DPStudios's Qype profile

I had a wonderful afternoon tea at Eteaket: it was some time ago but I have been meaning to write a review for a while.  I found the staff friendly, the decor pleasant and the tea and sandwiches were delicious.

My only complaint is a minor one that can hardly be helped: the indoors were full so I had to sit outside, which due to its lower level meant that we were out of the sun.  This proved quite chilly sometimes, but nothing that a warm jumped couldn't solve.

All in all a lovely place and I wouldn't hesitate to go back

My dealings with Wildfire, Starsnappers and Mr Kenyon are lengthy and all negative. I cannot condemn this company enough. I can attest to their disreputable ways however I have less to fear than the other commenters as I have a court order to verify my claims.
 

I worked for Starsnappers/Wildfire from March-July 2010, working in a total of 6 schools over the time. I started working for the company by responding to one of the aforementioned “Not for profit” Gumtree ads.
 

The company seemed disorganised but benign at first: they would demand print orders be sent down by 1st class recorded delivery, costing me almost £100 over the course of my time working for them that i was told I could claim back. I carried out a number of other duties for them not included in the original job description all of which I was promised reimbursement for that never came.
 

Things turned ugly when I was due to be paid as Mr Kenyon would always tell me it had been slightly delayed, however when I finally refused to work any more without payment he hung up the phone and ignored any attempt I made to contact them.
 

I was forced to take the company to court, a simple matter to get the court order but a nightmare to get it enforced as they tried many different means to avoid paying me what I was due. After attempting to evade the bailiffs for some months only half the sum was recovered, with Marc then folding the Starsnappers company and Wildfire continuing the exact same job.  This is all a matter of public record, easily verifiable on Companies House
 

During the course of my investigations in to the company I discovered 8 other photographers who had worked for them and had either been unpaid or had been forced to suffer a tirade of verbal abuse before receiving a grudging payment.  With the other reviews on this website, I can presume the actual number is much larger.
 

Many of the schools also felt they had been misled: at the time of my working for them no mention of print sales was made in the publicity documentation, the first teachers heard of this was when we the photographers made the scripted pitch directly to the children. I had to suffer angry complaints from several teachers who were outraged by this manipulative sales tactic.
 

In conclusion: if you see the name Wildfire, Starsnappers or Marc Kenyon anywhere my personal recommendation is to avoid them. Any other photographers who have had problems with this company I would advise to contact me. Should any representatives from the Starsnappers/Wildfire company wish to contact me I would also welcome this as we can discuss arrangements for my overdue payment.

My greatest dissapointment is that I actually greatly enjoyed the job and have no doubt that had Starsnappers been willing to pay me (and thus I would not discovered their other practices) I would still probably be working for them