# Walgreens lost a roll of my film..



## georgeisabamf (Apr 21, 2014)

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.


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## minicoop1985 (Apr 21, 2014)

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.


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## Msteelio91 (Apr 21, 2014)

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


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## georgeisabamf (Apr 21, 2014)

Msteelio91 said:


> 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).


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## KmH (Apr 21, 2014)

georgeisabamf said:


> *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.


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## Light Guru (Apr 21, 2014)

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.


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## SoulfulRecover (Apr 21, 2014)

georgeisabamf said:


> 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?


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## limr (Apr 21, 2014)

Msteelio91 said:


> 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





Light Guru said:


> 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.


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## Light Guru (Apr 21, 2014)

limr said:


> 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.


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## minicoop1985 (Apr 22, 2014)

georgeisabamf said:


> 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.


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## georgeisabamf (Apr 22, 2014)

SoulfulRecover said:


> georgeisabamf said:
> 
> 
> > The more professional labs around here that develop film charge about 22 bucks per roll
> ...



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.


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## petrochemist (Apr 22, 2014)

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.


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## limr (Apr 22, 2014)

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.


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## bhop (Apr 22, 2014)

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..


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## Josh66 (Apr 22, 2014)

georgeisabamf said:


> 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.


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## georgeisabamf (Apr 22, 2014)

I do have a current flatbed scanner/printer made by Canon.  It's not great, and I have tried to scan negs with it before but with zero luck.

But my biggest concern is getting rid of the red hue on color negatives after they are scanned.  Does anyone know of any software (preferably free) that will pretty much get rid of the red hue for you?  One time I did it successfully using nothing but Photoshop, but I can't for the life of me find the tutorial for the method that worked.  I've tried other methods with zero luck.


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## limr (Apr 22, 2014)

georgeisabamf said:


> I do have a current flatbed scanner/printer made by Canon.  It's not great, and I have tried to scan negs with it before but with zero luck.
> 
> But my biggest concern is getting rid of the red hue on color negatives after they are scanned.  Does anyone know of any software (preferably free) that will pretty much get rid of the red hue for you?  One time I did it successfully using nothing but Photoshop, but I can't for the life of me find the tutorial for the method that worked.  I've tried other methods with zero luck.



When I say flatbed, I don't mean just a regular document scanner. It's specifically for film. Most should come with software.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...gative scanner&sprefix=flatbed+negati,aps,318


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## NikonO4K (Apr 22, 2014)

This is possibly the best argument to go digital I have ever heard.


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## compur (Apr 22, 2014)

^ I'd say it was the best argument I've ever heard for avoiding drug store film processing.


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## CouncilmanDoug (Apr 22, 2014)

This happened to me actually, dropped off a test roll of film one night and when I came back to get it the next morning it was nowhere to be found. Talked to a manager and they ended up realizing they had given my roll of film to a different customer. She called them and they said they would send it back... after they finished their drive from florida to some northern state... I ended up getting the film back about 3 weeks later and they gave it to me for free and a $20 giftcard.


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## georgeisabamf (Apr 22, 2014)

compur said:


> ^ I'd say it was the best argument I've ever heard for avoiding drug store film processing.



.
I won't be making that mistake again.

But yeah I think I'm going to invest in at least a decent scanner that comes with software for converting negatives.  I like doing things myself as much as I can because I feel like I learn a lot more that way. so it's definitely going to be a worthwhile investment.


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## petrochemist (Apr 23, 2014)

georgeisabamf said:


> I do have a current flatbed scanner/printer made by Canon. It's not great, and I have tried to scan negs with it before but with zero luck.
> 
> But my biggest concern is getting rid of the red hue on color negatives after they are scanned. Does anyone know of any software (preferably free) that will pretty much get rid of the red hue for you? One time I did it successfully using nothing but Photoshop, but I can't for the life of me find the tutorial for the method that worked. I've tried other methods with zero luck.




Just about any digital photography software should alow you to change the overall hue, or reduce the red. Personally I like Faststone (which is free) Photoshop should allow you to work on selected areas of the photo instead of an overal colour shift but I've not yet spent the time to get to grips with it.


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## Josh66 (Apr 25, 2014)

petrochemist said:


> georgeisabamf said:
> 
> 
> > I do have a current flatbed scanner/printer made by Canon. It's not great, and I have tried to scan negs with it before but with zero luck.
> ...


As far as getting rid of the red base color of the film, any "film scanner" should do that automatically.  I'm talking about scanners with an upper light to shine through the negatives as you're scanning.


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## Soulz3urn3lack (May 14, 2014)

Yeah I took a roll there and they somehow developed it in sepia and screwed up my prints.  Never going back.


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## vfotog (May 14, 2014)

georgeisabamf said:


> 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.



The first thing you want to do is look at the lab's envelopes that the negs and prints are in. It's a fact of processing that accidents happen, so there is usually a disclaimer on there stating what liability they will accept and what they will do in case of a lost or damaged film. When you give them film to process, you are accepting those terms. Most labs will only give you replacement film. 

As for the roll with only 5 shots on a 24 exposure film, the first thing you want to do is not worry so much at how many prints you got until you look at the negatives. Even if there were only 5 properly exposed frames, you should get back all the negs. Look at the 19 frames that weren't printed. Are there images? Are they printable? Are they damaged? Blank, mangled, color shift....  No or unprintable images can be a result of camera failure, an opened back, nasty chemicals, printer malfunctions...  so you can't even get an idea of who is at fault until you look at the negs.


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## timor (May 15, 2014)

This stories are becoming more and more frequent. Looks like there is not enough colour film in action, to keep developing services busy all the time. They cut costs by "extending" the life of chemicals and by employing untrained people. Well, in this big organizations nobody cares, digital is the business. The only solution is to develop "at home" or find good lab which still exist.


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## vintagesnaps (May 15, 2014)

The drugstores in my area have never been the greatest option, you could tell they'd run the film thru without adjusting (although apparently the machines used in more recent years do a better job automatically without needing someone to make adjustments so much). 

With a couple of local camera stores having closed and the instate camera store chain closing the location closest to me, I started sending out. I agree, look at the negatives. And usually there's some sort of disclaimer about the resulting quality of the images (more or less that if you get some lousy exposures there's only so much they can do!). Or some places might have on their info. that they don't assume responsibility for how the film turns out. Or if it gets lost, or whatever. 

edit - Might be too late by now but I suppose you could have asked to talk to the manager at least about the roll that got lost, it could be around somewhere. I've had that happen, maybe a roll of B&W was put somewhere different than the color film since it takes different processing, but it was there in the store just had gotten separated from the rest.


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## snowbear (May 15, 2014)

In 1972, I was on a Science Club trip to the national Zoo.  Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling, the Giant Pandas obtained by Nixon on his trip to China, were the big draw. It was in the middle of the week, so there were no crowds.  The keepers were excited because Hsing-Hsing had been marking his territory.  Yep, I got a snapshot of the panda spraying the window.

A couple of days after I sent the film to be processed, Hurricane Agnes hit DC and flooded the lab.  My roll was one of the (apparently) many lost.


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## Canoneer (Jun 16, 2014)

Was it Mystic or Clark's?   Sent in a roll or two and got somebody else's pictures back and none of my own.  I called, complained, mailed the photos back on my own nickel, and got in return a credit for developing.   Which I never used.    Mystic did a good developing/printing job at higher cost.

After that I became obsessive about labeling my cassettes.  I'd stick on a label and print my name & address.   Not that it'd help once the film was out of the cassette.

It is possible to scratch your ID on the leader that sticks out of the cassette (may stick out; ought to stick out, because if it doesn't there is more chance of light leakage through the seals).   That ought to protect you if anything can.  Short of snapping a pic of your business card on every roll.


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## tudor96stani (Jun 28, 2014)

I have the Canon 5600F flatbed scanner ( http://www.amazon.com/Canon-CS5600F...3348&sr=1-6&keywords=flatbed+negative+scanner ) that also does film. I scanned today the film I got from developing. I also had that roll printed there. In all my print photos, the sky is completely white and the colors are not the best (though I know I didn't overexpose THAT much). When I scanned the film, I discovered that the sky is very visible in every photo, the colors are much better AND that the film is scratched - severely. This is the 2nd roll of film I get scratched from them - films used on different cameras. Rather annoying. 
Anyhow, that scanner is really nice - it's a normal scanner, so if you ever want to replace the one you use for documents as well, take this one into consideration. It also comes with a nice holder in which you can place 6 shots.


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## gsgary (Jun 30, 2014)

NikonO4K said:


> This is possibly the best argument to go digital I have ever heard.



Why would you go from film to stale digital


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## pixmedic (Jun 30, 2014)

gsgary said:


> NikonO4K said:
> 
> 
> > This is possibly the best argument to go digital I have ever heard.
> ...



far more processing options.
Larger shooting capacity on memory cards than rolls of film.
Better low light performance. 
No use of chemicals.
No hours of waiting to see results.
Easy multiple off camera flash capability. 
Ability to easily switch between low ISO and high ISO. (And faster than switching film backs)
Ability to switch between B&W and color without having to change film.
wireless remotes.
higher FPS and continuous shooting modes....

I dunno, I feel like I'm missing some stuff, but since you asked, there's just a few reasons someone might switch from film to digital. 
Hope that satisfactorily answers your question.


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## gsgary (Jun 30, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> gsgary said:
> 
> 
> > NikonO4K said:
> ...




So your saying spray and pray photography with no thought even though i just bought the Sony A7 i shoot it like i shoot film only took 50 shots all day Sunday, i can see my film shots in about 1 hour


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## pixmedic (Jun 30, 2014)

gsgary said:


> pixmedic said:
> 
> 
> > gsgary said:
> ...



no, not once did i use the words "spray and pray" or  "no thought". ever.


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