Kodak Express — Local services in Florence

Be careful! I went to this shop to print one photo for an anniversary present for my partner. I was dealing with the owner (or assistant) in Italian, which I speak okay and understand perfectly. He persuaded me it was necessary to print 4 photos instead of 1, to make use of the photo paper - otherwise he would have to 'buttare via' the rest of the paper. I chose three additional photos, and he quoted me a price of 6 euros for the 4 photos. I agreed, and went away for 15 minutes while the photos were being printed. When I returned, there were 4 of each photo printed, so SIXTEEN PHOTOS IN TOTAL. When I said I had wanted 1 of each, not 4 of each one, he said that he had told me that he would print 4 per page. I regret to say that I agreed to pay 15 euros for all of them, because he made me doubt my Italian, and felt like I had no choice. On reflection, I can say with confidence that he deliberately exploited the fact that we spoke in Italian, and took advantage to make me pay more. It was very clear from the conversation that I had only wanted one single photo, so the idea that I would suddenly have wanted 16 is ridiculous. I wish I had been more confident and insisted that he was wrong. I was stupid....

I went to this store to develop my first roll of 24 photos. I paid 30€ upfront and was told the photos would be ready in about an hour. The price already seemed quite high, especially since some friends of mine pay around 16€ to develop 36 photos, but since it was my first time, I trusted their expertise.

When I returned after lunch, they told me the roll was "empty" because it had been exposed to light. Instead of refunding my money, they gave me a replacement roll of 26 photos, claiming it was worth 19€ (although I had originally bought mine for 13€ elsewhere). I asked if they’d give me a discount if I came back for future prints, given that I had paid 30€ and received no photos, but they said no.

When I asked what would happen with the remaining money I gave them, the employee started mumbling, saying they had already given me a "special price" and that the extra 11€ was for "labor"—although I couldn’t understand what labor, since no prints were made.

Overall, it was a frustrating experience, leaving me with a bad impression due to their lack of professionalism and transparency. I won’t be going back to this store and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking for honest,...

Extremely disappointed with my experience. I brought my Nikon FM in due to a stuck shutter—a mechanical issue. They told me the problem was caused by the battery and using a high shutter speed, which is misleading at best. The Nikon FM has a fully mechanical shutter that doesn’t rely on batteries at all.

They took a €60 advance and returned the camera with the shutter unjammed, but now the light meter is completely dead, even though it was working perfectly before. They also removed the batteries without telling me, and didn’t offer any explanation for the broken meter. Instead, they gave me the vague and technically inaccurate excuse that the camera’s light meter caused the issue and can therefore no longer be used, which makes me question whether they understand film cameras at all.

If you’re a film camera user who understands and cares about the inner workings of your gear, I’d strongly suggest thinking twice before trusting this shop with your equipment. My camera went in with one issue and came back with another, and no...