LOST CAMERA FILM/DEVELOPED PHOTOS

[Playingchesswithpigeons]

My daughter got a retro disposable camera for her 18th Birthday and just before Christmas took these to be developed at a well known national store. She was told to not collect until end of January, due to time of year. She's been to collect in the last couple of weeks and they initially couldn't find. After two weeks have stated they are lost! The pictures included her 18th Birthday activities, family holiday and new born niece.
The Store manager has been in touch ( I asked her to request this ) he claimed this has NEVER happened in his 15 years as manager, apologised and said thankfully you don't pay until collection, so at least hasn't lost anything!
I prompted daughter to ask, what is the next stage and would there by any compensation and he said " well, like what?" He said he was going on holiday this week and will ask the staff to have one final look and will ring her back on his return.

AIBU to think of course compensation should be offered?
Could anybody please advise what my daughter should suggest?

Was this written in 1995? Maybe he could offer some Blockbusters vouchers as compensation?

The cost of the camera i would suggest as it puts you back in the same position before it was lost

Surely other pictures were taken and not just those on the disposable camera?

I am not quite sure what the compensation would be for. And I don’t believe that no one else would have taken photos of these occasions.

I’d say maybe a gift voucher or a free disposable camera. That’s it.

We all know the pictures would be rubbish anyway. Over exposed, bad lighting, no filters etc.

I am pretty sure there would have been other pic from the occasions too. Annoying but not something I could get to worked up about

I think a monetary gesture would be nice, as your niece can't replace the photos she took - maybe £20?

Tell her to ask for a disposable camera or the equivalent cost.

Yabu. This used to happen all the time when film was more popular, or getting somebody else's pics back.

I have literally tens of thousands of pounds of old film stock because I love it as a medium. Loss and damage is something you accept when you work with physical media and a chemical process, instead of digital.

We all know the pictures would be rubbish anyway. Over exposed, bad lighting, no filters etc.

Not true - I had disposable cameras at my wedding (before the smartphone era) and I got some great informal shots, including one that was my favourite picture of the day to the extent I copied it as an oil painting.

I don't want sodding filters on my photographs even now - I want to remember people as they actually looked, not a load of identikit Barbie dolls.

It's a shame but I don't think they necessarily owe your daughter compensation. It wasn't done maliciously and it seems unlikely these were the only pictures taken of the events so she's not actually lost anything?

WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING?

I guess a replacement disposable camera would be fair but what more would you want

What do you mean?

I had a film lost in the 90s. They gave me my money back and a free film. There was no compensation for the value of the photos which tbf people would always say were particularly precious.

Of course they are responsible. I'm not asking whether they are or not.
And there are certainly no expectations that if they're lost, it's hard luck.
The manager even stated it's never happened before.

Of course other people have taken pictures, but these where hers. These were the pictures she chose to take, the moments she wanted to capture.
I didn't mention this at all in my post. But they are now gone.
I was surprised compensation wasn't offered, but he has since asked her to have a think and will ring her again.
This hasn't happened before, not to her, to me, her dad etc. and seemingly not to any other customer in the last 15 years.
I asked who could advise what she should suggest and I think a new " retro" disposable camera would be okay.
She is of course sad and disappointed, the moments captured are lost.
Thanks to those who did advise.

I asked who could advise what she should suggest and I think a new " retro" disposable camera would be okay.

Will that actually make any difference though? The pictures are lost the manager seems very genuinely sad for the pictures being lost and has presumably appologised. He can't magic them back if they're gone and whilst sad for your daughter it's just one of those things we have to say that's a shame about. I genuinely don't see how compensation in any way is going to help.

I mean, I think it will be fair for them to offer the money to replace the disposable camera. As far as the pictures, they can't be replaced and I don't know what monetary value they would have, so I don't know what else he could offer.

You don't understand. They might be responsible for losing the camera but the fact is when you work with fragile media you understand that their are always risks involved and accept that these things don't always work out as intended. Usually, for anything important, digital back ups are taken. It was your/ your daughter's own responsibility to ensure that the day had multiple versions of pictures taken in different, more reliable, formats. Physical media is also easily lost damaged or simply forgotten about. I used to work with cine film, so only slightly different (the same product but shooting thousands of feet of it every few seconds). There are so many stages it can go wrong, issues with the stock itself, light leaks, over or under exposed, camera failure, issues at processing in the lab. It's why most things are shot digitally now, the risk Vs reward not to mention cost.

You could have digital pictures from the day turned into photos by one of the many digital printing companies as a surprise for your daughter. They won't have the same look, as film has unique properties, but it's a starting point and it's very very cheap.

fI you were willing to spend more time and money, and maybe experiment, assuming you do have some digital photos, you might be able to use a digital intermediary film and transfer onto negatives. This will take modern crisp photos (which will be in focus etc) and transfer them to film which will allow for the film grain and beautiful colours to come through as the film would still be processed the same way and could be sent to a lab. I feel it might be quite an involved process though.

@Playingchesswithpigeons Did the camera have to be sent away to be processed?
Could the photos been sent to the wrong store?
There could have been an issue with the camera and none of the photos worked but the staff at the shop haven't been told that.
Could you find out where the photos are printed and contact them directly?
These are questions to ask the store manager.

The courier has proven that the photos were sent back to the store. The store has lost them.

Happened to me once. They never found them. Wankers.

Yes. I once got my pics and someone else’s negatives back.

Compensation just puts you back in the position you were in before. So, in this case, fair compensation would be a voucher to cover the cost of the camera....

So, you mean not only have they lost the photo's. She now has to re purchase a new disposable camera at her cost?