photo session - can my daughter cancel the contract

robnye · 3 July 2009 at 4:40PM

my daughter was offered a makeup and photo session with 'double take' studios

the appointment was made for 2nd june,
they subsequently contacted her by txt and voice mail to cancel for some reason

a month on they have just deducted £250 cancellation fee from her bank account.

now i have managed to convince them they are in the wrong.... especially as they left a recorded voice mail but didnt contact her again before she left the uk to go and work in france for the summer.

the question is
they will only refund the £250 if she makes another appointment, which is gonna be a little difficult as she wont be back in the uk until mid sept. then goes back to uni at the end of sept

is there any way (other than her going through and making an appointment) that she cancel this so called agreement

nb: she is quite happy to go ahead and make another appointment, but i just dont like the underhand way in which they are forcing her
r,
rob

AdrianW2 · 6 July 2009 at 4:37PM

Me, I'd be screaming for my money back.

In general I'd advise avoiding the large studio chains. The cost of the shoot is just the start and is followed up by expensive prints.

Go see a local independent photographer and stylist or there are plenty of very talented amateurs (both photographers and stylists, although a good professional stylist is a bargain).

AdrianW2 · 6 July 2009 at 4:44PM

Having read their terms & conditions, I'd suggest Trading Standards.

robnye · 6 July 2009 at 4:57PM

update:

they have agreed a full refund of the £250....... waiting for it to appear in her bank account.

had to make an appointment in oct, which she can change but not cancel.......
reading thier t's and c's online it states.
'after 7 days of receiving confirmation of you booking, cancellations are subject to a £125 per appointment admin fee, this is to cover cost of creative team.....etc.....'
my daughter is quite happy to spend the day in london.... im just concerned about the possible heavy handed pressure tactics on her to pay for something else

i had seen trading standards mentioned.... should i contact my local office , or the office where my daughter was when she booked (ie city where she was at university)?

Minxy_Bella · 6 July 2009 at 5:07PM

She will be lucky to get out of the studio after the shoot without spending hundreds, if not thousands, on photos. I got suckered into this and they plied me and my friend with champagne all day so we spent far more on pics that we intended. We did have a bloody marvellous day, but I'm still paying for those pics!

Claire_Bear · 6 July 2009 at 5:23PM

If they are the ones who cancelled it, and not her, can they still even charge her? That seems totally wrong to me, as she was still honoring the contract and they were the ones who were inconveniencing her. What reason did they give her for cancelling?

AdrianW2 · 6 July 2009 at 5:43PM

I think you contact your local Trading Standards department in the first instance. There's a postcode lookup on the web.

Those T&C are, from my perspective, grossly unfair. One way to test if a contract is unfair is to look at how one-sided it is - this one is all in their favour. In any event they cancelled and so all bets are off wrt to cancellation & booking fees.

I'm not sure from you post if the cancellation charge is in addition to the deposit, I'd be attempting to get the deposit back too if there was one.

I'll explain the economics of these companies a bit more (in general, not sure if this applies to the one in question).

Your session fee pays for the plush decoration, the high tech. viewing suite and the food and drink.

The photographer doesn't actually do any artistic work, the lighting is set according to pre-defined rules, so they just hire cheap staff and pay peanuts.

A 8x6 print will cost them about 6p, they sell it for £70. An 18x12 will cost less than 50p, they sell it for £130. Posters are more expensive to make, but nowhere near the £250 they retail at. The customer, who has spend a lot on money on the shoot, then spends a lot more money to get the pictures.

I don't mind them making a profit, but it's the way they lock you in that upsets me.

hollydays · 6 July 2009 at 5:45PM

How did she pay-was it visa?

You only have to search that companies name on this site to see that if she gets her money back she has had a lucky escape

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1623673&highlight=double+take+studios

Ivrytwr3 · 6 July 2009 at 6:11PM

lol! They cancelled on her and said she can't have her money back but has to make another appointent?! WHAT??!!!

I'd be onto Trading Standards, Small Claims etc, they have no right to do this!

Glad to see you have got your money back, but i certainly wouldn't want DD going with this company, they seem very underhand.

robnye · 7 July 2009 at 12:31PM

Claire_Bear wrote:

What reason did they give her for cancelling?

because she hadnt registered it.... i assume registered on the website, which she must have done cos she has had several blurb emails from them

AdrianW2 wrote:

I'm not sure from you post if the cancellation charge is in addition to the deposit, I'd be attempting to get the deposit back too if there was one.

the deposit was only £2, so my daughter isnt bothered about that....

Ivrytwr3 wrote: »

lol! They cancelled on her and said she can't have her money back but has to make another appointent?! WHAT??!!!

I'd be onto Trading Standards, Small Claims etc, they have no right to do this!

Glad to see you have got your money back, but i certainly wouldn't want DD going with this company, they seem very underhand.

well still waiting for it to arrive back in her bank account..... watch this space

they said they wouldnt refund unless a new appointment was made, even wanted to speak to her in france.....!

i am waiting for the money to be refunded before taking it to the next step

hollydays wrote:

How did she pay-was it visa?

visa debit card from her bank account

photo session - can my daughter cancel the contract

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