Southtree

It has been four months and no sign of my tapes. No more updates are being sent to me about my order and I am afraid my tapes are lost.

It has been exhausting doing business with this company. After reading some positive reviews I purchased 2 coupons from them through Group-on. BIG MISTAKE. First coupon used I sent them 16 VHS tapes to convert to DVD. Second one used to convert 17 mini-tapes to DVD. I reviewed all the tapes prior to shipping them. There were some minor flaws with them (tracking line that would come and go here and there) but nothing major. When I received the DVD's half of them had issues. One DVD returned had a Hollywood movie on it that was not on any of tapes? Three of the DVD's had half the footage recorded that was on the tape... like someone stopped it before it completed the conversion. Several DVD's either had serious tracking or volume issues. They slap a note on the tape basically stating "did the best we could but...". Now you would think, maybe it was the tapes? But here is the kicker, I checked the tapes at home AGAIN! And did not find any issues. I returned the tapes with the converted DVD after explaining the issue and received replacements. Of these replacement DVD's, some that had major video issues the first time but no volume issues now had major volume issues but the video was fine? Another note attached to the tape with that message "sorry", Plus, like the 1st shipment, a few DVD's did not have the full footage of the tape. Now I'm really steamed. How could the volume be fine the 1st time but not the 2nd time, where as the video was fine the 2nd time but not the 1st time? And what is with cutting the tape short? So now I speak with a supervisor (Josh) whom says "here is my direct email, I'm going to handle this personally". Okay, great! Send these back for a 3rd time. Half come back converted fine. The other half... more issues. I have spent so much time reviewing my original tapes to check for flaws... then checking the converted DVD's 2-3 times. I'm talking hours that I don't really have. I've dealt with several other conversion companies over the years and never had any major issues. You should be able to send in your items for conversion, receive them in the allotted time, seat down and enjoy them. My experience with Southtree has been anything but enjoyable.

Steer clear of Southtree! I bought 3 Groupons to have my video tape collection converted, and I wish I had seen reviews before making that purchase. I did read some reviews prior to sending in my orders, so I made return address labels with my contact info and order numbers and made sure there was one on each tape. Well, I received my orders in acceptable time--about two months--but I also received another customer's order. It wasn't mixed in with mine--just a separate box with my address on it, but someone else's videos. Not only did it have this customer's precious home movies in it; included for some reason was the original written order form with complete credit card number, expiration date, and security code. Not cool!

I emailed Southtree to ask how I should deal with their mistake. I was asked to print a FedEx label, repack the box, and send it back to Southtree. When I requested that they arrange a pickup at my house since there is not a FedEx location conveniently located near me, I was told they could not do that. Since I don't have a FedEx account, I could not do it myself. The Southtree Rep (whose emails always began with "Hey, Susan" as if we were teenager buddies) then informed me that her internet research indicated there was a FedEx location only seven miles from my zip code. They were offering me no compensation/refund, yet expected me to make a 35-minute round trip drive out of my way. Ridiculous! Of course, I wanted to make sure the other customer got her videos, but I thought Southtree should make every effort to minimize my inconvenience since it was completely their error. Finally, the informal "Agent of Happiness" (as they call themselves) checked with her manager and scheduled the FedEx pickup. I put the package out, it was taken, and I haven't heard anything else from them.

I have only watched snippets of a few of my DVDs, and the quality is disappointing. Also, I went to a lot of trouble putting clear character-limited labels on each tape so my Dvds would have titles printed on them, but none were labeled. More work for me!

Maybe it was a good price for the conversion service, but this is not a responsible company. Don't entrust your memories with such careless people.

I am a big fan of Southtree transfer services. They have earned my confidence and respect by the way they care for their customers and the quality of the final product. I dont even mind that Im forever embarrassing myself on these old tapes; I feel good about Southtree and I do recommend them often. For comparison let me share my previous experience with a video transfer service that made me leery to repeat the process until Southtrees customer reviews convinced me to take another chance.

More than a few years back, I had one of my videos transferred onto a dvd by a service provided through a local drugstore. The process was long, and I was kept in the dark throughout the entire processI was not sure if my tape was lost or in a techs hands. My original video tape had a short blank spot followed by at least 30 minutes of additional footage. The service I used did not include this extra time on my dvd and cut the transfer as soon as it recognized a blank spot, there was no human involvement. I didnt feel this service cared one way or the other if they lost my video and didnt bother reaching out to me with my complaint.
To date I have had four orders of multi tape shipments transferred onto dvd by Southtree. First of all, they ask you to post onto their fb page what you are sending and they respond! Then every step of the way they email you about your material and inform you which part of production it is in. Then after shipment you immediately have a tracking number. They have great prices (many sales!) and they offer a variety of upgrades. Southtree amaze me on how fast they are able to process my orders. Soon I will be moving along to preserving my photographs.
As Im getting older, and there is not always a tomorrowIm happy to have found a service that I trust and finally get this long wanted process completed.

TL; DR: They lost my tapes and are not helping to locate them or offer solutions.

I sent Legacybox/Southtree three miniDV tapes to be converted. While I received the Legacybox to pack and return to them at my old address, I moved the next week and updated my address on the confirmation card of contact information included in the box. End of story, right?

Nope.

After receiving notice that "my item had been delivered," I emailed them because I had not received my tapes. Days went by with emails unanswered. I finally hear back that "it is not their policy to send it to an address different from the order address." Well, then why have the address confirmation card in the box? This policy is not stated in their materials included in the box or on their website. Had this been communicated anywhere, I would have followed procedure for change of address. And clearly someone who unpacked the box had to check the address confirmation card and ignored it, no? I pointed this out to the representative and asked how we could find a solution. No answer.

I called them for help, they promised to call back and never did.

I tweeted them for help. Not only did my tweets go ignored, they changed their username in the meantime. Even their CEO ignored my request for assistance.

Finally, their director of customer service got back to me. She was helpful and responded in a timely manner. Our research into what happened the package lasted only a week, because just this morning when I emailed her for an update, I received an automatic reply that she had quit the company.

I am now back to square one, with my tapes out there, somewhere. Legacybox says #MemoriesMatter to them, but they clearly do not take that mission statement to heart. Their customer service is poor, their CEO doesn't care, their policies unclear, and I am heartbroken as a result.

It has now been over a month of this nonsense. I'll be disputing this with my credit card company, but unfortunately no amount of money will bring back my memories on tape.

UPDATE 11/30/15: Over four months later and I still have no information from them on where my tapes could be. Buyer beware and stay away from Southtree and Legacybox.