Coverlook Studios

dmg24

Did you contact them initially? If so, the call was not unsolicited, and the seven day cooling off period does not apply. Sorry x

Geena

I contacted them this morning before i contacted CD. Ive just look up Distance Selling Act Regulation...

In addition, some parts of the Regulations do not apply to:

• contracts for the supply of food, beverages or other goods intended for everyday consumption supplied to the consumer's residence or to his workplace by regular roundsmen (e.g. a milkman, but not a supermarket); and
• contracts for the provision of accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services, where the supplier undertakes, when the contract is concluded, to provide these services on a specific date or within a specific period.

The exemption is in respect of the provisions relating to:

• information given to the consumer prior to the conclusion of the contract;
• written confirmation;
• cancellation rights;
• recovery of money paid by the consumer;
• return of goods by the consumer after cancellation;
• goods given in part exchange; and
• mandatory performance of the contract within 30 days.

So apparently actually im not entitled to my money back...this is just wrong, legally they can just get away with taking people's money, and not giving the services exactly as they descirbe.

blackdiamond183

hi guys

just got back from there....gotta tell u, had da best day n ppl were awesome, pics cost £75 each but if u leave ur deposit u get 2 plus the free one. everyone is really nice n u can get well !!!!d while sittin there coz alcohols for free lol. ayways, the photoshoot was great, had so much fun n u can totally let go of yourself plus pics come out really great. i didnt spend a penny apart from leavin ma deposit there which was paid month ago n i dun really miss it anyway. i think for that price its well worth to go there n just enjoy as much as u possibly can, u get ur mkeup n hair done, alcohol, other drinks, pics n great laugh wit other ppl that are there... so dats ma review....well yeah...1 more thingy...dun take ur credit card coz u soooo gonna use it lol...i know i would've :-))

mia424

Hi, I got a phone call today and I am really in two minds whether to go or not. Me and my friend could pay £60 deposit, have free entry into a club, (we have a friend we can stay with so no need to pay out for a hotel) and a day out, and we'd only have to pay for travelling there (not expensive). I read the posts on here and I can't decide whether to call them back or not ... Although I am extra cautious and feel very unsafe about giving card details over the phone (which I have not done).

Any advice would be great!

girlsta88atistics

Earlier in the week I entered the competition whilst extremely bored, without expecting to win and fully believing it was all legitimate.
I received a phone call this afternoon however, telling me that I had won the £550 prize (makeover/photoshoot/VIP clublist), and making it sound like an amazing experience (which it may well be, I have not been).

After reeling me in and getting me VERY excited, I was then told I would have to make a £30 deposit, which then suddenly changed to £60 as I had earlier opted to take a friend once she had taken most of my bank details.
All of this started to seem a little fishy, but she assured me it would be refunded on the day, and in the moment I chose to go for it.

Once I put the phone down however I started to get a bit apprehensive. I decided to do a bit of internet research and came across this website. I immediately contacted my bank about the situation, but coverlook had already (in less than 30minutes) taken the money from my account, so I could not cancel the transaction in this way.

I initially tried calling back the woman who had phoned me on the contact number she had given, but I could instantly tell I would get no joy from this as she told me I would get a phone call from her manager later tonight or tomorrow.

This seemed unacceptable, so I phoned the company's reception: 02075 803999 and asked to speak to their manager or supervisor.
They gave me this number, to a man named Ricky: 02075 804248. He was not very professional, and spoke to me in a very casual manner. Do NOT adopt this attitude, stay professional and polite. He tried fobbing me off back to the woman I had spoken to initially (which shows bad communication) so I was very clear about the fact I had already spoken to her.

I explained that I could not afford to get to London under any circumstances in the year period, as I am a student and cannot afford it, despite his attempted persuasion. I stayed calm and made it clear the situation was not acceptable, as I was not visiting the studio and if they could take the money from me that quickly, they must be able to refund it.

He has promised me a refund. I will wait the 3 days to see if it clears, and let you know what happens.

carter_danni

My sister was fooled by these people saying she had won a competition. She is new to London from abroad and didn't have her own bank account so I gave her my details and they duly took £60 from me.

After I had given her the money I thought it suspicious so I looked them up and found this website. I realised that it would be hell to get my money back before our appointment, so I went along ready to argue with them all to get my £60 deposit back.

We turned up at the alloted time and were told to sit and wait. The people there were rude to us and I thought this wouldn't bode well for the rest of the day.

They did our makeup, and only straightened my hair. fortunately my make up was done well but my sisters wasn't, as they didn't take any notice of what she wanted done. She also hadn't washed her hair, expecting them to do that for her while she was there.

We waited another half an hour for the photographer to call us. We went downstairs and she took lots of photos. It was a bit off putting that 3 other people were also having their photos taken at the same time and there was no privacy.

We finished the shoot and went upstairs and had a glass of juice, (the only refreshment that they offered us).

We were told that the photos would take half an hour to download. I asked if I could get my refund back and they told me that the person who sold the photos would give the refund back, so we had to sit and wait.

After an hour and and a half they called us to say our photos were done. This was after repeated questions on how long the photos would take!

I went into the room and just said, I've been waiting for ages, I've got a headache and I've had a terrible day. I jsut want my free photo and my deposit back. She was fine with this and didn't try to sell me the photos and refunded my deposit. (it arrived in my bank 3 days later).

If you are just tough with them you will get your deposit back and your free photo.

While I was there I noticed that there were a lot of foreign girls there who thought that you had to buy the photos and they weren't quite sure what was going on. So be careful!!

animal1_2

After reading pretty much most of these..im really not suprised with what I have found!!
to anyone who is thinking of going to coverlook studio..think again! it is a con and im sure that some of the people who have written these comments do work for them..and probably after my mum even telling them that they had alot of bad reviews..and oh look all of a sudden there are some good ones.

I had a really bad experience with them and someone who claimed to work for them. We had also been conned into thinking we had 'won' a makeover..so mum who has never done anything like this before thought it would be a nice treat for me if I was her guest! She paid £60 deposit for both of us and booked train tickets up to london costing about £80. we then packed all our outfits ect ect..then when we got to london we strangly could not get hold of them..we called and called to find the place which is not that easy for people who dont live in london..but had no luck.
eventually we found the place just to find our names where not even booked in..even though we had already paid them..them we gave the contact details of the guy who had been contacting us about the shoot to find he was not even around he had given us some 'another number' which did not reach them..we never got our shoot and never got our money back!

even with recipts and the details THEY had sent us..never got anything.
My Mum was really upset as she was really looking forward to it and they did not give a dam! we complained many times after this..and still nothihg not even an apology! They were very rude and the time. still even 6 months on and no apology and we cant get hold of the guy who we had originaly arranged it with!..funny that!

Please be very cafefull of this guys! it is a scam and even if you do get a shoot why would you want to pay £90 for a photo?

I dont advise going there

Londonbusowner

I think sites like these can have their uses, but i believe that some of the hysteria it can create can be damaging to a business just for the sake of a few people and their opinions.
I do not work for Cover Look, i just own my own retail business which from time to time has also fallen prey to a few isolated opinion makers.
Most businesses (if the management have any sense) conduct surveys and market research on a regular basis in order to judge how the business is seen from a customers perspective. I know from my experience we received 37 complaints out of 80,000 customers, all of which where either refunded or compensated.
I am surprised to hear however, that Cover Look Studios is not dealing with various complaints and issues necessarily swiftly or correctly.
I think it would be very useful for the people on this forum if Coverlook could conduct some research (if not done so already) and share some of the results with us here.
I would also like to clarify that Cover Look is a business, it is not a charity.
People are earning a living, many of whom are probably not taking home large sums of money but are paying their mortgage like everybody else. Of course you need to pay for photographs, how else could a business like that sustain rent and rates in central London.
Another issue i would like to cover is their pricing. Since when has photography been deemed as affordable? Many freelance photographers charge the same price as a Lawyer for an hours service, and this is nothing new. Has anybody here hired a wedding photographer?
As far as their sales techniques are concerned, who hasn't been sold a product before? Any adult of a sound mind should have the ability to say "no, i cant afford it" or "no, i don't want it".
I am not suggesting that many comments here are not justified, but i would wish that some of the people here may start to see things from both perspectives.

lil_toni

i am SO pleased that i found this site. I got a phone call today, but the lady on the phone was foreign so i couldn't hear her properly. She said i had entered a competition on MyOffers which i remembered doing just a couple of days before. She knew my name, number and address so i thought it was legit. Especially cos i knew i had entered a competition on there. She said i wouldn't pay a thing other than £30 deposit per person to ensure we turn up. I was a bit overwelmed and confused so when she started asking how i wanted to pay i said i didnt know and id need to speak to someone first so she said she would call back at half 6.
So i started my research, which was tough cos i couldn't remember the name of the place just that it was cover something. I emailed MyOffers to see if it was legit or if they had any idea if i had actually won, they said:

The call you received was not from MyOffers. For security reasons, we only notify our winners by email.

Hundreds of companies use MyOffers to bring their own prizes and promotions to our members; however, without more information, I'm afraid it's impossible to say which company contacted you.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to claim your prize through the site, but hopefully, the company concerned will call again.

MyOffers has no involvement in these prizes and promotions and we don't hold any information on them. Whilst we take every care to make sure that our sponsors provide good offers which our members will enjoy, we always recommend that you ask for the full terms and conditions in writing from the company concerned. That way, you can check you're completely comfortable with everything before you accept your prize. Especially before giving out any of your card details.

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Don

Not a lot of help, but that was mainly cos i couldn't remember the company.
i wrote back to him once i found the company website but i'v not had any responce since. TYPICAL!! Then i found this forum with many many people saying it was a scam. I know a few turned up and had the expierence but to me, it doesnt sound like a £500 experience. and being only 18 i do not have money to waste. So when/if she calls back i think il let her know iv done my research, and that i am not interested.

THANKYOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAVE SAVED MY BEFORE I HANDED OVER THE DREADED CARD DETAILS!

sullylou

I have been called by this obvious sham of a company. I understand that the prize is actually granted on the day but the feedback of the experience has most definitely put me off. Thankyou to everyone who have spared a thought to others, who may, like myself, feel lucky at such an offer and ultimately be fooled by such a degrading way of obtaining money and personal details. I'll take my own bloody photo thanks (covergirl/look/whatever). You have to wear your own clothes anyway and by the sounds of it, wash your own hair so what on earth could possibly cost £500...? Good luck to anyone who goes for it but i'm avoiding this one like the plague.