Scratches are really bad! The first thing you want to be very sure of is that there are not any sharp edges or grit anywhere inside your camera. This could be either on some of the rollers, or the pressure plate in the door. It doesn't take much; just some chipped paint. When I'm in a hurry I still go to the one-hour JiffyMart; most of the time the results are OK, but sometimes I've seen similar scratches. I guess if folks don't complain they have no reason to keep their machines clean? When I'm not in a hurry, I drive about 15 miles to a "professional" lab. They have what they call a "dip and dunk" processor, rather than the more common roller variety. Excellent results. It is really not (much) more expensive, just inconvenient. But not as inconvenient as throwing away good shots.