The Darkroom — Local services in San Clemente

WORST CASE SCENARIO. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I decided to convert my 1st and 2nd birthday vhs/vhs-c for my 30th birthday. I sent the two tapes to Darkroom and they send me back the movies with the DVD. BUT one of the vhs they sent me back was not mine. I know since my dad labels every vhs with a year or note and the one they sent me back had no writing and is not a vhs brand that we own. I checked the DVD and it is indeed not my home movie. Truly disappointed.

There is no phone number for the Darkroom. You have to email them and tell them to call you. Here's a kicker, if you miss their call and try calling the number back, they just pick up and hang up on you. So you need to be sitting and waiting for them to call you.

They describe to me that they have no back up servers, no true tracking system of movies that enter their facility. Movies are received at one facility and then moved to another facility to do the transfer. Possibly, my vhs was lost or mixed up in sorting and transit. Pretty much they explained that I would have to sit and wait to see if they find my video - which they probably sent to someone else or just lost. It has been over 2 months.. priceless 1st birthday video GONE FOREVER.

Another red flag is that they told me when they make a DVD they label the chapters based on writing on the tape submitted. However, my DVD had not chapter titles and my one correct vhs had a label on it. Which to me means that the video converter was very sloppy and likely the root of the mistake.

They refunded me their fee - great. woo.... really makes up for their mistake....

Truly disappointed.

SUGGESTION: document all items you send to Darkroom. Take pictures and label. Since they do not keep an inventory, you need to keep it yourself so you have proof that they made the mistake. If not they just point the finger at you. Even if they do lose it like mine, it wouldn't make a difference if I had documented or not - as my home movie is no where to be found. Regardless, what would you do take them to small claims court. I am in NY and they are in CA, attorney fees and time wasted - if there was a case the $$ wouldn't make up for the lost tape, so it is pointless but documenting could help if you are in my scenario.

I had over 40 videos in my collection that I still need to convert, as you can assume, I will not be using them in the future.

I am sure I am one of few but it sure does stink to have lost a...

I'm giving The Darkroom two stars instead of one because I have used them for film development a few times over the last couple years without any problems. Unfortunately, I will not be using them again after my last experience. I sent in a roll of Kodak 400TX in one of their prepaid grey mailers the first week of March this year. Stupidly on my part, I forgot to take a picture of the tracking number on the mailer before sending. And of course, the film never arrived, or was misplaced if it did. While it's obviously not The Darkroom's fault that I didn't take a picture of the tracking number or that the film went missing in the mail (if it did), I was so disappointed with their response. I emailed them in March, April, and June asking for help and each time received the bare minimum response, until I started to get frustrated and angry. I asked them questions multiple times before receiving an answer, and they flat-out refused to review orders processed in early March to make sure mine wasn't misplaced. Losing something as singular and unique as a roll of film is an upsetting experience, and this was the first time it had happened to me. The Darkroom seemed to have zero empathy and denied that they could have possibly had anything to do with my missing film. My question is: without double checking, how could they know? I have posted ads on Craigslist and Nextdoor and filled out two missing items forms with the USPS. No luck. My contact and credit card info was on a sheet inside the mailer, so I expected someone to either get in touch or rob me if they somehow got ahold of it. Neither has happened. Sad as it is, I can accept that my film is lost—I just wish The Darkroom would have done their best to be helpful and kind to a returning customer.

P.S. If any customer reading this received a b&w roll that wasn't theirs this year, please let me know – photohtb at...

I have been using this lab for over a year because I was nervous to trust CVS with my film. My last experience ruined it for me though. I live 20 minutes from the lab but I still have to pay for the shipping to get my developed film sent back to me instead of being able to pick it up.

You cannot call or go to the location to speak with anyone. The only way to communicate with them is via email.

I communicated with them about pushing film and if that would help with a roll which I had set too high on the iso. After going back and forth a few times about what would be best and confirming that I should write how much I want it to be pushed by on the container that I sent the roll in, they disposed of the container before even marking for themselves which of the rolls I sent in was meant to be pushed. I received a very unapologetic email letting me know: “I hope all is well.

Unfortunately, the person who opens our mail threw away the container that indicated which roll needed a push. Would you like us to push both rolls since both are the same brand/film type? Please advise.

We look forward to hearing from you!”

That was all. After expressing my disappointment I heard back saying they’d go ahead and proceed as I advised and refund me the $2 push fee, and finally a bland apology.

I noticed on their website that they aren’t taking on any new customers for developing due to being overwhelmingly busy and I don’t know for certain if it’s related, but the customer care had always been superb up until this time around. Unfortunately, I cannot say I’d recommend them, and will not personally be using...