Is this agreement legal?

stanzelsa

Hi, my daughter and myself have just been for a photoshoot at Fusion Studios in Manchester. We had a great day, but as we had no money to buy photos were subjected to some pretty high powered selling to take out their interest free (but with an extra £0 admin fee) deal on 12 photos for £399. Working out at £13.75 a month each we felt that we could afford it, but after getting home we feel that we have overspent. However the contract we signed states "I understand that once leaving the premises I have no right to cancellation". We have not had the pictures so I don't feel that this is right, I thought that by law there had to be a 14 day cooling off period. Please can someone advise me if there's anything we can do? They have my daughter's card details (to take the deposit of £50 in a weeks time) and her bank account details. Thanks

bobajob_1966

You have signed away any right of cancellation I'm afraid. Give them a call and see what they say, but I fear you are stuck with some very expensive photos.

opinions4u

You signed on their premises. So no cooling off period.

c-m

14 day cooling off period for services and 7 days for goods under the distance selling act, tends to cover distance selling, not stuff you do in person.

There is usually 14 days for credit agreements but your case is a difficult one.

You could argue that you felt pressured into signing the agreement, but i'm not sure. £399 is a lot. Why did you go in the first place?

The very worst case scenario is as you've paid nothing yet, you could just report the card lost/stolen. If you signed a D/D you could cancel it and close the account. It's pretty easy to get a new account up and running somewhere else.

Of course, they might come after you with a court summons.

_Andy_

stanzelsa wrote: »

interest free (but with an extra £0 admin fee)

Sorry what?

bobajob_1966

c-m wrote: »

14 day cooling off period for services and 7 days for goods under the distance selling act, tends to cover distance selling, not stuff you do in person.

There is usually 14 days for credit agreements but your case is a difficult one.

You could argue that you felt pressured into signing the agreement, but i'm not sure. £399 is a lot. Why did you go in the first place?

The very worst case scenario is as you've paid nothing yet, you could just report the card lost/stolen. If you signed a D/D you could cancel it and close the account. It's pretty easy to get a new account up and running somewhere else.

Of course, they might come after you with a court summons.

What you are suggesting is fraudulent - they could take both civil and criminal action against the OP.

stanzelsa

_Andy_ wrote: »

Sorry what?

Sorry my 3 button sticks should have been £30

stanzelsa

Thanks guys, oh well you live & learn, at least they're REALLY nice photos

opinions4u

stanzelsa wrote: »

Sorry my 3 button sticks should have been £30

If they are charging you more to get a credit agreement and then claiming it is 0%, I'd be surprised if this would stand up to scrutiny. But there are sneaky ways round most rules.

Quite how you'd go about complaining about it and getting the agreement cancelled and any installments paid, I'm not sure.

Possibly worth contacting Consumer Direct for advice.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories/UsefulContactsByCategory/Governmentcitizensandrightscontacts/DG_195948

Thanks guys, oh well you live & learn, at least they're REALLY nice photos

No, you don't understand how this site works. At this point you're not meant to accept that what you've been told is accurate. You're meant to hit out at the system and be nasty to those posters who've told you things you don't want to hear.

Phrases like "stitched up", "rip off", "mis-sold", "scam" etc should be used against financial businesses and "unhelpful", "uncaring" and "if you can't say anything useful don't say anything at all" should be thrown at those who've told you how it is.

Good luck!

heathcote123

stanzelsa wrote: »

Hi, my daughter and myself have just been for a photoshoot at Fusion Studios in Manchester. We had a great day, but as we had no money to buy photos were subjected to some pretty high powered selling to take out their interest free (but with an extra £0 admin fee) deal on 12 photos for £399. Working out at £13.75 a month each we felt that we could afford it, but after getting home we feel that we have overspent. However the contract we signed states "I understand that once leaving the premises I have no right to cancellation". We have not had the pictures so I don't feel that this is right, I thought that by law there had to be a 14 day cooling off period. Please can someone advise me if there's anything we can do? They have my daughter's card details (to take the deposit of £50 in a weeks time) and her bank account details. Thanks

Enjoy your photos.

Apples2

If this type of rip off were not legal, these studios would have gone out of business years ago.
This is why it is so easy to WIN a photo shoot, they just want you in the door so they can flatter you into signing.

If they let you mull it over, nobody would agree to such a large sum for a photo. Lots of these posts involve thousands, not hundreds, you've actually done quite well.