Refund to a cancelled debit card/ Sapphire Studios

C_H_4

I have literally just finished a phone call with a guy from Sapphire Studios under the name of Ben Davies.. He also also said i had "won" a photoshoot thing, to be honest i don't even remember signing up for anything. Anyway, he started the ball rolling, asking about who i would take, what is my hair like, how i do my makeup, and telling me i could have cheryl cole styling, ( which tbh i would hate), he instantly got me to give my address, as im moving soon, i said there was not really much point in me doing this as i would be unemployed and living too far away from london and that he should give the so called "winning tickets" to someone else.

This he did not like, he started to say that i'm very lucky, and i would regret not taking part in something that would cost me £300 usually, I said that i'm really not that botherd and not actually that interested. This he did NOT like, he started to get very stroppy on the phone, Saying why have i spent the last 15 minutes on the phone with you then if your not interested.. and i sounded really excited, when in actual fact, he was just talking at me.

He then tried to convince me to give over my bank details, which again i said i was not happy to do so over the phone, and this does not sound legit, so whilst he was babbling on about how this was secure, i did my research and saw these posts, I confronted him, and he automatically denied everything that was written by you guys, after a while he hung up on me. I tried to ring him back that was apparently his " Private Number", and suprise suprise it was disconnected.

I seriously recomend that no one should sign up with this company, do not give out bank details, addresses, and do not take them on their word of a refund. It sounded very dodgy on the phone.

Nothing in life is free..

Hope this helps. Cx

squeaky

Hiya

We have a board dedicated to warnings of this kind, so I'll move your post across for you.

Forum_Team wrote:

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL='forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com']forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]

PK131

hey guys can you help me im 17 and a few months ago me and my best friend who is 16 got a call they told my best friend that she had won a competition of a "FREE" makeover where the spend 500 on giving us a makeover the guy said that we should tell everyone that we are 18 she over the moon agreed but she didnt have a credit card and i did i let them use mine and they took 100 from my bank they told us they would send us an email first of we didnt get one then a few days ago they sent her a text and in about a week we are supposed to go but i wasn't so sure so i looked on here and now ive seen all this and i dont want to do it shes devastated about it but i wanna no if i can get my money back after a week and how i can cancel it also will they take more out of my bank if we dont go

thanks please help xxxx

Neelie411

What do I do?! I was scammed also as my friend recommended me to this and I was spool stupid enough to give the bank details even though at first I said I couldn't pay for it! Now it's 3hours ago since I agreed and rang them back 2 seconds later for a cancellation but the rescheduled number was on voicemail = they are closed? I want my money back! In fact it's my DADS! They have already taken the money out and Im contacting the bank tomorrow morning, hoping they will get I back! Some next lady Wang saying age cannot refund it but have the manager look at the conversation and ring me back on Monday! That's too late! I want my money back! Can anyone help to see of I can get it back ASAP! I'm breaking down cos this has NEVER happened to me before and now I cannot DARE to sleep!

Charlenen

I felt I had to comment on this as ................I was contacted by a man called Clarke Woods today telling me I had won a competition for a free make over & photoshoot at Sapphire Studios, London. Mr Clarke sounded as though he was Pakastani or something & I found it quite difficult to understand him at times. He was very polite & nice on the phone. He asked me if I remembered entering the competition which I did (but only the day before).

He told me how amazing this opportunity was & I was a lucky lady to be selected as a winner as a lot of people entered the competition. Mr Woods also told me it was a fantastic day out and I would be pampered & get my hair & make up done for free as well as getting free wine/ refreshments. He said their photographers, make up artists, hairdressers etc were the best in the business and do work for catalogues & magazines etc. He made it sound like a luxury day out. He told me I could bring as many people with me as I wanted to share this wonderful experience with me.

Mr Woods asked me lots of questions such as...confirmation of my email, my age, my hair colour & whether it was straight, if I liked shopping, how I paid for shopping (which I thought was a weird question) etc. He then said appointments were filling up quick and I would need to book the appointment now. He arranged a date and told me to bring approx 5/6 different outfit changes. He told me I could amend the date if i need to and I asked him for a number to contact them if I needed to do this. he gave me this number 0871 781 0211 for their studio.

Towards the end of the conversation he asked that I pay the refundable deposit per person (I had told him I would bring two guests with me) & asked me for either my credit or debit card details. I told him I wasnt happy about giving my card details over the phone to a total stranger. He tried to reassure me & told me I had nothing to worry about. He told me I would get confirmation by email afterwards & told me they use Lloyds bank. He gave me the website details for Sapphire studios and asked that I take a moment to look at the site (while I was on the phone) & that I would see it was a legitimate company. He told me the deposit would be given back to me when I came to my appointment. I asked why I had to pay a deposit especially as this was meant to be FREE. He told me it was to safeguard them in case I didnt turn up to their appointment and I wasted their time. I still refused to give my bank details and he passed the phone to 'his manager' (he was also foreign) who again tried to re-assure me everything was legitimate & he tried to tell me how wonderful the experience was & how lucky I was to have won the prize. I told him I was not willing to give them my bank details as I was wary in case it was a scam. He said he completely understood that I was sceptical but that everything was genuine. He said he would give me some time and they would call me back in approx half an hour. I agreed and told him I wanted to research the company first.

I typed Sapphire studios scam into google and it brought up many pages on different forums but I came straight here as I use MSE regularly (although this is the first time I have posted any comments on here). I am so glad I trusted my instincts & didnt give them my bank details. Everything seemed to good to be true so I know there had to be some catch somewhere.

I didnt expect to hear from them again because I had told them I wasnt giving them my bank details and told them I would be researching their company. However exactly half an hour later I received a call again from Mr Woods. I wasnt going to answer the call but I wanted to see what they said. He was very polite again. I told him I researched their company and found very unsatisfactory comments/ posts on the internet about their company scamming people, people having difficulty getting their deposits back & being forced to buy over priced photos. He tried to tell me not to listen to the comments on the web & said all business get some bad publicity for no reason. I told him to offer the prize to someone else as I wasnt interested. He immediately put the phone down on me!!!! he didnt say goodbye or anything

At no point was I told I would have to pay for any photos from the free day out.
They called me from these numbers +633223166755, +633223109933, +633223119299 so be wary of these numbers.

I hope no-one else gets caught out by this scam. I hope if you have gave them your bank details that you get your money back.

Charlenen

I also received this email but Sapphire studios (it was sent while they told me they would give me some time to think about it)...


Hello Charlene,

Good day!

As part of our HUGE marketing campaign you have been given the chance
to receive the following:

* Consultation Hairstyling (no cut or colouring)
* Professional makeover(with beauty guru & top makeup artist)
* Magazine style fashion photo-shoot
* Private viewing of your sensational images
* BONUS! Complementary wine throughout the day

This fabulous & thrilling promotion is open to everyone OVER 18 years
of age, and each entrant is entitled to bring a guest with them on the
day of the photo-session FOR FREE. This is your chance to get a taste
of the "world of fashion and photography".

Please click on the link below:

I CANT POST THE LINK ON THIS THREAD AS I A NEW USER TO POSTING ON THIS FORUM BUT IT WAS BASICALLY THEIR WESBITE ADDRESS.

If you cannot connect through the link above simply copy and paste.


Kind Regards,
Clark Woods

IM SO GLAD I DIDNT GIVE INTO THEIR HARD SELL & GIVE THEM MY DETAILS.....I HOPE YOU ARE ALSO AS LUCKY

Mara84

Hi everyone.

I'm quite glad (as glad as I can be), of having read all this after today.

I was approached by a guy on Monday with a leaflet about Sapphire Studios, telling me all these amazing things (and speaking too fast as well) about the studios and that I could get a complete free make over and photo session. I just needed to keep the rest of the leaflet with me. (Please note that they did not mention anything about pictures for free, neither does it appear anywhere in the leaflet, so everything quite legal so far.)

Well, they rang on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday AND today, but I never answered, till today as I sort of wanted to get rid of them.

In the end, and like most of the rest of you, I ended up agreeing for the session. However I had a twist and it is that, as I didn't have the money for the booking reservation in my account, I agreed with the guy who called to pay it in two weeks time when I managed to have that money in my account. After reading all these reviews I am wondering if, in case I couldn't cancel my booking which seems what might end up happening, I would manage to sort things by talking to my bank and cancelling my debit card.

Also I haven't received any e-mail with details as I haven't been able to pay them yet. Would that apply as not having had the phone call and conversation at all...??

Any suggestions?? For starts I will go to my bank tomorrow and ask them for advice, just in case...

Thanks for any help I can get, although reading all your posts I think that will be enough. Thanks to all of you for this, even if some of you had to go through the ordeal that this company seems to give everybody.

Mara


P.S.: they asked in what shop I buy my make up and stuff and how much I spend a month... I think that's how they manage, somehow, to "trap" the people who would be good prey...