Kodak Moments…Lots of Them
I had just entered one of the Targets I frequent, and caught a glimpse of what’s left of their photo department. This sad little Kodak kiosk.
I approached, its three dangling cables beckoning. I inspected them; USB-C, Lightning, and a third I don’t remember as I lost interest after seeing the lightning connector. I tapped the screen to see what sizes they offered, and I got thinking, “what if…” so, I engaged.
So many options; wired, Bluetooth, Wi-fi, DVD, Flash Drive, SD Card. I chose my print size and went for wireless, but then I needed to download the “Kodak moments” app. Along the way, my credit card info appeared, and I was asked to enter my credit card security code, so I took for granted it would be charged.
App installed, I needed to connect to it via Wi-if. Connected, I needed to download something printworthy from my Flickr account. Or Instagram. But, my connection was blocked. Sure enough, when I turned off Wi-fi, my content came right back up.
Photos downloaded, I tried to reconnect with the Kiosk, only this time with Bluetooth. Another fail…not supported. So it’s back to Wi-fi. I’m about ten minutes into this now.
Finally, I manage to send my photo to the kiosk, select a quantity, and print. I get the message, “printing in progress”. And I wait. And wait. A progress bar would be nice. Silence. Still waiting. “How long is this going to take?”, I ask a Target passerby. “It takes a while”, was the response.
I’m about fifteen minutes into this now, Kodak moments seeming like Kodak hours. Finally, another Target associate comes to my aid. She logs onto an admin screen and sees the message, “printer cover open”. She opens the green curtain and tries to close the cover; she reloads the paper, it won’t close. A colleague joins her, he tries, discovers the previous person tried to put the paper in upside down, still can’t get it to work. So I ask him to delete the photo I’ve just uploaded, but he can’t because my order number isn’t recognized by the System. So it’s off to the returns counter for a refund.
“Sorry, we can’t refund you, the transaction is processed by Kodak; you have to call them, although we can call on your behalf.”
WTF! Until now I’ve been courteous and patient, but this is quickly changing. It’s escalated to a manager who explains that despite the fact that the kiosk is located in a Target store, in the Target photo department, with Target printed on the receipt generated by the machine, that the transaction is handled by Kodak. Then, after spending several minutes trying to call “Kodak” (as if there’s still anything left of Kodak to field such a call), she reads “amount due” on the receipt, and realizes all of this is wrong. That I haven’t been charged after all.
So there you have it, a poor user interface, a finicky, unreliable machine, a team of people don’t know how to maintain it, a manager who doesn’t understand the billing process and 25 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.
It it any wonder photo shops are still in business?
