I will never go in ritz camera again

[zac_sanders]

I dopped of slide film at ritz to get developed and it took them 3 weeks. I pick them up today and the total

amount for the 2 rollls developed and scans onto CD is 49.45. Then i get home check out the CDs and both of them

have the same pictures so i had to go back to ritz and have them rescan the one roll. So there it is i will never

go in there again.

[BrianS1664879711]

I'm glad you got that off of your chest. I hope you feel better now!

[stephen sullivan]

1st. Send you E-6 to somebody like A&I in Los Angeles, CA http://www.aandi.com/

 

2nd. In defense of Ritz, I am not an employee, nor have I have been an employee of Ritz, Kitz, Wolf, Hooper, or who-ever. For my E-6

I use A&I- Los Angeles & Panda Lab- Seattle. Black & White it's A&I and Moonphoto- Seattle.

 

3rd. I have always had a pleasant experience using Ritz- Issaquah, WA & Hooper Camera- Woodland Hills, CA

 

4th. Two weeks ago, I brought in 100 .jpg's on a CD-R that I had shot with my EOS 5D to the Ritz Camera in Issaquah, WA. The staff

was very helpful in getting what I wanted.

 

Print one each on Matte Paper. Full Frame with no boarders. TURN OFF AUTO ENHANCE- SAT COLOR 105 ~ 107% and

CONTRAST 107%

 

I got exactly what I wanted and it was, I think .23 cents per image.

[bobmichaels]

My last conversation with Ritz was several years ago when someone stole a package containing my 21mm Zeiss Biogon

from my sister's office in Atlanta. It was awaiting UPS pickup coming back to me. She called me immediately and I

immediately called KEH in Northern Atlanta asking them to be on the lookout for it. They were incredibly helpful

and told me they would call the significant used camera dealers in Atlanta for me to alert them. Very nice of KEH

since they had nothing to do with the lens. Then KEH asked my sisters address and told me there was a Ritz camera

store right across the street. They even gave me the Ritz phone number.

 

So I then called Ritz, tried to explain the situation that it had been stolen across the street within the hour,

and asked them to simply record my name and phone number in case someone came in that afternoon trying to sell a

21mm Biogon, a unusual and expensive lens. Ritz camera would not take my name and phone number and basically hung

up on me. No help at all.

 

At least things worked out. Almost a month later the US Postal Service delivered the open and resealed package.

No postage, just the UPS label. They had no clue how it got into the postal service routing so they just

delivered it to the address on the UPS label.

 

But I have never forgotten Ritz camera unwillingness to do even the last bit to help. Nor have I forgotten how

helpful KEH was. I have since done a lot of business with KEH but never been in Ritz store since.

[psul_aul]

$50 for two rolls of film is a bit over the top.

 

I don't shoot slides, but there are numerous posts here about the great results people have had sending silde film out

through Wal-Marts send out service. Much less $$$

 

I used to use Ritz a lot for C-41. I figured it was worth paying a little more to have my prints made at a "camera

store". But, after a couple of sets of scratched negatives, I realized they were being no more careful with my film

than the cheaper places out there.

 

They also have that annoying policy of making you an index print, and then asking you to pay an extra dollar for it. If

you don't want to pay the dollar they rip it up in front of you.

 

I am still on the search for a consistent and affordable lab.

[daverhaas]

Since Proex and Ritz merged I try to avoid it like the plague... The stores around here (mpls) have become jokes in terms of both in depth product knowledge - I had one salesperson insist that the D40 had an AF motor in the body and that I was flat out wrong for insisting it didn't. Before they discontinued selling the magazines - Pop Photo, etc... I had one salesperson walk away in tears because he didn't know how to enter the upc code to find the price... that was effectively the end of my Ritz days.

 

The product line has become more and more consumer focused and less pro or even advanced amateur. Last time I was in one of their stores the most advanced DSLR I saw was a D60 and a couple of Canon Rebels. Even as recently as 2 years ago, you could go and find the top end prosumer equipment such as a D200, Canon 5d, etc... Not Now ...Unless you happen to have a "Ritz Pro" or whatever they call their superstores nearby.

 

Before the merger - You could walk into a Ritz and find at least one or two prosumer bodies and a somewhat knowledgeable staff that would be able to talk photography.

 

Dave

[randall_pukalo]

What a Ripp Off. You can get your 35mm, 120, and 220 slides developed by Fuji Labs thru the Walmart sendout envelopes for only $4.88/$3.88 for 36/24 exposure 35mm or 220/120 slide film. It takes about a week to get them back, but the quality is top notch. Also, they do decent 120/220 print film and true black and white film processing too at great quality and for very good prices.

[randall_pukalo]

http://www.flickr.com/groups/ishootfilm/discuss/72157601574874556/

[randall ellis]

I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but did you not ask how much it would be in advance? As for the turn-around time, Ritz hold film until one specific day of the week when they send everything that has accumulated for processing to their processor, which is anything not 35mm C-41 process. Once the film is processed by their service provider they do the same thing - once a week shipping. It's far from ideal, but their logic is that it keeps their cost down for a service that generates very little profit for them.

 

- Randy

[john_h.1]

Wherever one goes for processing, or to have any service done. photography related or not, find out how much the fee is going to be before committing, not after.

[kyle_mahaney]

Our local Ritz (technically it's The Camera Store, which is now owned by Ritz) is expensive but the staff are great and very knowledgeable and enjoyable to talk to. I happened walk in on the day they had their new Frontier 400 and they were posatively giddy about it, showing comparisons, chatting with me about color calibration. talking about how they use a Nikon 9000 instead of Fuji's scanner, etc. Always had a great experience. This is in Stroudsburg, PA. However I went to one in Canton, Ohio that was dreamful. I asked what types of slide film they had and the clerk said they don't make it anymore. I asked where their pro films were and he motioned to the rack infront of the checkout, said they didn't have anything else. Hmmmm Max 800 or Superia 200, or a lone roll of TMAX. Quite awful.

[zac_sanders]

I did ask in advance how much it would be the women told me around 20 dollars to i went with that but i guess that turns out it was going to be double.

[thomas_wilson1]

My last visit to a Ritz was in Towson, Maryland. When asked, "Can I help you?" I asked if they had any loupes. The clerk's response, "What's dat?" When I asked if they had any lens tissue, he grew genuinely confused. I loudly stated, "Welcome to the McDonald's of camera stores," and walked out the door.

[jeff_drew4]

Blaming the store brand is certainly your privilege, but I have had lots of fine experiences at Wolf/Ritz/Proex stores. Conversely, I have had bad service & unhappy endings at many others, including Walmarts, Walgreens, etc. Many of the local pro-shops that offered excellent service are long-gone because the volume of business and profits were insufficient. . .and favored the discount stores & chains. <p>

 

Bad service does not seem to be confined to the store you visited. Lots of businesses have elected to reduce customer service and product training. Even the huge company I work for stopped offering educational support a few years ago and now they are bitching about our poor customer service. duh! Poor management and lousy employee support at the store caused your bad experience. Amazingly, some management at some businesses have figured out that really good, intelligent service can be profitable in the long-term. <p>

[christopher_m]

I use Ritz for developing C-41, especially when I want it quickly. I think the curteousy and knowledge of the staff varies by store. They are on the expensive side... it's about $18 to get a roll of 36 developed, printed, and scanned. However, they do a quality job of scanning and developing.

 

I don't see the point in sending E-6 through them since they will mail it off. If I want it mailed off I'll send it to Dwayne's.

[steve_parrott]

I'll throw in my 2 cents here. My favorite lab is Chromatics in Nashville, Tn. I have used A & I in the past, and also

Dwayne's, but prefer Chromatics, especially as regards turn around time. They are not the cheapest, but the processing

quality is the best I have ever used.

 

http://www.chromatics.com/

 

steve