Note that this review is more than 6 months old and the company's procedures may have changed considerably since this review was written.
26/11/07
I went to the shop in Altrincham to get passport photos done for my 5 months old baby. It was 10am when I got there to be told as soon as I got into the shop that there was a 10mn wait as the 2 members of staff were already dealing with customers. I was then asked to put baby on a mat on the floor where it was dirty and cold. Since it was for a French passport babies need to have their mouth closed. The assistant waited 1/2 minute with us as Romain had his mouth open and was smiling at her. She then got fed up and decided to see to a customer. She then went on serving 3 customers without even checking on us. My baby waited 20mn on the floor. The assistant never came back to check on us.
I find the service a total disgrace. She did half apologise for the wait. I can tell you that I will take my business somewhere else from now on. This is no wait of treating customers especially with babies so small. I am outraged.

Note that this review is more than 6 months old and the company's procedures may have changed considerably since this review was written.
im most upset that as a manager in ms there are people still being treated like that, if i found my staff treating the customers in that way i would have some harsh words for them. i myself have obvioulsy made mistakes (as everyone does at some point,)but if ive caused a problem i find it only fair to be honest to the customer and try to rectify my error, i have drove to collect incorrect orders from customers homes (which is my own choice) then reproduced them and either posted them out to them or dropped them back off when sorted out. i find that people like honesty..
sometimes its not always the staffs fault as some people are not always clear on their instructions and do not listen to what the staff are asking them.
And as for the 20 min service all i can say is it is totally impossible to print 3 or 4 films in 20 mins when you have at least 3 machines to control, maybe 500-600 digital prints to produce, probably staff shortage as it is all over my area. if i was allowed more hours for my staff i would be able to stop that 15min queue, its as frustrating for me to see you lot grimacing at me when im trying my hardest to hurry up with that one customer who wants everything...
I just wish that some people would help themselves out coz to be honest some people dont try and that spoils it for the people who really dont know how..
maybe if your not satisfied with a certain store i suggest you try another store, ther are lots of helpful staff at ms. Maybe im just lucky with my staff..?

Note that this review is more than 6 months old and the company's procedures may have changed considerably since this review was written.
i took my memory card full of holiday photos into max speilman where they put it into 5 different machines which didnt read my card. they told me there was a problem and to come back tomorrow. i then put the card back in my camera but it read 'card error' - all my photos had gone - were all there prior to visiting the shop. ive since been advised that their machines caused this damage. anyone else had a similar experience?

Note that this review is more than 6 months old and the company's procedures may have changed considerably since this review was written.
After shopping in my local branch of Max Spielman(Castleford)i felt i must let others know of the fantastic customer service i recieved. After explaining i was a complete novice with my digital camera the staff took me through the essentials that i needed to know then allowed me to print my prints with ease. Its not very often that good efforts get reconised. Well done girls!!!!

Note that this review is more than 6 months old and the company's procedures may have changed considerably since this review was written.
I recently had a second roll of film developed at MS for a university project. It featured shots from the lake district and as far as London. I asked my mum to collect them the day after as she was in town. The lady behind the counter said the film was blank, and there must be a fault with my camera. She showed the film to my mum and then threw it away. Later I asked my mum what colour the film was, she said black. This means that it was developed, but obviously wrongly. I spoke to the customer 'don't' care team and they said the branch had developed the film wrong and used the chemicals for colour processing. How stupid are the staff at MS?!? I never use developing, its all digital, but this was a uni project, hence the film developing. I have one half of a project that I couldn't complete because of their stupidity. I received a £10 voucher to be used on developing, this was after I said I don't get films developed. Then I received a free film and an insulting letter saying that the business terms stated they don't compensate for lost or damaged photographs. As far as I see it, it wasn't 'lost or damaged', it was staff negligence. Aparently, MS will look into to the matter to prevent further problems recurring in the future. Having read some comments on this website, I am sure that is an empty hollow promise.

I am urging people to contact me about similar problems. I so far have quite a few responses and am going to take the matter to trading standards. Watchdog has also shown interest due to the amount of complaints made. To add your name to the list please contact me on kathrynspeak@hotmail.com.

Maybe MS might actually take notice, as I believe strength is in numbers.

Note that this review is more than 6 months old and the company's procedures may have changed considerably since this review was written.
For as far back as I remember, i've been using Max Spielmann in Tamworth Centre to buy cameras from, and get photos developed. But in the last year or so, i've experienced a few problems. The first one was when I took about 3 photographs in to get coped. I also brought in the negatives so that the staff could make a decision on the quickest method to copy the photos. They told me they would take 10 minutes to copy-so my friend and I returned in that time. They said they had problems with the machine, and couldn't find the photgraph. It took them about 20 minutes to work out how to use the machine properly-with me and my friend helping (we were both 15 at the time). I was a bit annoyed that it took so long to do, but I was glad that I got my copied photos (even though one of them had strange white lines on the top and bottom of one of the photos).

Another time that the staff have made a mistake was when I took a disposable camera in to get developed. They gave me a slip saying to come back in about a week. I don't usually go into town because the bus fare is expensive, and I haven't got much money, but I came in to pick up the photos. To my extreme dismay, they told me that they hadn't developed the photos yet, and that i'd have to come in the day after.

Also, another time when I recieved some photos back, I noticed that a few photos were missing. It is understandable that the bad photos are not printed, but there was one picture which was perfectly ok, I complained and they blamed it on the machine again.

My latest problem with Max Spielmann was when I used the computer in the shop to print some of my digital photos from my camera's memory card. I loaded them onto the machine, and opted for 2 days because it was cheaper. I decided to give them 3 days because I know that the staff are lazy and tend not to get photos done on time...when I went in to pick up the photos, they looked for them, and said they couldn't find them. After about 5 minutes they said that the photos had probably been wiped off the machine, and they
blamed it on the new worker there. I bet if I was with my mum then they would be offering me reduced prices etc because of their frequent mistakes, but because I am only 16 then they may feel as though they can take advantage of me, and simply say 'come back tomorrow'.

I don't expect to pay most of my small earnings from my paper round to sit on a bus for half an hour, stand in max spielman for 20 minutes for them to tell me they lost my photos/the machine isn't working properly, and then spend another half an hour on the bus home. Those staff have cost me more money than it's worth, I might aswell pay more and go another shop to get my photos developed. Even if the bus fare is more expensive, they
might actually know how to work things, and it would cost me less in the long term.


I don't know how they employ their staff, or even if they teach them how to use the machine or not, but the staff in Tamworth's max spielman look and act as if they'd just been thrown into a uniform and put behind the counter. I'm surprised they even know what shop they're working in.

Note that this review is more than 6 months old and the company's procedures may have changed considerably since this review was written.
Not all max speilmans are the same i am a manager with one of the shops in birmingham and i can say even though SOME max speilmans have problems not all are the same, every company has its problems and we are not the only processing company to lose photos, i know it is a problem when you hand your films in and they get lost, but most shops do their best to try and locate the photos, and the customer service dept are helpful, i would trust my photos with max speilman and i am not saying that because i work for them i know how hard the staff work to solve problems.

Note that this review is more than 6 months old and the company's procedures may have changed considerably since this review was written.
Me & a friend recently returned from a holiday in barbados i took 2 of the Max Spielman single use cameras with us, the day after our return i got the train to birmingham & paid an extra £6 so i could have the photo's back in an hour, as our local shop has closed down. When i seen the quality of the photos i could have cried. Even the ones took in the middle of the day on the beach where dark & patchy. So I've got no clear memorys of my holiday of a life time.

Note that this review is more than 6 months old and the company's procedures may have changed considerably since this review was written.
My wife, son and myself use the Crewe branch and have always found the staff to be helpful and friendly. The service is good - prints from memory cards or CDs and the products of good value. You can't ask for more - but we got more. One member of staff even phoned around the branches to get us a second photo album as we were so pleased with the first and wanted to give one as a present. She phoned us to let us know that she had found one; the second album and the prints were at the branch within a couple of days. Super service.

Note that this review is more than 6 months old and the company's procedures may have changed considerably since this review was written.
Leigh branch another good experince of leigh branch; took in digital prints of friends wedding day. All pics had been resized (zoomed in) by MS on prints so many if not all the pics had peoples heads missing, which is unfortunate considering people might like to see the groom and brides face. After about 15mins of being told it must have been like that on the original (er they are digital so I've seen em on the camera ?) I insisted on taking a look at the CD they produced on the Kodak machine and hey the heads are back, aparently is was because the prints had been ordered in 7X5 so they resize, even though we didn't ask for 7X5 and didn't request the head chopping off service, thank god we still got the pics on the computer.