Characters for Hire ℠Reviews of charactersforhire.com

the absolute worse company ever. RUDE. UNPROFESSIONAL. They avoid paying people AFTER services were carried out. STAY AWAY.

The “CEO” of this company, Kevin Mack, calls me at 9:30pm to say, “You’re a moron”. I haven’t even worked for him or signed a contract! Lol. Let’s go back to see how this started… I submitted to be an extra via Casting Networks for the San Diego Comic-Com event titled in the contract, “Weiner Event”. I was told text Angela Moore if you’re interested. Which I did on July 5th, I never received a response until I followed up on July 17th. She said they were booked then all of a sudden a spot opened up a few hours later. I mention I’m NU and she asks for my email then sign a contract under the next hour. I get an email from Kevin Mack with the contract that I didn’t sign because it seemed sketchy. Boy did I wish I came across this page beforehand. He then decided to call me at 9:30pm today to ask why I didn’t sign the contact. Keep in mind I never seen this number or knew who this was beforehand. He proceeds to call me a moron and hangs up right before I can respond. Who does that? Let alone the cuck, I mean owner, of the company? I don’t know if he needs to go back to AA or what but that was very unprofessional. I get that I should’ve responded saying I couldn’t go. But I don’t need some random guy telling me I’m a moron at 9:30pm lol. Big shout out to Angela Moore, his other workers, and family who has to put up with him. Best of luck to everyone who reads this, including you big Kev!

I worked for Characters for Hire last year and I still haven't been paid for the events I worked. The entire team of actors I worked with have not seen a dime from this company either. I am a freelance artist, and I can say I have never worked with a more insulting and rude company. We were never paid, never fed during our 11 hour day, and never given costumes or told to bring any. This was one of the more humiliating gigs I've ever worked. If you are interested in investing your money into a company that treats their whole team well, I would not recommend this one. See below for written confirmation that they have well exceeded NYS labor laws.

Last year, I had a bit of an issue with Characters For Hire, but after I explained my side and they explained theirs, we were able to sort things out and put things behind us. To give me a closer look at how the company works and operates, they gave me an opportunity (let's call it a trial run) at working with them. I got to meet some of the crew. They all seemed really nice! They hired me as a Covid Compliance Officer, as that's what I've been certified for and working as during this pandemic. I was stationed by the entrance of the location to check everyone who came to the event. I worked longer than expected for a small price, but again, it was a "trial run"... That's what I thought until I mentioned my going rate, to which they claimed they had other Covid Compliance Officers under their employ at a cheaper rate, then didn't hire me for their event. Even after telling me they had the event covered at a cheaper rate by someone else (most likely waiting for me to lower my rate again), it turns out that they ended up not having a single Covid Compliance Officer at that event. I knew they didn't have anyone else to do the job, as me working with them as a CCO was an idea that was recently pitched to them by an acquaintance of mine. So I HIGHLY doubt that had a bunch of other CCOs at the ready, if any. Finally, their steps to getting paid are quite unorthodox. In order to get paid, one has to leave a (good) review for them. In my previous edit of the review, I felt pressured to withhold information from my time working with them (like the fact that many of their actors weren't actually trained on how to do their job, the fact that they don't actually reimburse people, and many other things that I learned from people there that only re-enforced everything I originally put in my initial review that this company stated to be lies were actually true across the board). I have seen other artists and actors struggling to get paid, especially if their review wasn't a good review. I know people personally who still haven't gotten paid in months for leaving a bad review. "Unless you change your review, we will be forced to withhold your payment for ________ (insert absurd length of time). In case you don't know, forcing people, especially workers to leave reviews... ESPECIALLY in order to get paid... IS ILLEGAL! And I have proof that they did that to me and to others. P.s. What company has all of its employees texting from the exact same number, no one is reachable outside of text, and no one can seem to respond back once the Halloween season is over, even when EVERYONE is reaching out about getting their due payments? Characters For Hire is who. P.p.s. Any 1 star review given is almost immediately attacked by the owners of the company with a copy and paste statement saying: "Fake Review ". But I'll tell you that I am not a fake reviewer. This isn't a fake account, as evident by the company's changed response (after I "corrected" my review to get paid) of working with me. Watch this company's reply be a copy and paste of the same thing they reply for anyone that leaves a bad review, as they always do... trying to scare off reviewers leaving honest, poor-rated reviews and to discredit said reviews.

1) I didn't just do makeup, i also bought costumes and props, rented a car, drove 5 hours to Virginia, paid my assistants... out of my pocket.. Characters for Hire has not paid nor reimbursed me as they said they would, and its been over a month since the event. After constantly being told ill get paid in 2 days, the next day, in a few days, they eventually stopped responding (or responded days later after promising payment) so I posted an honest review about my experience. They mesaged me, threatening me saying if I dont take my review down within 24 hours they will take legal action. (Saying things like "you are making things worse for yourself" and "just trying to protect you"). They said its going to add me to the "end of the list", delaying payment for another 6 months - which i kinda expected to be battling for payment months later, since its happened multiple times.(despite their promises about faster payment... seems they promise alot but don't live up to their words). And as I get feedback from others who have worked for their events, they still haven't gotten paid either, being told they will get paid by the holidays. Thats months after the event, and I'm sure they will postpone again. Its an excuse I'm familiar with, cause last year I've worked several events with them, they kept promising payment "you'll get paid tomorrow" "you'll get paid by this week" "your check was sent out" "your check wasn't sent out, its sitting in the office".... 7-8 months later I've finally gotten paid after harassing them about it. (Which they missed an invoice here and there, had I not been on top of it). 2) THIS COMPANY REQUIRES YOU TO WRITE A POSITIVE REVIEW IN ORDER TO GET PAID, and threatening people who write negative reviews to take it down claiming them as "fake". They bully people into write reviews. I see their workers writing positive reviews pretending to be customers. (A quick Google search shows a bunch of complaints about how this company doesn't pay). 3) They are a VERY SHADY company - a term used by multiple people who are associated with them. 4) on their last event I worked, They didn't want to hire a covid compliance officer. I recommended one to them, and they didn't hire them, but I honestly don't care who they hire.If their website advertises that they are covid safe, and taking necessary measures, then shouldn't they be on top of that? There were no sanitization stations, people were not social distancing, and when one of the curators came by towards the end of the event, he didn't even have enough masks for the actors. "You're just upset because we didn't hire your friend" they said. No, sir, I dont care who you hire. I'm upset because I CAUGHT COVID in that event, I was perhaps one of three people in that crowded event that wore a mask the entire time. Now I am quarantining and I've lost alot of work. And will continue losing work cause tests can show up positive for 3 months. OUR HEALTH WAS PUT AT RISK SO THEY CAN MAKE MONEY. 5) they communicate through text only, so they can dodge you and delay getting back to you.ive attempted calling them multiple times only to be transferred to voice-mail. I've watched them dodging actors phone calls as they leave them stranded to figure out their own transportation. Just like they dodge actors phones calls, I now see how they dodge mine.. its just so unprofessional. This one time I actually reached a human, I explained my situation and the poor kid didn't even know how to handle it, his response was "I'm sorry.... I just work here, I can't help you, try hanging up and calling back", which I did and they dont pick up, they purposely do not pick up your phone calls. When you are helping their event they are SUPER responsive. When the event is over and its time to get paid, thats when they start responding slower, constantly delaying payment, and before you know it, weeks, months pass by. Excuse after excuse. Lies after lies. They truly know how to make you feel like you're number 5,689th in line, and they gaslight you into thinking you're in the wrong. I've worked for them on several occasions, which turned out to be VERY unorganized... and after the events its an EXHAUSTING BATTLE to get paid every time. Its extremely unprofessional how they handle business. They came back saying they have hired more help, and have a better system and the problems won't happen again..... but its still happening! So many lies after lies. the events are usually very fun because of the people you work with, but a massive headache after the event!

***As an update, there have been issues getting paid for me and others I went with. We were told if we completed a review here and on Google, we would get paid next day. I, with pestering, got my check a week later. Others did not. However, I had also been promised additional pay for a variety of reasons by 2 different people, and have been given the runaround ever since to find out the amount and get the funds. Told different stories about how to get it approved, promised I would get it multiple times, needs more paperwork/there is no more paperwork, etc. Hopefully they eventually make good on their word...the event was pretty fun due to the people who did it with me, but all the rest of this has been a hot mess and lots of BS**** Overall it was a fun experience and would work with them again. However, there was definitely a lot of confusion and disorganization and communication issues. I am hoping this was due to it being a fairly last minute booking, giving the benefit of the doubt. The people I worked with were great, as were those I had direct contact with at the company.

Update: Shortly after posting the original review, I had been paid. I'm going to leave my original post for all to see, but want it noted that the statements are true and in no way defamatory. They DID take an extremely long time to pay me... but everything else about the experience was terrific. Original post: I worked a gig in November and STILL haven't received payment. Everything else about this experience was GREAT. They were extremely responsive BEFORE the event, but I've received nothing but the cold shoulder since.

If you enjoy MASSIVE headaches, UTTER chaos, complete disorganization, over promises, being lied to, jumping through hoops to help, only communicating through text (they dont pick up their phones), being treated like you're number 62nd in line, not receiving payment (being owed thousands of dollars for work ive done, been promised payment everyday for MONTHS), and then being ignored after months of trying to reach out, perfect company for you.