High pressure sales and cancelling as it was not in our budget as it was originally a free photo?
We won a “free” portrait photography session through a social media promo. The offer included the photo session plus a free 14-inch portrait, but we had to pay a $200 booking deposit to secure the appointment. The actual photo session went well. Afterwards, we were booked for a Zoom ordering appointment to view the photos and choose our included portrait.
During the Zoom call, the director became increasingly pushy about upgrading to a much larger and more expensive portrait package. We were told we had to decide during the call or the photos would be deleted. I asked if we could think about it overnight, but he repeatedly said no and insisted the decision had to be made then and there. I explained that I wanted time to measure our wall space before deciding, and he responded: “I can stay on the call while you measure and come back to me.” "The photo would only look best at this size." We were also told that if we didn’t make a decision during the call, we would forfeit both the $200 deposit and the complimentary portrait.
The call lasted around 90 minutes and became extremely stressful. Wanting the situation to end, I eventually agreed to proceed. He then asked for full payment immediately. When I said we couldn’t afford it, he offered a payment plan, but only if we paid another $200 deposit on the spot. Whole situation really felt yucky.
The following day, we received a contract stating that we had verbally agreed to a “custom order” and that the sale was final. However, we were never shown or walked through the contract terms during the Zoom appointment. The Zoom appointment email contained the following terms, which was never verbally discussed during the appointment:
Please be advised that the instructions you provide during this Zoom appointment for your custom order will be considered final once confirmed… your order will be locked and immediately moved into production… If a final decision cannot be made during this appointment, I understand and accept that my Booking Deposit and Gift Portrait will be forfeited…
Their website terms also appear to suggest the booking deposit should be refundable because we attended both required appointments.
We have since requested cancellation because we felt pressured into agreeing to an order we cannot afford. The company has characterised this as simply a “change of mind,” which we dispute.
We’re trying to understand whether this kind of high-pressure sales conduct may breach Australian Consumer Law, and what the best pathway would be to recover the deposit and avoid proceeding with the order. Or just cancel the order and forfeit the deposit due to the stress of all of this.