Van’s Photo & Video

I will NEVER do business again with Van’s Photo in Mentor, Ohio, and I hope you won’t either. Here’s why:
I called Van’s Photo (8900 Mentor Avenue) in Mentor, Ohio, to ask how much it would cost to scan to a CD 106 vintage, priceless, and IRREPLACEABLE photo negatives from the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s. (MY PARENTS’ LIVES) I spoke to Heather, who told me it would cost $.95 per negative. She offered (I did not ask her) to write down that price and place it, along with my name, on a bulletin board for everyone to see because they were in the midst of moving to this location. She didn’t want any of the other employees to charge me a different amount. I brought in the negatives and Shawn, the store manager, took the order. He said it would take 2 – 3 days to complete. It took 2 full weeks, during which time I was given a HUGE «run around.» After many, many phone calls, I was told that the negatives were at a lab, or with the owner, Skip Wilmot. They were NEVER at the store. I thought they were lost, and I was VERY upset. Finally, I received a call from Skip, who told me they were ready. I asked for the amount due. He said, «I don’t have that information in front of me.» The next day I called Shawn and asked for the price. He told me that the order was «not here.» At this point I called (and texted) Skip because I was so angry. I never heard back from him. Finally, I got a call that the order was «in house.» I then asked Shawn how much I owed. He said, «We don’t discuss prices over the phone.» I traveled 38 miles one way to pick up the order (I chose Van’s on the recommendation from a friend, and because the price was so affordable). Shawn said the total was $ 310.00 (OMG!!), but the owner (Skip) reduced it by $ 100.00 because of the «inconvenience.» The total should have been $ 107.50 (including tax) @ $.95 apiece. I was furious. I asked for the negatives back, and Shawn REFUSED to give them to me without payment in full. Heather was also at the store, and she flat out told me that she «didn’t remember» the quote (NOT estimate) she had given me. Shawn offered an additional $ 20.00 off and to print 4×6 hard copies for free. He told me that $.95 was an «old price,» and since I brought in the order, there was a new owner. I felt pressured to pay in order to get my negatives back, (at this point I didn’t care about the CD), so I charged $ 228.98 on my credit card.
They didn’t have the decency to let me know that, before the work was done, the price had been changed AFTER I was given a quote, and AFTER I brought in my negatives???
Shawn was unable to generate an order receipt when I brought in the negatives because of the move and because the computer system was «not up and running» yet. That should have been my first clue.