Unhappy with film developing at Sam's/Wal-Mart

[NolansMom]

Just wanted to share my experience at Sam's Club this week....

I picked up my pictures, only to get home & find that they were of someone else's baby! Sam's isn't real optimistic that I will get my pictures back - we have to rely on whoever got our pictures to bring them back & for someone to figure out that they belong to us. Pretty unlikely. I know that you run a risk when you take your film in, even if it is a one hour place. HOWEVER, the manager at Sam's said I was the 4th person that it had happened to THAT DAY. He said it happens all the time - Fuji processes their film & he said they just can't handle the volume of Sam's, Wal-Mart & whoever else contracts out to them. I used to take them to Sam's because it is only $5.99 for triple prints for a roll of 24. But, that is one bargain that I won't be taking anymore. ALL the pictures of my baby are precious & as you all know, they change every day. I will use one hour processing in the future.

Thanks for letting me vent!

[WiTigger]

My mom refuses to use Wal-mart any longer. She even wrote up a complaint. Before I had my baby, a lot of our friends and relatives, (including my grandmother that lives in Tx.)wanted to see a picture of me pregnant, so I let mom take some belly shots of me in the nursery. They were very discreet. I made sure that nothing showed but my belly. When my mom went to pick them up from Wal-mart, the pics were blacked out, even on the negatives. When she asked about it, she was told that the company that developed the film would not develop any inapropriate pics or nudity. We were very upset. You can't tell me that they don't develop pics in the summer of women in bikinis. I found this very insulting. Luckily, I had my husband take some that same day that we found this out, because the next day I went into labor. My grandmother finally got to see me pregnant. I am 34 and she told me that she was about to give up on seeing me that way. My husband and I still use Wal-mart but only the one hour development.

[Chana34]

I can't believe they blacked your negatives! Don't print them, okay, but I wouldn't think thay had any right to black the negs.
I use Motophoto or Wolf for developing. More expensive, but never had a mix-up and no problems getting even my very graphic birth pics developed.

[babytoluv]

I had a similar experience. I took some pictures at my cousin's wedding and brought them to Sam's Club for developing. When I went to pick them up, there was a letter in the envelope instead of the pictures saying that the film got separated from the envelope and to describe the pictures to them. I called and they tried to locate the pictures but could not find them. From now on, I take my pictures to Walgreens where I get much better service. I pay a little more but at least I get my pictures.

Ilana

[jocelynhayes]

My dad took a 10 day boating tour by himself last year and to write a freelance article about navigating through the Florida waters in a small craft. All of his pictures for the article were lost by Wal Mart. He is actually suing them now because of the money he lost from selling his article to boating magazines and he will probably win! I will let you know the outcome. His trial isn't until next spring.

[hamey]

After my wedding 3 years ago I brought all of the disposable camera's that were on the tables to Sam's for developing because they had the best prices (and we had lots of camera's!). And thank goodness they didn't loose any of the pictures but the quality was terrible and I really wished that I hadn't skimped on the developing. Those aren't the type of pictures you can take over again!
I now go to Brooks pharmacy and have been happy with their service so far!