Jessops
 

Interesting Rob. Hope they survive or it will get more and more difficult to see products "in the flesh" for folks who do not live in the main towns.

Thanks Rob. Glad to see they finally look to be genuinely finding a way out of the massive debt situation and whole world of doodoo they have been in for quite a while now.

It would be a shame for Jessops as it's great to see camera's and equipment in real life but the staff in the Jessops in my home town deserve to lose their jobs as they are rubbish.

Or (more constructively), perhaps deserve to be properly trained, and reasured of their positions where neccessary

Definately a shame, most of the staff in our town are pretty good :(

Staff in my local branch are clueless! I went to buy my 600 f4 last month and they tried to say that they have a 2.8 version of this lens! When i said that would be the 400 they said i know nothing! I asked them to look it up and of course could not but they said that was because it was "new" - so far, still not 600 2.8 haha!

I would gladly see the back of them, rip off merchants.

I use our local Jessops to have a look at a piece of kit, if the have it, and then go on line to get it at a proper price.

As pointed out elsewhere, generally the staff are clueless.

Whilst I have no time for Jessops it is a handy store to view a piece of kit that you are interested in.
The staff are the most un-informed "experts" I have ever met, but if this outlet was to close a lot of people would not be able to view and handle new/existing kit.
In Birmingham we have a "World Photograpy Centre" which is a big store that used to be bustling with stock and people, it is now a shell with no customers and even less stock.
How times change, they really dropped the ball big time!

In Manchester we are blessed with a few options in terms of camera/ photographic stores, Jessops on Princess street, another in Trafford centre, Jacobs on Cross street, London Camera Exchange in Picadilly Gardens, Wildings on Deansgate, the usual electrical/electronics shops dotted around, and ourselves 'The Real Camera Company' on the corner of Lever st/Dale street.
In terms of condemning Jessops as the worst place/ staff I have to disagree. As a former employee might I offer my balanced view, and point out that the company finances got pretty much flushed down the toilet a couple of years ago, HOWEVER, as I am now led to believe, the underwriting bank (HSBC) has now basically let them off the hook (in terms of their immediate financial situation). As a regular pricehunter I can honestly say that Jessops prices have become very competitive just recently, and in some cases aren't much dearer than many websites with genuine UK stock. If I put myself in the shoes of many buyers, and also base my opinion on other buyers I've heard from, I would feel MUCH better buying the more expensive items in person from a high st shop. Some of the package deals about are most tempting. (though solid state memory really does need to be more competitively priced).
As far as staff are concerned, yes, not all will be as knowledgeable as the most well read. Ability does vary quite dramatically with those I met. However, very few I met did not have the desire to know more, and grasp extra background knowledge. I should imagine confidence is then easily knocked by the next browser thrusting ill informed opinion at them. A prime example the other day, a professional regular customer advising me how he converts jpg captures back to RAW to 'get the highlights back'!...... I can well imagine many on here would scoff, and shout the guy down rather than listen to his experiences, however,
its not necessarily about points scoring or ego messaging for staff (though can be for some customers and staff). I got my lens sale, lent him my ear, got some useful feedback on other kit he owns. He got a friendly chat, a bit of banter, a lens at a good price and I would hope enjoyed the experience, and we'll meet again.
I would hope (and expect) some staff training might well be on the cards in the future at Jessops, now that the company seems to be in a better position. On a positive note too, I would second guess that Jessops as a company could well improve.
I for one would like to see them remain on the high street.

A good way to help them go bust - I bet that you're proud that you played your part.

OK I'll give you an example, I have my own photography business, it's fledgling so costs are everything.

At an event a few months ago, one of our flash guns went pop due to water ingestion. I took it to get it repaired but unfortunately the repairs took longer than expected, in the meantime we had a wedding to photograph in Florence for which I wanted to take two flash guns. I looked around for a Canon 580EX MkII, Jessops wanted £406.00 for this piece of kit, another local photographic supplier wanted £420.00 for it, and when I called Currys at Gatwick airport they also wanted £420.00 and this was supposed to have the VAT taken off.

I called Calumet, they had it for £351,00, I live in the Channel Islands so they kindly knocked the VAT off and I got it delivered the very next day for £320.00.

I bought two 24 - 70 F2.8 L series lenses 18 months ago for less than £1,100 for the two from Warehouse Express and Park Cameras, Jessops want nearly £700 each.

Now I'm no economist but would anyone here, with half a brain cell, pay £100 more for a piece of kit. I doubt it.

The staff members I've come across have very little idea of what they are selling, that's if the get off the backsides to actually serve you.

Jessops are a large organisation, arguably larger than Calumet, Park Cameras and Warehouse Express, therefore economies of scale should play apart in what they sell and how much they sell it for, and they should be much more competitive. Their "local" shop staff are basically untrained monkeys with less knowledge of photographic equipment.

I wouldn't shed a tear if they disappeared off of my high street.

You don't have to be an ecconomist or have more than half a brain cell to realise that if you stock a store with goods that people only try but don't buy then that store can go bust. Where will you try new gear when there are no more high street stores? I hope that you're not the type who will moan when the local stores are gone - but I wouldn't bet money on it.

"therefore economies of scale should play apart in what they sell and how much they sell it for, and they should be much more competitive."
They do need to be more competitive but they are at a disadvantage in that they have to pay staff (however poor the staff are), upkeep of their stores and also pay business rates on each and every store. In other words they have very high overheads compared to the internet stores. Yes some of the stores you mention do have a high street presence but no where near the number of high street stores Jessops still has.

Canon 7D body at Jessops £1500.

7D in store or online at RGB Tech £1300 and the staff are knowledgeable + next day free delivery if you buy online.

Guess where I bought my 7D from, sorry no prize for the first one to guess right.

Harry

You could have bought a 3 week old (ie unused) one from us for around £900 lol

Its a shame this thread has turned into a Jessop knocking free for all

What's your point, that I should support the store because it's there and therefore payer higher prices ? I assume you have the finances to accommodate this, I don't, and therefore choose to get the best deal and service wherever I can.

If the stores are any good then they will still get custom otherwise they will disappear. Jessops need to move with the times and become much more competitive, after all they all are also an online company and should be able to compete with the likes of Calumet and offer similar prices. Calumet also have stores, so have similar overheads.

For me, if the store disappeared, it wouldn't be much of a problem as I get to the UK or Europe regularly enough to be to research new equipment without too much problem, Jessops didn't always have it in store anyhow.

From personal experience as an oldie, therefore a shopper for many years I can say that staff knowledge or lack sometimes of it can be tagged to a far wider range of retailers than Jessops. Electrical retailers, Hi Fi Retailers, Computer Retailers ......... the list goes on and I am sure anyone reading this can add their own examples.

As for Jessops I have made or been involved (for family) in 4 camera puchases at different branches over the last eight years. Of these one can be described as a pretty dire experience, but the others were fine. So in my case 3 out of 4 had knowledgeable and friendly staff. In my bad experience case it was after two good ones, so despite being pretty irate at the time I knew this was not a reflection of all their branches. If you are unlucky to have a poor one on your high street then you are unlucky as it is worth pointing out some have a grood one on theirs.

When it comes to prices then it should be recognised that a lot of Jessops stores have been moved into plush shopping centres which no doubt cost a lot in rent and rates, so they may have the buying power, but then their outgoings are far higher than somewhere like Warehouse Express which operates out of an Industrial Estate on the edge of town.

I note en830's and Wolfies comment re prices, but there are those of us that like to buy face to face, and although we may on one level pay more by doing that, on another level if we have a good dealer then it can make up for itself.

As we are into examples then here is one from my side of the street.
When the Nikon D200 came out I read all the reviews as part of my homework and ordered one from my local dealer. When it arrived they rang and I went over full of excitement. On having a play in the shop one thing not mentioned in any review showed itself immediately. ...... Lack of eye relief. To use it I had to press right up against the review screen, so in use that would be permenantly smeared. At the time the dealer was a Canon dealer and not a Nikon dealer, but they agreed to order a D2X for me to try as they felt in view of my wants that was possibly the machine for me. As it turned out they were absolutely right and I bought it. The point here is that they were prepared to specially order the second camera with no guarantee of a sale after I had rejected the first for the reason mentioned. Now I may have paid a bit more than the lowest internet price but for me it was well worth it. They are now a Nikon dealer and since then I have bought Stevies camera and three lenses from them.

Nothing wrong with buying off the internet if that is what you are happy with, but having read lots of forum threads on kit I am only too aware of the latest and best syndrome. The D200 was called a mini D2X in its time and it is far from it in my opinion. Now move to the D300, then on its announcement the specs looked good and previews were very good, so a huge number of D2X owners flooded the marked with their old camera to get the new ' D2X killer - the D300 ' before the X used values fell through the floor.
Even now if you read threads in DPR or Nikon Cafe the D2X is written off as old technology and the D300 is rated far higher, and a lot of these are by previous D2X owners. Not sure how many are self justifying what they did, but a few have said they regretted the move and swapped back.

The proof of the pudding as to how much waffle is posted really came home when I got Stevie a D300. As far as the net went then this was going to leave me with the D2X well behind. In fact compared to the D2X it turns out to only win on five counts. Better review screen, smaller and therefore lighter, live view, built in flash, and better performance from ISO600. For my needs the 'old technology D2X ' wins in all other areas most of which are never mentioned in those forum threads. Since we have had Stevies D300 I get a fair amount of amusement at reading those posts now.

So I feel high street dealers including Jessops, or other more backstreet dealers, have a role to play for those like me that do not necessarily believe all we read on the net, and like to actually try before we buy. If that tags me as to quote en830, " as having less than half a brain cell " then fine. All up I feel that in the long run having a relationship with a great dealer has actually saved me time, money, and hassel.

Don

Have you got something against Jessops in particular?

Worth asking as your arguement does not seem stack up, and before you think I am a no1 Jessops supporter I am not. Just trying to get a balanced view.

Stores - I have no idea how many Jessops has in the UK but Calumet has 11 and none in the high cost shopping areas like Westfield and no doubt other major city centre locations. So there is no valid comparison to be made there.

Prices - I had no real idea so accepted what you said but now I thought I would check out Camera Price Buster anyway. Now I do not see your arguement at all. On price alone you can pick on any number of other stores that are more expensive than Jessops. :confused: Depends what you look at but Calumet is sometimes more expensive than Jessops.

Link to Camera Price Buster
http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/index.html

Don

My experience of my local Jessops, is that they are over priced and the staff have very little knowledge of the items that they are expected to sell. On the back of that there is a another shop not far from Jessops, that I will agree is similarly priced and staffed, so maybe I'm being a bit too general by singling Jessops out as a whole, this may not be the case all over the group.

I also concede the fact that Calumet is sometimes more expensive than others and vis versa, however, I, like many on here reserve the right to shop around. The argument that by looking in Jessops but buying elsewhere is adding to their woes, does not add up. If they had the piece of kit at a competitive price I would no doubt buy from them, because, generally by the time I come to buy something I've researched it sufficiently to undertand what it does and how well it does it, to not need the staff's input. It is then down to the price. Consistently, this is where Jessops fail.

Nowadays I go to a bigger retailer like Currys or PC World to try out new kit--though I usually end up comparing the new digicams to the old stuff-- staff is more knowledgable (usually 1 person who sort of knows as opposed to 5 fools in Jessops), there is just as much choice and better prices.

Alex - Somewhat different to my experience of Currys/PC World/Dixons (and I'm not alone - Just take a read on the PC forums). The staff in the stores I've visited have the knowledge to stack the shelves and open the boxes, thats about it. The camera range is not exactly extensive and if you want something as rare (:rolleyes:) as an 85mm prime lens, you can forget it.
I'm not saying Jessops is perfect by anymeans, but at least most have a good knowledge of the stuff they sell and in our local are very keen to help.

I think Jessops main problem is the number of shops they took over in the nineties. That was pure greed, just wanting to get shot of the competition. I can't remember where I saw it (somewhere in Scotland I think), but they had 2 stores on the same street that had previously been independant camera shops.

Good point Alex. DSG group (currys & PC world in the uk) do have much better buying power, and the co-ordination of their imaging stock has improved vastly in the last couple of years. As one of the area managers once said to me, they are deliberately targeting areas and weaknesses of retailers selling similar mainstream imaging products. Reading between the lines way back when I worked for them I could see these products were ironically proping up none existant laptop profits. Back then PC World were actually making a loss, where Currys were turning a reasonable (but not brilliant) profit. I also suspect that since then, this is one of the reasons why you can also buy many imaging products now at PC world. In a way, the stock choice in the two stores could also indicate some loss of identity too (though I think it'll be a while before PC World stock cookers and fridge freezers!) lol
As far as prices go, I'm always looking at prices and current deals, and can honestly say that Jessop prices, on average, have come down recently.
I am a little confused at the ramblings of some here, but I do try to base my opinion re prices of current findings, but also appreciate that general Jessop past fiascos have probably left a bitter taste in many peoples mouths.

thats old news. much of that was due to lease/ rent contracts which have since expired.

Why would you look for an 85mm lens in Currys? Thats bonkers! In the same way you wouldn't look for a commercial franking machine in WHSmith (but they sell stationary related goods, don't they?! lol)

Joe,
Why take over two shops if not with the intent of closing the competition, thats got nothing to do with property rental/leasing?

And my point about the 85mm lens was that even though it's one of the most common consumer level (the f1.8) Canon primes, they don't stock it at at any of the Currys I've been in. Which kind of negates Alexes point about going into to try stuff. Maybe back in the '80's (When it was still Dixons) but the one here stopped selling SLRs back in the '90's and only recently restarted when they changed the name/brand from Dixons.

The Dixons in Reading where I live has 5 main cabinets, Canon, Nikon and Pentax/Olympus SLR bodies and lenses each. By that I mean 10 bodies and 3 lenses in one cabinet. The other 2 are for compacts. The cabinets are also locked, whereas PC World and Currys have those alarm thingies that means you can try the stuff without calling a dimwit over to unlock the cabinet for you.

London Camera Exchange, on the other hand, is a whole different story =)

Deci,
I've actually worked for both Jessops and Currys. Whilst you may think this is the ramblings /moanings of yet another goader, unlike some, I do actually know what I'm taking about here. The duplicate stores seen up and down the country (and empty stores now closed down but still with the Jessop frontage/ boards) is due to the, sometimes, long rental lease agreements signed up to. The Jessops branch at the Fort retail park Manchester, for example, has only just technically become available for another retailer to move in. That's near TWO YEARS after it closed for trading. In the eyes of the accountants it was seen as either an option to sublet in the meantime, unfortunately in this case of no takers, remain empty, but most definately never to open for trading. The rental paid over this period to the first available opt out at the end of the term had already been accounted for and written off also incidentally during the period of passing (ie selling) much of the 'clearance' stock to a separate holding company (not owned by Jessops) at the time. In other cases/stores the store was deemed to be one where the stock was redistributed, which in many cases, included premises previously occupied by the 'competitor' camera shop bought by Jessops. Bizarrely, as has been pointed out, sometimes across the road or next door to a 'regular' Jessops. Sometimes both stores may have looked 'regular' (and sometimes one would be regular, the other a clearance store), but I can assure you, whilst the staff and store costs may have been paid from the same Jessop Head office money pot, the stock was actually owned by different holding companies, and sold on behalf of Jessop staff, issuing Jessop receipts, with the understanding that the Holding company would've paid Jessop a lump sum up front to basically get them out of the immediate shit (though store it for a future time in effect). During this period the Jessops group needed a quick fix, and selling some of their stock was the short term answer. Therfore, as this coincided with lease agreements being tied to set terms which they simply had to do something with (ie they HAD to remain trading on those premises) Jessop had no option but to duplicate stores.
I can appreciate that on the outside looking in, it may have indeed looked like Jessop had bought the competition out (incidentally Techno did the right thing) and opened a duplicate store, but in some cases, Techno being one, Jessop did over stretch themselves, which also coincided with The Jessop group ltd floating on the stock market. However, I guess looking back many ill advised directions were taken, but always keeping the share holders happy!... but that's another thing!

Currys don't stock, and probably never will, stock specialist kit (in your eyes an 85mm 1.8 may not seem specialist, but the eyes of a mainsteam store, it most certainly is). It simply does not shift off the shelves fast enough, and doesn't make a large enough margin, with lack of KPI opportunity. Space has to earn it's keep in a shop, and that doesn't include the time spent by the clowns and dreamers looking at specialist kit they either can't afford or simply have no intention of buying. It's pure economics, which ironically is the same reason those specialist bits of kit usually get put on an optional special order if you want it from the high street, or people order online.

from memory I think the lease at the fort branch was for a fixed term of six years, as they got a cheaper deal at the time of opening. At the time at was probably the right thing to do, but in hindsight it ended up costing them big time. I believe that decisions like this meant Jessops as a whole became very rigid, and couldn't adapt with the times fast enough.

Believe it or not London Camera Exchange are also in the shit financially. One of my colleagues is the guy who rewrote their used database and started their s/h prices guide for store colleagues.....but reading between the lines he got out while he could.

Thanks for that insight into both Jessops and Dixons business models (for want of a better term) Joe. Doesn't stop the manager of Currys here being a total meglamaniacal idiot though (I've got a Btech 5 in Avionics and he was trying to convince me the item I took back was working fine, it was user error) ;)

I understand fully Deci. In fact my own mum, last time she was in her local Currys buying a computer printer got a little upset by the whole experience......the assistant 'helping' her apparently turned out to be the manager, so desparate that she should buy a spare cartridge and USB lead with the printer, she actually put the printer back and went next door to Comet. It's a sorry example which I have no doubt gets repeated time and again up and down the country (one of the reasons why I left Currys, that and working with kids!). I once heard the retail advice that if someone has a good experience in a shop they might on average tell two other people about it. Whereas if its a bad experience it's more likely to be six. Thats not taking into account the world wide web!
It's quite often the robotic thoughtlessness that gets shops into a pickle. Prime example that ground my gears recently in Sainsburys. I'd popped in and bought milk, bread and eggs, which was swiftly followed by the cashier asking "Would you like help with your packing"? Three items for heavens sake!! It was slightly irritating at the time but funny on reflection.
Unfortunately it happens everywhere I guess

Here we are knocking jessops prices but what about Argos who seem to have decided to get into Photography more http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Browse...Low+-+High.htm

£6700 for the canon 500f4 !!!!!

Well that's only £1700 over camerapricebusters best! :D

A bit of a surprise this weekend and Jessops have gone up slightly in my estimation.

We are at present upgrading our equipment, and were looking for two new camera bodies. Last Saturday we started our quest and dropped into Jessops to investigate, with our usual intention to look and feel but go elsewhere for the best price. Someone at Jessops must have been listening to my gripes, we walked out with a new 5D Mk2 for £1,650.00, a similar price to the internet. By comparison the shop down the High St wanted £200 more for the same product.

Our joy was a little bit tempered by the attitude of the shop assistant, who halfway through investigating the price of a 1DS Mk3, walked away from us to serve someone else. When he finally came back, he confirmed that Jessops could get a 1DS for £3,799.00, but not at this store I would have to travel to collect from one of only four stores in the UK who can handle this piece of kit, one of those being Belfast.

I was not going to be perturbed, I rang the sales line and told them my story, this morning I got a call from Jessops, and after a bit of negotiating I should be the proud owner of a 1DS Mk3 later this week for the all in price of £3,799.00 including postage and packaging.

For price I given them 9/10, in shop customer care 4/10, telephone customer care 8/10.

But as they say on all good TV programmes "to be continued" !

Well 17 days down the line, the 1DS still hasn't arrived.

I was promised it within 10 days, but nothing appeared. I expected to be told it was the weather, however the excuse was that the shop have sent a 1D Mk3 to the warehouse and not a 1DS. They confirmed that this had been rectified and the 1DS would be on its way to me shortly. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and called again a couple of days later, to be told that the shop was now sending it to me direct and this would be despatched on the 20th. I called on the 20th to be told that the shop were sending it to the warehouse and that it would be despatched from there, this morning I was told that Customer services would call me back and this afternoon that a sales assistant would call me back. I'm still waiting. This afternoon I've written a suitable worded letter to the CEO of Jessops, basically telling him the company deserves all the misfortune it has suffered if this is how they treat their customers.

Tomorrow morning I will be call the customer help line and will be telling them where they can shove their 1DS Mk3.

I go back to what I said earlier in this thread, if Jessops disappeared from the High St, I would not shed a tear.

Snotty letter had an effect, and the 1DS was apparently despatched yesterday, though the DHL tracking number they have given me, doesn't work. In theory I should receive the camera early next week.

Reckon they said they had dispatched it so it was too late for you to cancel it then hopefully someone has been sent to dispatch one quick. That would explain why the tracking number does not work! :)

You maybe right, all I want is the camera by the end of next week as we have a large project to undertake for a local charity or someone at Jessops to tell me the truth.

Call to Jessops today, and behold, the camera has arrived in their warehouse from Edinburgh ! Contrary to what I was told on Friday it's not on its way to me via DHL at all. Today I'm told that before they can despatch it they require payment, even though they took my card details way back on 4 January and I thought this was all sorted.

Payment has now been made, again, and the camera should be with me by the end of the week.

This morning I get a call to say they've taken payment twice and did I want re-imbursing, so of course I said "no keep the £2,000 for all your troubles".:(

So once we had arranged for the credit card to be re-credited, I asked the young lady if the camera was sent out yesterday, oh yes she said, it will be sent today:rolleyes:

If this pathetic attempt at customer services wasn't so sad, I'd be laughing !