Anyone heard of Studio 64?

PuppetMaster_2

Oh this is great - check out this Gumtree advert for a "play hard...money hungry" sales rep to work for..... yep, Studio 64!

http://www.gumtree.com/london/30/13883430.html

What a reprehensible "company". However, I'm more concerned about how they got my wife's phone number - she certainly hasn't filled out ANY competition or similar...

lou031205

I wondered if I had been provided my first comping win, but got a funny feeling on the phone when £49.99 was mentioned. Funnily I have told them I will think about it...

fleatjie

Exposure Photographics in Covent Grd is terrible! Don't ever go there! Hair was bad, makeup good and photographs excellent. Refreshments? I was so thirsty I had to beg for water...
When we viewed the photos I met the most evil man ever. Never in my life have I met someone so rude and vindictive. The photos were offered to us for 95£ per photo or 45£ for all 30, which amounts to 1350£. When we said we just can't afford it (I was actually planning to buy one), there was no other offers or sweet persuasion, but he could not stop asking me why the hell we came. I told him I was told its gonna be a fun day and we had a good experience, he proceded to mock us saying we are wasting there valuable time and money and again asked me 3 times why de hell we bothered to come. I told him that I was approached and it was all about the makeover and I was promised a free photo, which he refused to give. He denied them giving free photos and I have no proof of the telephonic conversation. The fact is, I can go on and on as he said so many nasty things including our photos could be used without our permission for ads and !!!!!! sites (whatever). I asked for my deposit back (99.98 pounds just so one keep ones appointment, fair enough I thought), but he tried to fool me saying I can't get it back as I've used their time etc. Now, I'm not that daft! So we kept on fighting until he went to look for a form for me to fill out and gave me extra problems saying I have to give a very good reason why I want it back otherwise they will query the poor photographer and he could lose his job and his children will starve (seriously). So, I ran out of there (Covent Garden) with sweaty hands and a thumping hart and soon to become headache, as a day which was meant to be fun turned out to be an absolute nightmare. I am now eagerly awaiting my deposit and to hear from anyone else who have also been subjected to this man (Oldish with grey beard and poor social skills).

GattinaRosa

I got a phone call a few months ago from Studio 64, saying that I won a photoshoot with them. I paid my £49.99 x 2 deposit, went last week, had an amazing time and got my deposit back within 5 days.

So, I wanted to point out a few things - obviously, some people will still say no to this, as they dont want to give their details over the phone etc. But, hopefully this might clear up a few issues...


1) EVERY place like this will ask for a deposit - they have to pay for make up artists / hair stylists / photographers to come in. If you dont turn up, it is a lot of money down the drain for them. However, if you do not decide to use your deposit money to buy photos with (which they give you the option to do), the sales person will fill in a form. One half of this will be sent to their customer service dept who will rearrange for your deposit to be transferred back into your account within a week. I got mine back in 5 days.

2) Yes. The sales people DO go for the hard sell. They really want you to buy photos otherwise they are not going to make any money. However, it is your choice. Do not feel pressured into buying them. My friend and I were left in a room for 5 mins to watch a slideshow of our photos - the salesman then returned to the room, and gave us an outlined of prices. We firmly stated that we were students and therefore couldnt afford them. Ive listed the prices below so if anyone does go, you wont be too shocked!!

1 photo on CD - £89.99 (as this includes copyright and reproduction rights)
1 A4 printed photo - £49.99
4 small photos on A4 - £49.99

However, our guy eventually dropped the price to £99.98 (the deposit) for 4 photos on CD. Which shows that the photos are obviously totally overpriced in the first place.

Just keep saying NO. If you make it clear that you are not buying anything, they wont waste their time tryint to sell you stuff.

3) The photos they take are stunning - they are very professional looking and my friend and I looked amazing in them. The photographers (and all the staff) are very friendly.

So, overall, my advice is.... go there to have a good day. If you want to buy any photos, go with a precise figure that you aer willing to spend, and dont budge from that. If its close to what they want, they probably will drop it.

My friend and I had a great day and the photos were brilliant - I just wish I could have bought some!

corrig24

I just want to say Thanks to all MSE users. I have just had a phone call from exposurephotograpics, covent garden telling me I had won a pamper day out. I was dubious from the start so I googled it this is what I found. Its great to find honest info while still having the phone conversation, the lady who was quiet pushy ans wanted my credit card details, then mentioned that I needed to make a decision as her manager "was at the white board writting somethings down". As soon as I head that it reminded me of my cold calling days and opted for the no thanks.

jstorkey

I had the same and went along after being told thee was no pressure to buy anything and to just come for the fun.
The make up was from primark (although he told us it cost thousands). Our hair were like nests and not at all how we requested.
The Photoshoot was fun but the lady didnt really talk to us.
We were planning to buy 1 photo each to keep as a memory of the day. But when we had the viewing everything was terrible.

The back screen had a massive crease in it which could be seen in every photo and the lights were way to bright making all my facial features blend into 1 big blob! We couldn’t stop laughing! There was not one picture we liked so politely told the man we wouldn’t be purchasing any. He then got really angry and aggressive slamming things around. We just sat there and kept quiet. He made me fill in 2 forms. 1 for a refund and 1 agreeing that the photos would be disposed of. I asked for a photocopy of both which he refused. I kept persisting but he kept refusing. Eventually he gave me a copy of the disposal form but not the refund form. I asked again and he started shouting "its just a piece of paper". To which i replied exactly so its my problem if i want to carry around extra rubbish. He photocopied it then threw it at me!

My advice is, if you want to go for a laugh thats fine. But be prepared for a hard sell and for them to put the guilt trip on you. Have set in your mind how many you can afford to buy, if any. If you dont buy anything, make sure you get a copy of the refund form!

tsimehC

So many older topics, here's one:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=179156&page=2

Personally I wouldn't bother. I remember reading through an entire website devoted to complaints of another studio or it's probably this. It's also been on Watchdog IIRC.

wingobins

I had a similar call last year from a place in Darlington. What they do is..they hang out in shopping centres showing off lovely photo's but claimimg to have a competition going too. They phoned me up saying my name has been drawn and I had to travel to Darlington for family portrait. The woman was also speaking fast so I knew it wasn't genuine but I remembered filling in the comp so I asked her to send details out first, when I read the small print I hadn't won anything & it would have cost me dearly.

JadeCripps_2

I received one of these calls saying i had won, i knew i hadn't entered any as i've been a pro model for over 10 years! It'd just be a day at work unpaid effectively! I said this to the woman on the phone and asked her to clarify exactly which competition i had entered...she hung up!

My advice to anyone who wants to do a photoshoot. Look online for photographers advertising "Time for Prints" also abbreviated to TFP. These are photographers looking to expand their portfolios who don't want to pay a pro model, so you give them time for free, they shoot you and give you photos for free!

There are plenty around!

Usually it won't be a case of getting a makeover, you will do hair/makeup before you go (although they do occasionally have makeup artsists!), ask the photographer before you book anything to see some of his work...if it looks good and he is willing to shoot you in a professional studio go for it!!

It's how i ended up being a pro model full time! (I'm now retired and at uni instead, but it did me well!)

Lorian

wingobins wrote: »

I had a similar call last year from a place in Darlington. What they do is..they hang out in shopping centres showing off lovely photo's but claimimg to have a competition going too. They phoned me up saying my name has been drawn and I had to travel to Darlington for family portrait. The woman was also speaking fast so I knew it wasn't genuine but I remembered filling in the comp so I asked her to send details out first, when I read the small print I hadn't won anything & it would have cost me dearly.

My OH was victim of the same type of "you've won" family photo shoot rip-off. Of course she told me she had won it in a competition and I didn't think much of it 'till we went to have our photo taken. The photo session was awfull, some amateur photographer slightly smaller than her DSLR and a big roll of white paper we had to lie on. I knew it was a con as soon as we walked in the door. We were given the £70 "winning voucher". She dafly said "most people spend their voucher against an album". We could get one photo for our £70 IIRC it was a 10x8. She was very pushy to sell the albums, they started at £850! I told her to stick her free photo as we left.