Characters for Hire

Booked 6 months ahead of event
They were supposed to be there at 1pm they showed up at 6pm. No costumes, no make up, no instruments and didn’t know songs or what they were to do. Wedding planner asked them to leave. They refused to refund. It's now under legal complaint

This company is the WORST. They begged me to work for them and NEVER paid me! It's been three months. Totally given the runaround. Said I would be paid two months ago. Again gave me an email that was specific for payment! NOTHING! Put on hold, gaslighted. No response to emails. Seriously the WORST!

I am so glad to see uncensored reviews that accurately depict my experience here at Characters for Hire. I worked last year and my team and I have still not been paid to this day. No one has paid us, no one fed us between the many events like the contract states, and no one from the company gave me costumes. It was one of the more humiliating experiences as a performer. Every attempt to get my paychecks has been met with aggression and gaslighting similar to the responses written by the company on this page. So many red flags, save yourself if you can and run.

DONT HIRE OR WORK FOR Characters for Hire, LLC! Owner Nick SARELLI, aka Avi Lieberman, has never checked whether we know how to behave like our dressed character or not, which is strange. CLIENTS HIRING CHARACTERS BEWARE! In New York City, New York, Nick SARELLI, aka Avi Lieberman, is the owner and managing partner of Characters for Hire, LLC. We were hardly fed, and after losing the customer, they did not pay us for over a year. We never received an update from the client, and we never received a response. This was allegedly used on a television show for this.

Look up "characters for hire llc does not pay" and you'll find a slew of negative reviews/complaints from characters complaining about nonpayment or a sudden payment to cover up a bad review. Why does it appear like a poor complaint is what it takes to make things right? Why not cut the checks for services provided in advance (assuming it's a 1099) and get it right from the start? Isn't it an easy way to obtain potential clients? Why not make a 180-degree turn?

ISSUE also exists with some clients reporting issues, refund issues. Its simple, refund when needed. Pay employees for the time committed regardless if they deliver or not. People that have been fired off anywhere still got paid for the day as they follow the law and I am sure theres rules and policies to back this up.

Also, if you Google "Characters for Hire, LLC sued," you'll find that Disney finally sued them. Employees interested in working with Characters for Hire, LLC should be aware that they may be contacted by unpaid characters. It's clear that they don't always pay characters in order to save money. To put it another way, they pay some people but not others in order to save money. They would then be unaware of it. It's been over a year since I've been charged, and no taxes have been deducted. I never received a W2 or 1099 from them the following year. There is a lot of disorganization.

He is a hot mess. The reviews I've included below are a mix of client and character-written reviews. One of the characters also called the client to complain about not being charged. Even the characters leave reviews. ANONYMOUSLY AND UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME, THEY CAN Even POST NEGATIVE Feedback! It's legal if the analysis is factual, as this one is. Please hire Characters for Hire, LLC and work for them instead of Nick SARELLI, a/k/a Avi Lieberman, the hot mess that can't seem to get this business to work properly.

THIS IS A GENUINE REVIEW, PHOTO ATTACHED TO PROVE THERE ARE OTHER SIMILAR ISSUES. TO PROVE MY Job AS A CHARACTER FOR MY PRIVACY, I Chose NOT TO Connect MY PAYSTUB. THE Assertion IS 100% True. MORE REVIEWS EXIST WHEN YOU Scan CHARACTERS FOR HIRE, LLC ON RIPOFF REPORT, AND THEY'RE FINDING ALL KINDS OF WAYS TO COVER IT UP WITH FAKE REVIEWS, WHICH IS WHY YOU SEE 5 STAR REVIEWS ON GOOGLE VERY RANDOMLY LATELY. They tried taking this one down so this time added proof of existing issues.

Characters for hire is the absolute worst company I've ever worked for (and I've been on a lot of productions) they are unorganized, shady, disrespectful, and extremely dishonest.
1) they force people to write positive reviews in order to get paid. For those who wrote honest and negative reviews, they threaten them to remove it or they'll turn it into a legal matter, and they will not pay you. They bully people into writing reviews, its extortion and pretty sure its illegal. They claim your review is fake and not based on experience, and they give a bs response in order to avoid payment. I left a negative review to warn future people about my experience, they reached out to me and said they are putting me at the "end of the list" for payment due to my honest review. Saying things like "you're making things worse for yourself" and "were just trying to protect you" (there's a video of a girl online talking with characters for hire and they completely mistreated her, constantly promised to pay her, they never paid her) .
2) they advertise on their website that they are Covid safe and taking necessary precautions. False. I caught Covid from their last event because they failed to provide any protocol - no temperature checks, no sanitation stations, they promised a designated room for actors to change and get makeup done (never happened!) , not enough masks for actors. They risked our health so they can get money
3) the communication is god awful. They do not respond to phone calls, they start ignoring your texts after the event when its time to get paid. Excuse after excuse to delay payment ("you're checking is here, your check has been sent out, your check hasn't been sent out, well process on Monday, well process by end of week) before you know it months pass by and they still find excuses to postpone your payment. They ignore you for months. I've literally watched them dodge actors phone calls as they left them stranded at an event.
4) they do not pay. Sooooooo many reviews online about how they haven't paid soooo many people. If you enjoy working your a [censored] off, massive headaches, getting treated like garbage, being lied to about payment... Go ahead and work for this company.

They. Do. Not. Care. About. You
and they will prove that to you over and over again.

Characters for Hire is ruthless and extremely shady, dishonest, and unprofessional. The absolute WORST company I've ever worked for (and I've been on alot of productions) They are a joke. DO NOT HIRE! DO NOT WORK FOR THEM! RED FLAGS EVERYWHERE!
1) they tell people to leave positive reviews in order to get paid. They report ALL negative reviews as "fake" or claim complete BS responses. They threaten you to remove your negative review or else they'll take legal action. They BULLY people and treat them awfully. (They tell people you'll get paid if you remove negative reviews and sign a contract saying you can't talk bad about them).
2)they take forever to respond. When theres an event, they help you out. After the event when its time to get paid, they avoid and ignore you for months.they don't answer your calls. COMMUNICATION IS GOD AWFUL! (Look online at all the negative complaints they recieve. There's even a video of a girl on YouTube, her phone conversation with characters for hire and how they mistreat her and never paid her for her work).
They even made a fake yelp review of their workers just so they can add negative reviews. HOW LOW IS THAT?
3) the most unprofessional, unorganized company ive ever worked with. Massive headaches, gaslighting, lies after lies. "SHADY" is the term used by multiple people who have worked with them.
4) their website advertises that they are covid safe and taking proper precautions- they are not. I caught covid at their last event I worked for. (Luckily I was okay, but I infected a friend who almost died). At their event, there was no temperature checks, no sanitation stations, shortage of masks, and no social distancing. THEY RISKED OUR HEALTH SO THEY CAN MAKE MONEY.

It won't kill them to do their job!

Do not waste your energy on this scam of a company. They will treat you like trash after they're done with you.

Characters for Hire is extremely unprofessional agency! I am and 3 other people have been ignored for 2 months and we have never gotten paid. So basically we have all worked for free. Do not ever work with this company. They have law suits against them, they also have a lot of negative feedbacks and reviews online which they actually pay to remove. Never again.

If I could give this company zero stars I would! I was hired by Maia Katz for to do sfx makeup for 4 actors for a Halloween Party event for the Discovery Channel. I was told I would be paid same day or following day via direct deposit or credit card. Seems reputable right? WRONG! Not only I have I been given the run around; including the following excuses:

1. My phone is about to die
2. I'm driving (you drive, take the train and live nyc? Riiiiihght...)
3. I'm getting on the train and will lose signal soon (proceeds to keep arguing with me no signal is lost)
4. Our accountant is swamped
5. Our accountant has been working overnight
6. We got a complaint from the client about the make-up being "too happy"
7. I'm with my family
8. We need 3-5 business days plus 3 more days approval to process a direct deposit (if you run a real business you know you can set this up in a matter of minutes)
9. We can't pay you with cc because of tax fraud (this is after I submitted an invoice and W9)

Or just getting hung up on. It's been 11 days since the event and I PAID FOR SUPPLIES OUT OF POCKET. Sfx lenses, fake blood etc that were used (over $150 of my own hard earned money gone!) that they also agreed to reimburse me.

Basically if you work for them they are not going to pay you. I wish I would have googled them more PRIOR. All actors, makeup artists, performers, etc STAY FAR AWAY unless you like working for FREE. If you are interested in hiring them STAY EVEN FURTHER AWAY. They are absolutely unprofessional and committing fraud.

I was hired last month by Characters for Hire LLC for a big gala in Atlanta GA. The client was very happy with me and all the fellow entertainers. Unfortunately, non of the entertainers have been payed for our services. Several attempts have been made to resolve this and no one at this company answers why. It's always an excuse or someone is out of the office or straight to voicemail. For fellow entertainers, please beware of this company. I've done research and a large number of performers are in the same situation. To paying customers, read the fine print and the up sell charges.

We recently used Characters for Hire for our company sales incentive trip to New York. The entire event went very well and everyone was pleased at the incredible performance. Did they "WOW" us. We are looking forward again next year with them. Great job Nick!

Review: On Nov * 2015 I contracted for character for hire to send a character Doc Mc S[redacted] to my daughter birthday party. The character never showed up. I received a call from a Nick who was very apologetic and offered a full refund in the amount of [redacted] dollars. He advised me that it will take up to 2 weeks for me to recieve my money. In 2 weeks I haven't received my money. Nick is giving me the run around. One day he tells me it was processed than he tell me it was deposited in someone else's account. It's been going on 4 weeks and I still have yet receive my money.Desired Settlement: Give me back my full refund because they did not rlfyllfull the contract that we agreed on.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, my complaint, ID [redacted] regarding Characters for Hire, LLC has been resolved.

Sincerely,[redacted]