For those of you who are interested in such things, here's a comment I once wrote on MoneySavingExpert.com. The whole thread was deleted soon afterwards. Read the comment and make up your own mind as to why this was...
(I have a feeling it was because I put the name of my blog in - strictly forbidden on the website - but it could also be because the topic was hotting up and MoneySavingExpert.com didn't want to play host to all that vitriol.)
Here goes...
Dear [X] Customer Care Manager,
thank you very much for putting your case to the forum.
I note, however, that you have not addressed any of the issues brought up in other posts in the forum. Indeed, forgive me for being cynical, but I am left wondering if you are simply trying to cling on to credibility with this gesture.
Interestingly, when I telephoned Consumer Direct - having been told by your Customer Care team (falsely as it turned out) that there was no possibility of having my deposit returned - the woman I spoke to there said that they often rely on web forums such as Money Saving Expert to keep them abreast of the latest scams. As well as registering my complaint on their government website, she advised me to contribute to a forum, as this was another way in which to keep a troublesome company on the radar at Trading Standards.
The fact that typing 'Studio London scam' into a Google search turns up instant results leading to forums like this, ought to worry Studio London. Indeed, it seems that at last it has.
Now, I have only my own experience to go by, expanded by the research I have done on the web (reading the testaments of people in forums such as this), and I have to say that the picture painted in your post, Mr [X], falls short of the reality. I won't go into details again here, but if you want to read more about my experience in addition to the posts above, you can go to my blog: http://kilburnia.blogspot.com/ - where I detail what happened to me in March this year. You can also read of numerous other examples (on this very forum!) of people who have been shocked by the pressure put on them by Studio London's Bookings team, shocked by the amounts of money they have signed away, shocked by the iniquity of a company which can telephone with a 'prize' and then tell its 'winners' that there is no way of changing their minds without incurring a ludicrous charge.
I accept that at Studio London you are, in some respects, adhering to the law. For instance, you do indeed have a studio where you take photographs. That elevates you above the worst scams. And a few (i.e. a minority of) people report to being happy with their photographs and with the money they parted with for them. I cannot argue with people's happiness.
On the other hand, you should perhaps think twice about the misery of those who were left shaken and out of pocket after a telephone call from Studio London or a visit to 120 Great Portland Street. You say that you have a Customer Care team devoted to ensuring that complaints are dealt with - if that complaint is "I have changed my mind and would like my deposit returned under the Distance Selling Regulations 2000", then I can only say your team are misinformed to the extent that they are actually stepping into unlawful territory. Seeing as it is their job to be informed on such matters, I would like to know what your response is to this complaint.
Finally, I would simply like to know which other photographic studio keen to keep its good reputation would have CCTV installed to ensure that its own staff don't overstep the line with their 'hard selling'? Can't you trust them? To me it seems part and parcel of the same company which told me my call had been recorded... only to attempt to use this fact to manipulate and frighten me into backing down with my complaint.
In conclusion, I would like to thank you for returning my deposit - an act which, unlike others, speaks in Studio London's favour as a trustworthy company.
yours sincerely,
[Q]
Caption Contest?
3 days ago
