"Best customer service by Roberto in…"

Best customer service by Roberto in Camden’s pirate studios.
Super helpful, offered me coffee and helped with cables, all with a big smile on his face. Give this man a raise!!!

"Great place for upcoming/aspiring musicians"

I’ve been using pirate studios for a few years now, although the equipment may sometimes be slightly used and show some signs of wear and tear, the support team are always there to help 24/7 and they’re a pleasure to deal with. Never had any complaints.

"Erfahrungsbericht"

Hallo Leute,

Ich habe gestern meine erste Studiozeit bei pirate.com verbracht.
Wollte dort zum einen die Räumlichkeiten und technische Ausstattung ansehen bzw. testen sowie zum anderen gleich ein paar Sprachaufnahmen für ein Hörspielprojekt machen.

Hier mein Erfahrungsbericht:

Anreise: die war leider sehr schwierig.
Laut Internetseite befindet sich das Gebäude in der Griegstraße 75.
Die Adresse läßt sich dort aber nicht finden, denn die Einfahrt befindet sich im Friesenweg.
An der Straße (große Hinweistafel) und auf dem gesamten Gewerbehof gibt es keine Ausschilderungen zu pirate.com.
Das Gebäude auf dem Gelände hat die Hausnummer Friesenweg 26a/32a (Gebäuderückseite)!
Dort gibt es eine kleine Tafel mit pirate.com am Türeingang.
Ohne google.maps hätte ich die Studios wohl kaum gefunden.
Parkplätze sind leider Mangelware. Und das bei über 30 Raumeinheiten! Kosten wohl zu viel.
Die internen Hinweistafeln zu den einzelnen Räumen sind gut gemacht.
Alles läßt sich schnell finden und das Öffnen der Türen mit den Pin-Codes funktioniert sofort.

Technische Ausstattung:
Diese ist zwar nicht auf höchstem Niveau, dem Preis und für normale Anwendungen angemessen. (Lautsprecher, Mikrofon, Audiointerface)
Ein Lesepult oder einen Notenständer gibt es im Aufnahmeraum leider nicht. Schade.
Also: mitbringen. Man hat wohl Angst vor Diebstahl.
Immerhin: es gibt eine Klimaanlage, die man allerdings wärend der Aufnahme ausschalten sollte.

Studio:
Das von mir gebuchte Studio (23) ist, wie die anderen auch, relativ klein, aber ausreichend.
Der Aufnahmeraum ist schon eng, aber für eine Person (Sprecher/Sänger) ok.
Die raumeigene Akustik ist gut bzw. relativ trocken. Gefällt mir.
Allerdings gibt es zwischen Regieraum und Aufnahmeraum keine Tür!
Nur ein Vorhang trennt die Räume voneinander…
So hat man bei Aufnahmen die Geräusche des Regieraums (Gespräche etc.) immer leise mit in der Aufnahme. Nicht professionell.
Und: es gibt kein Talkbackmikrofon in der Regie. Um dem Sänger/Sprecher Hilfestellung zu geben, muß man entweder in den Nebenraum rüberrufen oder ein eigenes Talkback mitbringen!

Aufnahmen:
Die Aufnahmequalität mit der vorgegebenen technischen Ausstattung ist in Ordnung.
Standard, aber kein High End. Also wie erwartet.
Aber: meine Sprachaufnahmen konnte ich leider nicht realisieren!
Im angrenzenden Raum (Studio 21 oder 20) probte gerade ein Drummer!!!
Seine Drums (besonders seine Bassdrum) waren in Studio 23 sehr laut mitzuhören und die Aufnahme damit völlig unbrauchbar.
Obwohl die Räume 20/21 laut Lageplan als Studios ausgewiesen sind, war die Raumbezeichnung and deren Tür: Proberaum!
Hätte ich das gewußt, hätte ich sicherlich nicht Studio 23 gebucht, sonder einen Raum ohne angrenzenden Probenraum (z.B. Studio 30-34)! Dort wäre es hoffentlich ruhig gewesen.
Die akustische Trennung der einzelnen Einheiten ist also nicht professionell realisiert.
Somit ist ein Nebeneinander von Aufnahmestudio und Proberaum eigentlich undenkbar.
Den Preis für meine Buchung müßte ich eigentlich zurückfordern.

Ich werde wohl noch mal eine Testsession buchen müssen.
Eigentlich hatte ich 15-20 Tagesbuchungen oder mehr pro Jahr für Sprachaufnahmen (Hörbuch, Hörspiel) angedacht, da mein eigenes Studio außerhalb Hamburgs liegt.
Ob das etwas wird? Mal sehen…

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"Booking a room"

Laurence at pirate was extremely helpful and considerate in helping me register, verify and book a room for our first practice, thanks! 🙂

"Fraudulent practices, GDPR breach and terrible customer service."

The company's customer service is abysmal, and their practices are riddled with fraud. £50 has been illicitly charged to my credit card.

Following the end of my studio session last Saturday, I received an email from their security department, alleging that one of my party members interfered with a CCTV. Regrettably, there exists no substantiating evidence for this claim and nor were provided when requested. Consequently, my account was summarily erased / deleted from their website by Pirate Studios, and their services were retracted.

A mere 24 hours later, a Pirate Studios employee unilaterally accessed my personal information and payment details, resurrecting my account without my consent or acceptance to their terms and conditions. This maneuver served only to facilitate an unauthorized charge to my credit card, under the pretense of a penalty fee for which no proof was ever provided. Taking the timeline of events into consideration, encompassing my account's deletion and the unsanctioned use of my private information for financial gain, it becomes apparent that these actions exemplify fraudulent behavior. The mishandling of sensitive personal data during this ordeal further underscores a breach of GDPR regulations.

I've already lodged a formal complaint with the Pirate Studios CEO, and I intend to seek a chargeback from my credit card provider. Furthermore, I am committed to reporting this GDPR violation to the ICO.

EDIT 23/10/2023: To this day no evidence of any tampering was provided to me. This should have been provided prior to charging my card as this makes your practices fraudulent. Screenshots I provided you clearly say my account was deleted (by you) therefore your right to use my personal or financial data was void and only way for you to seek any financial reimbursement from me is by going through civil court case not by opening new or reopening old account without my consent. In fact it was confirmed by my bank during chargeback process who took my side and dismissed your counter claims. Therefore this review has accurately represented your company fraudulent practices, it has also proved how shocking your customer service is and how keen you are to steal people's money without providing any evidence whatsoever for the alleged CCTV tampering.

"This is the third time I've used the…"

This is the third time I've used the studios at Cardiff and the second time I've had an issue.
Started a live stream only to find out 30mins in that the usb reader wouldn't work on the one cdj, couldnt play any of my own tracks just my dj partners, was given instructions to do a hard reset, which was after our session had finished anyway.
Basically told it was my problem not theirs via a WhatsApp conversation.

"Got kicked out for being one person over capacity"

I had an absolutely terrible experience with this DJ studio. Their equipment is almost always faulty, and the support team is unhelpful and does not issue refunds for the inconvenience caused. The air conditioning system never works, leaving customers sweating in discomfort for hours on end. On one instance, which turned out to be our last visit, we were kicked out for being over capacity, even though we had offered to book two studios to accommodate everyone. They wouldn't accept that because the studio would be over-capacity by just one person! It was clear that the studio's rigid policies prioritise their own convenience over the satisfaction of their loyal customers.

Overall, the lack of understanding and consideration shown by this DJ studio is appalling. The high prices charged for their services do not reflect the poor quality service they provide, and the lack of effort to fix ongoing issues with their equipment is unacceptable.
I wrote a complain email back in March, and didn't even receive a response!!
I would not recommend this studio to anyone and suggest looking for a more customer-oriented business, such as AllNighterStudios, or any other studio for that matter.

"The Plymouth branch is a shambles"

The Plymouth branch is a shambles, anytime there is an issue you waste at least an hour on what's app trying to get help. Poorly maintained equipment, parts of drum set always missing. Poor lighting, dim at best. Fire alarm goes off, no one deals with it. It's meant to be convenient to rehearse here but your waste more time than you save. Go anywhere else and your be happier. Also your notice they don't reply to the negative feedback. Pirate are Happy to take your money and hope you don't complain.

"Wow - what an absolute car crash of a company"

Wow - I cannot believe the lack of professionalism here. I booked a rehearsal space weeks ago, to host an audition for 70+ people. I explained at the time of booking that this was the purpose.
I received a text at 1a.m in the morning (36 hours before the start of the booking) telling me the booking was canceled - no explanation, not even an offer of a refund, just 'credit' to rearrange

Weeks and weeks of organisation went into this, not to mention travel and accommodation was already booked - and now i somehow have to find another venue which is near on impossible and likely to cost a fortune at this hour.

I texted the support chat asking if there was anything that can be done, to be met with a support agent that was completely rude. They told me they had to close due to equipment repairs. I offered to bring my own equipment and apparently that wasn't an option. Everything was so cold and rude and when I suggested at least an apology was expected, I was met with a 'laughing' emoji!

I can't quite believe it... so unprofessional and so rude and so frustrating....
DEFINITELY DON'T EVER USE THIS COMPANY

"Worst place I’ve ever rehearsed,"

I’ve been using Pirate for years simply because there was nowhere else to go. I’m glad to say that we’ve found somewhere good, as people have realised that there is a massive calling for rehearsal spaces that don’t share Pirate’s abysmal practices and business model. Pirate has the worst gear, it’s a rip off and you’re lucky if you even have what you paid for in your room. So glad to be able to that I’m never going to have to smell that damp stink or waste an hour ringing for the gear we paid for. Terrible place to rehearse.