Well I've had many problems with Jessops (Guildford, Basingstoke, Slough and Reading) and prefer not to deal with them. Some of the problems were quite serious such as reserving a camera, driving 30 miles to collect it, and finding it had been sold. Or being given a £200 estimate for a camera and lens repair, paying, and then receiving the unrepaired camera and a cleaned lens. That was 10 years ago, and I was recently quoted £130 for a lens clean by a respected company.
When it comes to birding optics, I would always go to a specialist dealer. There is a huge difference between Jessops, and a specialist optics seller. The latter is usually run by the owner and one or two assistants, and they know the items they sell, and can give advice, and let you try. Usually they know the going prices, so are competitive. Even when they are more expensive, it is worth paying a bit more for the service. I bought my scope from the RSPB at Sandy, who were very helpful.
I think the problem with Jessops is that they are a high street brand with high street overheads, shareholders to please, and a huge number of shops. So each shop has a limited number of high end sales it can make. That means they need to make money on small items, which might explain the silly memory card prices. And since each shop is small, with a large range of point and shoot cameras plus higher end items, the staff cannot be expected to be knowledgeable.
Maybe what they need is a chain of specialist photographic shops, with less shops, but more floor space and more range, and some specialist staff. I guess that is the niche occupied by specialist dealers such as Purdeys and Digital Depot, though it is very competitive as I can think of 2 that went bust.
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