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Posted by L. on November 29, 2002 at 07:32:20:
In Reply to: Mystic Color Lab sold to Clark/District Photo posted by JohnS on November 16, 2002 at 14:46:47:
>> Mystic Color Lab is being sold to Clark, Distict Photo or whatever they are known as, these days, which means operations will surely go downhill.
For your information, Clark and York Photo Labs are also one in the same owned by District Photo in Maryland along with Snapfish.com, and I agree now that Mystic Color Lab is the new child of District Photo, service will go downhill without a doubt. York and Clark quality and service is downright poor. I know first hand -- Former MCL employee.
Posted by Katharine M on January 10, 2003 at 11:41:30:
On 12/16 I received pictures from Beltsville,MD that had been sent to Mystic, CT. The results were awful - terrible contrast, darks too dark and lights too light. Also the usual Mystic numbering system that allows easy identification of negatives was missing. I sent two e-mails to Customer Service and have had no response. Now I know why!! I will no longer even consider using Mystic. Such a shame as Mystic was the best.
Posted by L. on January 11, 2003 at 10:46:06:
1/11/03. It is a shame that Mystic Color Lab was sold to District Photo. As for the quality and service, it won't get any better. I worked at Mystic Color Lab for over ten years as a certified Quality Control Technician until MCL was bought in November (2002. Clark/York doesn't have the sophisticated capabilities as Mystic Color Lab had (i.e., inkjet backprinting). Their entire customer service is also not like Mystic Color Lab. Like many customers losing their film and receiving other people's photos, Mystic Color Lab "competitive test" rolls always got lost in the system at Clark.. In fact, I think the reason for the lost rolls and mixes, is due in part to immigrants who work in production and barely speak a word of English! Unfortunately, as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for". As a former employee and customer of Mystic Color Lab, I feel that your local photofinishing lab will just as good a job-you just have to find them even if it means paying a little extra. Good luck.
Posted by Pat on January 15, 2003 at 16:22:37:
I sent negatives to Mystic Lab before Thanksgiving. Have used them for years with great success. Today, 1-15-03 after numerous phone calls and being told they have no record of my account, I finally received the shabbiest pictures I have ever seen. Asked for duplicates and in some cases got three of the same picture and in others got one. Figure. Lesson - stay away from Mystic Lab.
Posted by Kate on January 18, 2003 at 14:49:54:
Well, that explains a lot. In 3 orders sent to them Dec 17,19 and Jan 2 - one is "lost" and their customer service rep claims that is not their responsibility as they show they mailed it out, so they couldn't care less. The other 2 I got back but were such poor quality that they've lost me as a customer forever. I can't begin to tell you how upset I was to see the poor quality of pictures they sent back, as far as I'm concerned it was a total waste of money and will now cost me MUCH more to get reprints of the good shots redone correctly. Such a shame. By the way, the customer rep I spoke to could not have passed an English test, which I have no problem with had her concern been for anything other than getting off the phone as quickly as possible. They lose on every count that matters to me.
Posted by Marie on January 18, 2003 at 06:58:15:
I was paid for a photo job on December 20th. have yet to see the pictures from Mystic Color Lab. The phone is either busy or no answer. I was a loyal Mystic customer for over 11 years. what a shame.
Posted by Chris Weber on January 21, 2003 at 17:03:35:
I've been using Mystic for over 10 years and just received from them the worst processing ever from anywhere. Negatives scratched, horrible contrast, dust and fibers showing up on the prints, bad scans on floppy when I ordered a CD, etc. No reponse from e-mail and busy signal on phone. It's a shame, Mystic was a great company. I'll be looking elsewhere for processing. Any other mail order suggestions?
Posted by Jennifer Snow on January 22, 2003 at 10:39:30:
I was very disappointed in my first order received from the new owner of Mystic Color Lab. I sent an email to customer service and no one responded. I hope they will revert to using the equipment Mystic Color Lab used, which was more archival! Mystic used to label each roll made on a particular established account sequentially. Then each print was labeled with the print number and the roll number, as well as each negative strip. The new owner is apparently not offering this service, although I wrote and asked why this has been changed.
Posted by Mac on January 23, 2003 at 06:53:14:
Please get me an email address for the company and or an old one for Mystic I am disgusted by this.
Editor's Note: Contact information for Clark Color Labs is in our FAQ. Clark is owned by District Photo, the buyers of Mystic Color Lab.
Posted by Gerald on January 31, 2003 at 09:02:25:
Amen! Have had about all of the same experiences, Mystic Color Lab has lost my business forever. And the former owner says the change should be "transparent" Ha!
Posted by kathy on February 24, 2003 at 13:40:55:
The opportunity exists for the District Photo executives to learn from their purchase of the very best mail-order photo lab that existed.
So far I haven't seen even a letter to customers. Until I got on the Internet to investigate the facts (old newspaper articles), I knew only the conflicting rumors "out of business," "relocated" or "sold." I wasn't even sure what to do with my film.
The new owners haven't made any attempt to correspond with Mystic customers or give them any sense of the future relationship that could be theirs. A professional approach might include a letter from District's CEO, perhaps a reprint of a press release, or some new mailers with correct postal information that would limit lost order problems.
It's a shame Mystic didn't buy District. The fact that District did not also purchase the Mystic facility, equipment and service approach is a loss to the company (District), the State of Connecticut and former Mystic customers and employees.
Couldn't this mistake be reversed? Couldn't District attempt to run an operation out of Mystic, learning from the Mystic team and delivering the Mystic-quality product to a very loyal customer base?
Perhaps we should all ask District to reconsider its future direction with the Mystic customer base.
Posted by Sharon on February 25, 2003 at 12:11:59:
I live in the area where Mystic Color Labs is located, or was, but something is very strange, just yesterday I received an advertisement for me to send my film to the labs....but as far as I know they are no longer in existence at that location. Would appreciate it if anybody else has received this advertisement and knows any further information, to please respond.
As far as quality, I sent only one film there and for the price was not pleased with the results.
Posted by Theresa Westmoreland on March 02, 2003 at 01:28:30:
I am outraged, as a customer, I was not notified before they processed my film. They should have notified all Mystic customers, it was now a new company processing the orders. I called the Mystic Post Office to see why my pictures were being delayed. They told me all of the Mystic employees were let go with 24 hours notice. Very sad.
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