Refund to a cancelled debit card/ Sapphire Studios

mynameisdave

With Barclays, it is (was?) possible to get refunds and payments to cancelled or expired cards as I have done this with online gambling accounts. It just normally takes a little longer for it to process.

wherediditallgo

I haven't been on this site for several months, but when I Googled this company, the link led me here.

I had a phone call from them earlier this morning, telling me I'd won a free makeover and photo-shoot. At first I was :j as I don't usually win anything, but alarm bells started to ring when I asked her to e-mail or post the details to me and she said they don't do that, they just send a confirmation e-mail when you've booked your date. She was very polite and friendly, but nonetheless very pushy about me booking a date and paying today. I told her that I wasn't in a position to make any unexpected purchases at the moment, and she asked me if I knew someone else who'd be prepared to pay it for me! :eek: When I said it was a lot of money to ask someone to cough up on my behalf, she said perhaps they could just pay my bit and I could refund that to them, and then pay the rest of it nearer the date.

It's not going to happen. I wouldn't ask anyone to pay out that sort of money for me unless it was a genuine emergency, and this isn't one. They were supposed to be ringing me back later, but I didn't hear from them - if they call me back in the morning, I'll tell them I won't be taking up their offer and why.


Update (28 Nov.): They haven't called me back, which I'm not surprised about. I presume they realised I wasn't interested enough to hand over my card details to a total stranger offering something I didn't ask for and wouldn't be making use of for several weeks.

kirsty2010_2

wherediditallgo wrote: »

I haven't been on this site for several months, but when I Googled this company, the link led me here.

dito, just a moment ago i got this terrible phone call...:eek:
they put so much pressure on you to make the payment in the moment of their phone call that it can only be a shabby business...

i luckily managed to 'delay' payment till i am able to make an informed choice. psychologically, it is incredibly hard though to be persistently uncooperative. i surely will get more phone calls from them, but they'll get thunder :whistle:

many thanks for sharing your experiences and the warnings!

rum_2

I recieved a call the other day claiming that I won a free makeover. The lady was over friendly and somehow managed to convince me to put a deposit down, She did however say that I can cancel whenever I like and that it is recorded so she cant make false promises which gave a little reassurance. After paying nearly £100 I tried to cancel the following day but they don't pick up and after leaving a few messages they still haven't called me back.

Not sure what to do now.

Any advise would be welcome

wealdroam

rum wrote: »

I recieved a call the other day claiming that I won a free makeover. The lady was over friendly and somehow managed to convince me to put a deposit down, She did however say that I can cancel whenever I like and that it is recorded so she cant make false promises which gave a little reassurance. After paying nearly £100 I tried to cancel the following day but they don't pick up and after leaving a few messages they still haven't called me back.

Not sure what to do now.

Any advise would be welcome

Did you pay by credit card or debit card?

Either way, have a read of this MSE article.

It's mainly about credit cards, but there is a bit at the end about debit cards.

ljonski

There is at least one other thread about this company and their reprehensible sales tactics If you go , don't take any cards with you- only a mobile and be prepared to telephone the Police and say you are being held hostage !

vikki91_2

Ok, I'm actually at the point now where I'm fed up of receiving calls from Sapphire. I've received between 10 and 15 within the past two months and over and over again I've told them that I am not interested and to block my number.

I received another call today and again I asked the girl to ask her supervisor to block my number from their system (I know this is possible as I used to work in telesales myself)

She was very rude and responded with "well, I'm new I can't do anything to help you" I asked to speak with someone above her to which she responded that there was no-one else there, she was abrupt, rude and then hung up on me.

I have written an e-mail to Sapphire in the hope that they stop calling me because I am fed up of answering my phone to them and after reading all these reviews I would never use them anyway!!!

bekah1209

Hi all. I too, was taken in by Sapphire Studios in October 2009. I entered a competition and within minutes recieved a call from SS saying I had 'won' a makeover/pampering experience. Having just had my son 3 months before you can imagine what an exciting prospect this sounded and was shocked to find I had to pay £99 for me and friend to go as a deposit. Probably because I had baby brain I dell for it and paid the money. Once I'd done this I had a root around on line and found LOTS of bad info on this company and the way they operate. To realise I had been taken in to the tune of £100 was heartbreaking, as 1 I didn't have that kind of money to afford to lose and 2, well any woman who's had their first child knows what I mean. Anyway to cut a long story short, I didn't go to the appointment, they refused to refund and I lost the money. The appt was for Jan 10 and this week I have started recieveing calls from and 0203 number and who should it be? Sapphire Studios!! They don't give up!! Seeing as they've had £100 of mine they must think I'm an easy target! Everyone, STAY AWAY! I am ashamed to say I was taken in by this shoddy company, who are only out for your money, DO NOT give your card details away over the phone ever!!!

defiant06

On behalf of my wife:

Originally my wife was approached in Maidstone town centre 27th April 2011 (kent) informing her the company was intending to launch another outlet in the local area. She was told a free make-over and photoshoot would be given to her as part of their promotion. All she had to do was provide a telephone number which she did. Since then she received ALLOT of phone calls with no messages left.
Today (16.5.11) my wife answered the call and a conversation lasting 30 mins ensued, where by a sales person told her she had won a free make-over worth £300. All my wife had to do was arrange an appointment. At the very end of the conversation the sales person finally stated a deposit of £49.99 would be required to guarantee her attendance at the arranged time. At no point did the sales person state any payment was required until the very end when she speed read the Terms and Conditions. My wife realised it was a SCAM and laughed at them at the same time put the phone down - thankfully we didn't pay anything.
My impression of Sapphire Studios AKA RF Marketing Ltd is one of a highly unprofessional, deceptive misrepresentation of the intent of the company, acting fraudulently to obtain money. I have checked on line and have found numerous complaints and reprehensible sales tactics including the targeting of vulnerable people.
I work in the legal sector and I hope this company ie Directors will be dealt with accordingly.

Be aware SAPPHIRE STUDIOUS/RF MARKETING LTD YOU HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO TRADING STANDARDS! and now ive posted the following info i hope others will do like wise

Please report to either Trading standards/consumer direct gov if you want to put a stop to this fraudulent behavior at:

[FONT=Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]https://
secure.consumerdirect.gov.uk/reportascam.aspx

wwwDOToft.gov.uk/OFTwork/ConsumerProtection/consumer_initiatives/report-a-scam/

AND

Tell the police about a scam by reporting it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 (wwwDOTactionfraud.org.uk/report_fraud )

please see comments made by others:

wwwDOTforums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2237045

wwwDOTcanyoutrustthem.com/index.php?go=details&id=17477

wwwDOTcanyoutrustthem.com/index.php?go=details&id=13193&adv=yes&company_name=3070&city=&list=yes&offsetf=0 [/FONT]

jennygreen1988

I too was stopped in the street while out shopping in bicester i answered a few questions and went on my way not thinking anything of it. about 2 weeks later i got a phone call from a lady called sarah saying i was one of three people to be picked for this day out at saphire studios in london after a hard sell for about 30 mins the lady then said they would take a holding payment of £49 from my account to ensure that we turned up on the day alarm bells started ringing but i asked the lady if any money would be taken and she said no it was only a holding payment by check secure so i gave her my card details as i new there was no money in the account any way so if they tried to take any money they wouldnt be able to. i didnt hear any thing from the lady and did not recieve a confirmation email as promised i rang them back 2 days later and spoke to a guy saying i was not interested in the day and to tell sarah to offer the tickets to someone else as no money had been taken i assumed all had been sorted. this evening i recieved a call from sarah saying i had my appt on sunday at 1pm and not forget to bring some nice clothes. i told her that i had rung about 2 weeks ago to cancel my appt and that np money had been taken and once again to offer the tickets to someone else. she said she would speak to someone more senior to sort the miscommunication out but 5 mins after i had put the phone down a payment came though from check secure of £99.98 a payment i had not authorised and why did they still have my card details which i had been told would be distroyed by the accounts department when i cancelld the day out. i no i was very stupid for giving them my card details to begin with but the women on the phone was giving a very good sell. obviously im not the only person to be scammed by these people but want to no the best way to sort this ASAP.