A Jessops Dilemma

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Dadooron

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I received a £100 Jessops gift voucher from my parents today. Somewhat unexpected but very nice of them..............however........I can't say that Jessops seem to have anything worthwhile that interests me at the moment.

I have the following:
Nikon D80
Sigma 10-20mm
Nikkor 50mm f1.8
Nikkor 18-135mm
Nikkor 80-200mm f4.5-5.6
Nikkor 70-300mm f4-5.6

In addition I have a nice Redsnapper Tripod and Manfrotto head, and a couple of camera bags together with a variety of filters etc.

One thing I don't have is a flash and I'd thought about the SB600 but Jessops are having a laugh at their current price.

Should I find something to spend my voucher on before their current sale ends on Wednesday or should I hang on? I'm mindful of the situation that Zavvi gift voucher holders were in followng the demise of that retailer and don't really want to be left holding a worthless voucher should Jessops go the same way.

If you think I should spend it, any ideas on what I should spend it on? I'm quite happy to add to it out of my own pocket (within reason).

:shrug:
 
A compact perhaps?

Or if you are less bothered about such things, you could always sell the voucher on here, someone would likely snap it up. Or even do you a favour if they are planning to buy something from jessops and just swap it for cash with you?
 
Recent reports suggest Jessops bucked the trend and had a decent Christmas trading.I can understand your concern though these things can be fragile.If I were you I would go for the flash---Look at it like a £100 discount---should still be worth getting.
Cheers,
Pete.
 
You could always try and get a price match on the SB600 and then use your vouchers on that.
 
dlh said:
You could always try and get a price match on the SB600 and then use your vouchers on that.
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Hope they're better at price matching than Jacobs :( they don't even do it. I was extremely disappointed.
 
I would find it cheaper in a magazine and then take that into the store and get them to price match. Maybe ring a couple of the local ones and see if they do price match. From what i understand its a store manager decision not company policy.. but i may be wrong.
 
you could buy up light stand umbrella, camera batteries and rechargables for a flash (delete as applicable to costing/budget) with your voucher hten buy a flash from somehwere cheaper online
 
Why not have a look at the consumables?

I bought a couple of lenses from Jessops just after x***, and by the counter, they had a basket with battery charger, and 4x 2500mah batteries (All Energiser) for £9.99 (previously £25.99).

What about memory cards? Do you want/need a new bag? Filters? Sensor cleaning kit?

You have quite a comprehensive kit already, so maybe this is an opportunity to add the stuff you wouldn't normally consider?
 
Jessops' price on the Canon G10 is fairly competitive. Not the best, but close. If you use Quidco to place your order online for store pickup then Jessops is cheap as anybody. With your £100 voucher, a G10 for £250 (or less with Quidco) is a pretty sweet deal.

I bought a G10 and returned it for a Fuji F100fd. I won't bore you with the details but I wish I'd kept the G10.

I expect Jessops will have some other bargains. Sometimes their prices are monstrous. Sometimes their prices are the best in the UK. Find the products for which they do offer good value rather than the things that they price to the high heavens, like memory cards and filters.
 
Don't forget that the prices of imported stuff us due to rise based on the value of the £
 
stan the man said:
tried to get jessops and jacobs to price match a grip yesterday...but neither would budge on their price..so i'll get it in london next week.their loss i suppose.
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Exactly what I tried to do on an MB-D200 in Jacobs but they weren't having it. I was surprised they were turning down business like that, especially in these times. But I wasn't going to pay more for it, even if Jessops were out of stock.
 
I haven't used Jessops for yonks for a variety of reasons, but when they last price matched, it was down to their Head Office. IIRC, the store manager rang HQ to get authority.

May have changed since though...

'Tis a good point about prices going up. A suggestion if you do portraits is a Lastolite Tri-Grip reflector and you'll still have money left over.

Memory cards are extortionate in their stores though :eek:
 
MikeeB said:
Exactly what I tried to do on an MB-D200 in Jacobs but they weren't having it. I was surprised they were turning down business like that, especially in these times. But I wasn't going to pay more for it, even if Jessops were out of stock.
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I'm actually amazed to hear this as Jacobs was the surest bet to get a price match, at least in my book. I got lots of deals from them as they price matched Morris photo and I was able to get my 055xprob and head for the online price, which came £75 cheaper than in store and they price matched when i wanted to buy my canon camcorder, giving it for £110 less than the price they had. They are willing to price match all UK based retailers but not grey products, or ebay or HK based shops. And have tried two different stores, the smallest one needing permission over the phone but eventually did.
 
48thEagle said:
Why not have a look at the consumables?

I bought a couple of lenses from Jessops just after x***, and by the counter, they had a basket with battery charger, and 4x 2500mah batteries (All Energiser) for £9.99 (previously £25.99).

What about memory cards? Do you want/need a new bag? Filters? Sensor cleaning kit?

You have quite a comprehensive kit already, so maybe this is an opportunity to add the stuff you wouldn't normally consider?
Click to expand...

... or some filters. But if you're fussed, why dont you offer it at 20% discout on the sell forums. Jessops used to be be great at one point in time, but now they're just a copy of dixons in customer attitude and stock.
 
Well I went onto the Jessops store in The Mall at Cribbs Causeway near Bristol and having checked the price of an SB-600 flash at John Lewis next door (£175), Jessops were prepared to price-match any other store in The Mall.

So......I got myself one. Okay so it was a bit pricier than some on-line stores but ultimately it only cost me £75 of my own money.

Thanks to all who responded.
 
The Jessops in Peterborough price matches.

Just brdore xmas I was after a 70-200 VR and the best price was Jacobs at £1093.

Rang the pboro shop who said they had one and agreed over the phone to price match jacobs saving me over £100. So some stores will match.
 
At the end of the day it doesn't really matter. Whatever you want they won't have in stock, and nobody in the store will be able to tell you how it works anyway (well, if you use my local store that's what will happen). In fact I think I've just about given up on Jessops.

Steve
 
My local Jessops is the head office in Leicester. They are more knowledgable than average, I guess it varies from shop to shop. Most of them will price match I think.
 
Jelster said:
At the end of the day it doesn't really matter. Whatever you want they won't have in stock, and nobody in the store will be able to tell you how it works anyway (well, if you use my local store that's what will happen). In fact I think I've just about given up on Jessops.

Steve
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please dont generalise every store to be like that, i can assure you SOME of the stores (not many perhaps :p) definitely have people who know what they're talking about. Stock can be an issue but no more than anywhere else, you cant expect every store to have every little niggly bit of kit in stock! Think how many thousands of possible things you can ask for there are.

If anyone here lives near the Halifax branch i can assure you you'd get better service than the general perceived level of jessops is :P
 
tom why don't you suggest to your manager or head office or whoever that they need to address their image, customer service and pretty much anything else you can think of?

i'm not having a go but people see jessops as a company because it's a nationwide brand and as such it carries it's reputation as a whole, if you were an independant then people would treat the brand better

the way it seems is there are numerous bad experiences with jessops and they've only got themselves to blame.

for instance i know plenty of knowledgeable nice people who work for comet but their customer service etc is also still turd.

(this is presuming you work for them :) )

oh if you buy something from jessops with your voucher and then return it unopened etc do you get a voucher back or the money? :)
 
I really ought to start a thread where people can go and talk about their GOOD experiences with Jessops..yes, yes cue the sarcastic and filp comments but come on people do you not consider that it is slightly narrow-minded to write every single shop on this island off because of bad experiences whilst ignoring the good? I agree that there are some appalling members of staff - but you'll find that in ANY company. It is slightly hard to swallow that as an avid photographer I get onto these forums and read that practically every member of staff knows nothing and that customer service is awful when I personally bust a gut for my (non rude!)customers, and sometimes other colleagues customers if I know that I can help...anyhoooo I digress...not every member of staff is an ignoramus.

And yes if you buy something on a gift card that amount of money is refunded back onto a gift card unless of course you get one of these really stupid members of staff I keep hearing about....:) x
 
joodles said:
I really ought to start a thread where people can go and talk about their GOOD experiences with Jessops..
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Good idea, on the whole I've had excellent service from Jessops, certainly one or two of the staff don't know one end of a camera from the other and one particular manager locally is an eejit of the highest order, but in general they have the goods, at decent prices and in stock.

At the end of the day that's all I care about when buying my kit.
 
joodles has a point...

For each bad experience we hear about from Jessops, we don't hear about the few-hundred good experiences. I bought my D300 body (and tripod) from them, because they were local, had it in stock, and were within £20 of the cheapest price on t'internet. I buy my ID-11 from them, because they have it in stock, and are very reasonable price-wise as well. Oh yes, I do laugh at their prices sometimes, but as the old saying goes, if you don't like it, shop elsewhere...
 
Oh god don't get me started. ;)

Tripod?
Flash gun?

We'll match high street prices in my store but not the internet. Why would we? It's absurd. An internet shop could be run with a warehouse, a HR office, a treasury and a shipping office.

And if we don't shift on price it's because we want to make around £5 profit on each thing we sell. We'll reduce an item to that low but that's it, and in extreme circumstances, we'll reduce an item so much it will lose profit.

Basically, all the people saying "Oh, I can't believe Jessops would turn down the business to price match something."

We are all aware that it's cheaper on the internet, however we are given a 'trade' cost of an item, and if we reduce the cost of something just because someone wants it at the price they saw on amazon, we'll be getting a shouting at from head office.

I for example am part of a photography forum, I'm taking a photography course at college, I have an interest in photography, I know about the kit that I sell (not so much about compacts, but then who cares much about compacts that aren't the Canon G10 and the panasonic FZ28 ;) just got to know the best one in each price range) and I'm a friendly, helpful sales person.
I buy around half my kit online and the other half in store. I bought my 40D, my 24-60, my bag, my tripod, and a few other bits in our shop, and my 10-20, my flashgun and my skyports and various bits (i.e. batteries, filters etc) were bough online.
I know prices online are slightly dearer, but if it's a difference of £20, maybe it's worth keeping your local Jessops alive to fight another day, especially if they've given you a good service.

The one thing I can't stand is people wanting a price reduction just BECAUSE. Price match, fair enough. But "Can you do me a deal?"
No, do HMV do you a deal when you buy a DVD and a game together?
(this doesn't apply to DSLR sales though ;))

If you have any questions about Jessops policy, you can chat to me and I'll try and explain it as best as possible with the friendliest approach possible :)
 
Thanks to some good fortune, I was able to buy 2 lenses just after the festive period, a Canon 100-400mm and a Sigma 10-20mm lens.

Thanks to camerapricebuster, I saw that by using a promo code, Jessops had both those lenses cheaper than anyone,(the 100-400m, at £965, was even cheaper than Kerso, and only 10 mins walk from my house :) ) I got the 100-400mm first, ordered it online, to be collected in store the next day, I then decided a couple of days later to push the boat out, to get the Sigma, but by that point, the promo code had expired, I had to pay the full £313 for it, again, ordered it online, to be collected in store the next day.

Both were easy simple transactions, the staff were helpful, and I was happy.
 
I've had nothing but good experience of Jessops. Bought my 40D kit there and the staff were great. They've always let me try out stuff to my hearts content. I have no complaints.
 
joodles said:
I really ought to start a thread where people can go and talk about their GOOD experiences with Jessops..yes, yes cue the sarcastic and filp comments but come on people do you not consider that it is slightly narrow-minded to write every single shop on this island off because of bad experiences whilst ignoring the good? I agree that there are some appalling members of staff - but you'll find that in ANY company. It is slightly hard to swallow that as an avid photographer I get onto these forums and read that practically every member of staff knows nothing and that customer service is awful when I personally bust a gut for my (non rude!)customers, and sometimes other colleagues customers if I know that I can help...anyhoooo I digress...not every member of staff is an ignoramus.

And yes if you buy something on a gift card that amount of money is refunded back onto a gift card unless of course you get one of these really stupid members of staff I keep hearing about....:) x
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Heres one to put on your thread. i have had several dealings with Jessops in the past, both online and in Manchester and Bury shops and found them very helpfull and reasonable. My latest purchase online was for a Digiscope adapter which arrived in 4 days and was equall to, or in 3 cases, cheaper than similar ones on EBay! I understand that not all shop assistants can be experts, but try asking for someone who is, maybe you will be suprised!
 
alexkidd said:
tom why don't you suggest to your manager or head office or whoever that they need to address their image, customer service and pretty much anything else you can think of?

i'm not having a go but people see jessops as a company because it's a nationwide brand and as such it carries it's reputation as a whole, if you were an independant then people would treat the brand better

the way it seems is there are numerous bad experiences with jessops and they've only got themselves to blame.

for instance i know plenty of knowledgeable nice people who work for comet but their customer service etc is also still turd.

(this is presuming you work for them :) )

oh if you buy something from jessops with your voucher and then return it unopened etc do you get a voucher back or the money? :)
Click to expand...

if you buy with a voucher you'll get a voucher :)

I am the manager and i do my best to make sure my store upholds the standards i'd want when visiting a store, and all my staff are interested in the stuff too. Out of 5 staff, 4 of us have a 40D or better from the canon side and the other a d80, and know their way around all the systems and cameras.


I've had people who come past 2 other jessops to come into my shop as they've had crap service from the others, and i have passed that information on but there isnt much that can be done, they pay peanuts so get monkeys! Even my lab manager who is in control of maintenance and chemical balancing on a full fuji frontier mini lab etc is on less than six quid an hour, it's only really management who receieve anything remotely like a liveable wage and then it's still a bit of a joke.
 
tom said:
Even my lab manager who is in control of maintenance and chemical balancing on a full fuji frontier mini lab etc is on less than six quid an hour,
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A manager on less than £6 an hour, who does he manage, the store cat :shrug:
 
LAB manager, think more along the lines of the person who runs the printing machines, not the store.
 
tom said:
if you buy with a voucher you'll get a voucher :)

I am the manager and i do my best to make sure my store upholds the standards i'd want when visiting a store, and all my staff are interested in the stuff too. Out of 5 staff, 4 of us have a 40D or better from the canon side and the other a d80, and know their way around all the systems and cameras.
Click to expand...

You don't seem to be doing your best, you have allowed a Nikon user to be on the payroll.
 
48thEagle said:
You don't seem to be doing your best, you have allowed a Nikon user to be on the payroll.
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:D he was on the payroll before i took over this store and i dont think tribunals will see our way :( :p
 
Current rumor in the trade is Jessops are on the way out and soon, in my home town they are closing atleast one, if not 2 stores down and closing down their labs....
 
john jo said:
Current rumor in the trade is Jessops are on the way out and soon, in my home town they are closing atleast one, if not 2 stores down and closing down their labs....
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I expect they are making some serious changes to how they operate to ensure they don't go under. Part of that will be addressing the madness that is having multiple stores in a single town.
 
I have to say that I have never had a bad experience with Jessops. I have spent a lot of money with them in the past year and the staff have always been very helpful and knowledgeable. If they have not had the stock to sell me there and then they have order it for me to have a look at before purchasing it. And in one case I had a lens for almost a year and commented to the manager that I was not sure that I had a good copy, he surprised me by ordering in a couple of new copies for me to try and would have swapped it if I wished.
Also if you ask they are quite good at matching other retailers. In some cases they have knocked considerable amounts of their listed price, you only have to ask. If I thought that Jessops have poor service then I would not have spent over £10,000 with them this year.
I could be lucky to have a good store in my town with good staff.
 
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