Peter, with digital images, you need to specifically ask for "no processing" and "no fill in" (the last if your images are already dimensioned according to the print size and printer resolution). I had a similar experience with a Fuji Frontier lab and the operator emphasized I should have asked for the above options. Which I immediately did.
Servus, Alin Peter wrote: PJ> I gave them my CD, and 3 days later couldn't believe what I got back. PJ> For a start, they'd clearly put the files through some sort of contrast PJ> enhancing filter before printing them. I could not believe how badly they'd PJ> wound up the contrast, turned huge swathes pitch black and burnt out pale PJ> areas. PJ> ...