Does anyone have an answer to this one?

anniegbrambles

My 18 year old daughter received a phone call on her mobile recently informing her that she had 'won' a free makeover for herself and a friend. She was encouraged to make an appointment straight away on the phone - which she did. She was then asked for her debit card details so that a non refundable attendance fee of £1 per person could be taken to ensure she turned up for the appointment. She was also told that the only other charge would be for any photographs she wished to purchase when she was looking gorgeous after the make over! I went with her as the 'friend' on the day. Unfortunately the traffic was horrendous due to a demonstration near the studio - the roads were closed and there were demonstrators and police everywhere causing us to be very late. We had a phone call from the studio when we were 20 minutes late telling us that if we were more than half an hour late they would not 'do' us. We explained our predicament and said we were trying to get there and hopefully would be there soon. However - we ended up very close but couldn't get there . We were now 50 minutes late so we gave up but couldn't get through to them on the phone to let them know. We were going to try to rearrange it but again could never get through on the phone. A few days later £98 was taken from my daughter's bank account - for a 'no show'! Her bank account had also gone into overdraft hence a £30 overdraft fee was also taken. I phoned the company and eventually got through after about 25 minutes on hold! They told me it was in the terms and conditions that this charge would be made if we failed to turn up. I tried to explain what had happened but they weren't interested. I've spoken to the bank - all they could do was refund the overdraft fee saying if it was in the t&c's then there was nothing they could do about it. Surely this can't be right. My daughter only authorised a £2 fee to be taken - certainly not a further £98 - she only saw the t&c's after they'd taken the money. This was a big part of her holiday spending money she was saving for - I've now had to reimburse her so she can still enjoy her holiday! Can anyone give us any solutions to this please??

Andybez38

Tut tut, dont know what advice to give really. But there's another sucker who will fall for what your daughter did. I certainly would not give my card details to a random person phoning me up.

anniegbrambles

Andybez38 wrote: »

Tut tut, dont know what advice to give really. But there's another sucker who will fall for what your daughter did. I certainly would not give my card details to a random person phoning me up.

Hi Andy - no neither would I - but she's only 18 and didn't realise ! She does now - especially as I didn't tell her I would reimburse her for a couple of days - to make sure she learned her lesson!

hollydays

Ouch!Name the Company.

deanos

anniegbrambles wrote: »

but she's only 18

Dont think thats a good excuse , she is an adult !

If it was a cold call then dont you have a cooling off period ?

I would call consumer direct

Butlers1982

You do need to contact them and demand a refund as it was a cold call. As far as im aware she does have a cooling off period and you need to check and id just ring them and threaten them with that and it should do the trick. come out with the " cold calling " legislation and cooling off period, that should change their minds.

Name the company on here, we all need to be made aware of them.


In order for T&C's to be legally binding, i thought a document had to be signed and not a verbal agreement????
Maybe im wrong though . . . .

alwaysonthego_2

Butlers1982 wrote: »

In order for T&C's to be legally binding, i thought a document had to be signed and not a verbal agreement????
Maybe im wrong though . . . .

you are right, although a verbal agreement is actually legally binding, it is very unlikely it will stand in court and is harder to proove

Freddie_Snowbits

alwaysonthego wrote: »

you are right, although a verbal agreement is actually legally binding, it is very unlikely it will stand in court and is harder to proove

The offer to treat (acceptance of the contract) is made when payment is offered. Failure to turn up so incurs a penalty charge. My dentist does the same!

anniegbrambles

hollydays wrote: »

Ouch!Name the Company.

The company is called DoubleTake Studios - don't go near them!!!!

anniegbrambles

deanos wrote: »

Dont think thats a good excuse , she is an adult !

If it was a cold call then dont you have a cooling off period ?

I would call consumer direct

You're right - legally she is an adult - she's still my baby girl though ! I've now warned her never to give her bank details to ANYONE without checking with me first. Horse has already bolted though! I'm going to phone this awful company again and ask them about a cooling off period. I'll also look up consumer direct and let you know if I have any joy.
Thanks

anniegbrambles

Butlers1982 wrote: »

You do need to contact them and demand a refund as it was a cold call. As far as im aware she does have a cooling off period and you need to check and id just ring them and threaten them with that and it should do the trick. come out with the " cold calling " legislation and cooling off period, that should change their minds.

Name the company on here, we all need to be made aware of them.


In order for T&C's to be legally binding, i thought a document had to be signed and not a verbal agreement????
Maybe im wrong though . . . .

The company are called DoubleTake studios. Beware!! I would have thought that the t&c's had to be signed - but according to my bank - apparently not! The trouble is she never even saw the t&c's until after she'd given her bank details. They sent her a letter of confirmation through the post - but neither of us checked the small print on the back of it! We full intended getting there on the day - but due to the demonstration nearby we couldn't get near it. I couldn't even park in the vicinity due to the roads being closed all around and hundreds of people and police everywhere. Oh well - we live and learn - to our cost!