Lab lost my photos

[Choderboy]

Well just the digital copies anyway.

I put a big (for me) order in on Monday - 35 prints A4 size.
Went to the lab today, just before I got there I noticed a voicemail message on my phone telling me they had lost the files. But it's OK they said , if you bring them back we can print them.
How helpfull! Don't go too far out of your way :rolleyes:

I was a bit annoyed as when I was using their machine to submit the order , it took 15 minutes to save 35 pics (234MB , not small , but 15 minutes?)
After over 10 minutes they pointed out that the machine I was using was on a "go slow " today. I really could have used that information earlier.
Seems it was not just on a go slow - it was on a no go :cry: (it had an "out of order" sticker on it today)

Anyway , I walked out with a smile , I'm better with a bit of time...and distance.

I called the shop when I got home , explained my annoyance , suggested that some type of compensation was a reasonable expectation. Manager offered half price for the re prints. Not exactly a win for me , but it was what I think is reasonable, I just should not have to ask for it.

It would be their loss if they had not offered the 1/2 price - I would never have gone back (for anything , they are a camera shop too!)

If anyone has recommendations for good printing in Australia I would love to hear - this shop is cheap , $2 per A4 print for 20 or more prints , but they seem a bit "flat" to me. I had a nice pic of a busker - printed on my Epsom photostyler the overall colurs are much more vivid (might be opversaturating?? but the skin tones look better)

[tommykjensen]

I don't know anything about printing in Australia. But if a shop lost my order I would not use them ever again. Even if they gave me the order for free. I would take that and leave and never use them again.

[dewmuw]

"this shop is cheap"

There is the key phrase in your post I think. Sadly you do get what you pay for.

[Choderboy]

I don't know anything about printing in Australia. But if a shop lost my order I would not use them ever again. Even if they gave me the order for free. I would take that and leave and never use them again.

I can accept mistakes or errors happen. But I expect some type of compensation.
I could not believe their statement "well you can bring them back and we'll reprint them" Obvious statement of the century! So what was their point? They were not going to ban me from their shop because they lost my order?

[::John::]

Dave, would you like to PM me their name so I know who NOT to use?

[Choderboy]

"this shop is cheap"

There is the key phrase in your post I think. Sadly you do get what you pay for.

Actually , it is a well known "reputable" chain of several Photography shops. (ie one of the biggest ones in Australia :) ) They have offered a discount , so I'm not going to bad mouth them , but it is a lab inside a large store - not a Wallmart equivalent.

[tommykjensen]

Still it is unproffesional. What if it had been film negatives? They cannot be replaced. If the shop can loose digital files and have that attitude they can loose anything and would certainly loose me as a customer.

[::John::]

There is one guy down the back corner of the shop Dave is alluding to who knows his stuff - he mainly serves the pros - and he is really knowledgable - the others there, however, are cash register users.

[Choderboy]

There is one guy down the back corner of the shop Dave is alluding to who knows his stuff - he mainly serves the pros - and he is really knowledgable - the others there, however, are cash register users.

I think he eats his lunch on his own :)
There's an older lady who works there who seems knowleadgeable too.

Most camera shops are just places to see Lowerpro bags in the flesh.. can't really see any other services they offer that I'm interested in.
They usually get me offside at point of purchase! When I bought my Pentax istDS , firts thing they did was correct how I said "istDS " then proceeded to tell me about the 1.6 crop factor! I didn't bother pointing out it was actually 1.5, I was still considering whether to tell him to stick his camera over the first comment! Times like that I tell myself "stay calm , bite your lip , they are morons , not worth the effort" :) They are supposed to be sales "assistants" , but they are just obstacles as far as I am concerned.

Luckily I found Nicholes at digital City Wynyard. Only complaint there is they are a bit light on the Lowepro range :lol:

[::John::]

I don't dare get a new camera bag - my current one was a Christmas present from The Aussie Bride and if she suspected I needed a new one already because of my little trips to the store, she would not be happy.

At the moment, she doesn't really notice the difference between the 3 primes, hasn't noticed the Sto-Fen on the 430EX, didn't notice the 1.4x teleconverter, hasn't asked about the honking great grey card/white reflector... and the list goes on...

:)

[Choderboy]

I don't dare get a new camera bag - my current one was a Christmas present from The Aussie Bride and if she suspected I needed a new one already because of my little trips to the store, she would not be happy.

At the moment, she doesn't really notice the difference between the 3 primes, hasn't noticed the Sto-Fen on the 430EX, didn't notice the 1.4x teleconverter, hasn't asked about the honking great grey card/white reflector... and the list goes on...

:)

That cracks me up! I have been noticing lots of similar posts.
Can't remeber who was speculating whether an 85 1.2 would go unnoticed :)
Now that would be a big bust! You paid HOW MUCH? FOR A LENS WITH NO ZOOM! MY IXUS HAS 3 TIMES AND IT COST ONE TENTH OF THAT...

[Col_M]

Sounds like you got a reasonable resolution :)
If you've used the place a number of times with no problems and only had a problem this time i'd give them the benefit of the doubt. It just sounds like they've had some sort of hardware failure which was out of their control (the machine that is out of order). You could well find that they have a disclaimer in their terms of service that states that they aren't responsible for data loss due to hardware failure.

Getting your prints half price was a good gesture but it could have been nicer not to ask for it.
The flat looking images would be more of a concern than the data loss, you'd of thought that they'd try their absolute best to give you jaw droppingly good quality prints as a sorry for the data loss tbh

[lakiluno]

In the digital age its not such a big deal, but if they'd lost your film? that would be very annoying!

Leo

[cjm]

Sounds like Wal Mart with those Kodak Picture Machines. Slower the mollasis, the CF card slot is always busted and crappy prints when you finally get them.

People amaze me, they complain about gas going up 2 cents cause it will cost them a extra $2.00, and they buy a digital camera and never print their pictures because they think its too expensive (same price as film if you include the price of film in the cost) and then places that do the prints will lose them because they are 3 cents cheaper then a quality drug store (here its London Drugs) and they lose them because there are line ups of 10 people to use a machine that needs 10X the ram it currently has. Sorry I ranted a bit...

[saravrose]

customer service no matter where your at almost always leaves a lot to be desired... I've never been completely satisfied with most places I go to.. When I went to buy my Xt I went looking for prices and went into the store at the mall.. I was ignored standing in front of the DSLR counter for twenty minutes while two salesman helped a grandma pick out a point and shoot. I guess I didn't look serious enough.. So, I was wearing jeans, but guess what?? there was two thousand dollars in my purse there loss.. I found a camera store who let me try every lens I wanted to on three different bodies even the ones I told them were out of my range and I wouldn't be purchasing.. I use them exclusively for everything.. be it batteries for my flash or prints...

sari.