The Color House New York — Local services in New York

Two stars because of the quality and my satisfaction with the scans and development, but other than that, never again.

Upon walking into the store I immediately got a bad vibe. There were costumers scattered throughout the entrance with no order of line, and not a greeting or an acknowledgement from the guy at the front, who wasn’t even at the front when I walked in. After waiting about 7 minutes for him to get scans for two people, takes about 30 seconds per person at every other place I go to, he asks what I need, simple development and scans for jpegs, $15.49 on the website.

I almost hand him my card when he says $20.XX. How does one get $20 from $15.49, and when I asked he said there is a $2 charge to email my scans... I told him I’ll come in and receive a CD, and Inconvenience but I’d rather waste my time than give this place an extra penny. Now the total goes down to $18.12, and I was fed up and just trying to get out of there, and gave him my card. Upon reviewing my receipt (view photo) $1.65 to cut my film and put it in plastic, like I have a choice to be walking down Lafayette with a roll of film flapping through the air and in peoples faces -.-

Coming back to pick up my film it was a little bit better, no line but same mediocre vibe and lackluster costumer service. Seems as if he is just there to get what I need done and not care to make sure I have a good enough experience to come back.

They have 4 computers you can use to view your photos, so I was like ok, I’ll just airdrop them to myself because the computer has no internet connection. Alas, WiFi is completely disabled and it needs to be turned on, no need for an internet connection, just turned on, but you can’t because that option is locked. Ok, I’ll plug my phone into the computer to drag the files from the disk to my phone... no iTunes, can’t do that, so they basically make it impossible to leave that place with scans on anything but that disc or a hard drive, unless you bring your own computer. They make sure that if you pay for the slow disk service, you really get that slow service alright. The computers are basically for editing, and if that place wasn’t so unpleasant I actually would edit there, but I don’t want to spend a minute more than I need to in that place.

Long story short, they have good scans, unpleasant customer service, hidden charges to get more money out of you and seem to exist to serve a certain clientele, specifically the clientele of the area. I will not be returning to this scam of a place, I’ll take my business elsewhere, and I know one person doesn’t hurt, but I wonder how many other people felt the same way about this place and did the same as me. If they worked on making it a better experience I wouldn’t mind the $1.65 to swipe a scissor a few times and be gifted a piece of plastic, but until then I’ll be going to a place in Chinatown where it’s $10.80 for development and scans to my email with...

Purchased 1 pack of film - I-Type 600 Polaroid Film on Sunday, June 30th, 2024. Walked across the street to test film, several shots came out defective/errored or stacked with unused film. Attempted several additional test shots both outside and in store with staff present. Staff wasn’t familiar with the issue, nor able to indicate with clarity how this was a camera malfunction. I had used the camera just the day before (6/29/2024) without issue, which prompted the need to buy additional film. Leading us to believe it was likely a defect pack of film. I asked for an exchange or refund, and staff refused, rather opting to blame the camera. Notably without any explanation for how or what mechanism was causing failure.

This is unfortunate, because we’ve purchased other packages of film from this location without issue, and used them to completion. I find it much more likely that it was a singular bad pack of film, than it was a camera which is regularly used and maintained. I think the simple resolution would have been to replace the pack of film.

It is important to keep in mind that they are retailing this pre manufactured film, and not performing the QA for this product, and as such should understand that quality defects will occur and occasionally make it to retail locations. The defect is not the concern, it happens. This review is a reflection of the customer service I received, lack of resolution, and a jump to blame the customer’s equipment rather than understand that a large quantity produced product with human QA will occasionally contain issues that are sold to the customer.

This should have been replaced or refunded, the defects saved, then brought up with their distributor for credit...

I used to go to B&H (35 minute journey uptown), drop film off just to have them send it out anyway, and then still have to wait 3 days to get it back. Then one day we were out on the fire escape of my work building and my co-worker said "Hey, why don't you just go there instead" and pointed directly under us, at the Color House! So I decided to give them a try, and I am so glad I did. They are very easy to work with, pricing is reasonable, and they are actually interested in doing a quality job. They know what they are talking about, and don't mind just chatting it up about film and photography while you are dropping off or picking up. 90% of the places that say they develop film have never even heard of medium format before, or cannot process half of the films available (Especially black and white) But the Color House does it all. The biggest plus for me is most of the time it is same day service. No waiting for them to send out to a third party. I shoot all sorts of film and cameras as I collect and refurbish them as a hobby. sometimes I shoot Lomography cameras where I am trying to achieve a retro "Diana" or "Holga" look, and sometimes I shoot on a professional setup where I am trying to get the colors and sharpness 100% accurate. Either way they are more than helpful, and always have a tip or two on how to help you get your images looking the way you want them to, whether its camera setup, filters, film, processing, etc. Long story short, I don't plan on going...