SouthtreeReviews 381

I have trusted south tree with precious 8 and 16 mm film that my mother had dating back to the 1940's. Sure did not want to lose these precious memories that our family wasn't even sure what was on them. South tree did not disappoint. Transactions were uncomplicated and communications were timely and professional. I have also used their services to convert cassettes. Equally satisfied. They are my #1 to go to and should be yours as well.

We were reluctant to take the plunge and have our old videos (several of which were taken in the 1930's) updated for fear that either they were too old to be saved or somehow lost while I was mailing them. The instructions for mailing the tapes were simple and the process of sending them was also very easy. Southtree immediately let me know when the reels had arrived and also emailed me during the process of transforming them from reels to thumb drive to assure me that everything was going smoothly. The old tapes were returned in perfect shape and the new thumb drives were so clear- even the very oldest ones. We have had so much fun revisiting these events in our lives.

My husband and I had investigated many other companies to take on this project and we never took the leap until I found Southtree on my computer. The staff were communicative and answered all my questions, contacted us during the process of transferring them and returned all in perfect order. I recommend this company 100 percent. We are thrilled with the results.

The quality of the digital transfer of my cassette tapes was very good. The technicians, however, paid no attention to the holders in which the tapes were originally. I had to spend 45 minutes putting the tapes back in their original cases. That kind of sloppiness was disappointing.

I used to be a professional photographer, mostly landscapes and wildflowers. I sent Southtree 100 slides, mostly Ektachrome Professional and some Kodachrome. From their website I expected files of at least 3MB each. What I got back was a few that are almost okay, many that are grossly underexposed, some that were over-exposed, at least one with messed up colors and not one was 3MB and some that were less than 1MB. This took about 6 weeks, which I expected but I expected them to be good and in general, they are awful. So now I have to have them done again, this time one at a time for $3.50 each.

Let me skip to the punchline. I would not use Southtree again if the fate of the free world depended on it.

The entire process was agonizing. Every single step took forever. They kept my negatives for nearly three months. I just wanted some 35mm negatives scanned. Simple, right?

Well, after months of glacial progress, I got this enigmatic email from them saying that because my negatives were sent in negative sleeves, they were unable to process them. They also said that they would be happy to issue me a credit. Are you serious?

They never once suggested that sending negatives in negative sleeves would be a problem. And in fact, no one should ever remove photographic negatives from their sleeves unless they are being processed. They are too fragile. If I had just put them into a ziplock bag, which is apparently what the wanted, the negatives would have been scratched and damaged.

It is especially curious that one step in the process was for them to examine what I sent them to insure that they were acceptable. At that point, which was about a month into the process, they said that everything was fine.

So I basically just gave them $48 for nothing. They also wasted three months of my time. I still need the scans. I will use someone local. Southtree is a scam.

I sent my wedding video (that was on an old video recorder tape) in to Southtree and I was super nervous because it's irreplaceable and we've never watched it (this July will be 12 years!)... but Southtree kept me updated every step of the way, from sending me the initial box to ship it back it, to receiving it, to each step of the transformation and then the shipping info! I will be using this company for life!