I've won a makeover from Studio 64, yeah right!

SummersDay_3

sazkind wrote: »

No I don't work for them. My mum was called with the same offer. I came on here to check out what it was about and saw all the comments. I was asking if they actually did anything wrong or are they just a bit pushy? I can handle a pushy sales person, if that's all it is. I must say though it's a bit shocking that unless i'm slagging them off i've got to be working for them. Just doing some research, sorry if I don't sit on here posting day and night. I have a job and better things to do with my time. Next time i'll check with you before posting if it's ok to do so.

I think sazkind may be one of the dodgy Directors :eek:

gentle_breeze

I just recieved a phone call from them, I told the girl on the end of the phone who was clearly reading from a script and kept losing her place that i couldnt make any decissions without consulting with my OH. she said she would call back in 30 mins.. so here I am reserching them and in 30 mins I will have such fun telling her on no uncertain terms to go forth and multiply hehe thanks for the heads up guys.

ChuckiSunshine

I got the call from sapphire studios about a month ago, after filling out a survey on myoffers.com. I was given the same script as 'GinaSweet', although the deposit, which the guy assured me was only to siphon out time-wasters, wasn't even mentioned until the very end, after telling me repeatedly that everything would be free. I was told I could bring up to 5 guests but that I would have to pay a seperate deposit for each, so I said I would only bring one. I was pretty dumb to give over my card details, but I knew I'd entered the competition on a site which seemed legit so I thought I'd take the risk. I was told that the deposit was £49.99 each and so mine would come to £99.98 although when I checked my account later they had only taken out £49.99. I was assured that as long I turned up, I would get my deposit back and the entire day would be free, with a bottle of wine, and lots of free make up, so I thought why not?
After the call, I told my boyfriend what had just happened and he seemed pretty unsure so we checked it out online which didn't raise our confidence. A few days later I got another call from sapphire studios to confirm my booking, which changed to a time I could make because I didn't want to risk losing my deposit. On the day, we were pretty anxious, and were worried about being conned into paying out a huge sum of money. Previously, we had believed the photo prints would be free as part of the prize, but after reading up we realised this wouldn't be the case.


The place itself was pretty nice, and the people were friendly enough, although there was no advice given, which I had hoped for. The free make-up turned out to be one stick of eye-liner in return for suggesting 10 friends who might be interested, and the bottle of wine was actually a glass of something cheap. However, the photographer was very friendly and made us both feel pretty confident.


When the photography session was over, the bite to eat across the road we were promised didn't happen as we were told our viewing would be in ten minutes. By this point we were very hungry and not really ready to have some pushy salesperson trying to part us from what little cash we had as students.


The photos were mostly good, and it made it harder not to fall for spending a fortune on being able to take them home, but we knew we couldn't afford. it. There were 101 in total, which we managed to get down to 15 of our favourites after a long, painful time. We were told a small 4 x 9 print would be £49 which we had already found out from forums, but what we didn't expect was that the CD, which we thought would be £98 total, was £98 per photo.
The woman went on to do some sums and explain how much all our photos would cost (upwards of £2000) which was ridiculous. She then went on to explain that the more photos you put on a CD, the cheaper it was per photo, so that if you had 35 photos, it worked out at £35 per photo. At this point, we milked it for all we could, and were probably debating what photos to we could afford for over an hour. I would definitely suggest that if you do go to this place, hold back as much as you can, because she will eventually offer you cheaper deals. However, expect to pay upwards of £200 for a reasonable number of photos. The woman was very keen to sign us up to a contract ASAP and when my boyfriend said he needed to leave to use the bathroom (and I imagine take a breather) she got very tense and said she needed to print our contracts now (which we hadn't agreed to yet). Fortunately, we didn't end up signing anything, after making it clear we would not keep up payments, but agreed to a one-off payment for 15 photos on a CD.
Although this was clearly a marketing ploy, I am glad I did take some photos home at a price that wasn't too painful, and the experience was one I don't regret. This studio is clearly more appropriate for models trying to make their way, especially as taking the CD meant we owned all copyrights to our photos and therefore could sell them on if we wanted.



I'd suggest if you do go with this, don't expect a lot, and be ready to part with some nice photos (which I hate doing) or pay out quite a lot of money.

Vixi_Li

I won the prize for Studio 64... the general one that everyone wins where you get the 'free' day and no free photos.

Well, I had a great day... until the bit at the end where they try to get you to buy photos. Being genuinely skint I couldn't afford much, but I did agree to buy 6 photos for £200 on a CD (well, with the £95 deposit, the £100 cash, and the small change I had in my purse- he even had me give him the last 7p I had in 2p's and 1p's... si ut came out as £199.97). I pulled out of it though because I broke down into tears, as I wasn't happy with the photos, and he tore up the contract, gave me my cash back and told me i'd get the deposit back within 2 weeks.

I didn't get the deposit back within two weeks. it was nearly 5 weeks before I got it back, phoning the finance team every few days.

So, go for the day, but if you don't like the photos, or don't have the money, just say NO! In either case, tell them that you hate the photos. pick things out that you don't like ('my hand is bent backwards', 'my nose looks like my dads in that one', 'my neck is all creased in that one', 'I look like I have one gigantic thumb there'...) but leave them in no doubt that you don't like the pictures and wont be paying a penny for them.

Most importantly, get your deposit back! A lot of people don't get it back within the 'guaranteed' time. but don't assume it'll go back without checking.

leandra

i gave my details 2 a man calling me 2day, wish i woulda looked at this b4 givin out my details, as i said i didnt get paid til 2moro he sed he would take the money 2moro. i av cleared the account an will b paid into another account but how can i stop this payment coming out of bank?
can any1 help?

brokenlily

Just to let anyone know who has had an issue with these people....I spoke to their Customer Service manager Debbie today and she was really helpful, and agreed to refund my money straight away after I explained the issues.

1) they told me I'd "won" something which apparently they should not have done.

2) They told me the deposit was 49.99 but took £98 from my card.

3) I live out of London and I did have the intention of doing it (before they took 98 quid off me that I didn't agree to) with some friends in LOndon, but the friends I had in mind either didn't want to do it or couldn't make it on the days I was able to get down there and it's too expensive for me to warrant going down there just for the photo shoot.

I was informed normally there's a 7 day cooling off period if you want to cancel it but the sales person did not tell me that. I told him that I wasn't sure on availability as I'd be travelling down from here and therefore couldn't commit to booking a date, and I'd have to call back to say if/when I could do it. He never mentioned that if I wanted to cancel I had to do it within 7 days.

She agreed to refund me straight away, fingers crossed!

MillyVanilli

I did one of these a while back, made it a day in London. Can't remember who it was with though, but I don't think I had to pay a deposit, which if I had I would have said no instantly.

The day itself was really fun, I felt all pampered. I had my mum with me, and she refused to buy, or let me buy, any of the photos at the end - although I had no intention to at all!

If you fancy a few hours of pampering, go ahead, but only if you know you'll be able to say no to the horrendously priced photos. If you want a 'free makeover' for a night out or something, I suggest visiting a department store beauty counter instead - I walked out into London feeling like a bit of a tramp with my thick make-up on- it was straight to the nearest toilet with some face wipes for me (another suggestion for something to take with you, in case they layer you in thick photographic makeup, which they often do!)

jenba22

i am so completely annoyed. i recieved a call on friday evening (just after 6pm) giving me their fantastic sales pitch. it all seemed great, every girls dream. they then asked for my card details and said they would only take the money if i didnt turn up for the appointment.
shortly after the call i realised that a trip to london and the photos were completely out of my price range. i tried to call back but all you ever get is an answer phone.
i didnt make an appointment but when the email came through it included a date and time when i would have the shoot. i can only change the date once more or would be fined.
i recieved a call from them yesterday and i explained about 10 times that i couldnt afford to go. she answerd back that someone would phone me today about it.
but guess what, no one has phoned but a whopping £100 has been taken from my account. i have asked my bank if anything can be done and its too late. i did actually cancel my card friday night to prevent a payment and they found a way around it.
so it turns out that it doesnt matter that i have no money because they will just take it anyway. complete criminals.
i advise that if you hear the words sapphire studios down the phone, you hang up immedietly because its not worth the pure heartache
i suggest that if you want it you go looking for one. dont get bullied into beliving the words FREE

JonnyRed

My partner gave out her details after being told she had won this prize, it was never explained that it would be taken out immediatly (within 2 hours!). After researching it on here she was pretty worried to say the least, so she called back today to cancel. The girl who answered (because she thought she was getting a booking) was terrible, so my partner passed her onto me. She wouldn't tell me her surname and when i asked for the customer services number she said that they had just had a new phone system installed and she didn't have the number! For her own customer services! I asked for the old number to try and she had to pass me onto a manager as she wasn't sure that she could give it out! The manager advised me to email Debbie which i have done, hopefully will get a response tomorrow, will let you know

jenba22

after my last post i rang trading standards and it turns out that the law states that companies (including sapphire studios) have a 7 day in which to cancel. you have to send them a written letter that you want to cancel. make sure you put the date on it because that is the date you are cancelling from. so it doestnt matter if they put it to the bottom of their pile. i sent mine recorded delivery so they had no excuses. i waited 3 days after sending the letter and emailed them(you can only get their attention through email) and got a reply to say that i should allow 3 to 10 days for the refund.
a week later no money so i contacted them again and recieved an email today confiring that they have now autherised the refund and i need to wait another 3 to 10 days for the payment.
you really need to keep on top of them or who knows if things would progress. they dont seem as keen to pay the money back as they do to take it.
good luck to all
hope i dont have to wait too much longer