Rite Aid Processing Disaster

lxdude · Jun 23, 2012

benjiboy said:
If you want good results send your work to a professional lab who is set up to handle the output of pros. and serious workers not happy snappers, to quote an Americanism "if you pay peanuts you get monkeys".

Hmmm...I keep getting elephants. Monkeys are better, as they take up so much less room.

On the other hand, elephants don't spend all their time banging away on my typewriter, trying to write Shakespeare...

madgardener · Jun 23, 2012

benjiboy said:
If you want good results send your work to a professional lab who is set up to handle the output of pros. and serious workers not happy snappers, to quote an Americanism "if you pay peanuts you get monkeys".

Someone should tell the CEO's of some of these companies that are paying workers peanuts this.

brofkand · Jun 26, 2012

To update everyone: I called Rite Aid corporate and alerted them of the situation. I doubt anything will happen other than having a field tech come out to look at the machine and scold the operators.

I tried the Walgreens down the road, and quality was much better. My mom has used this Walgreens for years for her film and digital prints, and knows the tech. He is a really great tech. I want to do more test rolls over a longer period of time (and I'll probably never give them important film), but as it stands now I have a good local lab to use.

wblynch · Jun 29, 2012

More likely they'll pull the machine out altogether.

GRHazelton · Jun 29, 2012

Well, my Costco doesn't process film anymore. The do make fine prints from digital files. I tried them on a scan I'd made from some Ilford 125 speed that I'd souped myself, to see if they could produce a neutral BW, and on a couple digital files from my K10d. Excellent results, the BW was stunning for the price, $1.49! A truly fine 8x12. Their color from the K10d was fine, also.

The young woman running the photo department seemed to know her stuff, she suggested that I go to their website for profiles for their printer. Certainly a good way to get good work cheap and quick.

Someone mentioned Target, I find no hint on their website that they do film work any more. So sad. I don't mind doing BW, I have in the past done Ektachrome, but never C-41. Having enough film to soup before the solutions go off is a real worry.

F/1.4 · Jun 30, 2012

LOL Rite Aid ain't gonna do anything about it

brofkand · Jul 1, 2012

The manager has a field tech coming out to get it fixed. They dumped the chems as soon as they got my complaint from Corporate, but I'm guessing their temperature regulator or some other component is broken. I am giving them the benefit of the doubt here. The manager was very apologetic, and offered me a free roll of film and developing in replacement for the bad roll (which they already refunded anyway).

I dropped another roll off last night and they called today and said the machine is down, and the photo operator is going take my film over to the other Rite Aid in town, process it, and bring it back to the store that has the broken machine for me so I don't have to go out of my way to pick it up. That really says to me they want my business and are trying to do better. I am floored.

If they do a good job, I'll throw away all my Darkroom and MPIX mailers and use them from now on. Their customer service and wanting to make it right at the very least is something that isn't seen often in chain stores. They will earn some of my business, although I won't trust important photos to them (at least not for a while of consistent behavior).

Just a thought: some of the photo operators at the chain stores do care about quality work and do care that their customers are satisfied. I am blown away by this gesture.

Christopher Walrath · Jul 1, 2012

As it should be. It's good to hear of people who realize it was a person wronged and at least trying to make things right.

Keep it light.
ChrisW

F/1.4 · Jul 4, 2012

LOL until they forget about replacing the filters and the chemistry goes stale again. I think it's laughable that you're trying to get a glorified 7-11 to replace the work of real labs.

I bet they don't even have a densitometer. Or if they do, only one person knows how to operate it because everyone else is busy stocking gatorade and toilet paper on isle 12.

I used to work with RA lab operators on a daily basis for a living fixing their Noritsu's and dye-sub's..they don't give a flying f*ck about the equipment, nor do any of them really care to learn it. They just kick the breaker off at the end of the day, never rise the crossovers, kick it on in the morning at the breaker and add water when it beeps. They don't know if anything is wrong until customers film comes out blank.

I seriously cannot think of ANY place worse to take your film

Godspeed dude, because it's not a matter of if, but when, it will bite you in the ass. No matter how 'nice' the associates seem, they just do not know how to operate lab equipment aside from kicking a breaker, adding water, and feeding film in on improperly taped leader cards.

F/1.4 · Jul 4, 2012

BTW their heaters are busted because the filters haven't been replaced and since the working racks aren't getting proper circulation the heaters have to work double-time to keep the chemistry up to temperature. God knows what state their pumps are in, I bet the fixer or the first bleach pump will crap out next.

Both issues avoidable by simply replacing the chem filters every 7-14 days.

And you want these blokes doing your film? BUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

brofkand · Jul 4, 2012

They made a fumble: when I arrived at 5:30 to pick up my film, it was still sitting in the little yellow box I left it in the night before. I won't be back. Oh well, they'll probably pull the machine in the next year anyway, and Rite Aid will no longer process film. Not a big loss for this community; we still have Walgreens (with daily photo specials, and they do an excellent job), and CVS (the only lab I know of with Kodak machines).

removed account4 · Jul 4, 2012

summicron1 said:
yes blue moon does color.

there you go ..
thanks summicron1 -

wogster · Jul 5, 2012

brofkand said:
They made a fumble: when I arrived at 5:30 to pick up my film, it was still sitting in the little yellow box I left it in the night before. I won't be back. Oh well, they'll probably pull the machine in the next year anyway, and Rite Aid will no longer process film. Not a big loss for this community; we still have Walgreens (with daily photo specials, and they do an excellent job), and CVS (the only lab I know of with Kodak machines).

Eventually I expect that when you go into a store with film, they will take it, send it to an outside lab, that lab will forward it to a super lab in China or India, where they don't have as strict environmental laws, they will process the film, scan it and send it back to the outside lab where they will send the film and scans back to the store you dropped it off at, they will
use an ink based digital printer to make the prints. The problem of course, the turn around will be a month or so.

wblynch · Jul 5, 2012

It's hard to imagine ink based print systems beating photo paper for a long time, if ever.

For cost, output and quality, I pray we can have photo prints for generations to come.

wogster · Jul 5, 2012

wblynch said:
It's hard to imagine ink based print systems beating photo paper for a long time, if ever.

For cost, output and quality, I pray we can have photo prints for generations to come.

The issue will be environmental, they will argue about chemicals needing disposal, while inks containing even more toxic chemicals don't require disposal.

GRHazelton · Jul 5, 2012

Time to dump Walgreens and Rite-Aid? Here's a mail order possibility.

Here in the Atlanta GA area film processing is hard to find. There's Wolf Camera, which is bankrupt, again, and a couple of pro shops, very fine quality but expensive.

I ran across this site on the Atlanta Photographers Guild Flickr www.sharpprints.com I visited the site and the prices are really excellent, plus they offer processing of the film only, you print or scan yourself. Since the Wolf Camera near me, only about 3 miles away, closed I've been looking for a service, since while I do my own BW I'm not too eager to re-enter E-6 and C-41.

Shipping can be a deal breaker, but their rates are moderate. Prints on Fuji Crystal are really inexpensive.

Any one have any experience with these folk?

Coffeehound · Jul 6, 2012

The local Wal Mart here in Chillicothe, MO stopped all in house 35mm develop/print in Feb. of this year during the remodel. I just spoke the the tech that has been doing film processing as well as continuing his analog film work of his own. They were collecting dropped off film and someone would come in a couple of times per week to pick up/drop off orders for film developing. Keith told me the other day that even this has now changed. Now they wait until they have enough (no numbers) film and SEND it out to the lab (no names). The lab then develops the film, scans the film, sends the digital images to the local store. From this point the FILM IS DESTROYED! The images are then printed in house at the local store. This sucks. I was using them for develop/cd only, and I think it was around 6 bucks per roll. The only place here to get film developed is at Walgreens, and they get $9 buck per roll. For serious work I'll use the darkroom, even if it cost 20 buck or so per roll....
Jackie

pbromaghin · Jul 6, 2012

Coffeehound said:
From this point the FILM IS DESTROYED!Jackie

Where do idiots like this come from? Don't they know that it isn't their property and they have no right to do this?

removed account4 · Jul 6, 2012

it was scanned and returned to the store ...

how is the film destroyed ?

Richard S. (rich815) · Jul 6, 2012

I used to use Walgreens for develop only of my color stuff until a few years ago. When they had volume the chems got refreshed enough but later on my film started to come back with sludge and chemical stains. One was so bad I told them they should refund me or discount at least. The stains and dust were bad but probably with some PS work when scanning I could make do but with extra work on my part of course. They said they could refund me but only if they got to keep the film. So MY film that they screwed up with their developing, they would refund the development cost but only if they kept MY film which I paid for originally. I told them to stuff it, kept the poorly developed film and never went back.

Rite Aid Processing Disaster

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