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AIBU?

to feel like a fool for accepting this prize.

132 replies

lill72 · 23/05/2016 13:39

I won a photo shoot at a fair last year. I won a shoot and a framed photo. I guess the idea is that you then purchased some more. Fine - that is until we got the price list. We had to do two shoots as my DD who is one cried the first time. Each digital photo is over £200!!!!!!!!! Yes!!!! The cheapest thing we can get is a small framed photo for £180!!!!

I had a professional photographer late last year who was nothing like this.

We are under no obligation however we have to attend a viewing and decide on the spot else they delete the photos.

They did not tell us any of this before the shoot which I find a bit cheeky. I should have asked but I never thought it would be this much.

What to do if I then love the photos!??? Help!!

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CatThiefkeith · 23/05/2016 13:44

I've been conned like this. My very best advice is don't go back for the viewing, because you WILL love them and you WILL spend more money than you want to. Dh was chuffed that he'd negotiated them down from £120 per photo to £600 for the whole lot (about 80) on DVD.

I think we've had about 6 of those printed off, and haven't looked at in about 4 years. Total waste of money.

Don't go back and get sucked in, I found ours quite hard sell too.

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Pinkheart5915 · 23/05/2016 13:47

Just before my father in law died we had a family picture done in a London photo studio (me,ds,dh,mil,fil) it was around £80 a photo Unframed ( we had frames made else where to match our decor)

I think £200 per print is high.

They should really of mentioned prior to the shoot.

If you fall in love with them, if you can afford it maybe buy 1 or 2 but if you can't afford politely decline

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araiba · 23/05/2016 13:48

dont go

ffs! not hard really

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lill72 · 23/05/2016 13:50

arabia - we have put in two afternoons for a shoot so guess would like to see pics of out DD's!

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lill72 · 23/05/2016 13:57

pinkheart - agree they should have mentioned. the guy that owns the studio (not who shot our photos) used to shoot royalty so think they think that justifies the high price. I think it is still too high. I know what a good photo is - these are good but you can get photos done like this for less.

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redhat · 23/05/2016 14:00

Its a well known scam model. Write off your time and walk away now.

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squeaver · 23/05/2016 14:01

You won a photoshoot and a framed photo. So go collect your framed photo. Don't buy any more. And tell whoever was organising the fair that they accepted a prize that was a con.

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SisterMoonshine · 23/05/2016 14:03

I know you've been to 2 shoots.
But now you know you're being taken advantage of, you can chose not to go.
Go to a more reasonably priced photographer perhaps.

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herecomethepotatoes · 23/05/2016 14:04

Just take the free photo although I do feel this story sums up the situation fairly well.


"A giant ship engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a young.

He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do.

After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something.

Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!

A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

construction-guy“What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!”

So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.”

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer…… …… ……… $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap……… …… ……… $ 9,998.00"

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PixieMiss · 23/05/2016 14:04

Friends of my DM got accosted in the street and was offered a free makeover and photoshoot.

At the end of the shoot, they were presented with a £1k bill, it turns out that it was mandatory to buy the photos Hmm they got the law involved in the scam and their money back.

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SeekEveryEveryKnownHidingPlace · 23/05/2016 14:05

Oh, we had a similar thing when dd was a tiny baby. It's all marketing, and it is unpleasant to feel silly that you were conned into it. They'll relentlessly try to upsell you if you go to the viewing, and if I were you I'd skip it. They're swine!

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DecaffCoffeeAndRollupsPlease · 23/05/2016 14:07

Don't take your purse with you and just choose your favourite for the free prize.

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RaeSkywalker · 23/05/2016 14:07

Can you just go and take your free print?

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lill72 · 23/05/2016 14:08

catthief - for £600 I would not even get 3 digital files!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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ladyme · 23/05/2016 14:11

When you go they will guilt trip you into buying more "when you leave I will be pressing delete and they will be gone for good". Either go and don't take your cards with you so you can get your free print and be gone. But you will have to be resolute. Or don't go. I wouldn't go personally and I'd block their number.

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honeyroar · 23/05/2016 14:11

Don't go unless you think you have the willpower to take just one photo (I didn't when we had a pet session done! Cost £500 in the end, although they are good).

Ask them to send you whatever they think was the best photo. (If they say they can't do that tell them you'll be posting about the unenjoyable, pressurised experience on social media). Then take the other daughter to a different photographer for a session and buy a cheaper photo.

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LondonKiwiMummy · 23/05/2016 14:12

This is a total scam. I've similarly fallen for one, so I know!

You will love the photos. Instead of going to viewing, find another photographer for an agreed upfront fee.

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Choughed · 23/05/2016 14:13

IT IS A CON.

They will use every trick in the book to get you to pay well over the odds.

If you do go then leave your wallet / bank cards / bank details at home. Don't sign anything. Take someone with you who will make you stick to your guns.

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SheHasAWildHeart · 23/05/2016 14:14

Walk away and go somewhere else.

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CatThiefkeith · 23/05/2016 14:15

Oh you would OP, dh was ever so proud of his bartering skills, although it did take him 3 hours of going back and forth to get down to that. Still much more money than we had available to spend on bloody photos though! Angry

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NeedACleverNN · 23/05/2016 14:15

I nearly fell for this

A friend recommended me for it and I "won"

I was so excited until they asked for a credit card number to book the shoot. I kept getting told I was no obligation to buy anything but I didn't trust them. So didn't go for it.

Spoke to my friend later and she said she spent a fortune on the photos. She didn't have to buy them but loved them all. Glad I walked away

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squeaver · 23/05/2016 14:17

There are loads of threads on scams like this on here. Have a search for Venture Photography.

If you have the willpower, say from the beginning and keep repeating all the way through "I only want the one print that I won". If you don't think you can do that, don't go.

It's so maddening as there are hundreds of fantastic independent photographers who are scratching around trying to make a living.

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Oysterbabe · 23/05/2016 14:18

Honestly don't go. It will be seriously high pressure sales.

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WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant · 23/05/2016 14:20

Come to the park near me.
Bring an sd card.
I will take hundreds of pictures.
Take your card back and print what you like.

I had a similar thing. Yes, the edited pictures were good. But not worth the hundreds they were charging.

We had a nice sitting and took the freebie.

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TinklyLittleLaugh · 23/05/2016 14:21

We did one of these shoots, Venture I think it was. Our kids had a fantastic time and the free/cheap print was lovely, (still have it up in the sitting room). They did the hard sell on us to buy the others (and we were tempted) but we declined and they got quite rude, so we pretty much walked out.

About a year later they rang us up and offered us the disc of photos for a tenner. So we did get them after all.

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