March issue.