Freebies are awesome! Nothing like that feeling when you receive something you like for free or for less!
They come in different forms – “Buy 1 get 1 free”, “Sign up and get free delivery on your next item”, “Win a £200 voucher – just sign up to our Facebook page, “Try Netflix for free for the first month – just enter your bank card details”.
Many times we are aware that there’s a catch. But either the idea of the freebie seems worth the catch or we believe we’ve totally checked out the T&Cs and it’s a true freebie. So we go for it!
The latter situation happened on this ‘free’ photoshoot!
Tee got a message from a studio in London that one of his friends had recommended us for a FREE photoshoot experience! Woohoo!
First off, we did what every normal person should do. We called the friends and they explained that it was indeed free and you get five photos free with a chance to buy as many of the other photos as possible. I read the T&Cs and it all seemed pretty good. Basically, come in for a 20-minute session and in that time you can change outfits as many times as you wish! No hidden charges.
To make the freebie even more appealing, ladies got a free hair session and makeup! I was totally sold. Let’s do this!
I was a bit worried about the hair bit because at that point I had braids on which were already quite old and not ideal for a photo session. So again, I read reviews and one of the reviews stated: “My hair is kinky and I’d never seen my hair so straight before”. Obviously, this was appealing to me as I’ve sort of stopped relaxing my hair. I think I read this review on the morning of the shoot. Between Tee and I, we got the braids off in record time. More of him than me to be honest! The hair was in such a state I had to tie a scarf. But hey, I didn’t care as I had faith in their straightener!
We arrived and the studio seemed pretty cool. A good sign that it was not a sham. Plus there were quite a lot of people on there. From aspiring models to mothers with a bump.
So what went wrong with this Freebie?
Time: We thought it was going to be a 1-hour deal maximum, but we spent about 5 hours Time is money people, and so this freebie was not free!
Hair & Makeup: After all my excitement, the hair didn’t turn out that great and apparently, the only tool they could use as a straightener and. So no blow drying! When she was done with the makeup, I initially looked like Lupita. No jokes.
Plot Twist: We had taken between 50 – 70 shots and then we had to decide which free five photos we were entitled to. First off, they casually mentioned that we were entitled to only hard copies and not soft copies. 6 by 4inch size photos. If we wanted soft copies we had to pay for them. I knew it! there was a catch. “Sorry, we’re not interested, we’ll take the 5 hard copies” She tried to explain to us that we would be unable to share on any social media or enlarge the pictures etc. We still weren’t moved. No deal – especially as the cost of purchasing the photos were pretty ridiculous! Another twist: we had to pay £10 for shipping. At this point, we pretty lost it. Why not just come out straight and let people know they’ll have to pay for shipping.
Before this, they had asked us to select people to recommend. There was some kinda app they installed on our phones which could automatically select everybody on your contact list and all of whom will receive a similar message like we had that a friend had recommended them for a free shoot. I wasn’t totally comfortable with this, so I offered to write down people’s names manually. After the whole plot twist above, I revoked my recommendation and cancelled out the names I had written. I wasn’t sure it was worth asking people to spend over five hours for such a ‘free’ photo-shoot!
Six weeks later, the mail arrived and rather surprisingly, the pictures were on a CD! Soft copies. There weren’t that fab, but nevertheless, we could share and this blog post arose out of the experience!
So my top tips for dealing with freebies:
I still love a good freebie and I’m always on the lookout for great ones. If you know one, point me in that direction!
What have I missed? Share your freebie tales! The good, the bad and the downright ugly!
Love,
Kachee… xX
Read too: 4 (+1) Random Things That Make Me Happy and 4 Perfectly Do-able Traditions for (Young) Couples.
Precious
June 22, 2016 at 18:02Hahahaha Kachee! You looked like Lupita?Oh my goodness! That freebie wasn’t free at all. 5 hours waiting time is expensive.That review of “my hair is kinky and it got straight” is so hilarious.You and Tee took off your braids? How sweet and romanticccccc.I won’t jump at any freebies just like that oo.I once got a call from the “US treasury” saying I had won $7000 for being a “good citizen”. Haha I had to pay $250 to claim my prize. Gobe! I told the man off and the once civil man started yelling profanities at me.Some freebies are downright scams.This one communication tip will save your relationship
Kachee || KacheeTee.com
June 28, 2016 at 16:03I really did look like Lupita!Hahahahaha. The call from US treasury is not a freebie. It is an outright SCAM. I never ever reply to those.
Grace.
June 22, 2016 at 21:27Aha! I was waiting for it. There’s always a catch. At least they sent the pics in soft copy. I’ll be sure to read the T & C’s well on any “freebies”…Epiphany29.comShifts, Prints ‘n’ Greens
Kachee || KacheeTee.com
June 28, 2016 at 16:00At least they sent the pictures in soft copy oh!!
Motunrayo Shafau
June 23, 2016 at 08:05Haha! As we say, ‘awoof dey run belle (and waste time).’ Is it possible for you to have the backlinks that are dropped in the comments section open in a new tab? I like to wander sometimes without having to open this page again..
Kachee || KacheeTee.com
June 28, 2016 at 16:01Hi Hun. Do you mean like people who drop their blog links and all? I’ll definitely check that with Disqus. It should be possible. Thanks for the feedback! Xx
Motunrayo Shafau
June 29, 2016 at 07:19Yes that’s what I meant 🙂
Adaeze
June 23, 2016 at 12:40I can just imagine such experience. These days , the free things end up being more expensive than the paid ones.I also have a tip, if the trial period for a subscription is over, ALWAYS call the bank to cancel the subscription from their end. This is called setting up a CATs (Continuous Authorised Transactions) cancellation.CATs are like direct debits but the difference is that the merchant has control of it unlike direct debits where you can only cancel with the bank and not merchant as the bank monitors it. In this case, the bank writes them on your behalf requesting that they do not debit you as you have requested for cancellation and if they do, the bank will credit your account and go after them for reimbursement. With this the bank protects you.hThis is better because in most cases they do not reflect it in their records wilfully or otherwise I order to make profit. A lot of companies (health, dietary supplements, make ups, discounts companies, loan companies when looking for loans etc) are fond of this and by the time you know it, especially if you don’t check your account statements often, you will loose so much money and the bank will not help you recover them but can only do damage control by protecting you against future losses.I hope this helps. Let’s keep our money safe!!PS: I still live freebies tho but I never out my bank details especially with loan companies as they distribute your details to other loan companies to assist you in search of loans and each of them (over 10) charge you every month for that UNKNOWN and UNSOLICITED service 😏😏
Kachee || KacheeTee.com
June 28, 2016 at 16:00Once they ask for my bank details, I often just forget about it. This is such useful advice and information, I hope it was useful to many people! Thank you Adaeze.
sasha anderson
June 23, 2016 at 13:17Sigh! That’s exactly why when someone says something is for free, I raise my eyebrow. There is almost ALWAYS a catch! Thanks for the tips!Have a great day!xoSEHTTP://WWW.SASHAELIZABETH.COMHTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/XOSASHAELIZABETHHTTPS://TWITTER.COM/SASHAELIZABETHO
Kachee || KacheeTee.com
June 28, 2016 at 15:59You’re welcome love!
KIKELOMO OMOTALADE
June 23, 2016 at 14:57I kent believe that after your experience you still want a freebie….lol…….there’s always a catch 99% of the time.your hair though,lmao
Kachee || KacheeTee.com
June 28, 2016 at 15:58The hair eh…. In fact. Nothing to say!
Lohla's Melange
June 24, 2016 at 15:40Lols there’s no free lunch in Freetown… Or anywhere else.
Kachee || KacheeTee.com
June 28, 2016 at 15:58Indeed! There’s always a catch!!
Stephylately
June 25, 2016 at 20:55Wish we could see more of the photoshoot.xwww.stephylately.com
Kachee || KacheeTee.com
June 26, 2016 at 12:46Awww. I just updated it with one more!xx
AB x MeeMee
July 4, 2016 at 12:29LOL “osho free dey purge!”Pele. There’s almost always a catch!
Kachee || KacheeTee.com
July 19, 2016 at 16:03Girl! It wasn’t even funny! Thank you!
BagosMutendiBlog
July 5, 2016 at 09:15You go fear the Cara Delevigne pose na…
Kachee || KacheeTee.com
July 11, 2016 at 13:43Loool! You’re a clown!
BagosMutendiBlog
July 29, 2016 at 07:51You know na. I could hook you up if you are interested. *scurries away