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CB Business and Industrial Review of John Casablancas
John Casablancas

John Casablancas review: Awful company 5

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7:24 am EDT
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I have to tell this so no other parent will but your child through this... We went for our second interview and I knew that they would try to sell me. Now my daughter has modeling for 3 years and has had some paid shoots and some TFP shoots and I was told a dozen of times from them she is ready to do real work and to find a agent... I told them up front I was not looking for school I was looking for an agent. They could have said sorry no thank you but we are not interested in her... No, instead they started knocking her photos and saying the photographers did bad work. Now this is all in front of my 12 year old daughter I know this business is tough but they were way out of line... My daughter has more looks then any of the people that work there... I am sorry I took my daughter there... She is still to young to understand they only said mean things cause they did not get a sale... Please Mom’s don’t put your kids through this Please.

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5 comments
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Nikikikikiki
, CA
May 20, 2016 2:13 pm EDT
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They offer a really 'basic'...ahem crappy.. hair course. (They called it basic, I had other words for it). I took it a year ago, and at least three of the girls in my graduating class enrolled in another hair school after. Some went on to apprentice. I chose to apprentice but sadly was strongly misled, not JCI's fault on that matter though. My own gullibility. Now I'm not even doing hair unless its at home for friends and family. Figures.
**I do have to add their job placement shouldn't be a responsibility they take on. Me not working in hair, I don't blame them for AT ALL. I basically picked the first middle class salon that would hire me because I didn't feel confident. Not their fault at all that I got misled. They do mention to be careful assisting/apprenticing. Although, its not the nineties anymore. We should really be passed that crap. So glorified and SUCH a waste of time. I have met many successful hairdressers who didn't apprentice.
The whole program is a bit of a loose structure. It has pros and cons. A very "figure it out yourself" attitude. I noticed they don't really cover barbercide and cleaning your tools as a basic first. They should have done that. My own critique though.

Its really cool, you cut hair the first day so that's okay.

However, a massive downside. The instructors picked favourites, (at least the group I had did) So, if the instructor you got for that day didn't like you, you weren't getting ANY help. I would get anxiety about going to class Tuesdays and Thursdays because the instructor who worked those days had a class favourite and you were pretty much chop liver. However, Fridays I loved because at least Stewart is an attentive strong leader. Fantastic teacher. Intimidating, but that's good. He will call you out on what you are doing wrong, or lazy even. Its fantastic. If you can handle criticism, constructively, then that's a perk. Sadly he doesn't teach the whole course though.

I wish they had covered more then what they did. I think they should extend the course, to be honest, and thoroughly cover as much as you can. Yes, everyone leaves school thinking they don't know much...but...this particular school sadly you leave feeling way too lost. They do follow up with you via email for months after you graduate. Finally I sent one back saying I got no where from the course and luckily they left me alone after that. Obviously I'm not a good representation.

Luckily I had previous training from my high school back in Alberta so I pretty much stayed quiet and I absolutely did miss classes and came just to pass the exams and get a peice of paper that says I can buy product in BC, lol.

HOWEVER they are a wonderfully creative group of people MOSTLY willing to teach. I just think maybe more then one instructor per class, and more of a structure on sanitation, what directions you can go in hair (cover chair rental, cover commission and ownership) I know of other school that offer that information and its so helpful. It was way too rushed and way too vague. I gotta say, I would rather an in your face teacher then an absent minded one.

So, this isn't much of a complaint or much of a good review. Just personal pros and cons that hopefully help someone decide wether or not this school is right for them. Everyone has different opinions an perspectives. I respect that.

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honest talent
Libertyville, US
Mar 11, 2009 10:12 pm EDT

Their marketing fee is expensive and a rip-off. I doubt they market their "clients" as they state, few questions are answered, there isn't a fee to audition in the industry. I would like to see the data on how they marketed my daughter and how they justify the dollar amount to the auditions.

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picklepops
Tulsa, US
May 01, 2011 10:35 pm EDT

I went to John Casablancas and finished the course in the 20 classes they require. I liked it a lot and have no complaints. I learned stuff I never would have had I not enrolled, and I get FREE classes there for the next 3 years - everybody who graduates in the 20 lessons gets to attend for free for 3 years. There are about 6 - 9 different teachers there so you rarely get a repeat of a lesson - every teacher throws in their own unique style and information. Their agent (in Tulsa OK) is also their photographer and he ROCKS - I've had 3 photo shoots with him. Now I have 3 comp cards to market myself with and I HAVE gotten paid jobs out of this...all bacause of what I learned at JC & the photographer/agent.

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picklepops
Tulsa, US
May 01, 2011 10:28 pm EDT

Guess what? I had the same problem with my local community college - I paid for a course but never attended, so I went to withdraw after 2 1/2 weeks of the course starting date. They would let me withdraw but would not refund one penny of the 300.00 I paid them. That's what they do in schools of all kinds, not just the JC school. You enroll, pay, don't attend, that's your problem, not theirs, they figure. NO refunds, sorry!

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dessimms
Charlottetown, CA
Apr 05, 2011 5:59 am EDT

Hello there, I was also scammed by the John Casablancas Institute. I called interested in the make up artistry training program. When I called I was only inquiring. I live in eastern Canada so I could not visit the school in person, so calling was the only way for me to gain information. The woman I spoke with-I can't remember her name-was overly enthusiastic. She convinced me that i needed to put a deposit down to save a seat for the next class starting in a couple of months because there were only 3 seats left, and if I did not put the deposit down I would most likely lose the seat and have to wait. She had me all excited and so I agreed. They emailed me the contract which I printed off and had my step father look over for me. He's a very intelligent man so I trusted him when he said it looks ok. My step father and I were both under the impression that if I signed the contract I would only have to pay a percentage-10% I think-of the down payment (or so we thought). The down payment was like $600 or roughly around that price. I knew $600 was a lot of money but I was pretty sure I wanted to secure a spot for that time period, AND I FIGURED IF I CHANGED MY MIND I COULD HANDLE PAYING-OR FOR BETTER WORDS LOOSING THE PERCENTAGE OF MY DEPOSIT. I signed the contract and paid the deposit that I was willing to lose if I changed my mind. My boyfriend and I ended up breaking up and I was having a rough time, and so leaving to move to the other side of the country at the time the course was supposed to start was not possible for me. When I called the enthusiastic woman who had helped me make my decision earlier she had tried to convince me that I should go at a later date when the next course would begin. I told her I was unsure of what my plans would be. She made me take some time. Every time I called her she tried to convince me to take a later date, or more time. She was passively aggressively not allowing me to say no. When I finally did decide that I wanted to take permanent time for myself and informed her that I didn't think the school was for me her entire attitude changed. She informed me that I had lost my full deposit, and now owed the school something like $1500. My step father and I went over the contract and John Casablancas is pretty sneaky with their wording. It's basically false advertisement. When we thought we would have to pay the school the percentage of our damage deposit upon cancellation; it was actually that we had to pay a percentage of the tuition upon cancellation. I was shocked! I couldn't believe that I was going to be charged for a service that I never recieved. I never even stepped foot in British Columbia, let alone attended one day of class, and I had given them like a month's notice. The woman who was once so enthusiastic was now rude, uncarring, and comepletely insensitive. To make matters worse they sent it to a collection angency and it has gone against my credit. When the credit people called and my step dad explained the situation to them and said we are not paying for something we did not purchase or use, even the cridet guy couldn't understand; the credit people never called back nor has any other credit agency ever called back. Unfortunately, it still remains on my credit today. The sad part is that I felt pressured into singing up because she made me believe that the seats were going to be taken up. I was young and going through a hard time in my life, and this woman took advantage of another young woman. So sad that there are woman out there that do this. Karma! She will have done to her what she has done to me. She should feel ashamed of herself. I remember calling her so upset and she just did not care! Maybe this school is a good school. But what they did to me and I'm sure they have done to others is terrible. As if that seat was not taken by someone else. They probably made double the down payment for that seat! I go to University now, and I can unregister up the three weeks AFTER CLASSES STARTED AND STILL GET MY MONEY BACK. But I NEVER attend a school and they think I should pay them! SHAME ON THEM! So anyone interested in the school should BE %100 SURE THAT YOU WANT TO ATTEND, OTHERWISE THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF AND NOT EVEN THINK TWICE. John Casablacas Institude will shake your hand with one hand and stab you in the back with the other. Beware.
P.S this was 4 years ago. I wish I would have seen all the negative posts on JC Institute before...

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