UPDATE -
I've found a mail order lab that gives me consistent results. But even better, I have enrolled on a darkroom course and will be processing my first ever roll next week!

Thanks again for everyone's help with my original question.

John - I do have a local photo club but it's a bit 'stuffy' from what I've heard. I think I will probably just shoot another roll of TMax and see how it comes out. I will give it to a different lab though.

I have put some scans of the negatives up at the above address. I had to doctor the scan to make it look as much like the negatives as possible, and it is a fairly accurate representation I think. Of course, everyone will be looking at the scan in different monitors and it may appear slightly different.

I think I may just chalk this one up to experience and give my next roll of TMax to a different lab and see if there is a difference in the resulting negatives.

I have been staring at these photographs so intently and for so long that they are starting to look normal! It is possible that I just don't like the film, but I am then baffled by the lab's comments that the roll is underexposed. If they had said, "yes, this is what Tmax looks like" the problem would be solved.

I have posted some prints from this roll on my flickr page. The prints are titled TMax1 and 2. I would be interested to hear your comments after having a look. Are they underexposed, overexposed or normal?

Thanks everyone for taking the time to help me solve this problem. The link to my pictures is below

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coded_image/

Thanks again for all the helpful replies so far.

I returned the film to the lab, they have examined the negatives and the prints and returned them back to me. The lab claim there is no error in processing but that the most of the negatives are underexposed due to some ever I need when taking them. As I said earlier in the thread, I use my Pentax SLR's in camera metering which has never let me down, and the film speed dial was set correctly at 100 ISO. I'm a bit stuck now, because I'm sure I've done nothing wrong.

Another thing I noticed about this film is that the dark band of film before the pictures start is see-through, when holding it up to the light it's like looking through dark sunglasses. On the other brands of film I have used this dark band is always jet black with no light passing through. Is this characteristic an indication of an error in processing?

Thanks again spider, very helpful.

George - I would be keen to learn how to develop my own film. One step at a time though, I have only just started pursuing photography as a 'serious' hobby since a shoulder injury temporarily stopped me playing the guitar, playing the guitar and being my job.

spider - the manufacturers lettering does appear very grey, not at all black. I think I should probably get in touch with the lab and see what they suggest, I'm sure they will at the very least take a look at the negatives and see what they think.

don + john - I'm afraid I don't have the first clue about the process of developing! However, this is not the first time I have had less than perfect results from labs who supposedly have a good reputation so the DIY option is looking more and more attractive.

Thanks for your help.

Thanks, will check that.