Coverlook Studios

Harriet_C

My advice would be not to trust this company at all. I am in no doubt that you do get a 'photoshoot' for your deposit but then they expect you to buy lots of (VERY expensive) photos and they can be quite aggressive if you don't. I think it is also very difficult to get your deposit back if you choose not to buy any photos.
I got a call from them a couple of weeks back saying I had won second prize in a competition. I had been entering some competitions on my offers so this wasnt too hard to believe. They said I had won a makeover, free photos and free entry to top London clubs for me and all my friends. I was intially excited, then a bit sceptical when I was told I'd have to pay a '£30 refundable deposit.' However, I stupidly didnt listen to my instincts and went for it.
A few days later I got a letter through confirming my appointment, but it said they were charging £30 PER person (I was told I could bring one guest) so £60 was taken out of my account and there was no mention of the free photos or club entry.
I was pretty suspicious by now, so I went and looked on the web. Low and behold I found this thread saying that Coverlook are basically scammers! I felt upset, but also determined to get my money back. I rung them and had two longs phone calls where I said I felt misled into buying something. I told the man he had lied to me to make me buy this 'prize' and that was illegal and as such I was entitled to my money back. He couldnt tell me which competition on myoffers I had entered to win this prize, and he generally contradicted himself A LOT over the two phonecalls..........
HOWEVER, they have agreed to give me my £60 back, whether it appears in my account or not is another matter. Needless to say if it doesnt I wont stop until they refund me. That is my money and they cheated me out of it!
DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY.
I was so angry that they take advantage of good people's trusting nature, it is disgusting. The threads on here are probably just a fraction of the people they have tricked.
The number I reached them on was 02076310272. Good luck to anyone who is trying to get their money back.

sam102y

:j
Like many posters here I recieved a call on the 27th July to say I had won first place in the competition that I had entered on Living Tv. The prize was a photo shoot for myself and a guest worth £500 each, we would have our hair and make up done with cocktails and entry into any London Nightclub on the guestlist. I thought this was an exclusive prize and was so excited and when I told my friend she was delighted. Like the previous poster I was a bit dubious when they mentioned the £30 refundable deposit for each of us but I was so excited as I have never won anything I stupidly went along with it. We live and Scotland so were going to make a weekend of it something that would be expensive, though we thought we would treat ourself. Later that night we were talking on the phone about it, when for some reason my friend remembered this site and typed in Coverlook. We were shocked at what we read and I felt sick, and knew we were not now going to go. So the next day I went on the phone and was told the booking office didnt open till 2pm. I waited till then and then the fun began. To cut a long story short I was at it all day, on the phone to the first person, then his supervisor, then his manager. After 2 days of calling and a lot of stuff was going on I told them a few things that didnt make them happy. But in the end I was told I would get my £60 back. Then the waiting and phoning and returning their letter to them for them to enable to refund the money into my account. Well today it happend I GOT MY MONEY BACK. I also emailed and wrote to the complaints department at Living Tv. This company are totaly misleading people and should not be allowed to get away with it.:mad:

scottishangel

Well I fell for this one too. The same 2nd prize makeover and photoshoot advertised through living tv with 30 each for deposit. I dont usually fall for phone competition things but I knew I had definately entered this competition and as it was through living tv and the advert was on yahoo, it all seemed fairly legit.

Fortunately I happened to find this forum the night before I travelled down to London (thank you all v much for posting here btw! Managed to warn me just in time!).

I decided to go down as I knew I wouldnt get my deposit back otherwise(60 as there were 2 of us) and thought it could still be fun day. When we arrived it was v obvious the place was not v professional- loads of people cramped into one reception/makeover room, lots of people sitting about waiting, not private at all. I was told my deposit would be refunded at the end of the day but I insisted it was refunded there and then. I was told if I got a refund I could not stay for the day (which obviously doesn't make sense as this was supposed to be a FREE prize anyway!!!) Was taken to the «Exclusive» viewing studio ie. cubicle with computer and couple of chairs and a v rude and unproffesional guy begrudgingly agreed to give me a refund.

He then took my credit card, typed in some numbers and handed me back the receipt. I looked at the receipt and then asked him why he had charged me another 60 pounds instead of refunding it!!!!!!! He went red and looked very awkward and then knowing he had been caught out, and after I had demanded he refund 120 back onto my card, he gave me the refund (no apology whatsoever of course and then pretty much told us we had better be staying for the whole day and buying photos!!!).

Unsurprisingly we walked straight out, ruining what was supposed to be a birthday treat! I am just waiting in hope that the refund goes through correctly!

This is blatently a complete scam! My advise is DO NOT GO NEAR THIS PLACE!!! There are no doubt plenty of other legitamite and professional makeover studios in the UK, it is not worth the risk of going here. I intend to write to Yahoo, Living TV and Watchdog about this and would encourage other people to do so too!

jaymee

lushiouslisaxxx wrote: »

I went to cover studios with a friend last week and had an amazing time!!!!! The make up and my hair was great and the photos were really good. We bought 10 photos between us which were 95 each and they used my 60 deposit (there was 2 of us). Not sure why you wouldn't want to use your deposit and have a refund as its so simple to let them keep it and take money of the purchase of photos!! and why would you want to walk out of there without any photos, its not an eveyday thing to spend money on and not keep memories!! you guys saying bad things made me so nervous before i got there and I was surprised when it was over how happy me and my friend felt and how enjoyable it was!! I entered on their site when I saw an advert for them on max power and im glad i did! i dont mean to patronise anyone, just shows theres 2 sides to every story x x x

So £950 for 10 photos sounds like a good deal to you? Don't take this the wrong way, but it's really hard to believe your post is genuine.

eye

One of the previous posters said:

"...There are no doubt plenty of other legitamite and professional makeover studios in the UK..."

No! I am sorry to say that but ALL makeover photo studios work same ... or very similar way - all the competitions and cheap-looking-at-first experience vouchers are just bait to get us there!!! ALL makover studios!!!

If you need to have REAL experience then find REAL studio - there are plenty of photographers and studios that are professional and good. You can compare makeover studios to fastfood chains. If you want to have a good meal or classy experience then you don't go there but to a good restaurant ... but in this case it is even worse - you got to fast food place and they ask to pay much more than in a very good restaurant!!!

spotit

I too got a phone call to say I had won a prize of a wonderful make-over and a whole day being pampered along with a guest. The next phone call asked me for a deosit of £30 each. Like a fool, I too fell for this. We travelled quite a distance which cost a lot to attend. Our appointment was for 11am. I must say when we saw the dingy looking place we were a little worried but went in anyway.
We were told they were running late and would have to wait 15 minutes. At 11.45 we decided we had waited long enough and said we would just go and forego the pampering of which we hadn't experienced any! Their nibbles etc were non-existent. We were told we couldn't have our deposit back but we insisted on speaking to whoever was in charge. Eventually we spoke to a gentleman and I think he realised the other customers were beginning to listen and he credited the £60 to my credit card.
Be advised, if you kick up a fuss you will get a full refund!

Harriet_C

Hey guys.

Just to let you know they have refunded me!!!:eek: I didnt want to go to the session after reading these posts, so I called them up and asked them for a refund because I felt I had been misled. They were VERY awkward about it and I called them three times to pester. My tips for getting a refund are:

• PESTER THEM, dont stop calling until you get through. Let the phone ring for ages and ring EVERY day.
• If they told you it was a prize, ask them the date of the competition draw, what date you entered it, what was first prize etc. Think of as many questions as possible about the competition. They couldnt answer any of these when I asked and as a result got flustered. The more flustered you can get them the better, because they will be more likely to refund you.
• Inform them that it a criminal offence to sell you something by misleading you. Say you feel misled and therefore would like your money back.
• Be polite and calm. Don't shout. This will be far more effective than being rude will.
• Point out all the discrepancies in what they offered you. e.g. If they offered free prints on the phone and free entry to top clubs but didnt offer them in the letter, ask them why.
• Throw in the words trading standards, consumer rights, criminal offence etc. This frightens them.
• Know your rights. Research them. Get informed so you can argue your case convincingly to them. The more worried they are that you are serious, the more likely they will be to refund your money.
• If you can, record the calls you are having with them so you have evidence of times when they have contradicted themselves.
• I reached them on 02076310272

Hope this info is useful. Its what helped me to get my £60 back. Good luck everyone! Its your hard earned money, dont let them swindle you out of it!:mad:

lushiouslisaxxx

jaymee wrote: »

So £950 for 10 photos sounds like a good deal to you? Don't take this the wrong way, but it's really hard to believe your post is genuine.

NO it cost me £95 and my friend £95 so if you add that up it comes to a grand total of £190. Works out at £25 a photo if you include my £60 deposit!! Believe what you want about my post, I no I had a good day in London and a good time there. You all share your times there so I wanted to share mine!!

nkob

Hi. I recently got caught out at a bad time by this company telling me I had 'won' their competition. They took a £30 booking fee from my account along with another £30 for a guest that I hadn't even confirmed I was taking. I have attempted to cancel with no avail. The refuse to refund my money for me or my mystery guest and stated I can't do anything about it as what they do is perfectly legal. (I wasn't exactly feeling like a prize winner at this point as you can imagine). My advise - DON'T TOUCH WITH A BARGE POLE!!! Elizabeth

sam102y

You can get your money back, I did and I never even went to the studio, if you would like any info on how I did it let me know as it is a bit long, but I got it back in less than 2 weeks:j