Start with a call to Convertex
The website identifies the business as Convertex and publishes its address as Unit G, Coney Green Network Centre, Wingfield View, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S45 9HX. It also gives the telephone number 01246 862666. These details help identify the business you are contacting; they do not establish opening hours, a drop-off arrangement or a particular transfer service.
Keep the opening enquiry focused: do they currently digitise VHS, and can they handle the precise tape type you have? If the answer is yes, ask how they accept recordings and what information they need for a quotation. Confirm the total charge, any conditions, the expected completion date and how both the tapes and digital files will be returned. Agree those points before committing the originals.
Make the enquiry about your actual recordings
A brief inventory is more helpful than guessing what is inside every cassette. Give each tape a simple number and copy its existing label into a list. Note whether it says VHS, VHS-C or something else. Record the printed running time separately from your estimate of recorded material: a cassette's capacity does not tell you how much family footage it holds.
Photograph the labels and mention any obvious physical problems when requesting advice. A cracked shell, loose tape or visible mould deserves a specific question about handling. Avoid opening a cassette or trying a damaged recording in an old player just to complete the inventory. Ask whether assessment is possible and whether any repair work would need a separate agreement. Let relatives help identify dates or occasions without changing the original labels.
Decide what you want to watch and keep
Think about the eventual audience before choosing an output. A relative watching on a laptop may need something different from someone using a television or keeping files on a hard drive. Ask a confirmed transfer provider which digital formats they supply, how the files are delivered and whether they can provide a short sample to check on your own devices.
Discuss whether each tape becomes one file or whether separate recordings can be divided. For a long cassette containing several birthdays, separate files may make later organisation easier, but do not assume editing is included. Keep the most complete transfer available as your main copy, even if you later make shorter clips for sharing. File size also matters: request an estimate before choosing storage or planning uploads.
Check the transfer while the labels are still nearby
When your files arrive, compare them with the numbered tape list. Open every file, listen to the sound and check sections near the beginning, middle and end. Look for missing recordings, unexpectedly cut-off endings or filenames that do not match the cassette. Older footage may contain flaws from the original recording; if something seems wrong, describe the specific time in the file when raising it with the provider.
Keep the original tapes after conversion. Store another copy of the digital files separately from the device you use for everyday viewing, and check that the backup opens. A shared family album is useful for access, but it should sit alongside your own retained copies.
Let the family add the missing names and dates
After conversion, Memrial offers a separate private family archive for digital photos and home videos. It does not digitise physical tapes and is not part of Convertex. You can invite relatives, organise albums and add comments or stories. The free allowance is 2.0 GB shared across the archive, with no card needed, so compare your video file sizes with that allowance before uploading a collection.
Timeline accepts exact or approximate dates, helping you find memories by year even when a cassette only says something like summer holiday. A family birthday could also be a reason to arrange a Live Watch Party: uploaded home-video playback is synchronised, with host play, pause and seek controls plus voice and text chat for relatives nearby or far away. Free Watch Parties include 3 hours per month and up to 6 participants.
For photos and videos gathered around that birthday, Event Memories provides a secure occasion contribution link. Contributors sign in but do not need archive membership. Their uploads collect in the event album, and closing the link keeps the memories already contributed.