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MWHCVT

MWHCVT

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Anyone else watching the bit on photography studio? Cannot say I agree with the tactics the studio is employing or particularly like the photos but seriously do the people going on these sessions seriously think that they're noting going to be expected to pay extra...
 
ChrisHeathcote said:
Might have to dive onto iplayer in a bit and check it out
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It's worth a watch, the tactics of the studio were extremely bad, but it still cannot help but question the people that use a service and expect it not to have costs if you actually want something from it :eek:
 
MWHCVT said:
It's worth a watch, the tactics of the studio were extremely bad, but it still cannot help but question the people that use a service and expect it not to have costs if you actually want something from it :eek:
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They didn't expect it not to have costs. The first lot, the genuine complainants, were told they'd won a competition. The stooges were told they had to pay a non-refundable £120 booking deposit which would actually be redeemable against any photographs they wanted to buy and that the makeover and shoot would be free. They weren't told they had to spend a minimum of £500 on products. It would be entirely reasonable to take from this information that you are spending a minimum of £120.
 
Yeah something along those lines though with some very questionable miss selling in fact I seriously doubt the practices would hold up to legal scrutiny however not being versed in that I'm not going to say outright they would get in hot water
 
ghoti said:
They didn't expect it not to have costs. The first lot, the genuine complainants, were told they'd won a competition. The stooges were told they had to pay a non-refundable £120 booking deposit which would actually be redeemable against any photographs they wanted to buy and that the makeover and shoot would be free. They weren't told they had to spend a minimum of £500 on products. It would be entirely reasonable to take from this information that you are spending a minimum of £120.
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Ah but lets not look past the studio threatening to pursue for money if they didn't spend the minimum £500...or the apparent not letting that one pair leave until they spent money including apparently physically preventing them leaving...
 
MWHCVT said:
Ah but lets not look past the studio threatening to pursue for money if they didn't spend the minimum £500...or the apparent not letting that one pair leave until they spent money including apparently physically preventing them leaving...
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I'm not defending the studio! Quite the opposite.
 
ghoti said:
I'm not defending the studio! Quite the opposite.
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No of course :) and sorry as my response to your first post was as well worded as it could have been.. you've really got to wonder as some of these people and what they thing they'll get for free...I've seen it a few times on Facebook where people have ended up spending a lot of money...

I remember one amazing example a former manager of mine spent something like £1500 on photos from a gift certificate his brother had brought as a birthday present :eek: nice of his brother :lol: :lol: buying a present that cost the person a fortune, the photos were not even all that good but of course his wife loved all the photos because it has the kids in...

I didn't like to tell him that he could probably have commissioned a damn good photographer to half a day with them getting some spectacular photos with print licence, and then get the physical products printed at a pro lab and still save on that £1,500 :eek:
 
What they were basically told, if you cut it down to the bare essentials, was that if they paid £120 towards photos, they'd get a makeover and shoot for free.

But once they had the makeover and shoot they're told they must spend at least £500.
 
ghoti said:
What they were basically told, if you cut it down to the bare essentials, was that if they paid £120 towards photos, they'd get a makeover and shoot for free.

But once they had the makeover and shoot they're told they must spend at least £500.
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Indeed, it would be very interesting how a judge would deem such a practice... trouble is I'm a little to litteral for program's featuring con artists as I'd always love for them to scam some really hard case nutter who would intern send the boys round and teach them the error of their ways :lol:
 
MWHCVT said:
Indeed, it would be very interesting how a judge would deem such a practice... trouble is I'm a little to litteral for program's featuring con artists as I'd always love for them to scam some really hard case nutter who would intern send the boys round and teach them the error of their ways :lol:
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I'd liked to have seen what they would have done should someone have called their bluff on the legal threats.
Just a simple: "You had better phone the police then..."
 
ghoti said:
I'd liked to have seen what they would have done should someone have called their bluff on the legal threats.
Just a simple: "You had better phone the police then..."
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Indeed, especially on that one where they tried to stop the pair leaving, as I'm fairly sure that would be breaking the law from a criminal stand point, rather than a civil standpoint which would be how the studio would take customers to court...I'm thinking along the lines of false imprisonment / kidnapping and if I'd have been those customers I'd have been on the phone to the old bill
 
MWHCVT said:
Indeed, especially on that one where they tried to stop the pair leaving, as I'm fairly sure that would be breaking the law from a criminal stand point, rather than a civil standpoint which would be how the studio would take customers to court...I'm thinking along the lines of false imprisonment / kidnapping and if I'd have been those customers I'd have been on the phone to the old bill
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Or leaving with their mamiya :)
 
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Our trade is not helped by people like this blatantly ripping people off with crap makeovers and photography then having the cheek to force people to pay a lot of money whilst threatening customers. Trading standards need to close them down I hope the bad publicity force them out of business.
 
tonybarber253 said:
Our trade is not helped by people like this blatantly ripping people off with crap makeovers and photography then having the cheek to force people to pay a lot of money whilst threatening customers. Trading standards need to close them down I hope the bad publicity force them out of business.
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Indeed it's not, I feel for all photographers in the family/social photography sector having to deal with charlatans like this tarnishing the entire sector...
 
Many people already suspect professional photography is a rip-off. This will just reinforce that view.
 
ghoti said:
Many people already suspect professional photography is a rip-off. This will just reinforce that view.
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Indeed they do, I think the biggest issues is that when every man and his dog has the ability to take a photo the biggest thing is not selling photos your selling quality and service, and maxing photography a luxury good/service...that said a didn't think all that much to the watchdog expert who's name I didn't catch suggesting that everyone can take decent photos with Instagram...or something along those lines :eek:
 
I watched it and was not impressed. Sharp practice, unprofessional and abysmal photographs. I feel sorry for the girls who were ripped off. There was clearly no transparent price structure and they were misinformed. I am mindful that there are two sides to every story, I would really like to hear the facts from the other side just to get a full unbiased picture. However, the studio images were appalling in my opinion.
 
They were also told the photographer had shot for some big name fashion mags, which was an out and out lie, they were told the makeup artist was one of the best in the business, which was a lie, she'd only been qualified a few months, and also they were told the makeup being used would be the very expensive and top quality Mac makeup, when it wasn't.

Regardless of the photography being average, or them having to spend more than they were told initially, those other things more than make a case against them for false advertising.
 
ghoti said:
What they were basically told, if you cut it down to the bare essentials, was that if they paid £120 towards photos, they'd get a makeover and shoot for free.

But once they had the makeover and shoot they're told they must spend at least £500.
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Didn't see the program but the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations state that terms that a customer is not informed of are unenforceable.
Did Watchdog manage to spin this out for 30 minutes?
 
Llamaman said:
Didn't see the program but the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations state that terms that a customer is not informed of are unenforceable.
Did Watchdog manage to spin this out for 30 minutes?
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No it was only a part of the larger program so maybe 10 minutes or so
 
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