Richard Joss - Man of Many Monikers

How exciting: some more background about Richard Joss - the mastermind behind the scenes at Studio & Stage.

www.artwardphotography.com/ribcreativeltd.html

This great material comes courtesy of Anon Y Mous, who is another unhappy customer I have been corresponding with.

Briefly, this is a history of the complaint made by Arthur Ward, a photographer based in Belfast, who bought and never received an item from Richard Joss, who at that time was trading as Rib Creative Ltd and/or Studio 20.

There are some interesting parallels to be drawn between Art's experience and mine (and others who I've been in touch with). What was especially interesting was to read the language style of the emails that were sent to Art - very similar grammar, writing style, chosen expletives etc. They could have been written by The Mysterious Christopher Knox.

Reading more deeply reveals that Mr Joss may have used different names at various times, including Richard Chadwick and possibly Russell Dyson. So what's to stop him calling himself Christopher Knox? Or Jenni? ;-)

Mr Joss seems also to be trading under the name of Accolade Photography at an address in Bingley. (2 Adelaide House, Crosley Wood, Bingley, BD16 4QF if anyone's interested). It's a block of residential flats. His phone number is 01274 406574.

Why not give him a call, see if he's well?

The Mysterious Mr Knox

I have just had an intersting email exchange with someone who has had dealings with Studio & Stage but is not a customer. That's all I am saying about my source!


He told me that he has never heard of Christopher Knox and doubts if he actually exists.


He also said that as far as he was concerned, Studio and Stage is run by Richard Joss (a name already supplied by another kind poster to this blog). He added that Mr Joss was "in his late fifties, balding and would probably not survive a mile run" (not that I would either, mind you!). Finally, he said that to the best of his knowledge, Studio & Stage is just one person.

How interesting . . .

Could this be the face of Richard Joss? Our reconstruction artists have pieced together what we know about him to come up with this artist's impression:

Oh no, they're back!

For some extraordinary reason, eBay has allowed Studio & Stage back! They are trading again, with two items up for sale.

They still seem to have been allowed to keep the link to their website where they 'explain' any negative feedback. That's wrong, in my opinion.

Hopefully, potential buyers are doing their homework and researching before bidding (i.e. that they see this or any of the other 'Studio & Stage Beware' sites.)

8 out of 11 people say their cats . . .

. . . found their experience with Studio & Stage to be in the 'couldn't be worse' category with the remaining voters finding them 'less than impressive'.

Come on, people - there must be someone, somewhere who's had a good experience with them? Surely?

Maybe not . . .

Good luck!

I have had several emails from disgruntled Studio & Stage victi . . . sorry, customers . . . who tell me they are in the middle of court action to recover money from them.

I just wanted to publicly wish you all the very best of luck, especially Anon Y. Mouse (you know who you are!), who has been waiting even longer than me for Studio & Stage to deliver the items paid for.

Interesting to see that they still aren't back on eBay, at least not as Studio & Stage.

Also interesting was that when I phoned Holmefield Mill to confirm that's where they were based, the chap that answered had never heard of Christopher Knox. He did say that Studio & Stage were based there but didn't have a phone number for them - or any other contact details! How strange! It looks as if this is mainly a self storage facility so I wonder if they just rent some storage there. I asked him to pop a note under the door to say I was keen to get in touch to place a very big order [naughty giggles] and that they would have my phone number. Oh, I forgot to leave my name. That will be frustrating for them . . .

eBay gum, lad!

Looks like they have suspended activity on eBay. They have elected to make their feedback private (so would I given their record of negatives!) and this means they are not able to sell through eBay.

There is a sad part to this though - it means that potential purchasers will not have the protection that eBay has to offer. I hope they get to see the various 'Beware Studio & Stage' resources currently on the web.

Good to see yet another disgruntled customer is planning court action against them. Good luck with that!

I've been advised that keeping this blog up will damage any action I bring against them but I have decided that this will be of more value and will do them more harm than a small claims judgment against them. I'll let other people do the court bit while I do the exposure bit!

What is very sad is that good old Christopher Knox, if his claims of overseas luxury and millions in the bank are true, will probably not even bat an eyelid. I suspect he will drop his partners in Yorkshire like a stone and leave them to face the music while he sips his wine and stuffs his face full of brie.

I would dearly love to know the name of Knox's company. Oddly he never would divulge it, or give me his mobile phone number or home address. Wonder why that would be? [insert clucking chicken noises here].

A month on and Studio & Stage has not paid the required £237 into my account, so this site stays put. My solicitors advise me that it is likely Studio & Stage would use this in defence of any court action and have asked me to remove it for the time being. I'm not going to do that. I would rather refrain from taking court action - which would benefit me and no-one else - and prefer to keep this site up as a warning to other potential customers. That's my good deed for the year. Don't expect any more . . .

I am delighted to see that I am not alone in my refusal to be conned by Studio & Stage. I have had a good number of emails of encouragement from people who prefer to remain anonymous (because they have been threatened by Studio & Stage with legal action and other such charmingly quaint customer service offerings). Also, if you look at some of the earlier posts on this blog, you'll see that there are a few comments, also from dissatisfied customers.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that there is also a website in development that is serving exactly the same purpose as this blog - to make sure Studio & Stage don't con anyone else. Check it out at www.studioandstage-warning.co.uk . Great stuff.

What has become very clear is that Studio & Stage HABITUALLY take peoples money and then either supply sub-standard goods or don't supply any goods at all! They also HABITUALLY threaten any customer who has a complaint with either destroying their business, court action or 'a visit'.

It's extraordinary that they seem totally incapable of accepting any blame for anything they have done wrong. Just take a look at the responses to the growing eBay negative feedback. Because they are now unable to post their own negative feedback (which was their old trick) they now create a whole page on their website in which they explain why they are completely in the right and any complaint is a lie. They're as bad as me!

Finally, for now, I see that the votes for Studio & Stage experiences show 50% are 'less than impressed' and 50% say it 'couldn't have been worse'. No-one yet has thought their service was 'OK' or 'couldn't be better'. Mind you, that's only six votes and one is mine! If you haven't voted yet, please do so - it's anonymous.

Hope the readers of this little blog have had a good summer. Unless of course you are part of Studio & Stage in which case I hope you have contracted herpes.