E: 25/09 Win a luxurious makeover and photography experience

Hi there,

I was interested to read your threads. I've been looking on the internet for feedback on things like this as I recently almost fell victim to a makeover/photo package scam with a company called New ID Studios which has bases in most of the major UK cities.

I was approached by a woman in central London offering me a package which included a haircut, make-up and photo session with a chance to claim a free photo at the end of it. The day itself was nice, until we were ushered into a viewing room and subjected to some severely pushy sales as they tried to get us to buy photos amounting to £800! We refused, and decided we didn't even want the free photo as it's not really free - you need to pay £10 to have it digitally retouched (when we suggested that it didn't need retouching as we looked quite nice already, the "viewer" snorted in amusement), and then £5 postal fee. We walked out of the salon, having not handed over any money, and not signed anything.

As per the terms & conditions, I expected to receive the £50 deposit that I paid back within 10 working days. When I didn't get it, I rang the New ID Studios explaining the situation. They claimed that I had ordered a CD worth £75 so they had taken the £50 deposit. When I asked when the extra £25 was coming out, they said I had already paid it, IN CASH on the day. I immediately thought, "Uh oh, this sounds like serous scam territory". I demanded that they send me a copy of the paperwork which showed that I had ordered the CD. This took about a day and a half of constant phoning and being kept on hold before they finally sent it over.

When the paperwork arrived, the signature on the form was nothing like mine and half of the form hadn't even been filled in. I immediately scanned my driving license and passport and sent the pictures over to them to show that my signature on them was completely different to the one on the form. It was only then, that they agreed that a mistake had been made.

They explained that someone with the same first name had accidentally signed my form (yeah right!). I don't know about you guys, but that sounds like a TOTAL SCAM!

Anyway, they will hopefully be paying the money back (this all happened today so I hope I haven't spoken too soon) in the next few days, but the whole thing has left me with a sour taste in my mouth.

Just thought I'd share my experience so that anyone else out there who has suffered the same knows that whatever these makeover photo packages might promise, they are only out for one thing, your money, and you really need to be on your toes.

Read ALL the small print and don't pay for anything on your debit card. Use a credit card as if they try and take any money off you, your bank can stop it without cancelling the card.