Help...urgently...required...signed up to spend £1800!!!!

climbgirl

If you've signed the legal agreement, I don't think it's going to be a simple case of "ring and cancel". You're going to need to make them enforce the 7 day cooling off period, a previous poster has put down some good information from the Trading Standards office on this.

Don't simply cancel your credit card to stop the payment going out - that's not going to change the fact that you still owe the money if they refuse to cancel it, it's just burying your head in the sand.

First priority is to ring them and ask to cancel, quoting the Trading Office's legal requirement of a 7 day cooling off period if they won't budge.

And don't take up one of these offers again!

LJD1_2

Hope your phonecall went ok and that you managed to cancel. A friend of mine did the same as you but didn't have the guts to cancel. She's still paying now. Good luck xx

sbelle_2

Hi and thanks to everyone for your messages and support. I phoned first thing and the Sales guy wasn't in but the office manager lady was fine about it and said i'd get my deposit back and still get the free 7x5 print!!!

She was really understanding and put my mind at rest.

This afternoon the sales guy phoned and tried to persuade me to go for another look at the photos and to downgrade to a cheaper set of prints. But i was firm and said no, I asked about the refund of my deposit back to my credit card and he said he might get charged for that, I told him that the office manager this morning had said it wouldn't be a problem! He phoned back 5 mins later to confirm the full refund had been processed and the credit agreement would be cancelled.

A very lucky escape for me and I will be sure to be stronger in the future and try not to get myself in these situations!!!!

I have really fallen off the wagon, money saving wise, but following all your positive comments and understanding I am definitely going to be visiting dfw more often and getting myself back on track. I didn't like how I felt all last night worrying about the photos.

Cheers guys x

Penny2myName

Really glad things worked out well for you. I could easily guess how stressful the situation made you feel. I think the main lesson here for both yourself and all of us that have read this tread, is that we should find out the costs BEFORE hand. Least I know i would be enquiring beforehand now anyhow.

Poppy9

Wow that was a lucky escape. I went for these photo sessions when DD was born. We had one with the soft music and hard sell etc. We held firm and refused to buy, but it was hard as they make you out to be a bad parent.

The only freebies I went for then were Olan Mills. I didn't find any pressure there and just had my freebies from the £20 per year pack. Perhaps that why they went bust!!

RAS

sbelle wrote: »

I didn't like how I felt all last night worrying about the photos.

OK. This could be really useful for you.

I am not sure how you got booked into the origin photosession? Were you stopped in a shopping mall, responded to an advert?

I guess you can still remember how you felt last night? Not nice?

Now imagine the next time you get into the same situation, look at the imaginary saleperson and remember how you felt last night. Then imagine walking away knowing you did the right thing. Repeat this with several situations, the shopping mall, the in-store offer, the store sales person, etc and associate those future events with how you felt last night.

After all, if you want, really want, some lovely pics of your kids, you can always ring round, check out the prices, ask mates who did a good job for them, and book a session when you can afford it at a price you can afford, and feel OK.

Karmacat

Fantastic news! I am *so* pleased for you. Like RAS has just suggested, keep hold of the memory of that feeling, of how bad it was, to stop you spending in other situations.

Keep an eye out for the paperwork, but I'm sure you can rest easy now.

All the best

Seaxwyn

well done sbelle! It's really hard to stand up to that kind of pressure so you should be proud of yourself. Fantastic result!

LJD1_2

That's fantastic, really pleased and like RAS said...remember how you felt when you realised what you'd done! xx

rayday2

Not sure where OP lives but we had some fantastic photos done locally by a small photographer miles better than any venture pictures and cost a small fraction.

Also if you contact local colleges some do photo sessions for there students which can be cheaper. That or with a backdrop get carried away with a digital camera I did that for fathers day and had one picture blown up on to canvas on ebay for 12.99 everyone assumes it to be professional not a chance!

I really hate any company that hard sell, venture really get my goat as one advisor in meadowhall spent ages telling me how they could photoshop prints - p** off mr 9 months pregnancy, hard labours last thing I want is a man telling me he can photoshop my beauties