Perfect, A++++ experience and I'd give 10 stars if I could. I'm so grateful to John and Z Stories…read morefor helping us to keep a cherished memory.
I only have one home video of my childhood. My uncle brought a big ass camcorder to my brother's baptism in 1991, and all of us were fascinated by the camera and had never seen one before. It's the only recording of my brothers and I as children and of my dad who has since passed away. When I started hearing about VHS digitizing services, I was super reluctant to mail the only copy to a stranger, especially after how many stories there are about these people losing photos or videos.
I started seeing Z Stories advertise in my neighborhood Facebook groups and with tables at local Burbank events. I loved that they were local, I didn't have to ship my video far away, and the reviews were impeccable. I texted the owner, John, to find out more about their services and he seemed more than happy to take an order of just one tape. He gave me different options for submitting the tape (they even deliver and pick up locally!) and I ended up dropping the tape off at A Express Mail in Burbank, for Z Stories to pick up.
When we had tried the tape on our VCR at home, the sound cut in and out and there was static and blue squares over a lot of the picture. I was worried that maybe I'd waited to long to digitize a 35-year-old tape before it deteriorated. John picked the tape up within an hour of me dropping it off and texted me with updates and questions (like whether we wanted to keep the football documentary that had been taped over!) and the finished product was ready within 24 hours! He met me at A Express the next day and seemed excited to show me the finished product on his laptop. I was ASTONISHED at how amazing the video looked. The quality looked even better than I remembered the original video looking in the 90s, and both the picture and sound were crisp and clear.
I was completely blown away at how they were able to make the recording look so great. These are experienced professionals who obviously take pride in their work and care very much about helping people to preserve their irreplaceable memories. The total cost was only $17 because they provided a flash drive (if you provide your own, it's only $10.) We are going to use Z Stories to digitize all my in-laws' home movies, and I would wholeheartedly recommend John to anyone.