Went to Jessop today, always good for a laugh.

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swanseamale47

swanseamale47

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I was working near a Jessops today so went in looking for a lens.
First I waited while two assistants tried to serve a chap in front of me, he wanted his 8mm video transfered to DVD, they told him it was £23 and hour. He asked if there was any way he could do it himself as he had 5 tapes, they told him, you cant do it with a normal computer, I told them yes you can it's easy, I do it all the time.
Eventually one came to serve me, I asked for a zoom lens for a full frame Nikon camera, I got a blank look, "a standard zoom?" I tried oh we have an 18-55mm she said, "thats for a crop sensor" I said, second blank look, "thats a DX lens, I want an FX lens" I tried, at this point she got the book out and started looking through it, then pointed to an 18-200mm, thats the one you need she said, "oh no it's not" I replied thats another DX lens, I want one for a full frame camera (holds up Nikon D3) "this camera" I said, Oh she said her face lighting up, we don't do those ones.
And they wonder why they are in debt. :bang:
 
with the greatest respect, having worked in Photo retail for 20yrs are you saying that you walked into Jessops with your D3 not knowing what lens you wanted to look at? Did you go in there to try and catch them out? regardless of your intentions, yes whilst its true they didnt know what you were after most customers coming in with your requirements generally know exactly what they want and normally wouldnt listen to the recomendations of the staff :( and No I dont work for Jessops but I did used to :)
 
Haven't been in Jessops for ages but on the occasions I have been in the staff didn't know a great deal about photography and only wanted to push products only ignorant people would buy, a shame really
 
I seem to be lucky here. The majority of the staff in my local jessops know there stuff. There are a couple that don't but they generally ask for help.
 
mikeward said:
if working in a shop is so easy why dont you open your own and totally put them out of business ?
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Or even, open up a showroom for people to look and play with a camera before they order it on the internet....oh , hang about there's no money in that :(
 
Welshblue said:
with the greatest respect, having worked in Photo retail for 20yrs are you saying that you walked into Jessops with your D3 not knowing what lens you wanted to look at? Did you go in there to try and catch them out? regardless of your intentions, yes whilst its true they didnt know what you were after most customers coming in with your requirements generally know exactly what they want and normally wouldnt listen to the recomendations of the staff :( and No I dont work for Jessops but I did used to :)
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I was looking for someting in the 28-70 or 28-200 sort of range (for my son) I don't know what they have in stock or what deals are on. I was looking for a sigma but they don't sell them any more (I said I was working nearbye so just popped in on the off chance) I hadn't researched it up on the net first. I did actually expect the staff of a camera shop to know the basics, even in jessops!
Not every customers experienced, many are starting out, how are they supposed to know what to buy if they staff haven't a bloody clue?
 
mikeward said:
if working in a shop is so easy why dont you open your own and totally put them out of business ?
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Why should I work for £5.75 an hour whan I can get £2k for a days work at a wedding?;)
 
/enters thread.

Nope, nothing happening here which could cause grief

/leaves thread

:)
 
Take a chill pill guys.......:naughty:
 
I am so pleased that people are getting bored with the jessops bashing, if you know that you are not going to get the customer service you expect why go there, I am sure you would not go into anyother shop where you do not get the service you expect, I know I don't.
As welshblue and mikeward said retail is not easy, a lot of the general public treat shop staff like something they have trodden in, I always use a simple rule when dealing with anyone, treat them as you would expect to be treated and if you do not get the service you expect ask politely if there is someone who may know available.
 
mikeward said:
if working in a shop is so easy why dont you open your own and totally put them out of business ?
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If only it was that easy...
The problem is that Jessops are mainly employing part time staff who are capable of using the credit card machine and a till.
I really don't think there is any product training these days and Jessops certainly isn't the retailer it used to be.
I've long given up expecting to get good advice from most of their staff so I do my own research on a product.
There are other photographic retailers whose staff not only understand the products they sell they are also keen photographers themselves.
The last three times I've popped into my local Jessops I have been met by fresh faced students who have very little interest in photography and took the job simply because it's in retail.
Sadly a lot can be said of a lot of 'chain' based retailers.
Whether swanseamale47 went into Jessops just to take the **** is neither here or there.
I believe the point he is making is that the staff really don't understand the products and to be fair to the them, this is Jessops fault.

Jessops can be quite competitive on camera bodies and I think most people would buy a body from them if there was no major financial gain by buying online.
People expect to walk into Jessops and get massive discount and this is because a lot of people do not understand the low profit margins made.
They also seem to forget that Jessops have a lot more overheads compared to a company with massive online presence and big warehouse.
 
Welshblue said:
Or even, open up a showroom for people to look and play with a camera before they order it on the internet....oh , hang about there's no money in that :(
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This problem is the same for every major retailer.
It's not the consumers fault that online only based companies realised they could sell cheaper because of lower overheads.
If anything is to blame it's the internet.
 
Seems to me that in general Jessops are the photographic equivalent of American Golf for golfers and I am sure a lot of others ofr their other interests.

Generally staffed by younger people with probably little interest in the things they are selling..... well a Nikon lens might fit on a Canon D400, likewise a 28 handicapper might be offered Titleist blades with X stiff shafts -- if thats what needs to be shifted that week.

Occasionally though, there is someone who enjoys their job, knows what they are doing, and are passionate about it and wants to help others.

The problem Jessops face is their business model is essentially ******, yet they seem to be blind to it.

Welshblue - touches on it above where s/he mentions that you pop into Jessops for a look and a play / tryout, then go but online - who on here, wouldn't like to try befre you buy, but if you can get it for £20-£500 or more cheaper online (depending on what you are getting) wouldn't do that..

Jessops seem to then think that you will go home and look at their website, and buy from them- where in reality the majority of savvy people will use a price comparison website or some of the more popular ones mentioned frequently on here!

The only USP that seems to be left is that if you buy x and it goes wrong you can take it back and negotiate face to face.......... whereas with online retailer, have to send back, etc etc......



Just my tuppence....
 
Do you expect every staff member to be a photographic equipment expert for £5.50 an hour and a crappy contract? When do you let the new girl loose on the counter? Just keep your cash in your pocket until you find that elusive expert to take your cash from you.
 
Lets get this clear, i didn't go in to take the p**s, I was working across the road, my son needs a new lens for his full frame Nikon. I went in with the intention of buying a sigma if they had one, they don't sell sigma stuff any longer (so they told me) so I then asked what lens they had for that camera (full frame) thats when it went downhill.
I don't expect the staff to be experts in every lens in the world, but I did expect them to know the difference between a DX and FX lens, after all they do sell the things.
I never said working in retail was easy, but then they didn't have to take the job did they.
 
Lomond Lad said:
Do you expect every staff member to be a photographic equipment expert for £5.50 an hour?
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As I have already pointed out, this is the fault of Jessops for the lack of training they provide.
It wouldn't harm the manufacturers to give product training either and there was a time when they did this.
It's all very well showing the 'woe is me card' but like it or not, the customer expects staff to have some knowledge on the products they are selling.
 
/enters thread

senses friction

/considers closing thread
 
swanseamale47 said:
I was working near a Jessops today so went in looking for a lens.
First I waited while two assistants tried to serve a chap in front of me, he wanted his 8mm video transfered to DVD, they told him it was £23 and hour. He asked if there was any way he could do it himself as he had 5 tapes, they told him, you cant do it with a normal computer, I told them yes you can it's easy, I do it all the time.
Eventually one came to serve me, I asked for a zoom lens for a full frame Nikon camera, I got a blank look, "a standard zoom?" I tried oh we have an 18-55mm she said, "thats for a crop sensor" I said, second blank look, "thats a DX lens, I want an FX lens" I tried, at this point she got the book out and started looking through it, then pointed to an 18-200mm, thats the one you need she said, "oh no it's not" I replied thats another DX lens, I want one for a full frame camera (holds up Nikon D3) "this camera" I said, Oh she said her face lighting up, we don't do those ones.
And they wonder why they are in debt. :bang:
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[FONT=&quot]Hi Most of the part time staff do have limited camera knowledge, but a lot of their managers are very helpful - I do buy from them often. I know what I want and usually do an online search before visiting my local branch - this tells me which branch has my item in stock and how quickly they can get it if it is not in stock quite often it is next day.

Regards

Mike
[/FONT]
 
Hopefully you have emailed Jessops with your comment and concerns so that they can train staff effectively
 
Jessops have always been knowledgeable, friendly, and pretty close to the best on price when I check. Even my TINY local Jessops (half a mile from my house) is great. I was in this morning getting prints, and I asked the guy as you do "Thinking about a portrait lens" but not sure what to go for yet...I told him I was interested in a prime...

To cut a long story short, he recommended a 35mm f2 if my space was limited and needed the reach, although he went onto say it was a sacrifice if space was NOT limited. He then ran through other *ideas*, he mentioned the 50mm, the 85mm, and asked if I had considered looking around the 100 to 135 range as it normally contained nice portrait options...he got into it in a big way, I just shutup and let him rabbit on. It was very cool to see him get excited at the mention of a lens. That's the way it should be.

I will make a point of buying from him in future.

Gary.
 
we have really done this subject to death.

i'm sorry your experience wasn't great swanseamale47. :(

there does seem to be huge regional variation with Jessops.
we are not going to fix the Jessops business model on here.
All we need to remember is that it's our money and we have the choice where we spend it.
 
dcash29 said:
Hopefully you have emailed Jessops with your comment and concerns so that they can train staff effectively
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Maybe I'd be better emailing HSBC :lol:
Actually I will contact them, I didn't start the thread to cause a barny on TP, I was just passing on my rather humorous experience.
 
swanseamale47 said:
Lets get this clear, i didn't go in to take the p**s, I was working across the road, my son needs a new lens for his full frame Nikon. I went in with the intention of buying a sigma if they had one, they don't sell sigma stuff any longer (so they told me) so I then asked what lens they had for that camera (full frame) thats when it went downhill.
I don't expect the staff to be experts in every lens in the world, but I did expect them to know the difference between a DX and FX lens, after all they do sell the things.
I never said working in retail was easy, but then they didn't have to take the job did they.
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Ok you didn't go in to take the preverbiale, unfortunately you thread title does suggest that you did. Having posted earlier I can also see your frustration.
 
EdinburghGary said:
Jessops have always been knowledgeable, friendly, and pretty close to the best on price when I check. Even my TINY local Jessops (half a mile from my house) is great. I was in this morning getting prints, and I asked the guy as you do "Thinking about a portrait lens" but not sure what to go for yet...I told him I was interested in a prime...

To cut a long story short, he recommended a 35mm f2 if my space was limited and needed the reach, although he went onto say it was a sacrifice if space was NOT limited. He then ran through other *ideas*, he mentioned the 50mm, the 85mm, and asked if I had considered looking around the 100 to 135 range as it normally contained nice portrait options...he got into it in a big way, I just shutup and let him rabbit on. It was very cool to see him get excited at the mention of a lens. That's the way it should be.

I will make a point of buying from him in future.

Gary.
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You'll be needing a catalogue to keep track of those lenses Gary.
... Oh, thought you'd be too busy with the new venture to have time to go shopping.

Back to topic -
I like Jessops. Don't expect expert advice, but nice to have a wee look and possible buy.
I agree you're not going to get expert advice from staff being paid minimum wage.
Why didn't you spend a few minutes explaining the DX / FX lenses to the girl, then she'd know next time you popped in.
 
quality that makes me laugh
 
It's not unreasonable to expect a "National" photographic retailer to have staff that can tell a customer just what lens can fit on what body. And contrary arguments about staff being young, on lousy rates of pay and so on are I'm afraid irrelevant. I accept that it's not the staff's fault, but it certainly is Jessops fault. They used to be pretty good once, now they just don't have a good reputation at all.
 
Try Jessops in Bolton, the guy I talk to always seems to know his camera/lens stuff, and they are all very polite, and they even print a very good image.

To train all staff about EVERY manufacturers full list of products in never going to happen anywhere, your talking about thousands of combinations.
 
Bill Roberts said:
It's not unreasonable to expect a "National" photographic retailer to have staff that can tell a customer just what lens can fit on what body. And contrary arguments about staff being young, on lousy rates of pay and so on are I'm afraid irrelevant. I accept that it's not the staff's fault, but it certainly is Jessops fault. They used to be pretty good once, now they just don't have a good reputation at all.
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Fair point
 
Actually I will contact them, I didn't start the thread to cause a barny on TP, I was just passing on my rather humorous experience.
Click to expand...

Personally i find the whole situation sad rather than humorous.

Anyway not to worry as i wouldnt be surprised if photographic shops become a thing of the past
 
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