Terrible experience with Retro Photographic. Don't know how to proceed. Help needed.

Gary Holliday · Jan 15, 2009

I've already discussed my feelings before, but Retro did correct a wrong order and I was glad when it was eventually sorted it. When you are in business, you don't have time to deal with delayed and missing orders, so having a professional dealer is vital in my books.

The business relationship between Fotoimpex and Retro was set up after Fotoimpex had lots of difficulties with UK mail, so the partnership was set up to deal with UK orders. I can see the advantage at the moment for you to buy in the UK as the exchange rate is favourable!

There are lots of dealers and there are plenty of boxes of Kentmere around so just move on to the next supplier. I wouldn't waste any more time trying to negotiate free postage. You paid for one box and got one box.

RK Photographic, Silverprint and Process Supplies are all good dealers in my experience.

sandermarijn · Jan 15, 2009

Gary Holliday said:
There are lots of dealers and there are plenty of boxes of Kentmere around so just move on to the next supplier. I wouldn't waste any more time trying to negotiate free postage. You paid for one box and got one box.

RK Photographic, Silverprint and Process Supplies are all good dealers in my experience.

You're right Gary, I should get over the loss of free postage and move to another dealer. I have already in fact. Silverprint are my new heroes. They are a bit more expensive than Retro, but much, much more professional.

FotoImpex (Berlin) is also a great shop. I love their catalogue (most recent one in German only). It's almost like a good book (if you care for analogue photography that is). Mine is pretty much covered in drewl now.

The pity with FotoImpex is that they are very expensive for Kentmere FB. They charge 16 euros for a 10-pack (no 50-packs available). Silverprint charge 56 euros equivalent for a 50-pack. Quite a difference.
I am reluctant to try Foma FB or ADOX FB. I love Kentmere and am very much used to it. I don't like to change.

I will check out RK Photographic and Process Supplies, also for their shipping rates to the continent.

TheFlyingCamera · Jan 15, 2009

As someone who was a serious addict to Bergger papers before the Forte factory shutdown, I have tried the Foma fiber papers and liked them very much. Frankly, I liked them better than Kentmere, which I find too contrasty. Give the Foma a try - it handles very well, and they have some surfaces that are unavailable from anyone else to boot.

Adrian Twiss · Jan 15, 2009

My own experience could best be described as satisfactory. I orders some £250 worth of stock and the only problems were a) the roll film had to be sent in two packets due to stock problems and b) the packaging on two boxes of paper was damaged (but the paper was not fogged). His business practices seem to be somewhere between casual and down right relaxed. The extended period of having your telephone calls dealt with by an answering machine is also my experience. On balance I would be reluctant to use them again. I wonder if Fotoimpex fully appreciate the knock on reputational damage occasioned by being associated with a company that attracts such negative feeling?

Adrian Twiss · Jan 15, 2009

TheFlyingCamera said:
As someone who was a serious addict to Bergger papers before the Forte factory shutdown, I have tried the Foma fiber papers and liked them very much. Frankly, I liked them better than Kentmere, which I find too contrasty. Give the Foma a try - it handles very well, and they have some surfaces that are unavailable from anyone else to boot.

Lovely paper but Fomatone is awfly slow

TheFlyingCamera · Jan 15, 2009

So was the Bergger - I'm not worried about paper speed, if anything, slow paper works better because it gives you more time to deal with complex burning/dodging sequences if needed. More important to me is tonality, contrast control, and responsiveness to toners. The Kentmere was fast, contrasty, and not very responsive to toners.

sandermarijn · Jan 15, 2009

TheFlyingCamera said:
As someone who was a serious addict to Bergger papers before the Forte factory shutdown, I have tried the Foma fiber papers and liked them very much. Frankly, I liked them better than Kentmere, which I find too contrasty. Give the Foma a try - it handles very well, and they have some surfaces that are unavailable from anyone else to boot.

I also find Kentmere FB a bit contrasty and actually like that. I must say that I have not much experience with other brand FB papers. The only other paper I have used is (was) Agfa FB. This was also very good, but it went fragile when wet. I often damaged it (folds) during washing and transportation. This is much better with Kentmere. Maybe its base is just somewhat thicker.
There is probably better or at least equal to Kentmere out there. But I know Kentmere and stick by it. Everybody has their own favourite.

Gary Holliday · Jan 15, 2009

I know we are sidetracking here, but it's funny to hear yourself looking for british paper and myself trying to get European paper...I love Foma 332 (RC paper) very expensive in the UK and even more costly to ship from CZ. It doesn't help that they only sell it in sheets of 10 making it not very cost effective. So I have to buy British and then sepia tone to get an actual warmtone.

Q.G. · Jan 15, 2009

Gary Holliday said:
I know we are sidetracking here, but it's funny to hear yourself looking for british paper and myself trying to get European paper...

Wow...! Britain no longer is part of Europe?!

mealers · Jan 15, 2009

Q.G. said:
Wow...! Britain no longer is part of Europe?!

As long as we keep the pound then no

mealers · Jan 15, 2009

Oh and just to add my bit about Retro.....I've ordered from them twice and both times my orders were handled terribly with bad communication when he didnt have the stock and long waits for refunds.

sandermarijn · Jan 15, 2009

Gary Holliday said:
I know we are sidetracking here, but it's funny to hear yourself looking for british paper and myself trying to get European paper...I love Foma 332 (RC paper) very expensive in the UK and even more costly to ship from CZ. It doesn't help that they only sell it in sheets of 10 making it not very cost effective. So I have to buy British and then sepia tone to get an actual warmtone.

You know the thing of the grass being greener on the other side?
I don't know the Foma 332 paper. FotoImpex has it, but only in 10-packs (except the smallest size paper, that comes in 100-packs). Have you tried ordering from FotoImpex instead of directly from CZ? Maybe FotoImpex is cheaper.

Q.G. · Jan 15, 2009

mealers said:
As long as we keep the pound then no

Would you now be confusing economics, or politics, or both, with geography?

sandermarijn · Jan 15, 2009

Just asked FotoImpex to remove the link to Retro.

I just sent an email to FotoImpex asking them to consider removing the link on their site to Retro (which they call "Foto Impex England").
I have included a link to this thread.

Maybe fewer people will me misled (like I was) after removal, into buying from quirky (call it bad if you like) Retro.

Vincent Brady · Jan 15, 2009

I ordered two lots of IR film from them in error on the same day and only ever received one although I have 2 bills of sale. When I email them I was informed that they were out of stock and I would receive the second lot a week later. That's 3 months ago now and despite my emails I've not heard from them since. Expensive film what!

TEX

Gary Holliday · Jan 15, 2009

sandermarijn said:
You know the thing of the grass being greener on the other side?
I don't know the Foma 332 paper. FotoImpex has it, but only in 10-packs (except the smallest size paper, that comes in 100-packs). Have you tried ordering from FotoImpex instead of directly from CZ? Maybe FotoImpex is cheaper.

Unfortunately it's only available in a pack of 10 which is quite bizarre. I'll need to do some lobbying.

Also, the UK is not in Europe geographically speaking

roy · Jan 15, 2009

What brought you to include the Retro-link in the first place? Was Retro a better place in the old days? Just wondering aloud

Yes. Time was when the proprietor answered the telephone and communicated by email without much of a problem. I have purchased from them in the past but not recent past ! It would be sensible for them to post in this thread to explain but there has been so much adverse comment that bad experiences by some would probably prevail.

Q.G. · Jan 15, 2009

Gary Holliday said:
Also, the UK is not in Europe geographically speaking

So where is it then? The Americas?

tim_walls · Jan 16, 2009

Q.G. said:
Wow...! Britain no longer is part of Europe?!

Ahh, "Fog In Channel - Continent Isolated." Still makes me laugh...

Anyway, you're fighting a losing battle here. I'm afraid 'Europe' is commonly used colloquially to mean 'continental Europe' - it's not intended as a slur on anyone's ambitions of Ever Closer Union, it's just a matter of convenience.

Learn to live with it. Petty whining about things like that is what gives pro-EU campaigners a bad name.

André E.C. · Jan 16, 2009

Of course Great Britain isn't Europe, it's just a rock in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Cheers

André

Q.G. · Jan 16, 2009

tim_walls said:
Ahh, "Fog In Channel - Continent Isolated." Still makes me laugh...

Anyway, you're fighting a losing battle here. I'm afraid 'Europe' is commonly used colloquially to mean 'continental Europe' - it's not intended as a slur on anyone's ambitions of Ever Closer Union, it's just a matter of convenience.

Learn to live with it. Petty whining about things like that is what gives pro-EU campaigners a bad name.

Makes me laugh too, Tim.

Now an advanced warning: the following is all in jest, and should be taken that way.

The idea that this is a matter of fighting a battle, or of whining about belonging or not belonging to a union, could only arise on your side of the 'continental divide' that somehow divides Britain from the rest of Europe.

It's like denying that your feet are part of your body, because else you might think yourself to be a player of that most boring game, football.
And you would hate that! So no, those feet are not yours!

And that on a scale that makes your "commonly used colloquially" quite correct.

How can that not make you laugh?

tim_walls · Jan 16, 2009

Q.G. said:
Makes me laugh too, Tim.

Now an advanced warning: the following is all in jest, and should be taken that way.

The idea that this is a matter of fighting a battle, or of whining about belonging or not belonging to a union, could only arise on your side of the 'continental divide' that somehow divides Britain from the rest of Europe.

It's like denying that your feet are part of your body, because else you might think yourself to be a player of that most boring game, football.
And you would hate that! So no, those feet are not yours!

And that on a scale that makes your "commonly used colloquially" quite correct.

How can that not make you laugh?

Amusing, but a non-sequitur.

You'll note that I was very careful to refer to pro-EU - i.e. the political construct that is the European Union - campaigners, not pro-Europe. And for those of us that believe in democracy - which is, I grant, not true of all EU member states and manifestly not true of Brussels - the choice of whether or not to join a political union absolutely must be a topic of debate and ultimately choice of the populace.

The idea that just because two sets of peoples share a continental shelf then they must ipso facto share political beliefs is the sort of absurd thinking that could only ever come out of Brussels or Paris.

Q.G. · Jan 16, 2009

tim_walls said:
Amusing, but a non-sequitur.

You'll note that I was very careful to refer to pro-EU - i.e. the political construct that is the European Union - campaigners, not pro-Europe. And for those of us that believe in democracy - which is, I grant, not true of all EU member states and manifestly not true of Brussels - the choice of whether or not to join a political union absolutely must be a topic of debate and ultimately choice of the populace.

The idea that just because two sets of peoples share a continental shelf then they must ipso facto share political beliefs is the sort of absurd thinking that could only ever come out of Brussels or Paris.

Indeed. Couldn't agree more that that would be absurd.

However, the absurdity that surfaced here was the idea that people do not "share a continental shelf" because they do not agree on politics.

There was no opposite idea, that might "come out of Brussels or Paris", ever suggested.

Noone (note!) said that Britain was part of Europe, 'because' it should share the same political ideal, join the Union, or anything silly like that.

See now what makes me laugh?

Anyhow. Way off topic. I apologize.
(Still makes me laugh though. )

tim_walls · Jan 16, 2009

Q.G. said:
See now what makes me laugh?

Not really. The idea of getting offended or even amused whenever someone shortens "continental Europe" to "Europe" seems bizarre to me.

People frequently refer to "Britain" (or, say, "Grand-Bretagne") when they actually mean "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" (or "le Royaume-Uni de Grand-Bretagne et d'Irlande du Nord,") despite the fact they are two quite distinct constructs, but it's not as a rule something people get terribly exercised over. It's one of life's mysteries why certain of our continental friends are apparently incapable of applying the same pragmatism when we refer to continental Europe.

Anyhow. Way off topic. I apologize.

Quite right, good point, here's not the place for a discussion on the EU.

TO be vaguely on-topic - I've had similar problems with Retro Photographic in the past, in particular with poor communication (more accurately, none whatsoever) when things turn out to be out of stock and have been backordered, but they have got the goods to me in the end, for what it's worth.

Q.G. · Jan 16, 2009

tim_walls said:
Not really. The idea of getting offended or even amused whenever someone shortens "continental Europe" to "Europe" seems bizarre to me.

Sure.

But noone did either of the two.

Anyway, still way off topic, so no more.

Terrible experience with Retro Photographic. Don't know how to proceed. Help needed.

Gary Holliday

sandermarijn

TheFlyingCamera

Membership Council

Adrian Twiss

Adrian Twiss

TheFlyingCamera

Membership Council

sandermarijn

Gary Holliday

Q.G.

mealers

mealers

sandermarijn

Q.G.

sandermarijn

Vincent Brady

Gary Holliday

roy

Q.G.

tim_walls

André E.C.

Q.G.

tim_walls

Q.G.

tim_walls

Q.G.

Terrible experience with Retro Photographic. Don't know how to proceed. Help needed.

Membership Council

Membership Council

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency