If you want to scan old photos into digital images or convert old film and home movies to digital format, choosing a reliable company is essential. One popular option is ScanCafe, but is it the best choice? There’s no better way to find out than to check out ScanCafe customer feedback.
Capture has preserved memories for over 12 million families, so we understand the importance of customer satisfaction. That’s why we put together this guide to ScanCafe reviews so you can determine if they are the best choice for you.
Keep reading to learn about ScanCafe services, evaluate reviews, compare them with alternatives, and ultimately decide if they are the best choice for your family photos, home movies, and film reels.
Jump To:
- Understanding ScanCafe’s Offerings
- What Customers Are Saying: ScanCafe Reviews
- ScanCafe vs. Competitors
- Capture.com’s Take on ScanCafe
What Does ScanCafe Offer?
ScanCafe is a digitization service with over 15 years of experience and claims to have scanned over 150 million memories. They offer photo, photo slide, APS negative, and 35mm negative scanning services as well as VHS, S-VHS, Hi8, MiniDV, and Betamax conversion and 8mm and Super 8 mm film transfer.
They can also digitize reel-to-reel audio and convert audio cassettes to digital. In addition, they offer data extraction for memory cards, CDs and DVDs, and floppy discs. They charge $28 for videotapes and $0.30 per foot of film, but they tend to focus primarily on photo scanning.
In fact, they also offer photo restoration services, including color correction, scratch removal, cropping, dust removal, and red-eye removal. They say they create high-resolution images with JPG and TIFF files that have a high 600 DPI resolution, allowing for 2x enlargement.
Their photo scanning pricing structure is $0.48 per photo up to 8” x 10, or a value kit is available starting at $0.34 per scan. Their value kit contains plastic bags to protect your memories during transit. However, these prices don’t include photo restoration, which is available for an additional charge.
While their photo editing, scanning process, and digitization of family memories sounds fantastic, do their customers agree?
What Customers Are Saying: ScanCafe Reviews
Customer feedback across major review platforms shows a mix of positive experiences and recurring concerns about ScanCafe’s services.
On Yelp, ScanCafe holds a 3.1-star rating from more than 300 reviews, reflecting a combination of satisfied customers and users who experienced issues with turnaround times or quality. On SiteJabber, the company has a much lower rating, 1.9 stars based on 23 reviews, indicating a higher concentration of dissatisfied customers on that platform.
ScanCafe is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, but BBB assigns it an A+ rating. Even with that rating, the BBB profile includes multiple complaints, some involving incomplete orders, missing scans, or challenges getting issues resolved. On Trustpilot, reviews are more mixed-to-positive, with a 3.8-star rating from over 3,200 customers, showing that many users were happy with their results, while others encountered problems.
Positive Customer Reviews of ScanCafe
Here are some common praises among ScanCafe reviews:
- Helpful and responsive customer service: Many customers appreciate the knowledgeable and friendly staff, who guide them through the process and promptly address concerns.
- Good pricing and discounts: Several reviewers mention fair pricing, especially when using promotions or bulk order discounts.
- High-quality scans and image enhancement: Customers report that digitized photos, slides, and negatives turn out clear, with some saying ScanCafe brought old or damaged images back to life.
- Reliable handling of originals: Multiple reviewers say their original photos, slides, and negatives were returned in perfect condition.
- Convenient online access and storage: Some customers mention that they can access their scanned images online, and ScanCafe also offers external storage options like USB drives.
- Faster-than-expected turnaround time: While ScanCafe provides an estimated processing time, some customers were pleasantly surprised to receive their orders sooner than expected.
- Great for large digitization projects: Many long-term customers have used ScanCafe for multiple projects, sending in thousands of photos, negatives, or slides over the years.
Negative Customer Reviews of ScanCafe
While many customers have positive experiences with ScanCafe, there are also common complaints mentioned in reviews. Below are some of the negative ScanCafe reviews:
- Long turnaround times: Many customers say their projects took much longer than expected, sometimes several months, and they often only learned about delays after reaching out to them.
- Inconsistent scan and video quality: Some reviews mention scans that are too dark, washed out, or not color-corrected as promised, and a few video transfers are described as lower quality than expected.
- Incomplete or disorganized orders: Customers report missing digital files, duplicate files with others missing, and original materials returned out of order. Several BBB complaints mention paying for work that was not fully delivered.
- Customer service challenges: When issues occur, reviewers frequently describe customer support as slow or unresponsive, which makes resolving missing items or incomplete scans difficult.
- Unexpected fees and unclear policies: Some users mention additional charges they did not anticipate, confusion around download options, and restrictions on promotions or gift cards.
- Mixed results with restoration services: While some customers are satisfied, others feel restoration edits are minimal and do not significantly improve their images.
- Website and download frustrations: A number of reviewers find the website hard to navigate, particularly when placing orders or downloading large batches of files.
As you can see, ScanCafe reviews are mixed. To see if they really are a bad choice to scan or restore pictures, home movies, and film reels, it’s a good idea to compare ScanCafe vs. the competition.
ScanCafe vs. Competitors
To determine who does a better job between ScanCafe vs. Capture, LegacyBox, iMemories, and other digitization services, it’s important to compare different factors, including reviews.
Turnaround Time
Turnaround time is one of the biggest LegacyBox complaints, for example, but ScanCafe isn’t much better. ScanCafe estimates a processing time of 4 to 6 weeks. In contrast, Capture offers a faster turnaround, delivering digital files and original media within 30 days. iMemories also emphasizes prompt service, though specific timeframes may vary.
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, ScanCafe offers competitive rates in some categories, especially for photo scanning. Their standard photo prices are generally lower than Legacybox costs and slightly below Capture’s per-photo rate. For video and film, their pricing sits in the middle range, sometimes cheaper than other providers and sometimes higher, depending on the format.
It’s important to note that certain services and delivery options may come with additional fees, such as upgrades for higher-resolution files, restoration work, or optional physical media. In comparison, Capture includes free digital download, a 60-day backup, and easy upload to Google Photos at no extra cost, which can make a meaningful difference in overall value.
Overall, ScanCafe’s pricing can be appealing for photo-heavy projects, but the total cost may increase depending on which extras a customer chooses.
Service Offerings
ScanCafe provides a wide range of digitization services, including photos, slides, negatives, videos, film reels, and audio. They also offer optional photo restoration services, which come at an additional cost.
Capture stands out with touchless photo album scanning, a service not offered by ScanCafe, iMemories, or LegacyBox competitors. This method digitizes each photo directly from the album page without removing or risking damage to the prints.
Capture also includes glare removal, cropping, and color correction with both photo album scanning and standard photo scanning, features that ScanCafe charges extra for through its restoration upgrades.
Customer Reviews
Across major review platforms, customer feedback varies for all services. Capture holds an A+ rating with the BBB, which reflects strong overall satisfaction. iMemories reviews are mostly positive on platforms like SiteJabber, and Legacybox receives mixed feedback but still trends higher than many of ScanCafe’s ratings on Yelp and SiteJabber.
ScanCafe’s reviews are more inconsistent. Many customers are happy with their results, but others report recurring issues with turnaround times, order accuracy, and customer support.
So, when it comes down to it, ScanCafe probably isn’t the best company to convert photos to digital or preserve your home movies and film reels.
Capture.com’s Take on ScanCafe
Whether you choose Capture, ScanCafe, or another option, we want you to preserve and protect your memories. That’s why we think it’s important to provide you with objective information, including comparisons of ScanCafe vs. competitors.
If you want to know how to digitize old photos, videotapes, and films, then ScanCafe is only one of many options. In our opinion, they claim to offer some fantastic photo scanning and restoration services, but ScanCafe ratings and reviews tell another story, with common complaints about quality, turnaround time, customer service, and pricing.
As an alternative to ScanCafe digitizing, Capture offers complete protection for your memories, including a 100% satisfaction guarantee and a state-of-the-art tracking and security system. Plus, we get your memories back to you in less than 30 days.
Whether you need to digitize film, slides, photos, or old camcorder tapes, Capture focuses on delivering high-quality digital results and preserving every moment with exceptional care.
Protect Your Memories with a Reliable Service
Digitizing your memories is an investment in preserving them for the future. Whether you’re safeguarding old photos, home movies, or 8mm film to digital conversions, choosing the right company makes all the difference. This is why we bring you a ScanCafe review. ScanCafe has its strengths, as seen in many positive reviews, but customer feedback also raises concerns about inconsistent quality, long turnaround times, and unexpected costs.
If you want a service that prioritizes quality, security, and customer satisfaction, a reliable provider like Capture is worth considering. Capture offers clear pricing, strong restoration features, and a proven track record of delivering high-quality results that protect your memories with care.
