Best Buy opens online photo-processing lab

Best Buy on Friday launched a service that allows customers to upload digital pictures through the company's Web site, then pick up prints from one of its stores.

Prices start at 29 cents for a print measuring 4 inches by 6 inches. There is an additional fee for customers who want home delivery, Best Buy said.

Best Buy's ImageLab Web site also offers tools for cropping and editing photos, creating online photo albums and designing personalized greeting cards using digital pictures. Customers must create a free ImageLab account to use the new service.

Digital photography is growing in popularity, yet the lure of getting pictures printed has not faded away. So services that combine digital photography and printing capabilities are cropping up. Earlier this year, pharmacy chain CVS launched a similar service.

"People love taking pictures with their digital cameras, knowing that they won't necessarily have to develop each photo," Mike Mohan, Best Buy's general manager of digital imaging, said in a statement. "Yet we know that many people are asking themselves, 'What's the easiest way to get my pictures out of the camera?'"

[briquce]

My bad ImageLab experience

Last week I received an email from Best Buy extolling the virtues of their new ImageLab service. I decided to give it a try.

So Last Friday (10/29/2004) I ordered a large print of one of my favorite pictures and indicated that I would pick it up at the Morse Road store (Columbus, Ohio). Yesterday (11/4/2004) I decided to stop by the store on my way home from work to see if my order was there. First I went to the digital camera department. They had several large multimedia displays advertising the new ImageLab service. When I finally found an employee I asked him to check on my order. He didn't know how to do that, or where they would be located so he directed me to the customer service desk. I then asked the clerk at the Customer Service desk about my order and was told to go to the digital camera department. I explained that they sent me to him. I spent the next 15 minutes waiting while he ran around looking for anyone that knew anything about in-store pickup for the ImageLab orders. In total I there were at least five people involved and not even one of them knew anything about it. He then went to look for another person. I waited 5 more minutes and finally gave up in frustration.

So this morning I went online to check the status page. It now says "Missing". So until/unless they work out the kinks I would definitely not recommend using this service. (Also note, I submitted 1 service request on this issue yesterday morning--just to find out what the delay was--and another today. They have not deigned to respond to either.)