StarNow.co.uk

I am not sure why there has been a change to the profile but the old StarNow profile was much better. I cancelled subscription to Backstage because I did not like its layout, how it posted jobs and it seemed more geared to the American market which was very confusing to me.

I hope StarNow eventually returns back to its old format. I am really confused about this whole thing. Also my media is deleted along with my credits which does not even make me want to sign up just to start all over again.

Do not sign up because when u try unsubscribe they will block u I will be reporting them to trading standards

TERRIBLE! I've tried contacting them about removing my account and data on their email *******@starnow.com they state on their webste is their customer service and after waiting a few days the profile is still not removed. Their link to remove your profile: https://www.starnow.com/confirm/profileremoval/. Is conveniently broken and says 'Oh shoot! This probably isn't the page you were looking for...' as the page is not active. TERRIBLE company. TERRIBLE. AVOIDDD!

The site started off as a great platform to get work but not so long ago it started charging you for a refund because they debit your account automically. This is stated in their Terms and Conditions but I still see no reason to charge people for refunds when you shouldn't automatically be charged when your subscription ends. I deleted my profile with them immediately after that.

Absolutely hate the update. They have made it so much harder to use the website. It used to be so much easier to manage, but now it's just mind-blowing (and not in a good way/). It is like the old saying "don't fix it if it's not broken". I don't mind if there was a little of change, but it is literally like nails against a chalkboard. All old messages have suddenly appeared, and can't be deleted. When searching for castings, I would use the method of viewing and once applying for said casting, it would get archived ect... But again, this has changed and is so much harder to manage.

I guess it's time to find an alternative (simple) casting site for my daughter and me.

Please fire your web developer, they have done a terrible job of making the website user-friendly.

They have had a new update that took days. Since then I am unsubscribed according to them (should be active until July). I will NOT be reviewing.

5 Years of data deleted, all past entries and updates removed.
Interface is now fundamentally broken.

I have never spoken to anyone from this company all done by email and your getting closer what you want to here is what they give you. There is no sign of work and a phone call wouldn't go a miss money is all they care about. I'm apro member of the group so still nothing but it's OK I'm getting closer never would I recommend this company to make a cup of tea well worth the lost time and Money NOT Keep your money in your pocket don't waist you time in trying to better yourself..

I have canceled my membership in October 2019, yesterday (3 of may 2020) I was checking my bank account and noticed that STARNOW started charging me for "upgraded" membership since January 2020, and so 15.99 per month. They just take your money even after you cancel membership and so 3 months after? They are liars and selfish money takers. Please put your hands away from this dodgy company guys, trust me! They just charged me more then 70 pounds even after my cancelation last year. I do not understand how they could do it. I will fight for my rights.

Gave in to barrage saying how good premium membership is and paid for full service. Lots of rubbish, nearly all agents do not reply to listings and most listings for work are utter tripe.

So many duplicate entries under different areas 'Musician Needed in Oxford" Musician needed in London. So on.

Maybe its better for acting professionals?

This has got to be one of the worse sites for cancelling your subscription, Ive contacted them a number of times Via email as thats the only way they allow you too. After several attempts, a number of years and a couple hundred pounds my subscription still isn't cancelled.

I would not recommend this site to anyone at all.

Just look at the postings. 38 5 star reviews and 31 1 Star reviews. Would you really give money to a company that was as Bipolar as this. I've worked in the entertain industry with real agents and managers for 20 years. I'm a SAG-AFTRA Actor and Dancer. If they ask you for a monthly fee it's a SCAM. First rule of Hollywood kids, if your not making money, they should not be making money

StarNow what happened to this amazing site? Used to be so easy now it's full of restrictions and zero success stories

I remember in the year 2015 you could contact talent by simply messaging them by pressing the message button, now when you press message StarNow wants you to pay credits? It's a restriction for talent who aren't rich or earning a good amount of money. Basically starnow is now a money making machine who doesn't care about talent's success instead they don't care about the lower class anymore.

You pay 9.99 for month and get nothing special just able to apply for castings, again in 2015 it was free to apply to unpaid roles, but you had to pay 9.99 to be able to apply for all jobs and yeah now it's not the same.

You pay the 9.99 and you still can't message talent, I made so many friends in 2015 by messaging talent, collaborating on projects. Now starnow wants you to post a casting ad, however you get the same old talent applying and the new talent are restricted to apply for unpaid stuff, so they need to bring back messaging, they need to stop asking for money about applying for unpaid work and create a balanced website how it was in 2015. No restrictions and yes they can increase the price to 11p/m if that's what it takes to make it the best site for talented people. It's a one because starnow didn't listen to our advice for years, yet their excuse is to pay staff, they could easily do that with ads, and not restrict us

Prompt, considerate and helpful assistance and refund by Mattheus. Thank you very much for your help.

Anyone with any acting dream worthwhile of fulfilling will stay away from this pretentious garbage!

Claim to just be a listing website yet march on about the place dishing out 'pro' tags only to certain members to who we are suppose to believe are actually worthy of the tag? Fair! (Not!) Pay to get in touch with members? Seriously? Pay to apply for jobs? What a joke! But it's ok, because they just act as a listings website right? What arrogant, obnoxious liars!

Having deleted me and blocking me from ever using them again, presumably because I voiced displeasure in what was actually at the time a 100% polite but yet still unhappy approach (heads up people, you suck up to these snowflakes or they lose their rattles!) I asked for an explanation. Shock horror, I didn't get one? I try apologising to these babies for whatever I did to cause such "upset" and they don't want to know!

Starnow? More like Soft now! Not one person running this trash is even in the shadow of a star and until I get my explanation and reactivation I will carry on disgracing and slandering this pretentious tripe for all that it truly is!

I had it for 6 months and didn't get a single paid role, there is basically nothing going on in my city on the site and when I asked for a refund it was refused. A total waste of money.

I subscribed to Starnow as an extra for a trial period of one month and subsequently after a few weeks realised it was a waste of money and attempted to cancel before the end of the month. I didn't read the clever misleading small print and assumed that my cancellation went through only to discover that the scumbags had stolen money from my account the preceding months after. This is during the covid 19 pandemic when there wouldn't be any work anyway. They prey on naïve people who don't always read the small print and only offer a postponement instead of a cancellation clause. Be warned keep well away from this low life conning organisation they just want your money by any means and scams.

They just took 29 euro from my account too? But nothing on my account has changed, I'm still a standard member so what the $#*! is going on?

Starnow falsely accuses you of things without any evidence and refuses to accept when they have got it wrong. Very poor treatment. Not professional when they feel the need to make things up about people.

I've worked on multiple jobs that were advertised on StarNow that I haven't been paid for. Their customer service team (who are appalling at their job) claim to contact advertisers who don't pay, but contacting them doesn't help, as contact can just be ignored.

There doesn't seem to be any legally binding contract stating that advertisers on StarNow have to pay the people they choose for their jobs, as long as StarNow have their subscription fee from you, it seems as though they couldn't care less if you get paid or not. If you complain to StarNow about this and no conclusion is reached, they will just go ahead and delete the profiles of the members who haven't paid you, which in turn deletes their original adverts, leaving no proof they posted on the website, it deletes your applications, leaving no proof you applied for the jobs they posted and it also deletes all the messages you had with those members, therefore completely getting rid of any evidence you ever had any contact with the advertiser.

All I'm trying to do is make a living doing what I love, but there are people out there running websites like StarNow who are destroying the industry.

No doubt somebody form StarNow will reply to this review with an "apology" urging me to contact them regarding this issue even though I've contacted them about it several times and they've made it perfectly clear that there's nothing they can do to make sure their advertisers pay.

EDIT:

The below is my response to StarNow's reply to this review:

"We're sorry to hear you feel this way, and very concerned about your understanding of StarNow."

If you're sorry, then refund me the £150 I've lost using your website.

"When we receive a complaint about a member or a listing, we take it very seriously. We investigate and take appropriate action, which may include removing them from StarNow."

Like I said, when you do that, it removes our message history, deleting proof that they gave me a job in the first place therefore I can no longer contact them to chase up payment.

"We do this to keep StarNow a safe, enjoyable place for everyone, and to help stop issues such as non-payment from happening."

It doesn't help, it makes it harder. Instead of removing them from StarNow, stop them from posting jobs, then I'll still have proof they gave me work and I can still contact them.

"It's important to remember that StarNow is primarily a listings service, not an agency."

I know it isn't, I didn't say it was, I've been using it for three years, I'm well aware.

"The StarNow service doesn't include negotiating rates or contracts, or processing/chasing payment for jobs on your behalf. As such, we don't take commission from members on jobs booked, and are able to keep our membership fees to a minimum."

Again, I know, I didn't suggest otherwise.

"Your membership fee contributes to the employment of a team of people working hard to create a valuable community this work includes building and maintaining a website, sourcing and vetting casting calls and moderating content."

People advertising jobs on your website are supposed to be contributing to my employment, but they're getting away with not paying me.

"I hope this extra information helps you understand our position, and I trust you understand we are a reputable business providing a service we are very proud of."

This extra information has been useless, I've still wasted £150 using your website and worked 4 days days that I won't get paid hundreds of pounds for. You shouldn't be proud, you should be ashamed.

Word of warning - if you are an actor looking for professional acting work, StarNow is not for you.

The job listings are 99% student films, promo work or unpaid. Very low end jobs that in no way will help to further an acting career.

Spotlight and Mandy are far superior casting services for actors (Facebook groups are even a better way to get acting work and thats free!).

I made a huge mistake signing up for six months. Hopefully I will prevent others from doing the same!

Be awere of automatic renewal! Make sure you want to renew, as they are doing it automatically. I have asked for a refund once they debited me, but they have told me they will not issue me a refund! They haven't even noticed me that there is time for renewal! In 6 months time didn't get any jobs from them! So no point paying them, there is plenty free platforms.

I don't understand why nobody's doing anything about this scam casting agency.
They have scam several actors with bogus leads and some of the leads may seem real but then they get canceled a few hours before the shoot