A jessops thread!

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Okay, I wanted to submit a topic for discussion. Namely Jessops.

I hear alot of smack talk towards Jessops on this forum, don't get me wrong I love everyone on here. I love the diversity of taste, opinion, ingenuity and fruitful attitude everyone portrays. I consider you all artists and all artists paint their own style.

The topic I wanted to discuss however, is Jessops is obviously the most well known Photography/Camera depot in England, but what are your opinions on them? How do you feel as a customer (or maybe even an employee)? What is it you like, what is it you don't like? What would you change?

For me, I love being able to walk into a camera shop and touch everything, to get an ergonomic test drive of a 550D or a D3100 or a 7D or whatever and also the lenses. They have a very extensive range on offer in some stores and I have personally experienced the helpfulness when a staffer will allow you to mix and match a lens and camera combo to try one out.

I don't like however, the cost of most items (which is obvious, but their deals are absolutely brilliant, especially around this time of year) but also the customer service. I went in the other day to inquire about a 60D (for my Dad..) and when I asked him [the bloke that greeted me] any question regarding the camera, it took him atleast 2 minutes to answer me. No joke, he had to refer to his computer on some information that anybody could remember as a mental note. Those that are wondering, I asked him about the video and what resolutions/fps it could shoot at.

So, what are you opinions on Jessops? And what real world solutions would you suggest they do. Not offer free pints when they walk in, be realistic.

Thanks!
 
Just a little observation to start with on your expectations :)

Would you expect a car dealer to know the 0-60 of every model in their showroom?

Would you expect a bike shop to know what gear mechanism was fitted to each bike in the shop?

It's not realistic to expect anyone to 'know' exactly that kind of information about every item in the store...

Coming from a retail background - the field I was in, people expected experts, but more often got fairly inexperienced staff.. However the information was there and available to answer most questions, and it seems Jessops has a very similar setup (as does most of retail).

However I do like lots about Jessops. I do believe customers sometimes have too high an expectation.

Just because someone doesn't know the fps of a camera body doesn't make them a bad sales advisor..

I think they are doing a fair job of appealing to the mass public - which is where I think they need to keep their focus. Professionals in the main will not use them - but Joe Public will. And they are after all retailers - out to make money in the best way they can.

There are people here with much more experience than me - however for the mass market I do think they are recovering well. (Not sure if the figures and margins reflect this)..

They are a business - and so have to make profit (which they are not so strong at right now) - so giving big discounts won't help matters...

If they can focus on delivering good service, offering products at reasonable prices, whilst keeping a varied choice of mass market goods, I think they'll survive :)
 
I've never had a problem with them but I have only bought the odd thing there.

With regards to price I think we need to remember that having shops that you can feel and play with the gear or somewhere local where we can dump something on the counter if were not happy but this comes at a price and they generate large overheads Which online only retailers don't necessarily have.

With that said looking a prices for a flash last night and they were £10 cheaper than anywhere else I looked. I suppose it's like supermarkets. They are cheap on something's to get you through the door and whack the price of other things up to compensate.

I think some of the staff get a rough ride
And I certainly wouldn't mind them having to refer to a web site or brochure to answer a question. I mean they can't know everything, I've been fixing aircraft for a number of years now and every week a pilot will ask me a question that I don't know the answer to, does that make me bad at my job?

You think how often new models come out and the vast numbers of products stocked, in fact I would be wary of anyone who comes across as knowing everything as in my experience there generally the ones who know sweet fa.

Also worth bearing in mind that the majority of us photographers read lots of reviews, do our research and have a good idea about what we want. But the person the other side of the counter may have no real interest as such and it could be nothing more than a job to them.
 
Personally, I go to my local t4 cameras if I need to try/touch anything. They have much bigger amount of professional equipment than jessops and they even let me take the stuff outside the shop to try it.

My experience with Jessops. They were always friendly and polite, always tried to help.
I went there recently and asked for a wide angle lens for my 5D2. I've asked if they had something cheaper than 17-40L and nice lady said yes! Great, I thought and aske what was it. She said it's Tamron SP AF 10-24 mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II LD. When I tried to explain that it's not for full frame sensor, she said I was wrong and to reassure me she called her manager. He brought the lens and asked me to give him my camera to fit the lens. Don't worry, he said, I know what I'm doing. Cool just don't switch the camera on, I said. I showed him in the viewfinder huge vignette at shorter focal length. he looked and said: well, it's still cheaper than 17-40 and fully usable 15-24mm.
thank you, I said, walked out and never came back.
thank you:)
 
That's a little unfair criticism of Jessops I think in the original post. I'd rather have someone make sure of the info than to give me duff info. It's actually reassuring that they would spend so much time on a customer.

My local store has had a makeover. It's got a very stylish, techy feel to it with lots of kit on display now.

My only issue with Jessops is that they've tried to pass used/ex demo/returned items off to me as brand new on three occasions now, which is why I won't use them any more.
 
My local wakefield Jessops is just too small they don't stock anything except entry level, so its off to Leeds, and to be honest if i want information in Leeds i go to Dale photographic, fantastic shop, good range and passionate staff, i think my experience in wakefield puts me off going to the Leeds one, i don't think i even know where it is.
 
I purchased my D7000 from the local jessops and a 35mm 1.8G lens, no issues with the store, staff do have some general knowledge about what they are selling and did not try to steer me in the direction of any other brands, let me make my own mind up. I hate places like comet / currys where the staff are high pressure sales related, the main reason I ring and reserve with them and always decline the extra HDMI *** uber cable that you MUST HAVE in order to make the 3D BluRay you have just purchased work, oh and BTW it's an additional £85! (exaggeration but you get the jist)
 
Don't we have enough opinions already expressed about Jessops? Both positive and negative?

.. and in the correct forum section.. ;)
 
When I bought my first DSLR, back in 2006, I did want to get a little touchy/feely with the gear and visited Jessops/Currys to have a fumble. Since then I have bought five more bodies, a dozen lenses, three tripods, two flashguns and all sorts of bags, filters and other accessories. Everything has been bought/ordered online, sometimes from Jessops, sometimes from Hong Kong or the channel islands, sometimes from other UK e-tailers and from Kerso.

Having chosen to go the Canon route nearly six years ago I have never felt the need to visit a camera shop again. I don't need to fondle the goods to know what I want or to listen to a "sales person" witter on about an item about which my own online research and brand experience has almost certainly put my knowledge streets ahead of theirs. I will always consider Jessops as a supplier and I'm happy to buy from them if the price is right, but I would not waste my time visiting a store other than to pick up a reserve and collect purchase.

I can extend this philosophy to pretty much all my purchasing. There is very little in life I would rather buy in a store than online.
 
Whilst we all know that the internet makes a huge dent in retail store sales, these stores have only themselves to blame to a great degree by historically delivering a poor customer experience.

In the case of Jessops, it would be fair to acknowledge that Jessops have upped their game lately but ex-customers who have been treated badly and 'walked' have long memories.

As Jessops now seem to be making an effort, I hope their new attitude pays dividends, but recovering customers, time, and cashflow are a volatile mix!
 
Alastair said:
Don't we have enough opinions already expressed about Jessops? Both positive and negative?

.. and in the correct forum section.. ;)
Click to expand...

And now in the correct section.



As to the OP, I'd be happy that they looked it up rather than made it up. With the number of different products they stock these days, it's impossible to know everything about all of them, especially technical details.
 
Byker28i said:
That's a little unfair criticism of Jessops I think in the original post. I'd rather have someone make sure of the info than to give me duff info..
Click to expand...

Agreed, I own a 60D and couldn't tell you the FPS and I only have two cameras to think about, they have all the SLRs, PnS's and so on - so that part was very unfair.

My limited experience with Jessops has been pretty mixed - theres a lass at the Nottingham store (the only staff member I've dealt with there) who is excellent - helpful and knowledgeable. However I dealt with two people at Chesterfield, the guy I spoke to on the phone (a standard staff member) was very polite and helpful and the older guy (who I think is the manager) was grumpy.

Online wise, very good and sometimes they are the cheapest, not often I grant you gut when I got my Sigma 17-70 they were and again for my Tamron 70-300 VC.
 
I usually only do click and collect with Jessops, as I know what I want and have researched it before buying. Very good shop and sometimes some real bargains to be had.
 
Just been into Jessops to collect some flash triggers reserved online and thought i would share this..........

A sales assistant was advising a couple about compacts, once chosen they headed to the counter to select an SD card. They were advised that they needed a Sandisk Extreme because 'all others would be too slow'. Then offered 4GB, 8GB or 16GB. They asked how many pictures a 16 GB would hold and then came the reason i felt the need to share......

'16GB will hold a limitless amount of pictures, it wont fill up and, of course, the picture quality will be better as it's 16GB'

:bang:
 
Which store was that at?

Thats just rubbish and in the long run bad for Jessops because once that customers card does fill up they will presume the "Jessops" don't know what they are talking about.
 
Daresay Jessops stores are like many other chains, some good, some bad and most mediocre

No complaints with the Cambridge branch, always polite and if the price is competitive I happily buy from there

There is an independent shop, but they are silly expensive and not found them very friendly or cheerful when I have been in there
 
JohnN said:
Which store was that at?

Thats just rubbish and in the long run bad for Jessops because once that customers card does fill up they will presume the "Jessops" don't know what they are talking about.
Click to expand...

It was at the Northampton Store.
 
cymruchris said:
Just a little observation to start with on your expectations :)

Would you expect a car dealer to know the 0-60 of every model in their showroom?

Would you expect a bike shop to know what gear mechanism was fitted to each bike in the shop?

It's not realistic to expect anyone to 'know' exactly that kind of information about every item in the store...

Coming from a retail background - the field I was in, people expected experts, but more often got fairly inexperienced staff.. However the information was there and available to answer most questions, and it seems Jessops has a very similar setup (as does most of retail).

However I do like lots about Jessops. I do believe customers sometimes have too high an expectation.

Just because someone doesn't know the fps of a camera body doesn't make them a bad sales advisor..
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you there. The key word here is "advisor", what use is a "sales advisor" if they have little or no product knowledge?

If one goes into a specialist camera shop such as Jessops the very minimum expected is that the "sales advisor" will be able to advise. Things like fps or the mp count of a camera are basic details that any decent "sales advisor" should be able to spout on request, without having to go looking the info up. It's not as if we're talking about memorising the specs of hundreds of products, between them the brands that Jessops stock probably only have 20 or so DSLRS and a similar number of compacts, surely it's not asking too much for the staff to know a little bit about them?
 
I reserved a flash online for collection from their London Holborn store this week, got a call within the hour to say the only one they had was the display model, told them I wasn't going to take that one and they managed to get a new one from another store in the next hour, so was happy with that.

Ordered a lens online a couple of months ago to take advantage of their free next day delivery if ordered before 19:00, I completed the order at 18:30. Didn't come next day and was told the order was not picked up till after 21:00 so wasn't too happy. They should've said next day delivery if they process by 19:00 instead!

I wouldn't expect to get much advice walking into any high street chain, would always look up and reseach online instead.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
If one goes into a specialist camera shop such as Jessops the very minimum expected is that the "sales advisor" will be able to advise. Things like fps or the mp count of a camera are basic details that any decent "sales advisor" should be able to spout on request, without having to go looking the info up. It's not as if we're talking about memorising the specs of hundreds of products, between them the brands that Jessops stock probably only have 20 or so DSLRS and a similar number of compacts, surely it's not asking too much for the staff to know a little bit about them?
Click to expand...

I'll have to agree with Graham here. this is basic info and someone who spends approx. 40 hours/week surrounded by cameras, should know things like that.
 
Had a nightmare with them on Friday. Ordered a cheap gorrilapod compact tripod to pick up from them. When I got there they could not find the thing even though they were supposed to have four in stock. After scouring the stock room the sales advisor found a box of gorrilatorches (just like a pod but with a torch on). I pointed out that this was not what I ordered or wanted. She was adamant that this was the only Joby thing that the had for £4.95 so it must be what I ordered. Pointed out the difference between them both, even using the computer to show the difference between torch and tripod! She refused to help further. Emailed Jessops on Saturday with a complaint - no word back! NOT IMPRESSED!!!
 
Revitalising this thread after a year.

Canon 7d bought from Jessops in June this year. Anyhow, the 7d doesn't like my nifty fifty (1.8). If I put it on a tripod and focus on something, it seems to focus OK. However, if I take my finger off and then half press it again, it twitches focus, like it wasn't "on" the first time. If I take a picture the first time I focussed, it's OOF. If I take a picture the second and subsequent times that I press the shutter, it's always OOF, either front or back-focussing randomly. Every once in a while, (maybe every 70 or 80 goes) on the second half press, the lens doesn't twitch focus, which means that it correctly focussed the first time. Now, if I take the picture, it is perfectly focussed. On my 550d, it works perfectly, focussing first time, every time. None of my other 4 lenses has this problem with the 7d.

Anyhow, I go into the Jessops store in Belfast City Centre this morning and explained the situation to a sales person there. He said that "the Canon 50mm doesn't work with "higher end" cameras."!!! I told him that many, many millions of people use the 7D/50mm combo quite happily and that what he was suggesting was incorrect. There was a 50mm lens "on display" and I asked him if I could try it out on my 7d body to try to find out if my lens was the problem, or the camera body. He said that the lens was attached to a short wire of only about 3 inches and he couldn't take it off, so I couldn't use it for my test!!! "Sorry, but I can't help you" he said!

What thef? :thumbsdown: It was alright when £1100+ was handed over for the camera in June though, wasn't it? Very bloody helpful then, weren't they? :suspect:

So, I'm still none the wiser what the problem is. The lens works OK on the 550d, but not on the 7d....

JESSOPS WON'T GET ANOTHER PENNY OF MY MONEY!
 
fidsey79 said:
Had a nightmare with them on Friday. ... .
Click to expand...

You have to remember that its a chain store, Johnny counter is there for a job, it's not for a career and he is probably not there because he likes photography. Nothing excuses poor service but it's what you get in chain shops nowadays. I wouldn't expect a man in currys to know what 1080p actually is. I would expect them to try and sell me a gold plated HDMI cable, which of course gives me a better quality of digital data ;)

To contrast with your experience:

I ordered a 35mm af-s from jessops one friday a few months ago, It was a few quid more than amazon but around the same time I had just been through a rotten run of bad experiences with both ebay vendors and amazon market place vendors. Sat morning I got a text saying my lens was ready for collection, followed by a call at 11am apologising for sending the text at 9am when it might have woken me up.

Last week I wondered into another jessops looking for some film and spotted a display offering a three for two on all film. I asked if they had anything except for the fuji three packs on display hangers and was handed a ruddy great big box with a warning of "watch the expiry dates I haven't looked through that in a month or so" followed by "hang on theres a load of medium format down here I think" I walked out with three rolls of ilford c41 B/W for 13 quid.

I should say that the lack of a reply to your email is pretty shoddy and I would be on the phone to the branch manager requesting a time for a meeting to discuss the fault and the actions of his staff.
 
Funny thing is now I actually work for Jessops :D
 
I went into my local Jessops the other week as thinking about a new lens.

Guy couldn't have been more helpful, allowed me to try on a few and even told me that if i was interested in one of the lenses, to go and buy on line as a lot cheaper.

Maybe i had the one who knows his job.
 
Very poor customer service from Crawley Jessops.:thumbsdown:
Two guys there don't know how to deal with customers at all. I had requested a visa photo done for myself on a light grey background. One of the guys pulled a light grey background and clicked it. When they gave me the print it had a pure white background. When I asked as to why has it come out as white (as I said in the start I needed it for my visa and the rules says "light background and not white"), they simply said to me that it was grey and not white and a grey background cannot turn white. Everyone around me could see that it was pure white but the caps were fixed in making sure I accept it to be grey. Ah!!! that was very upsetting. Would never ever go in there.
 
when i was starting out in the world of dslrs i went down to the local jessops.... after a few visits and after getting my head around various bits i made a purchase from them for bits i'd need... afterwards i found that their guidance was somewhat misleading.....

my original purchase of a canon 1000d... my original demand was middle of range camera, that would be easy to use and learn on for beginners.... whilst the 1000d isn't a bad bit of kit by any means it has its limitations- ive since bought a 650d- more to what i'm after (down to recommendations on tp- not jessops) and im more than happy with the new purchase!!

my original jessops tripod... i wanted an easily adjustable and solid tripod and was advised that the jessops on brand tripod would more than adequately meet my needs.. it wobbled around in the wind and also not in the wind, wasnt able to hold the camera weight at the adjusted levels etc and was a right pain in the rear end and very nearly got dumped!! for a camera it was pathetic- although it now makes a good umbrella stand where sturdiness isnt quite so essential- ive now purchased a manfrotto tripod (another recommendation and trial from fellow tp'ers) and im more than happy with it!!!

more recently i purchased a bigger camera shoulder bag from jessops- i asked the guy behind the counter if they had any stock of the bag i'd shown him and he said i could buy the one on the shelf.... after telling him it wasnt complete hence my asking he said he wasnt allowed to get another one as they had to sell shelf stock first which would then be replaced by newer stock on the shelf.... so i purchased one..... then another..... and then returned the original one that wasnt complete- many customers (as i felt like doing) would have just walked away....... its pathetic!!

i can honestly say that i've learnt more about what to, and what not to bother with by advice on tp than any advice given by the numerous jessops i've visited... and had they been more efficient and honest with their sales jargon i wouldnt have double of everything i needed, and in a situation where it would be improper of me to sell on the below par items to someone else as fit to be used....

cameraworld and hdew are my suppliers at the moment and all the time they sell me what i want without the sales pitch im happy, but i stay away from jessops now as i cant/dont/wont trust the info they provide etc
 
In my local Jessops, they tend to have about 2 bodies available/on show from each manufacturer (say, a 60d and a 5dii) and literally a couple of lenses for each make. I went in looking for EF glass and was presented with a pair of cheap telephoto's, a 50 f1.8 and a 50 f1.4... that's it! (what a waste of time!!)
 
I moaned about them last week and I have another moan from Earlier in the year!...

It was a couple of days before my father-in-laws 80th birthday IN jULY, and after much deliberation, we decided to get him a camera, as he was always coming on to me about taking pictures of his vintage vehicles. Anyway, I did a bit of research and decided that a little Nikon point and shoot would do him fine. I had a look online at the prices and Jessops were doing one for £99.99. As I live out in the sticks, my nearest Jessops branch is 35 miles away in Derry/Londonderry, in Northern Ireland. So I drive over there and explain what I want and the salesman said that they had a display model for me to have a look at. So he gets the camera out and I have a quick look around it and am happy, so I tell him that I will take it one and that it was for my F-I-L's 80th, etc. So, I drive the 35 miles back home and take it out to show it to my wife ... IT'S FRIGGING PINK!!! :eek: I'm raging and phone the shop up and give them a boll***ing! :shake: The bloke apologises and asks me to bring it back and he would change it. So, I jump in the car again and drive the 35 miles back to the store and asks to speak to the manager. He comes over and I explain the episode to him and tell him that it's outrageous! I said that as well as exchanging it for a black model as I had asked for initially, he would have to compensate me for a wasted 70 mile round trip. I said that he would need to give me £30 for diesel and 90 minutes wasted of my time. He explains that he can't do that. I start to make my feelings known rather more loudly and he finally says that the best he can do is give me either a camera bag or a memory card up to the value of £30. A card, incidentally that is not worth more than a fiver, but for their inflated prices! :thinking: Anyhow, I accepted the offer and got a new camera and card and headed off home. I was about 5 miles into my journey, when I had a thought that I should double check the camera. I pulled over and opened the box. The camera looked like it was stuffed into the box with no care at all... definitely not like it would have left the factory. I took the camera out and it was filthy. Covered in fingerprints and the rear screen was all icky and dirty too! I threw it back in the bag and turned around and headed back to the shop. I walked in and the manager came straight over and asked me what was wrong. On a hunch, I led him over to the display cabinet and sure enough .... the frigging display model that I had played with earlier in the day was missing!!!! Yep, it was in my bag!!!!! The snidy b'stards had tried to fob me off with the display model even after messing me about all day!!! I threw the bag on the table and shouted that they were a bunch of crooks. What's the problem, the manager said? Look in the bag and tell me what's wrong with that camera, I said... You've opened it, he said! :clap: I told him to stop playing me for an idiot and get me sorted before I lose my rag. He went out back... and sheepishly reappeared 5 minutes later to reveal that they didn't have any of that camera model left! :suspect: I said that I wasn't interested in his stories, but that he had to sort me out with a camera, or I was gonna take it further. He said that I could have another camera of my choice up to £120, which was £20 more than the original Nikon. I told him that the only camera that I would accept was £149 and that he either gave me that, or I would take it further. After a seconds' thought he said that he would let me have the more expensive model ... BUT ... He would have to have the memory card back that he had given me earlier, or he would get into trouble! :cuckoo:

So, after all that, you wouldn't think that I'd still go in there and give them my hard earned ... What kind of a mug am I? WELL, NEVER AGAIN! :wave:
 
Went into my local Jessops today for a Cokin P series 58mm adapter for my 450D.

Sorry, we don't stock 58 mm adapters. It'll take 3 weeks to come.

OK, do you have any P series sets for a Canon?

Sorry, we don't stock sets for a Canon. It'll take 3 weeks to come.

Which sets do you stock then?

Oh, Nikon, Pentax and Olympus.

You mean you don't stock sets for the biggest selling camera brand of all time (maybe). One that is used by millions of people all over the world, both Pro and amateur? :bonk:

No!

Ebay sell them for £1.99 :wave:
 
I bought a Sigma 120-300/2.8 from Jessops in August this year. The AF has had an intermittent fault since day one, but I've soldiered on - not 100% sure if it was the lens until more recently. In December it stopped working altogether and was dead on four different bodies.

So on 11th December I took it to Jessops for warranty repair. So far I've heard nothing back and gave them a ring today to check status, especially as I want the lens for the British Wildlife Centre tomorrow and again in a couple of weeks for Whipsnade. The assistant was no earthly use whatsoever and just said I should expect it to take at least four weeks. It struck me as plucking a guess out of the air. Clearly there is no actual information available and no proper system within the stores for checking up on progress.

I don't know whether I would have been better served by sending the lens straight to Sigma, but this is not an impressive service to customers, especially on a lens approaching £2,000 at the time of purchase. I felt that the assistant really did not give a damn.

It's very, very different whenever I take stuff into Canon and get my gear turned around and sent back out within three working days.
 
There you go ... they've gone into administration!
 
I phoned them today about my Sigma lens repair, before hearing about the administration, and apparently the repair is complete and the lens should be back in store for this weekend. I sure hope so, because I don't want to be chasing them for the return of a £1,600 lens. At least it has three years warranty cover from Sigma once I do get it back.
 
lizzy23 said:
My local wakefield Jessops is just too small they don't stock anything except entry level, so its off to Leeds, and to be honest if i want information in Leeds i go to Dale photographic, fantastic shop, good range and passionate staff, i think my experience in wakefield puts me off going to the Leeds one, i don't think i even know where it is.
Click to expand...

Wakefield Jessops has been shut for months.
 
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