Lost in the mail...

[NickTrop]

🙁

I sent my first two rolls of Tri-X to Dwaynes to sample their prints. They mailed it on 8/26, 1st Class USPS. Definitely should have arrived by now. So happens, there was actually some stuff on these rolls I really wanted too. (A friend who likes "my work" (love it when people say that...) wanted me to take pictures of his newborn, the mum... etc.)

Not Dwaynes fault at all. They mailed it to the correct address, which is my office, where I get stuff delivered all the time...

Any recommendations? May seem a sill question but I have never had anything lost in the mail before in my entire 45 years on the planet.

Any hope ya think or do you think all is lost?
|

 

[tmfabian]

give it a few more days, it was a holiday weekend afterall. But mail does indeed get lost...i've had a few things lost in the mail, and from my experience there isn't a single thing that can be done about it.

 

[Shadowplay]

I wouldn't give up hope yet. I've had first class parcels take 3 weeks via usps just from the west coast to the midwest. I receive a LOT of packages and ship less frequently, but USPS is by far the least reliable method for shipping in my experience. It's been about a week with the holiday in there. I would start to worry if you still haven't received it in a week.

They aren't like UPS/Fedex where it's pretty much guaranteed no more than 5 business days for standard ground service.

 

[jan normandale]

Nick, I've a friend in Seattle who used Dwaynes and she wasn't too satisfied. I think they send stuff when they are done and not before. Either the mail is slow which is a real possibility or they hadn't processed the film yet. I'd wait about 10 business days before doing a follow up with Dwaynes or USPS. I like the USPS. They are pretty darned good!

My question is why you would send film there and not take it to a pro lab in your town? Or is the home town without a pro lab?

 

[NickTrop]

Nick, I've a friend in Seattle who used Dwaynes and she wasn't too satisfied. I think they send stuff when they are done and not before. Either the mail is slow which is a real possibility or they hadn't processed the film yet. I'd wait about 10 business days before doing a follow up with Dwaynes or USPS. I like the USPS. They are pretty darned good!

My question is why you would send film there and not take it to a pro lab in your town? Or is the home town without a pro lab?

Thanks for the advise, all. I heard good things about Dwaynes, prices seemed reasonable even with shipping. My local pro lab stopped doing black and white near my home. I really didn't investigate much beyond that...

Ya gots me thinkin' though...
|

 

[Chuck Albertson]

I always send Kodachrome to Dwayne's using USPS Priority Mail, and they return it the same way. It costs a few bucks, but you get a tracking number (Dwayne's emails it to you when they ship) and it tends to show up in about two days, Kansas to Seattle.

 

[ItsReallyDarren]

Dont lose hope yet, I bought a camera off a certain auction site but never saw it for 2 months. Lo and behold one morning I see a mysterious little box at my door, a little banged up but still found its way!!

 

[retro]

If it was correctly addressed, it's very unlikely that you won't get
it. Sometimes mail gets misrouted which adds about 2 weeks
to the delivery time.

 

[pesphoto]

I bought an Olympus XA off ebay about 3 years ago and it never made it's way to me.

 

[chris91387]

funny, my bills always seem to make it to my mailbox.

- chris

 

[Al Patterson]

funny, my bills always seem to make it to my mailbox.

- chris

I have had times when my Visa bill didn't arrive. Maybe they split the late fees with the Post Office?

I think that over the years I have really had two or three bills I was expecting not arrive, and one package lost. Probably 5 9's or better overall.

Although there was a first class flat sent from Delaware to Brea, CA that took eight days.

 

[NickTrop]

Well - believe it or not, it arrived today.

This was a couple hours after I called the USPS and spoke with a nice operator. I knew it would arrive and this thread was part of why I knew this. Thanks all.

Here's my theory and why I was certain if I put up this thread and called customer service my film would "change state" from "lost" state to "arrived" state. It's closely related to quantum physics...

Ever hear of the wave/particle theory in quantum physics? That light is a wave until it is "observed" consciously. Then it changes state, the wave collapses into particles. The very act of being observed results in the change of state of the object being observed at the quantum level.

I put forth that if something is lost in the mail, the very act of acknowledging its loss, especially if said loss is made via a phone call to USPS customer service, will result in the object being "observed" (consciously acknowledged) to "change state" from a "lost" state to an "arrived/found" state in the same way light changes state at the quantum level when it is observed.

I call this my "Schrödinger's Cat is Lost in the Mail" Theory.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Back in the day, when I was a smoker, I used to light up a cig while waiting for the bus. The service in my country (Guatemala) is far from perfect, but the minute I laid back and decided to enjoy a smoke, the bus never failed to come.

It's like going to the bathroom in a restaurant while you're waiting for your food. It's bound to arrive while you're away from your seat.

Murphy's Law? Schroedinger's Cat Principle? Natarus Package Theorem? Who knows, but the next time a package gets late, I'll start a thread here. That'll creat the Nicholas tradition! 🙂

BTW, I'm glad the film arrived!

 

[Charlie]

So Nick, what do you think? Are you happy with Dwayne's work?

 

[Al Patterson]

Well - believe it or not, it arrived today.

This was a couple hours after I called the USPS and spoke with a nice operator. I knew it would arrive and this thread was part of why I knew this. Thanks all.

Here's my theory and why I was certain if I put up this thread and called customer service my film would "change state" from "lost" state to "arrived" state. It's closely related to quantum physics...

Ever hear of the wave/particle theory in quantum physics? That light is a wave until it is "observed" consciously. Then it changes state, the wave collapses into particles. The very act of being observed results in the change of state of the object being observed at the quantum level.

I put forth that if something is lost in the mail, the very act of acknowledging its loss, especially if said loss is made via a phone call to USPS customer service, will result in the object being "observed" (consciously acknowledged) to "change state" from a "lost" state to an "arrived/found" state in the same way light changes state at the quantum level when it is observed.

I call this my "Schrödinger's Cat is Lost in the Mail" Theory.

So, until you opened the mail box, the cat was half dead/half alive?

I believe you described the "Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle".

 

[gb hill]

I'm glad to see you got it. I figured someone read that 'Which film taste the best' thread and ate it.😉

 

[jan normandale]

Well - believe it or not, it arrived today.

This was a couple hours after I called the USPS and spoke with a nice operator. I knew it would arrive and this thread was part of why I knew this. Thanks all.

Here's my theory and why I was certain if I put up this thread and called customer service my film would "change state" from "lost" state to "arrived" state. It's closely related to quantum physics...

Ever hear of the wave/particle theory in quantum physics? That light is a wave until it is "observed" consciously. Then it changes state, the wave collapses into particles. The very act of being observed results in the change of state of the object being observed at the quantum level.

I put forth that if something is lost in the mail, the very act of acknowledging its loss, especially if said loss is made via a phone call to USPS customer service, will result in the object being "observed" (consciously acknowledged) to "change state" from a "lost" state to an "arrived/found" state in the same way light changes state at the quantum level when it is observed.

I call this my "Schrödinger's Cat is Lost in the Mail" Theory.

Nick ... either yer a genius or you've too much time on your hands. I'm not sure which. Not that it matters.

 

[NickTrop]

Back in the day, when I was a smoker, I used to light up a cig while waiting for the bus. The service in my country (Guatemala) is far from perfect, but the minute I laid back and decided to enjoy a smoke, the bus never failed to come.

It's like going to the bathroom in a restaurant while you're waiting for your food. It's bound to arrive while you're away from your seat.

Murphy's Law? Schroedinger's Cat Principle? Natarus Package Theorem? Who knows, but the next time a package gets late, I'll start a thread here. That'll creat the Nicholas tradition! 🙂

BTW, I'm glad the film arrived!

Thanks - and yes, I smoked until very recently and smoked when I didn't have a car in college and took the bus everywhere. Your axiom is true. Light up, bus "appears" as if from an alternate dimension. Same holds true with stepping away from your table to take a squirt (or in rare instances when you need to drop a chop in a public stall) while waiting for your food at a restaurant... it's all quantum voodoo. I'm certain.

______________

Jan and Charlie - 1st time I used Dwayne's and I'd give them a B? I'd use them again, but I have seen better results. Dunno. I was shooting a Konica Auto S3, bright sunlight, f8. Didn't seem quite as sharp as I'm used to with this lens. Could have been flare, bright sun. One of the prints has some drops on it(?). Another a very faint line like from a roller? They were good enough to give another go, but they weren't any better than I get from C41 black and white at the one hour minilab when "Jen" does my prints. They were okay.
____________________________________

Al - it might be the "Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle" but I'm not sure.

___________

Everyone else, thanks for helping me work with the quantum voodoo forces to get my prints!

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Nick, I've sent B&W film for developing and, to tell you the truth, nobody does it well.

Fuji Neopan 1600 sent to Adorama for developing; prints are so contrasty my wife said they looked like stills from an old "noir" film (like, say, The Third Man, check it out and you'll see what I mean). Not quite happy. Plus it took them forever to send it back!

Kodak T-Max 3200 shot in Austin TX and mailed to Dwayne's. Granted, this one went through an X-Ray machine in the airport on the way back home... but all the shots were apparently overexposed by one stop. Very thin blacks, weird grays, strange...

Best solution: develop your own and then scan it.

In any event, I'm glad the film came back. Next time send them slide film. They are really good at it. Hmmm... Kodachrome (they're the only ones in the US processing the stuff).

Take care!