Although the people posting jobs are legit, the actual company itself has terrible customer service. I signed up for one year in order to take advantage of the discount instead of paying a monthly rate. The customer service was terrible, they do everything by email and don't call you back, which is extremely unprofessional. So I decided I did not want to renew my subscription for another year. They charged my card with out asking for my permission, I found out about it on my bank statement at the end of the month and when I called to cancel and get a refund they said I only had 5 days after they charged my card to cancel. If they had sent a receipt like they are supposed to I could then have cancelled in the 5 days following. Save your time and money and use a more professional services like Actors Access, I know I will be.
I found it very difficult to reach them (impossible by phone). Then when I finally got one of their people on a chat about payments and about other matters, he/she refused to identify him/herself when I asked a question about their relationship with agents and directors. So I asked a director I have worked with and she said this company used to be good, but recently they have changed some of their policies. She said they are more interested in money and in falsely promising people roles than in actually helping actors. They also dont do anything much for people who are not in LA or New York. Stay away.
Please take this with a grain of salt. Backstage.com is a truly legit and reliable company. The only major downside from what I've seen is the shooting locations. You might as well save your money or kiss your chances goodbye if you don't live in or near a major city. Things are pretty lackluster on the voice acting side in terms of recording remotely. Like I said, most of the best opportunities are onsite locations, yet they'll never be anywhere near your own city or state. In terms of acting in general, the locations you can choose from are very limited. Not every city or state is selectable.
In fact, I had to Google films being shot in my own state due to my location not being a major city. That part saddens me. I basically spent money to look at opportunities that will never be relevant or obtainable to me. Things might be different for any of you though.
Thank you for your feedback! Please note that you can also type in a personalized city instead of selecting the pre-populated cities via the Location filter: backstage.com/casting. If you have further questions, please email us at customers@backstage.com!
I remember back when they had a free trial and the customer service people were kind. Now if you email them regarding an issue they act clueless, they somehow miss your response, they ask you to repeat stuff, all In all you go back and forth for hours over an issue that could've been resolved in under 5 minutes. It's email communication not a chat, I don't understand how you missed an email, that I can see on my end. If you run into an issue with them, they act clueless as if they don't make mistakes, I refuse to do business ever again. And they allow so many people to make scam posts, and they keep it there because why not they get paid anyways.
Terrible customer service. I told them to delete my account they asked me in about 5 separate emails if I wanted to delete it. Like come on now?
Hi Jasmin, we understand your frustration with the situation and apologize for any confusion. When a customer requests to close their account while they have an active subscription and is not eligible for a refund, representatives are required to ask for a clear confirmation that the customer understands they have leftover time on their subscription and that they understand they will not be able to receive a refund. Since you did not respond clearly, the representative was required to ask again. Due to your initial request for a refund, it was especially imperative that we had documentation of your consent to close your account without a refund. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us at customers@backstage.com and we'd be happy to help!
They store all your info and credit card on file, then they charge you a lot of money and say that you agreed to pay for that! Be careful! And it's not app subscription and Backstage subscription! I will write police report on them! It's a fraud! Don't trust it!
Hi Alina, while we understand your frustration with being unable to receive a refund, we are not a fraudulent company. Backstage is a well respected casting platform that has been a staple of the industry for over 50 years. As we explained to you privately, we are a subscription service. By definition, your subscription auto renews until you cancel, similar to a gym membership. Since you did not cancel your subscription, your subscription renewed per schedule. We sent you a reminder email as well, reminding you of your upcoming renewal a month prior to the renewal. On top of this, we also grant customers a 14 day grace period through which we offer a full cancellation and refund for any annual and semi-annual subscriptions, even after the subscription has renewed. Unfortunately, you contacted us three months after the charge, after already disputing the charge with your bank. If you wish to continue this discussion, please email us at customers@backstage.com.
I love this website for actors. Not only do you get casting emails from them but actors get immediate responses to questions & help request. Not to mention the tons of articles that are very useful in the industry.
Thank you for your kind review, Alexis!
I got helped by Backstage staff very fast and with great understanding of my request. It was very reassuring to feel that I was actually communicating with someone in a personalised way. Thanks for the quality of connexion ;)
My daughter and I were in New York 4 years ago. My daughter was told by her college professor to check into backstage.com to look for auditions while we were in New York for the week. My daughter used the backstage.com service and then cancelled that same month. We have never been back to New York and have had no use for backstage.com. Unfortunately, I am not always diligent at checking my credit card statements until just recently. Backstage.com has charged me $149.95 every year for the past 3 years without my approval despite my daughter cancelling the very month she used it. BE AWARE! If backstage.com has your credit card number they may continue to use it. Please don't make the same mistake we did. Do not cancel by phone... keep proof of your cancellation and make sure you watch your credit card statements. I have a feeling that we are not the only ones that have been a victim of this practice at backstage.com!
Hi Kimberly,
As my colleague Ben mentioned in his email correspondence with you last week, unfortunately we have no record of your daughter contacting us to cancel her subscription four years ago. We send a reminder email to all subscribers who have purchased a long term subscription (in your daughter's case, an annual subscription), as well as provide a 10 day grace period where subscribers are welcome to contact us for a full cancellation and refund as we know these subscriptions can sometimes be forgotten. However, we have not received any requests to cancel or receive a refund since your daughter's renewal in October of each year until this past week. Since your most recent renewal took place over 3 months ago, we are unable to issue a refund for the subscription at this point. - Stephanie
Backstage was good because it made casting easy.
I was able to work with actors and find the perfect team.
But, I had to wait for my project to be reviewed which takes forever.
Then, I had to pay a 10.00 fee to message actors.
I can't keep spending money this way,
So I think Backstage is money-sucking even though it's good.
Hi Tony, we require all creators to go through a background check and full verification for the safety of our users. We're sorry to hear that it was an unpleasant experience for you, but it is important that we do not rush these processes, especially since the majority of our users are new to the industry and can be privy to scams. We appreciate your feedback and hope you find success casting talent for your next project on Backstage.
Backstage has been GREAT. Once you ask a question they give you the info and also make sure you are directed to the right place; advertising, help wanted, jobs needed, so forth. It's always been the 'Go to' for me!
Isabel M.
Overview
Backstage has a rating of 2.7 stars from 288 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers dissatisfied with Backstage most frequently mention credit card, free trial and last year. Backstage ranks 5th among Talent Agency sites.
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Hello Jazmin,
Thanks for your feedback, we certainly appreciate listening to customers, even when it’s hard to hear. We will attempt to make the fact that Backstage is an automatically renewing subscription service (similar to Netflix, Spotify, or a gym membership) clearer in the future to stop these kinds of misunderstandings from happening.
Thanks again, and take care.