Here are some ABC6 viewer emails and comments left in reaction to ABC6 Investigative Reporter Parker Gavigan's story, "Dream Makers."

Thank you ABC and thank you Parker for bringing more awareness for parents to better understand the business model and marketing practices of this school. You provided insight that parents were not provided, especially about Lily and per ACT's statement I now disagree that parents were provided info about every aspect of the program as this company has many alias names making it difficult for parents to research this company and does ACT honestly solve ALL parents' problems who contact them?

-From Janet
 

We went to this at the Convention Center last year. They set it up as an audition, with appt. times and your child receiving a number. They usher you into a room and create hype with recorded presentations of supposedly successful actors saying how great ACT is and children being led out to be auditioned by a talent agent. We found, after being given a packet with lots of legal paperwork, that it was just a sale pitch for acting lessons. It was disappointing for all and cost us $15 in parking.

-From TC

"KIDS, want to be a STAR??" NOWHERE in the comm. did it say anything about this being a "SCHOOL.” It WAS as if they were auditioning kids for a part in a commercial or TV show. What APPEARED to be a real BAIT and SWITCH turned into a real SCAM! These people should be prosecuted to the FULLEST extent of the law!!! They DISGUST me!! And WHY didn't NICK or ABC or any other channel that AIRED the comm. make sure it was LEGIT? Or the RI CONV. CENTER for that matter BEFORE it RENTED out the SPACE??

-From Kim

Bravo to you for investigating these scam artists. And thanks to the parents who agreed to share their stories. It's so important to spread the word about ACT.

-From Anonymous

When my daughter was an infant, I submitted photos of her to a REPUTABLE agency in Boston called Dynasty Models. In a nutshell, a reputable agency such as that would never so essentially have an "open call" rather you submit the photos and if they are interested in taking you on as a client they contact YOU and set up an interview. And there are no fees to be affiliated with them if you are chosen - just a small cost for a photo portfolio. Although my daughter was chosen by the agency, we opted not to sign with them or anyone else at the time as it would have required a lot of traveling into Boston or even NY on a regular basis. I feel sorry for the people who are scammed by unreputable agencies and as a general rule of thumb I think it goes without saying that if someone wants thousands of dollars, it is probably NOT legit.

-From Anonymous

I am 15 years old and I attend ACT classes in Providence. My audition was a short 5 min. interview and a quick cold read on a projection screen in front of 100s of kids that had the same dreams as I did. I wanted this dream to come true more than anything, and my parents saw how much a possibility like that meant to me. They chose the best classes possible for me, told that it was the best for me by my interviewer. I attended classes first semester, received a call back, and never heard from them

-From Bren
 

We went to one of the Friday night auditions in Providence after "winning" a spot on the radio. There were 2 parts to the audition- one for print ads and one for acting. I found it interesting that even though we were told that you might get called back for one, but not the other only one of them asked for our contact info. When we called in on Monday we were told that our daughter was "adorable" and "totally marketable"- next step, show up on Tuesday with $ for classes. We didn't go back

-From Sheila

I was 14, when my sister and I went to the RI Convention Ctr. last year. I was one of the handful chosen out of hundreds! They called us back, and we had to pay $6,000 for ACT classes. My mom gave $1,000 deposit and was going back with the rest, my aunt told my mom it was a scam. When my mom called for her deposit back, the same person that was so nice to us was very rude! And told my mom she was upset because my sister didn't get a call back! And said mean things about my sister.

-From Alexmarie


We signed my daughter with ACT in Sept. 2008 in Cincy after performing the audition and was chosen. Lily convinced us that our daughter (who has little to no experience) had the "look" and "would make her investment a million times over.” After researching ACT, we found that this would not be the best situation and tried to cancel. We were denied! Lily stated that she was not affiliated with ACT. Now I find that she is part owner in the "The" conventions. They misrepresented who they are. The classes are sub par at best. We are disappointed with the quality of this program. Our daughter has received poor instruction. We have been trying to resolves issues with this company for several months. I am not sure how they can state that they resolve issues. I have been waiting for a response to some very simple questions for over a week. I simply wanted to know their alias names and what name they registered with at the secretary of state Ohio. I have received no response.

-From Anonymous


Callie started last month with ACT. Callie has a very good resume and was looking for a way to get the opportunity to get more auditions so Callie and I went to the audition the next day she got a call back, and we signed with them, they did not go through it all thoroughly so Callie decided she didn't want to do it. We tried to cancel the request but they wouldn't let me they said it was too late. Callie does go, but we had a feeling it was a scam. Lilly told Callie she would make it big. Please do something

-From Anonymous


I took my daughter to this a few months ago in Providence. We waited for 2 hours for a 3 minute interview that consisted of the "real estate" woman rushing through a list of 3 or 4 questions that she barely even wrote the response down. When we saw the price and read the fine print that said classes were mandatory we decided that this was just for fun, and not to get your hopes up. AKA this was a SCAM!! Glad someone caught this !!

-From Caroline
 

We heard about the audition in a commercial, and when we arrived we saw the same woman who was just on the news report. I read some lines on camera and then left. A few days later they called back my mother and obviously said, "we will not need your son for any commercials yet, but he is eligible to sign up for classes!" and my mom said she does not think I can do it and the woman hung up.

-From Corey
 

My daughter was accepted and had her first day and loved it, not expecting to be picked and on TV we were there for the self esteem. But not I got a call from someone there asking if I would be there tomorrow night and I asked him about the news and he didn't know a thing. Next I knew Kari, the person in charge, called me to ask if I would be at the Westin tomorrow night and if I had any questions to ask them.

-From Margaret
 

Does anyone know if we can file suit maybe, or some how get our money back my daughter is very upset over this.

-From Angela