Jessops trying it on

[Graham00]

I ordered a new lens via the Jessops website for £419 for collection at their store in Lincoln, so i took the printed off order sheet into the store with the clearly marked price and the sales assistant mentioned the lens was £449, as i took this in i realised he must have made some sort of verbal error, when i checked my debit card screen before entering my PIN it showed £449, so i challenged him over the price and he said "Oh didn't you hear i mentioned the price of the lens twice to you" :thumbsdown: taken aback i pointed to the piece of paper and said "this is the internet order price" :rules:
He then had to readjust the price to £419, also he was really pushing the sale of a UV filter at £15 for lens protection and had to turn him down on that 3 times, he wasn't a happy chappy as i left.

I thought to myself ahh this is a chain in a bit of financial trouble, their price was very competetive i'll order from them to sort of help 'em out a bit, i can see why there are so many negative feedback posts on Jessops, i'm now on a growing list of them.

 

[chris.]

I Brought a lens from Jessops (Worcester) Last Saturday, but before that i shopped round for the best price, they beat the best price i had got only by a couple of quid but threw in a canvass print free of charge and a uv filter and the assistant couldn't be more helpful..

However when i brought a camera bag from Solihull jessops they to tried to tuck me up on the price of the bag but it was resolved with a polite conversation. some are good some are bad..???? maybe

 

[kevshore]

One member of staff at one shop. Shame, but it happens. I had excellent service from the Birmingham branch.


Kev.

 

[Dave *]

I thought to myself ahh this is a chain in a bit of financial trouble, their price was very competetive i'll order from them to sort of help 'em out a bit, i can see why there are so many negative feedback posts on Jessops, i'm now on a growing list of them.

More likely he was trying to circumvent the "click and collect" order and put it through the till as if it was a store sale he had made.

Targets and all that....

 

[Graham00]

More likely he was trying to circumvent the "click and collect" order and put it through the till as if it was a store sale he had made.

Targets and all that....

Yeah i think you're right Dave and obviously Jessops would have patted him on the back for that if they knew, i would never have paid £449 on principal i think people are more wised up in rip off britain

 

[Graham00]

I Brought a lens from Jessops (Worcester) Last Saturday, but before that i shopped round for the best price, they beat the best price i had got only by a couple of quid but threw in a canvass print free of charge and a uv filter and the assistant couldn't be more helpful..

However when i brought a camera bag from Solihull jessops they to tried to tuck me up on the price of the bag but it was resolved with a polite conversation. some are good some are bad..???? maybe

One member of staff at one shop. Shame, but it happens. I had excellent service from the Birmingham branch.


Kev.

If only they were all the same standard, i suppose it's the same with PC World, gooduns and badduns :|

 

[Southdowns]

In my experience yes, some are good, but very very few. All they want to do is maximise the sale, and know as much about photography as I do about brain surgery.

Genuine conversation #1:

Me: "do you sell sensor cleaning products?"

Oik: "What do you use those for??"

Me: "umm, cleaning your sensor"

Oik: "Oh no, I don't think you can do that"

Me: "well, there are lots of products on Amazon for it, I just wondered if you had any"

Oik: "hang on, I'll go and ask the manager……"

Oik: "no sorry, the manager says we don't sell those"

Me: "Oh OK, because while you were asking him I found this "sensor pen" on the shelf next to me"

Oik: "Oh"

Genuine conversation #2:

Me: "Can you tell me the price of the SLT A65 body only please?" (with kit lens priced at £719 on the shelf)

Senior Oik (after searching his computer): "£749.00, but we don't have any here; I can get one within a couple of days"

Me: "are you sure, that's more than with the lens?"

Senior Oik: "yes that's what I have here. You might as well buy it with the lens and sell that on eBay"

Me: "Well, only if I was going to buy it from you; I can get the body only for £100 less elsewhere. Do you have a price promise?"

Senior Oik: "if the other store is within 10 miles"

Me: holding a lovely new camera from Park Camera's the following morning.

I've had bad experiences with their online operation too, so now avoid them like the plague.

 

[ernesto]

It's the same with the majority of shop assistants. Working in a shop is working in a shop, the fact it sells cameras or clothes makes little difference. They have no loyalty to the shop and it is probably not their ultimate career and are only doing it until something better turns up.
To increase the chances of good service go to an independent shop where the owner may well be serving (or overseeing) and have a much more vested interest in it. Although saying that there is a very good bike shop close to me where the owner is a complete arse

 

[swanseamale47]

I had almost exactly the same thing happen to me a while back when I was buying a light meter, they had "upped" the price too, I just walked away and bought from another company, I won't buy from Jessops anymore (and I used to spend a LOT in there at one time)

 

[gadgeteer]

It is unfair to tar all of Jessops for the poor service from one person in one store.

Our local store seems to hire enthusiasts and I've had some stonking advice from them and during quiet periods happily discuss all sorts of photography stuff with them.

The one further afield in a big shopping centre hires more normal staff. They know enough....but probably not enough to advise someone who would frequent say this forum. But they've always been friendly enough and probably know enough to advise your average punter looking for a holiday camera.

I do like to support bricks & mortar shops whereever possible. If we don't then Jessop's will fall by the wayside just like others such as Jacobs have. I appreciate being able to look, touch and play with the camera before I part with my hard earned cash and I especially love the fact I can return the camera if I change my mind within 30 days.

My second DSLR I bought from Jessops broke within about a month of buying it. I took it back and the manager swapped it there & then for me. It's little things like that and the human interaction which I'd happily a bit extra for.

 

[Dave *]

I've also had good and bad experiences in Jessops, and I'll still shop there if the price is close to online, I don't mind a small bricks and mortar "surcharge" to keep the High Street stores there.

 

[Southdowns]

It's the same with the majority of shop assistants. Working in a shop is working in a shop, the fact it sells cameras or clothes makes little difference. They have no loyalty to the shop and it is probably not their ultimate career and are only doing it until something better turns up.

Agreed, and the fault is not with the staff (mostly), it's with Jessops. If they are going to claim to be experts, they should train their staff to at least a reasonable level. I've overheard and been given some appalling advice in the past.

It is unfair to tar all of Jessops for the poor service from one person in one store.

Unfortunately though it's not one person in one store. As I say, I've overheard and had terrible advice, even before I got into "proper" photography, and now that I'm better able to recognise it I see it way too much in Jessops. In the last 8 months, I've been into 5 Jessops stores that I can specifically remember, one of those several times, and NONE of the staff have had a clue about camera's. Most have been very unhelpful (as soon as they realise you don't want to spend a fortune, they don't want to know anymore), and several have been plain rude. In only one (a shopping mall one as it happens), the staff were extremely helpful - they didn't have a clue, but at least they tried to help. That plus the online experience, which is equally bad, may not be a huge sample, but it's enough to tell me what their general culture is.

I completely agree about independent stores; I bought a tripod from one recently, and got fantastic advice from a guy who clearly loved photography. I paid a little over the odds for it, but it was worth it. The problem with Jessops is that you usually pay over the odds like you might in an independent, but get no benefit in return.

 

[admirable]

More likely he was trying to circumvent the "click and collect" order and put it through the till as if it was a store sale he had made.

Targets and all that....

Yeah i think you're right Dave and obviously Jessops would have patted him on the back for that if they knew, i would never have paid £449 on principal i think people are more wised up in rip off britain

Any purchase from Jessops online using the collect in store option results in the sale being credited to the store.

 

[Southdowns]

Any purchase from Jessops online using the collect in store option results in the sale being credited to the store.

Yes, but not the individual salesman I suspect.

 

[cherryrig]

Sometimes with collect @ store items yes the price will be cheaper as seen on the website, however for some reason when the sales staff recall that instore they have to do a supervisor retain (to make sure they keep the online price) however they then need the managers card to do that. So if they don't know about that the price will override to the instore price. Which seems the case in the original post.

Just a heads up

 

[Flash In The Pan]

In my experience yes, some are good, but very very few. All they want to do is maximise the sale, and know as much about photography as I do about brain surgery.

Genuine conversation #1:

Me: "do you sell sensor cleaning products?"

Oik: "What do you use those for??"

Me: "umm, cleaning your sensor"

Oik: "Oh no, I don't think you can do that"

Me: "well, there are lots of products on Amazon for it, I just wondered if you had any"

Oik: "hang on, I'll go and ask the manager……"

Oik: "no sorry, the manager says we don't sell those"

Me: "Oh OK, because while you were asking him I found this "sensor pen" on the shelf next to me"

Oik: "Oh"

Genuine conversation #2:

Me: "Can you tell me the price of the SLT A65 body only please?" (with kit lens priced at £719 on the shelf)

Senior Oik (after searching his computer): "£749.00, but we don't have any here; I can get one within a couple of days"

Me: "are you sure, that's more than with the lens?"

Senior Oik: "yes that's what I have here. You might as well buy it with the lens and sell that on eBay"

Me: "Well, only if I was going to buy it from you; I can get the body only for £100 less elsewhere. Do you have a price promise?"

Senior Oik: "if the other store is within 10 miles"

Me: holding a lovely new camera from Park Camera's the following morning.

I've had bad experiences with their online operation too, so now avoid them like the plague.

With regard to the body being more than the body/lens kit I've seen that before in Jessops, but only with Sony, so it may well be that there is a promo deal from the manufacturer that has caused the anomaly....

 

[Mani Gill]

It's a shame, when I purchased my first camera from them, they were very helpful, although I did pay over £1000 for a 550d with a kit lens. Bonk. Still great service, if only the prices were a little more competitive.

 

[Dave *]

I did pay over £1000 for a 550d with a kit lens. Bonk. Still great service, if only the prices were a little more competitive.

by "kit" do you mean you bought it with the 18-135mm?

The 550D and 18-55mm kit was never more than £1000 (even at launch). It launched at £899.99 with kit lens.

 

[acetone]

I went into the Manchester store asking for the price of a lens, the assistant told me the in store price and then said (without prompting from me) he would check other vendors prices on-line and they would match or better any found. The price he came back with was £90 less, and matched prices I'd seen on Camera Price Buster, you can't have much better service than that.

 

[Shumbalicious]

I laughed so hard at the sensor cleaning conversation. But I honestly think it's simply down to individual experiences. The jessops in Oxford St where I got my cam was extreme helpful and friendly

 

[POAH]

Why did you bring it?

I Brought a lens from Jessops (Worcester) Last Saturday, but before that i shopped round for the best price, they beat the best price i had got only by a couple of quid but threw in a canvass print free of charge and a uv filter and the assistant couldn't be more helpful..

 

[swiftflo]

Jessops are advertizing a UV filter & a PL filter on the web site. This is with some good savings.
However there are only 2 stores with the package in stock and they will not post them, only for collection.

 

[Dave *]

Jessops are advertizing a UV filter & a PL filter on the web site. This is with some good savings.
However there are only 2 stores with the package in stock and they will not post them, only for collection.

Probably clearance stock? If it is, it's not really worth their while to start transferring them around branches (and also why so few branches still have stock).