Improving Quality of VHS

[raffiki113]

Hello friends,
I recently had a few VHS digitized through a service here in Europe. It wasn't exactly cheap, but the disappointed came when I received them back and two of the three have serious issues. Here is a short sample of what it looks like:
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AtKBJzlVP8I14hZv694kAxGyHIAq?e=cqpIxr

I do not mind the video-quality that much. However, the video does clearly not play in normal speed.
And secondly, the obvious major issue is the audio quality. I am wondering the following things:

1) Is the quality most likely due to the state of the VHS or could it be that they messed up digitizing it? (When I asked them, they said that it was due to the VHS, but I figured maybe some of you all have experience in this area).
2) If its due to the VHS, what's the best way/software to get it to play in "normal" speed?
3) Again, if its due to the VHS, is there anything that I can do to improve the audio and get rid of the background noise?

Thanks for your help,
Merry Christmas everyone,
Raffiki

[dellsam34]

No dude, you should get your money back, Even if your tapes are bad they should return them to you if they are uncapable of playing them back correctly and not charge you for them. They are encoded in NTSC, if your tapes are PAL that could explain the speed problem. Most importantly name and shame so other people don't be a victim even if it was a service from here, You are entitled to voice your opinion publically.

[raffiki113]

Thanks for the feedback.
The service I used is "mediafix" which is operating in Germany and Austria as far as I know...

[DB83]

For the purpose of clarification can you explain the method you used to create the sample. Just in case you compounded the issues.


But no reputable video transfer service should get PAL and NTSC mixed up. But it will help if you can also clarify how this footage got on to VHS. It is camcorder (yes?) so there has already been some transfer and in what country did the original recording/transfer take place.