to feel like a fool for accepting this prize.

[lill72]

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!!

[VenusRising]

I've won a few of these.
I stand behind the camera and make sure the free shot of the kids is decent.

When the photographer is out of the room, letting me get the kids out of their costumes / getting the order form, I snap a few on my phone with the lights all set up etc.

Then I get the free one and a few key rings for GPs of another. It doesn't come to much, and everyone's happy and I have a few shots on my phone

I did one with a friend and was really given the hard sell. It was cringe tastes how pushy they were.
I took one only, and the free one, but we had a lovely day being made up and quaffing champers. Then we went around the town and took photos of ourselves in a cafe as we still had the heavy duty slap on. Yy Mrs Doubtfire is right.
The relaxed photos we took of each other are brilliant as they are in a natural setting, not in front of a mottled sheet, and we don't look half bad in narural light with the makeup. Result.

[lill72]

interesting all these similar stories. You are right they probably rang everyone and offered them a runner up prize. They say the shoot is worth £250 as the photographers are trained by this ex-royal photographer. The framed print is £180.

It was all a bit wanky (excuse my language) from the start. They are just full of themselves. They take photos of children yet as soon as we walked in we were not greeted with hello but can you turn your childs elsa doll off. Then they have this waiting room set up - the shoots are all about children but the waiting room has vintage photography equipment on display on the ground and velvet sofas. And arty magazines displayed within an inch of their life. We are not allowed to bring the children to the viewing and we must come to the viewing to get our 'prize' of the framed print. I feel conned. If they prints were cheaper it would be ok, but over £200 or ONE DIGITAL PRINT is outrageous.

[Jimjamjoos]

They don't want the kids there so they have your undivided attention for the hard sell!

[CakeNinja]

I knew it was going to be about photographers as soon as I clicked on the thread.

I was offered a family shoot. I was in the park with my dds and a lady with a clipboard approached me with a card to say I had 'won' a free shoot and a framed print.
On closer inspection, it seemed like it was going to cost me a LOT of money to take her up on her kind offer.
I ignored the phone for about 3 weeks but eventually answered and explained that I wasn't going to be spending hundreds on photos of my own children when I can take them myself and print them for next to nothing.
Of course, I don't have specialist lighting or equipment, just a half decent camera, but that's fine with me.
The man on the phone kept saying what a fantastic offer it would be, how they were prepared to compromise on a deal etc, I said no thanks, he was wasting his time.
If he was that insistent before taking the photos I dread to think how pushy he would have become afterwards

[Psycobabble]

I had this paid ten pound for shoot and a free print !! I couldn't afford to get professional photos done at the time so thought at least this way I would have a nice "proper photo" of ds as a baby.

You just have to stay strong !! I politely let them show me the other photos and then just reiterated I only want my free print . Just wouldn't let them engage me in any kind of conversation . Which sounds rude . But they were rude and pushy (as I expected) and I didn't have the ability to forgo paying the rent for 3 months to pay their extortionate prices !!!


Go get the free print but stay strong !!!

[MissDuke]

I also knew this would be about photography! I also 'won' a photoshoot albeit with a small local photographers. I had entered the competition in the shopping centre to be fair. However on closer inspection of the small print, I would have to pay a fee of £50 if we had to cancel for any reason (and like op, I figured it was fairly likely when it comes to kids) and also it was an extra £50 to book the shoot for a Saturday (which it would be as we weren't going to take time off work for it).

My 'prize' included a small print 6x4, I really wouldn't go to all the effort of a photoshoot for the sake of a tiny picture, however the prices of the larger prints was extortionate. I rang the photographers and asked them how many people won this 'prize' and they wouldn't say - clearly it was everyone who entered

OP I think the plan to go with no purse is great, perhaps you could also arrange for someone to ring you with an 'emergency' about 10 mins after you go in?? Just enough time to pick your free picture!

[lill72]

Oh and they suggest 1.5 hours to view the photos. to whittle down to the £5000 they want you to spent on them

[Bogeyface]

CatThief

Thanks for remembering! I still dont have it sad

There has been a delay as the distributor hadnt had delivery of the cars yet, but they are hoping it should be some time this week smile

[Bogeyface]

FFS, first I post on the wrong thread, then I cant even C&P properly. I think I need gin..... :o


CatThief

Thanks for remembering! I still dont have it :(

There has been a delay as the distributor hadnt had delivery of the cars yet, but they are hoping it should be some time this week :)

[ReginaBlitz]

Don't go simple. I entered one of these " competitions" when I was 18 I was chuffed to bits I'd won I travelled to another city, pregnant to get my prize and that was all a big scam. Entered another a few weeks ago without thinking really, surprise surprise a phone call to say you've won! I was like oh. Fool me once...twats.

[RedOnHerHedd]

Just choose your favourite one and tell them you don't like the others. If it were me I'd probably wind them up a bit...
"I thought they'd be better than that. Such a shame, because I'd set aside £5000 for them, just wish they were more professional looking. Such a terrible shame..."

[MudCity]

The best thing you can do with this type of thing is set a budget of how much you are willing to spend and stick to it.

We did this some years ago with Venture. The photos we got were, I have to say, fantastic and the best I have seen. I have since tried other, local, independent photographers and been very disappointed in comparison. So yes, great product but know your budget!

[ScrambledSmegs]

Ha, it's DEFINITELY the same place. Massive screen where you view your photos artfully turned into a still video, mostly in black and white, accompanied by swelling music. Box of tissues close at hand in case you get weepy. Barf.

But you didn't even get the shoot done by the actual ex-royal photographer? Just people he's trained? That's not great.

[topcat2014]

Just don't go. Remember that 'con' is short for confidence trickster. They make you feel 'silly' because they have undermined your confidence.

Pick a normal high street photographer, and book a proper shoot. It will cost you less and feel less 'forced'.

Good luck.

[Lilacpink40]

2 yrs ago I paid £200 for 25 digital photos and 3 prints but they included my niece and my sister and I split costs. We originally signed up for groupon deal and then haggled for the digital deal - paid the difference. I wouldn't have paid more and think you may have been conned. Maybe look at other studios and phone and haggle first?

[lill72]

Red - I like your idea!
Scrambled - they put on music .Really oh I feel sick at the thought. How twee. I have pm'd you by the way.

This thread has more stories than I could have imagined!!

[CrystalSkull]

A friend and I did this about 8 years ago. We haggled them down a lot and refused to give out any friends' details (which is how we 'won' in the first place!). Funnily enough, the company texted us every few months for years afterwards, offering us all our photos at lower and lower prices! It was hilarious. So I don't believe that they delete them when you leave. That's just another sales tactic.

[Stanky]

I "won" one of these photo shoots. When I called up to arrange it, I made it clear that I had no money and would only be able to claim the free photo. The woman said that unless I spent at least £ 200, then I wouldn't be worth the photographer's time. I never went along to claim my "prize".

[ShotgunNotDoingThePans]

The Venture lot aren't even proper photographers - it's just point and click and see if anything sticks. I had a voucher for £25, to cover a 'free' session and one print. The hard sell was horrendous and I actually ordered a few hundred quids' worth (was years ago and I was post natal). DH literally dropped a plate when I told him the damage. I called and cancelled the next day and just took the distinctly average print. Definitely not worth going at all.

[Runningupthathill82]

I work with photographers through my job. About 90% of them could legitimately call themselves "royal photographers" - in that they've photographed a royal visit. Usually several royal visits.

Indeed, I'm also a "royal photographer", as it happens. Come round mine and I'll do you some shots. Only £100 a print, bargain.

[FlouncyMcFlounceFace]

We went to Venture having brought a £25 shoot and image package.

The shoot was fine but they insisted that both DH and I would need to attend viewing without DC. We had to travel away from home to a studio and elsest DS is Autistic so not easy for us both to get there without the DC. They were not happy that i went with my parents.

They showed us loads of lovely images and then when i chose my free print that one wasn't an option as the free print so I asked which ones I could have and they wouldn't clarify. Kept saying i needed to select the whole package and then negotiate the price.

In the end we paid £90 for our not free print just to get out of there. They then phoned us to say we'd need to book a second viewing to collect our image. I did my best to stay polite but never would i go through that again.

[WriteforFun1]

I don't get why people are calling this a con
The prize was a free shoot and a free photo....so what if they try and sell you stuff?

[sherbetpips]

Don't go if you can't afford it - we ended up spending £600 on our free pic! Dont get me wrong the photos are fab and are on full display in beautiful frames but we ended up buying them via a credit agreement. Bloody stupid but you would be amazed how hard it is to resist.

[Pagwatch]

Does it matter if 'con' doesn't exactly cover what this is ?
It's a mechanism by which they attempt to pressurise people into feeling obliged to spend more than they can afford.
They get them to turn up to a situation where they feel happy and grateful because they feel that they are being given something. This is deliberate and it's highly manipulative.

It's all very well saying 'people should just say no' but if it made me uncomfortable, and I am very happy to speak my mind and say no, I think it might get people who are vulnerable to spend much more than they can afford.

I'm not too worried about the word con. It's close enough.

[WriteforFun1]

Pag, I think of con as outright lying so I do find it the wrong word, yes.
High pressure sales doesn't equal con.
I'm on another thread where people are talking about being blatantly lied to in a shop about their own goods, it seems weird to equate a crappy business offering with actual cons.
But I like to use the words I mean and mean the words I say, that's just me.