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A few months ago a friend told me of a newspaper article that mentioned Cosco as a place to take old movie film to be converted to DVD. She thought I would be interested because that’s what I do!  My company, VideoGraphics has been transferring film to digital format for years.

She saved the article for me to read and I was not that impressed. I’ve seen companies come and go for years, all trying to capitalize on a video market. What makes me sad, however, is that people are unaware that they get what they pay for.

You see, Cosco prices were cheap. That’s what bothers me the most. Cheap prices attract people and a custom service is much different than a mass product. People just don’t equate the two when spending their money.

At the time of this writing I have in my hands a DVD produced by Cosco from old movie film.  A former customer sent it to me, along with the original film, to have re-done. She said she was disappointed in the Cosco quality.

I first spoke to the customer, Henrietta, on the phone. She had used the service of VideoGraphics for a number of years, sending in (across 5 states) batches according to her budget. The last batch, she explained, went to Cosco because it was nearby. It took a long time to get it back, and when she received it, she was aghast at the poor quality compared to what she had gotten from me in the past.

So, I have in my hand her Cosco DVD, which is blurry, faded in color, and outright inferior. How can a large company be so ignorant as to outsource  miles of old movie film without giving concern to the quality? I know they do “miles” of it, due to the vastness of Cosco, itself.

I’ve seen this before. Years ago Service Merchandise tried film to video transfer and failed. Fox Photo offered it here in Atlanta and we re-did MANY orders from customers who were dissatisfied with Fox Photo and with Wolf Camera (now Ritz) transfer services. I give a 20% discount to anyone who wants a re-do from previous unsatisfactory work.

Some people who call me for information ask why my prices for film transfer are higher than chain stores. I always tell them “you get what you pay for”. Somehow, I think they don’t believe me. It saddens me to realize so many people have wasted money on an inferior product that means so much to them in the way of family memories. When asked, the customer who is re-doing the order, tells me the chain store told them, “That’s the way the movies look.” NOT TRUE.

I have tons and tons of happy customers, the names of which are on my website from all around the world. If you are considering transferring old movie film, PLEASE ask the business you’re considering to give you references (real ones that you can check out). I doubt they will do it.

My personal technician re-did Henrietta’s film conversion to DVD. When viewed side-by-side, the new one has bright color and sharper imaging. Cosco’s is dull and smeary.

This is not a promotion or commercial for my own business. This is an informative attempt to tell people there IS a difference.

Thank you for reading.