Walgreens lost a roll of my film..

[georgeisabamf]

I knew from the get go that I shouldn't have gone to Walgreens, I just knew something would go wrong. But I just moved to a new, more rural, area and Walgreens and Walmart are the only two places within an hour drive from me that develop film (after this experience, I will be making the hour+ drive to go to a more professional place). Last Tuesday I dropped off 3 rolls of 35mm film at my local Walgreens. Two of the rolls were 36 exposure, and one was 24. Well yesterday I went to go pick them up. The lady only handed me two packs of photos. When I told her "I dropped off 3 rolls," she looked again and then told me "I only see two." So I bought the two and took them home.

Now, that's not all, they did more than just lose a roll. The 24 exposure roll only came back with 5 shots, the other 19 are god knows where. They only got one of the three rolls right and the others were a complete failure.

Now I have a question. Has anyone had a place lose your rolls of film? Is there anything that can be done to be compensated for their mistake(s)? I hardly remember what was on that roll they lost, but I think it's photos from my recent family vacation to South Carolina, which is something I'd really like to see. I know now to never go to Walgreens anymore for this purpose, but I am curious as to what I can do (if anything) to get something out of them losing 55 of my exposures. They should at the very least pay for my roll that was lost.

 

[minicoop1985]

If you complain, they may get you more film. The one by us is always happy to do that-in fact, they insisted on doing that after I shot a roll of expired film. Only the first few and last one or two came out. I told them it was expired film and I didn't expect anything out of it, but they insisted on not charging me for developing/CD AND gave me a FOUR pack of Fuji Superia. I mean I'm fine with that, as they weren't about to let me walk out of there without something for free apparently, but they definitely went above and beyond what they had to. Hopefully your Walgreens gives you a similar experience, but yeah, they should make it right.

 

[Msteelio91]

Why not send it out for development? I was recently recommended these two sites for developing by members on here...

Film Developing & Scans by Mail - Only $10 | The Darkroom

A trusted name in photo processing for over 50 years - Dwayne's Photo

 

[georgeisabamf]

Why not send it out for development? I was recently recommended these two sites for developing by members on here...

Film Developing & Scans by Mail - Only $10 | The Darkroom

A trusted name in photo processing for over 50 years - Dwayne's Photo

Wow, that first link sounds like a great deal. The more professional labs around here that develop film charge about 22 bucks per roll, which adds up quickly. I'll definitely look into that. I have about 15 rolls just waiting to be developed.

Sadly I own a Paterson tank and all the chemicals needed for developing my own negatives, but I don't own a scanner that is remotely good enough to scan the negs. Wish I did though because I'd prefer doing it all on my own.

But I am going to go to Walgreens and tell them what happened. I have all the receipts and whatnot. If they give me film then I won't complain (even though the roll they lost is worth more than your average film you get from Walgreens).

 

[KmH]

Walgreens lost a roll of my film..

That's an age old problem and a risk you take regardless who you give your film to for developing.
It's also one of the reasons many people put together a darkroom and develop their own film and make their own prints.

 

[Light Guru]

Go back speak to the manager and get a complete refund.

Ether mail it out as has been suggested or better yet develop it yourself. Developing film is easy even color film.

 

[SoulfulRecover]

The more professional labs around here that develop film charge about 22 bucks per roll

is that for develop, scans and a cd or develop only?

 

[limr]

Why not send it out for development? I was recently recommended these two sites for developing by members on here...

Film Developing & Scans by Mail - Only $10 | The Darkroom

A trusted name in photo processing for over 50 years - Dwayne's Photo

Go back speak to the manager and get a complete refund.

Ether mail it out as has been suggested or better yet develop it yourself. Developing film is easy even color film.

Yes and yes. Send the rolls out. (For the record, I believe Wal-Mart sends all its film out, so you might end up getting better quality than you think from Wal-Mart, which might be sending their film to the same pro lab that you're sending it to! I'd ask where they send it to just to be sure.) In the meantime, go talk to the manager. And try to get the name of the person you talked to when you picked up the film. Then demand they give you something in return - a refund or film.

Even at $10 a roll for processing and scanning, you're spending $150 for your 15 rolls of film. Or you can spend $150-200 on a scanner. It will pay for itself pretty quick if you shoot a lot of film.

Honestly, I can't remember ever getting a roll of film lost. I've gotten a few that were probably not developed quite right, but nothing ever got ruined. But this was back when film was much more common; it wasn't nearly as much of a risk to bring the film to a drug store for developing. And these days, I'm lucky enough to have my "film guys" at a camera store who know what they are doing and are super reliable. And I develop my own b&w.

 

[Light Guru]

Send the rolls out. (For the record, I believe Wal-Mart sends all its film out, so you might end up getting better quality than you think from Wal-Mart, which might be sending their film to the same pro lab that you're sending it to! I'd ask where they send it to just to be sure.)

Doubt that with as many stores as Walmart has why would they not just send film to several different regional stores that would then develop the film for that bigger area.

 

[minicoop1985]

The more professional labs around here that develop film charge about 22 bucks per roll, which adds up quickly.

THAT's painful. I can't see why it would be more than $3-5 for a roll of C-41 process color neg film. Hell, I go to a professional lab, and they charge.... $1.30 per roll to develop. Needless to say, I burn through a lot more film thanks to them. Granted, this is develop only and I am scanning it myself, but still.

 

[georgeisabamf]

The more professional labs around here that develop film charge about 22 bucks per roll

is that for develop, scans and a cd or develop only?

The 22 bucks is for developing and scanning to a CD, no prints or anything like that. When I was in my final term in college I dropped off 3-5 rolls there every week and it added up quick.

I need to just get a scanner seeing as how I can develop my own negatives (have all the chemicals for both color (c41) and black and white). The biggest thing for me though is I don't know of any film scanners that are within my budget, and the one time I did develop my own negatives, I tried to makeshift scan them with a technique I found online, and I had a really hard time getting rid of the red/amber hue that you see on color negatives.

 

[petrochemist]

One tip I heard about from when film was common, was to photograph your name/address as the first shot of the film (just before the neg counter gets to 1). Supposedly it reduces the chance of photos going astray.
The actual terms and conditions of most photo processing labs limit their liability to the cost of the film.

 

[limr]

Film negative scanners between $50-100: Amazon.com: film scanners - $50 to $100 / Slide & Negative Scanners / Scanners: Electronics

Flatbed scanners (no price range but some under $100 used, others around the $150-175 mark new): Amazon.com: film scanners - $50 to $100 / Flatbed & Photo Scanners / Scanners: Electronics

It seems like a lot up front, but again - add up that $22 per roll, and you end up spending far more on developing and outside scanning than just saving up and buying a scanner. You say you have 15 rolls waiting for development? Let's say you develop only 2 rolls at a time. Instead of sending that $44 dollars to the lab, put it in an envelope, and keep the film a bit longer for a while - put them on a shelf separated from the others to remind yourself. The next time you have $44 for developing, put that in the envelope and the 2 rolls on that shelf. Do this one more time and you've now got $132 dollars to put towards a film negative scanner - either a small new one or a good used flatbed (I'd go for the flatbed - less tedious.) Or save $44 more dollars and get a new flatbed. It's more within your reach than you think if you are already forking over the money for a lab to do your scanning.

 

[bhop]

My friend has used thedarkroom.com and was happy with the results. They came back quick too.

Personally, I started doing my own developing (c41 and b&w) and just scan my negatives. I use an Epson V700 which does a better job (IMO) than people give it credit for. I went to Walgreens once.. only once..

 

[Josh66]

Now I have a question. Has anyone had a place lose your rolls of film? Is there anything that can be done to be compensated for their mistake(s)?

The most you can hope for is that they will reimburse you for the cost of a new roll. They are NOT going to reimburse you for the "value" of pictures that may or may not have even been on it.

You'll be lucky if you can even get them to admit that they lost it. They'll just say they never got it (and unless you sent it certified mail, you'll have no way to prove that they did get it). I had A&I lose a roll of mine once. I called them with the envelope number when it was a couple weeks late getting back to me. They said they have not received an envelope with that number. I figured it was lost in the mail, then out of nowhere - 6 months later (seriously) it just showed up in my mailbox. That's when I started developing all of my film myself.