Warning: Colourway Disposable Camera Processing

lyric_grace

Hi all Brides to be and newly married ladies.
I just wanted to offer a warning to those of you out there who may have purchased disposable cameras for the tables and have free processing from colourway labs.
I had these cameras on my tables throughout the day and evening which were purchased from an internet site (totally uninvolved with Colourway), and I happily sent them off with a cheque to cover extra costs (DVD's containing photos etc) and I am still waiting for them to be returned almost 9 weeks later. After numerous telephone calls to the company they still have not arrived, each time I have phoned they have given me a different story, saying they are still eing done, or they have been posted, or there are delays etc. They have also written an open letter on the confetti website saying they are experiencing a large demand, but when you look throught the forums on there some people have been waiting much longer then me with still no sign of any pictures!
They have funnily enough cashed my cheque though!!
So if my wanring stops just one more person from going through the upset I am currently suffering then I will have hopefully done my job. I just want my cameras back with or without any money, no amount of money can replace those pictures of our special day, so please be wanred as I have a feeling something funny is going on with them!!
If you need any more info just reply or PM me!
LG x

Lauraa1979

I have had the same issue, sent my cameras off about a month ago, money was taken from my account on 9th June - still no photos!

Horace

Complain to Consumer Direct and Trading Standards. Obtaining money and not providing the goods/services is deception and most likely theft.

Lauraa1979

Thanks I'll try that

cattattat

I really hope you both get your cameras back.

Make sure you kick up a merry fuss if you don't! :mad:

Horace

Maybe a call to your local newspapers might generate some action. Papers just love stories like this.

Horace

Maybe you should try calling your local newspapers to see if they will do a story on this troublesome company. Newspapers thrive on such stories and you never know you might get some kind reader offering to pay to have all your photos taken again (it may sound strange but it does happen).

Good luck and hope you get your pictures back or failing that give them lots of unwanted publicity.

HEATHERVICTORIA

hi i sent mine in april they took the money in may and i still havent got mine it is so upsetting as my wedding was in sri lanka so cant replace them. Has anyone got their number as i have lost it, thanks

lyric_grace

They have just made me so angry, I'm going to get in touch with the papers, its n just any photos, these are not replacable, and the compnay know that! Arrrrrrrrrrrr.............

JSouthern

Sent my wedding disposable cameras on 4th August. 1st one is returned by PO- unable to deliver. I hope the rest come back too as I'd put a cheque in each one. At least I can get them developed elsewhere. Interestingly the site 'find me a gift' .com is now selling the same cameras without the processing. I think colorway must have gone under.

J

lizmck

Hi all.

I'm afraid it is not good news about Colorway as you can see below.

In April this year I sent my daughters wedding cameras to them since then it has been an on going battle with confetti,:mad: who supplied the envelopes to send to colorway:mad: to be developed and colorway.

As this has been a problem for nearly a year now? And customers are no further forward, I thought you all would be interested in joining the you and your wedding forum www.youandyourwedding.co.uk to voice your views and read about others experiences and updates, afraid it makes pretty grim reading. But it lets you know you are not alone out there and the fight goes on.

Sorry to have been the one to give you the bad news but at least you will know what is going on.

WE WILL NOT GIVE UP The more publicity the better, don't you think.

An upset bride's Mum.

Liz.





***** PRESS INFORMATION - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*****

Wednesday 20th August 2008

Colorway/Dice Processing have stopped trading - unlikely to survive.

As we are sure many customers already know, there have been considerable problems over the past few months with the film processing service provided by Colorway and its London based subcontractor Dice Processing. Colorway, who have issued film processing envelopes to customers throughout the U.K. for many years, appear to have stopped trading.

The last 6 weeks have seen all customer support withdrawn, the website intermittent and complaints/correspondence going unanswered. Repeated attempts to contact the Directors have met with failure and it has proved impossible to get any credible information about the future of either Company.
The facts that we can ascertain are; that the processing laboratory in London SE14 has been entered and repossessed by the landlord, due to non-payment of rent. The Processing Equipment, which was on a lease basis, has been removed by its owners for the same reasons, and all staff have gone.
In simple terms, whilst the records at Companies House show these 2 organisations as still trading, the reality is that having no equipment, no staff, and seemingly no money, they will certainly be unable to operate for the foreseeable future and appear unlikely to survive in the long term.
The most pressing issue for the whole Wedding Industry has been the recovery of the thousands and thousands of customer films. It is a nationwide problem that is affecting every organisation offering the Colorway service.
The repossession of the laboratory in London, and the lack of accountability of the Directors have made the recovery of customers’ films an almost impossible task, but the industry has had some success and has managed to rescue a very substantial number of films from Colorway.

Sincere thanks must go to two individuals within the industry who spent many weeks tracking down the missing films to as far away as Asia! Without their dogged determination and persistence, many thousands of films would probably have been lost forever.
The situation today is that all of the films recovered are now being shipped back from abroad - nobody is yet clear why they were sent there in the first place - and also from 2 locations in the UK.
Once they are in a single, secure location, the films will be sorted, identified and ultimately reunited with as many customers as possible. This complex procedure will be carried out in a thorough and professional manner, and cannot be rushed if accurate results are to be achieved.

Work is about to start on the process and we hope to have initial results by mid September, but for some customers, this may take longer.

As an industry, we would ask for customers’ continued patience and understanding. The scale and complexity of the task is colossal, and involves thousands of customers and tens of thousands of films, every one of which has to be catalogued and cross-referenced.

For this reason, it is not possible to search for individual customers’ films amongst these huge volumes, but as and when films are accurately matched to their owners, they will be sent to the original supplier for them to forward to customers and ensure a proper follow up.

Customers are asked to contact their original supplier, only if they have not had an initial response by W/C September 21st.
We would ask customers to please understand that their suppliers, until only a day or so ago, were as much in the dark about events as everyone else. Until the initial sorting and identification can be done, these suppliers can add no further information, so please be understanding and try to restrict contact, until after the 21st September.

The financial circumstances of Colorway/Dice are such that any monies paid to them previously, are unlikely ever to be recovered by the Trade or Consumer alike, but customers will doubtless appreciate that by far the most important issue here is the recovery of their films, and truly extraordinary measures have been taken to make this a possibility.




Any documents or information relating to the financial circumstances of Colorway/Dice will be passed on to the relevant authorities. The industry is already co-operating fully with Trading Standards and stands ready to offer similar assistance to the Police and Regulatory Authorities when the time is appropriate.
The harsh reality of this situation, is that some customers and most suppliers will between them have lost tens of thousands of £’s and are unlikely to ever recover their money. The consolation is that the industry hopes to be able to reunite many people with their precious memories and so a complete disaster has been narrowly avoided.
*****END*****
For Further information on this release, please contact the trade organisation/supplier who has provided it to you.