Jessops (yet again)

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After buying my camera and kit from Jessops in Brent Cross, I thought I would pay them a visit for Cumpler Pretty Boy shoulder bag.

With my first purchase, the manager was clued up and very helpful.
Upon my second visit he wasn't there so I had to deal with a sales assistant.

I was very specific with regard to my needs and I also took my camera and lenses with me to make sure they would fit.
The kid told me they were out of stock of the Crumplers then tried to sell me a Lowpro shoulder bag that is designed for a compact and way to small to hold my 450D and 2 lenses.
He then tried to sell me a Canon branded bag even though I had told him I wanted to avoid advertising what the bag contained!
I asked him to call the Watford branch and I would go and pick one up from there.

Now, from the conversation he had with the person in the Watford branch, it appears that their system is capable of telling them the stock levels at other branches because the person at Watford told him that they had two in stock at Brent Cross.
So off he goes yet again to the stock room and returns yet again with the Canon bag and says they are out of stock of the Crumpler bags.
By now my good lady was getting wound up and I had also had enough.

So off we tootle to Watford only to deal with a young girl who wasn't very clued up but she at least managed to find the bag I wanted.
I was already doubtful as to whether I should inquire about a shutter release cable and after 2 minutes with her faffing about I told her the bag would do for now.

Is it any wonder Jessops are having a difficult time when their sales staff can't even comprehend the needs of a customer.
If the sales staff at the company I work for couldn't answer questions or advise people with regard to IT kit, we would all be out of a job!

It's times like these it reminds me why I stopped going to retail shops and on the whole, prefer to buy online.
 
someone who used to work at jessops told me they've recently fired all middle level management in the stores to cut costs, but i find you either get people who like photography working in jessops or people who just need a job

either way the stuff they stock i find is generally limited and over priced so i stay away myself unless theres a hefty discount code floating around :)
 
Jessops tends to be hit and miss - I live in Aberystwyth and sadly here its a joke. The new manager here only employs young women. Really - all of the normal guys have left! Now that in it self isn't so bad - on looks at least the manager has good taste in staff.. but they are pretty useless with anything photography related.

Now if they could just get it right; hot girls who *do* know about photography, well theres a combination to take on the web any day!

So close but yet so far jessops....
 
Not really had much to do with Jessops for many years - in fact I used to deal with them when they only had one branch in Leicester !!!

Not surprisingly, the staff there were brill and very knowledgeable :thumbs:

Leeds was my next Jessops regular (if twice a year is regular?), all 3 staff there were brill & knowledgeable :thumbs:

Had dealings with Meadowhall a few times, 1 chap is brill others are helpful if a little lacking in knowledge of anything but compacts :thumbs:

Just dealt with Wakefield this week, and they were... errr... brill :thumbs:

All I can say is, some of you chaps are damned unlucky with your local branches !!!

:shake::shake::shake:

DD
 
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in Jessops defence
I have just been in an hour ago, bought a manfrotto tripod and head ( my cheap ebay job lost a leg last night) , the guy was on his own and loads of grockles (holiday makers) getting their films developed. He showed me the tripod and its functions and the head etc. even offered for me to take a pistol grip type home with me to play with and see if i liked it. and at the end of the sale he knocked six quid off for buying the pair :thumbs:
i could feel all the eyes glaring at the back of my head :lol::lol:
poor guy never got flustered at all. I am just glad i was at the front and not the back.
i have bought a lot of kit in the last couple of months and have been very happy so far
Dave
 
Great to hear so much praise for jessops. I'm glad to hear this once valuable resource isn't gone. Except here in Aberystwyth, where it is most definitely a waste of time. :bang:
 
brought a 10mm-20mm sigma the other day on a price match, the lens in the other shop came with a Hoya UV Filter, the child in charge of jessops was more bothered about his hair, than the customer.
I explained that the price match included a 77mm UV filter, or it wasn't strictly a price match sorry we have none, OK i said fair comment, just drop the price,(i always want somthing for nothing) can not do that we would be losing money, fair enough then, so out side i asked the wife who was looking after the kids to go in and ask for a 77mm Hoya UV filter, Guess what, £39. madam would you like a bag, she gave me the thumbs up and i zoomed in on two wheels, he handed the filter to me and made up some story about i guy just returning one.... yea right, i will use a place in Bolton i have found the guy used to work for jessops, and got fired as he was a supervisor, and actually likes photography.

Regards Mark

if you receive bad service then i think people should know to avoid , but if you receive good service people should know to try,
 
DiddyDave said:
Not really had much to do with Jessops for many years - in fact I used to deal with them when they only had one branch in Leicester !!!

Not surprisingly, the staff there were brill and very knowledgeable :thumbs:

All I can say is, some of you chaps are damned unlucky with your local branches !!!

DD
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Ditto, DD :)

The Leicester branch of Jessops is the only one I've visited and I have to say that shopping/browsing there is an unalloyed pleasure. The patience and enthusiasm of the staff goes way above and beyond. Linky here to my latest experience last Saturday. See the 580 speedlite thing on the counter in #1: although I know I could've purchased it for far less online, I didn't want to (did haggle the price down a fair bit though ;)). When "hands on" places like Jessops disappear, folks like me who really do need to try before they buy will be quite lost.

I've heard many horror stories about Jessops but provided the service levels and ethos of the Leicester branch don't change, they'll continue to get my custom - although I'll never pay the full advertised price! :lol:
 
I have never had a problem with Jessops or their staff. I have usually found them to be helpful and if not always knowledgable, enthusiastic. I have dealt with Tom who wrote a piece in another recent thread when he was in Manchester (Trafford Centre) and he was great. However...................!

I bought a D3 on monday in the Deansgate branch in Manchester. Very helpful chap dealt with me. Got it home and guess what? 37 shots fired. Finger prints all over it. Had obviously been on display. Took it back where one fella tried to convince me that they come from the Nikon factory like this with test shots already taken (not on my D70, D200, D2xs!!!). I showed him a screenshot of the data. He even made some reference to Canon having hundreds of test shots when they leave the factory. Thankfully one of the Managers then dealt with me. He rang another store immediately and ordered another one (not touched as he put it on the phone to Norwich branch). I never made a fuss as I do not really like to hassle anyone!

I went back in today to pick it up. Brand new as promised. I tried a 14-24 2:8and asked if they would price match. No was the answer! I then asked if they could do anything on the price as they had sold me a used camers as new and I'd had to make two journeys into Manchester City Centre (I live in Liverpool but work all over the NW). No again was the answer.

So in a nutshell, after spending £2800 with them and wanting to spend another £1000+ on a lens. Having been sold a D3 that had been used / ex display as new and having to travel into Manchester twice for the pleasure of sorting that out. Having had to listen to someone try to convince me that they have "test pics" taken at the Nikon factory. All with a smile on my face and with courtesy. Jessops would not do anything at all on the lens, or in fact on anything. At no point was there even an apology in there!

I think you can guess where I will not be buying in the future!

It is a shame because there are many good people working for Jessops. I have defended them on this forum in the past. However, this is not good customer service in any way shape or form. If I dealt with people in my line of work like this I would be out of work very quickly. What is particularly shocking is the lack of acknowledgement that anything was wrong.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. (D3 is excellent by the way).

Chris :)
 
Blue Moon 7 said:
I have never had a problem with Jessops or their staff. I have usually found them to be helpful and if not always knowledgable, enthusiastic. I have dealt with Tom who wrote a piece in another recent thread when he was in Manchester (Trafford Centre) and he was great. However...................!

I bought a D3 on monday in the Deansgate branch in Manchester. Very helpful chap dealt with me. Got it home and guess what? 37 shots fired. Finger prints all over it. Had obviously been on display. Took it back where one fella tried to convince me that they come from the Nikon factory like this with test shots already taken (not on my D70, D200, D2xs!!!). I showed him a screenshot of the data. He even made some reference to Canon having hundreds of test shots when they leave the factory. Thankfully one of the Managers then dealt with me. He rang another store immediately and ordered another one (not touched as he put it on the phone to Norwich branch). I never made a fuss as I do not really like to hassle anyone!

I went back in today to pick it up. Brand new as promised. I tried a 14-24 2:8and asked if they would price match. No was the answer! I then asked if they could do anything on the price as they had sold me a used camers as new and I'd had to make two journeys into Manchester City Centre (I live in Liverpool but work all over the NW). No again was the answer.

So in a nutshell, after spending £2800 with them and wanting to spend another £1000+ on a lens. Having been sold a D3 that had been used / ex display as new and having to travel into Manchester twice for the pleasure of sorting that out. Having had to listen to someone try to convince me that they have "test pics" taken at the Nikon factory. All with a smile on my face and with courtesy. Jessops would not do anything at all on the lens, or in fact on anything. At no point was there even an apology in there!

I think you can guess where I will not be buying in the future!

It is a shame because there are many good people working for Jessops. I have defended them on this forum in the past. However, this is not good customer service in any way shape or form. If I dealt with people in my line of work like this I would be out of work very quickly. What is particularly shocking is the lack of acknowledgement that anything was wrong.

Anyway, onwards and upwards. (D3 is excellent by the way).

Chris :)
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So how come you can take gear back if you don't want it for any reason, there must be a lot of new secondhand cameras about, and lenes as well. that they try to resell as new which i don't think they can Trading standards ...buy a £5000 grand camera £1000 lens do a wedding, take it back get a full refund :naughty:

Regards Mark
 
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mercmanuk said:
So how come you can take gear back if you don't want it for any reason, there must be a lot of new secondhand cameras about, and lenes as well. that they try to resell as new which i don't think they can Trading standards ...buy a £5000 grand camera £1000 lens do a wedding, take it back get a full refund :naughty:

Regards Mark
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I think the problem is that they are putting used / ex demo stock back in circulation as new :shrug: If something has been used / sold and returned it needs to be sold as such. They do have a problem in that lots of people want to handle cameras and they invariably get mauled a bit. This must cost them when it is happening to expensive stock. I have cringed in the past when seeing people messing with cameras or poking the inside when no lens is on.

I personally don't buy gear, use it and take it back. I think morally it would be wrong.

Chris :)
 
Just got my D300 + 18-200 VR from the Basildon branch. Dealt with a very nice and helpful young sales assistant (if any Jessop bosses read this). Couldn't price match but threw in two 4GB ext III CF card and a UV filter. So I'm pleased as punch.

The day Jessops is no longer on the high street will be a bad day IMHO.
 
Update RE above posts from me. I have just had a voicemail message left by the store and they are willing to give me a discount on the lens. I will go in and have a word with them. Hopefully we can sort something out.

Chris :)
 
It's nice to hear that quite a few of you have had good service from Jessops.
I will give them another go but I think I will make sure the manager I dealt with the first time is there.
Maybe I should of just walked away when the lad said they were out of stock of the Crumpler rather than give him the chance to see if they did have something else suitable in stock.
 
hyakuhei said:
Jessops tends to be hit and miss - I live in Aberystwyth and sadly here its a joke. The new manager here only employs young women. Really - all of the normal guys have left! Now that in it self isn't so bad - on looks at least the manager has good taste in staff.. but they are pretty useless with anything photography related.

Now if they could just get it right; hot girls who *do* know about photography, well theres a combination to take on the web any day!

So close but yet so far jessops....
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I find the same branch good, as they priced matched the cheapest UK price on a Sigma 120-300 2.8 Canon fit, (thats over £350 off), and sold me a new D300 for £900, when every where in the UK was @£989.

Not bad for a small town shop :)
 
Xup said:
I find the same branch good, as they priced matched the cheapest UK price on a Sigma 120-300 2.8 Canon fit, (thats over £350 off), and sold me a new D300 for £900, when every where in the UK was @£989.

Not bad for a small town shop :)
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Thats great! :) Which store? (There are two) They're not a small town shop though. :nono:
 
The Aberystwyth store, next to the NatWest bank, my local store, I live 5 miles away.
 
I though it'd be that one. There is also a Jessops just around the corner where they have a different range of stuff. I guess you can consider it as one shop split across two sites.

Congratulations on getting a good deal on the price matches. In my experience its really depends who serves you on the day. I've been told it has to be price matched within two miles at that very store.
 
I bought my 450D in Jessops Milton Keynes. The guy I dealt with was fab. Spent ages with me and really knew his stuff. Clearly enjoyed photography and got lenses out for me to try. I bought from there, after popping over to Cuttys, the sales girl was totally useless and I decided for a few extra quid I wanted to give my custom to Jessops!
 
Just make sure you see the Manager and take proof of the lowest UK price, and he will match it.
I always say " I would like to buy from my local store, But I can save by going ???
Price match and you have the sale.
 
I find the woman in the watford jessops very unhelpful, she does more printing side, if thats the same woman were talking about.

I went in there to get a uv filter for my 70-300 lens, and they didn't have any jessops ones, so had to get a hoya one, and I asked her to fit it for me, didn't botehr to clean my lens just stuffed it straight on. -that chessed me off, so unprofessional.
As there was a bloke there who fitted my filter on my 24-105 lens, when I first got that, and he CLEANED everything, as I told him my 450D was only a day old then...

it depends who serves you in the watford store.. there two nice blokes who have been helpful, esp the last few times we've been there when my brothers gone in to hold SLR's cos he's moving into that camera world soon!
and the womans been doing the printing pics those times too..

(sorry if theres anyone here from the watford Jessops store btw!)
 
Xup said:
I find the same branch good, as they priced matched the cheapest UK price on a Sigma 120-300 2.8 Canon fit, (thats over £350 off), and sold me a new D300 for £900, when every where in the UK was @£989.
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You bought a Canon-fit lens and a Nikon camera? :thinking:
 
getyour selves down to reading justin in there knows his onions and if hes not in i go in again on a day when he will be yes i know his name and you should know your store staff,s names its much more helpfull when you walk in and say hi how are you etc:clap:go justin go:clap:
 
I love how this thread has brought out lots of good jessops stories. Sounds like they are doing something right - well done jessops :clap:
 
HannahC said:
I find the woman in the watford jessops very unhelpful, she does more printing side, if thats the same woman were talking about.
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It was the young blonde girl who served me.
An older woman was dealing with an ederly lady over a compact camera.
A young guy appeared from the back of the shop and told the young girl to look on the knowledge base for the shutter release cable.
 
dinorock said:
getyour selves down to reading.
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It's a bit too late now, I hail from Reading but moved away in 99.
Still have a few friends there but I rarely go there these days.
 
DiddyDave said:
Just dealt with Wakefield this week, and they were... errr... brill :thumbs:


DD
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Seconded, a couple of those guy's at Wakefield have been there years and are a bit photogeeky, which is exactly what you want, they've found me allsorts of stupid obscure Nikon adaptors/add-ons/clips/wotnot, the kind of thing that'd have you're average school leaver reaching for a stack of product catalogues....or.....ibuprofen....or the next customer.

The Leeds branche(s) aren't bad either, allthough you have a greater chance of getting an A level student than at Wakefield, still, at least there's someone there they can ask what 120 film actually is :lol:

Jessops in Truro, is complete pants, I wonder if its a North/South thing, cos York's two are pretty fair.
 
I'd only recommend jessops to anyone who is in a mind and needs something quickly. It's always cheaper to buy on-line (even from them, they ALWAYS have discount codes SALE20 gives you £20 off orders £300-£599 for instance)
 
I only buy my stuff from jessops if they price match internet prices which I'm lucky they almaost always did (depends on who's on the till and their mood).
Last month, I accompanied a friend who bought 40D and 24-105L and they price matched warehouse express.
 
strobemonkey said:
I only buy my stuff from jessops if they price match internet prices which I'm lucky they almaost always did (depends on who's on the till and their mood).
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That's probably why they're in financial difficulty. Internet stores have very little overheads so can afford to give bigger discounts. I'm more than happy to get a discount off of list, but still pay a small premium for buying "in store".

Problem with Jessops is that, like most large organisations, there will always be poor as well as good people. And I guess they pay peanuts too.

Steve
 
Flash In The Pan said:
You bought a Canon-fit lens and a Nikon camera? :thinking:
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I'm a Canon man :), the Nikon was for my father, just as well really as my 40d is back with Canon for repairs after only 10 weeks use :(. (wheel by the shutter release stooped working)

It seems I am now a Nikon Man till my Canon comes back:thinking:
 
Alison said:
Ditto, DD :)

The Leicester branch of Jessops is the only one I've visited and I have to say that shopping/browsing there is an unalloyed pleasure.
Click to expand...

If they get it right anywhere it would have to be in Leicester!
 
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