Doubletake studios

EnglishItalian

Hi all, I've seen a few posts in regards to double take studios and if possible i'd like those in question to highlight there experiences with the now liquidised company. For legal reasons my statement is going to be quite vague but hopefully you should all get the gist of it.

Doubletake studios (now dissolved.) was a photography company that often preyed on young people between 18-21 pressure buying them into ridiculous fees/contracts. I myself was one of them but i was a naive 18 year old at the time (this was in 2010.) I took my then girlfriend at the time to get some pictures done, and as soon as i walked in the experience was awful, had i known then i would have walked out straight away. They pressure sold everyone into buying contracts. I even changed my mind after handing them my card and the seller told me 'oh sorry it's already gone through, and theres no way of offering you a refund.'

After a long period of arguments they did offer me 5 more sessions (which is stated on the original contract) as part of my deal, however this never came into fruition. The company went into administration, and i was handed a debt of roughly £3000 (to this day none of the debt collectors actually know what it's for) which i suspect is the full fee for the contract i was offered. Now, as the company was no longer trading, i was arguing with the administrators who said my 'debt' had been passed on to a debt collection agency. I believe that under the section 75 act Doubletake studios were just as liable for the fees considering although they went into administration it was breach of contract considering i'm being made to pay for a service i haven't received.

Fast forward i had been dealing with a debt collection agency known as WOP (changed for legal purposes.) Wop claimed to be the company who bought the debt off of double take, and hounded me for years in regards to the debt/ cci etc. However after phoning the court, i found that it was a completely different company that administered the CCJ, yet they have no record of ever actually pursuing me for a debt by double take studios.

With all this information having come to light i sought legal advice, and have now successfully applied to have the cci set aside, and also counter claim them (them= person/persons now liable for double take.)

Anyone that has dealt with double take studios, could you please let me know of your experiences, and if you've ended up with a situation such as mine? I know the company has a bad reputation but i just need to prove it. I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

SnowTiger

Presumably the loan was arranged through Doubletake Studios with a third party lender. If that's the case it will likely be covered by section 75.

That basically means the lender is responsible for completing Doubletake Studios' part of the contract. In some cases they may decided to end the contract, cancel the loan and offer you a refund or/and compensation. Other times they may arrange for another supplier to complete the contract.

It's not clear from what you've written whether the loan was for photo shoots for you or your girlfriend.

If it was for your girlfriend, section is unlikely to apply.

If it was for both of you, you may still be on the hook for part of the loan.

hollydays

EnglishItalian wrote: »

Hi all, I've seen a few posts in regards to double take studios and if possible i'd like those in question to highlight there experiences with the now liquidised company. For legal reasons my statement is going to be quite vague but hopefully you should all get the gist of it.

Doubletake studios (now dissolved.) was a photography company that often preyed on young people between 18-21 pressure buying them into ridiculous fees/contracts. I myself was one of them but i was a naive 18 year old at the time (this was in 2010.) I took my then girlfriend at the time to get some pictures done, and as soon as i walked in the experience was awful, had i known then i would have walked out straight away. They pressure sold everyone into buying contracts. I even changed my mind after handing them my card and the seller told me 'oh sorry it's already gone through, and theres no way of offering you a refund.'

After a long period of arguments they did offer me 5 more sessions (which is stated on the original contract) as part of my deal, however this never came into fruition. The company went into administration, and i was handed a debt of roughly £3000 (to this day none of the debt collectors actually know what it's for) which i suspect is the full fee for the contract i was offered. Now, as the company was no longer trading, i was arguing with the administrators who said my 'debt' had been passed on to a debt collection agency. I believe that under the section 75 act Doubletake studios were just as liable for the fees considering although they went into administration it was breach of contract considering i'm being made to pay for a service i haven't received.

Fast forward i had been dealing with a debt collection agency known as WOP (changed for legal purposes.) Wop claimed to be the company who bought the debt off of double take, and hounded me for years in regards to the debt/ cci etc. However after phoning the court, i found that it was a completely different company that administered the CCJ, yet they have no record of ever actually pursuing me for a debt by double take studios.

With all this information having come to light i sought legal advice, and have now successfully applied to have the cci set aside, and also counter claim them (them= person/persons now liable for double take.)

Anyone that has dealt with double take studios, could you please let me know of your experiences, and if you've ended up with a situation such as mine? I know the company has a bad reputation but i just need to prove it. I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

You need to search the forum for other posts about double take studios. No one is going to do the work for you. If you want to take action do it yourself.Other peoples experiences can not form part of your case if you have one.
I wish you luck.

mangog

Ha, that's a blast from the past. A friend and I went to one of their photoshoots about 15 years ago but managed to escape without paying a penny. I think we were both so desperately awkward in the photos even they knew they were fighting a losing battle trying to convince us we wanted copies...!

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with them though. Good luck getting it sorted.