Unfortunately labs change. They get a new manager who is only interested in the money side of things. The lab tech turn over gets so high there is no one there who is expert enough to sort problems out. The lab is sold to someone who doesn't care how it is run.
The very best labs are run by the owner who is an avid photographer himself. The problem with those labs are they are usually under financed and don't last long.
The next best are very large people labs. That is the kind of place that processes school photos, team photos, wedding photos, etc. They are geared to high production quality work, but your negs need to be pretty consistent or they will start charging you set-up fees.
After those things are pretty much hit and miss.
William Robb wrote:
Even the best lab is going to have an off day from time to time. I hear from time to time that a person has been going to the same lab for years, always happy with the work, then one time they get off colour prints back, and they never go back to that lab. This is really a stupid way to deal with what is probably a one off problem. Go back, let them fix the problem, or at least try to. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can't. Maybe another lab can fix something, and still turn out crap the other 99% of the time.
-- graywolf http://graywolfphoto.com
"You might as well accept people as they are, you are not going to be able to change them anyway."
