Jessops UK. Good or bad?

[Lello]

Joe thanks for your reply, There is a PM for you to read, I ordered the D80 on the Net Slightly more money but free delivery, It was not the money issue as most people on this site know I have harping on about getting the D80 since Christmas, I was at work this morning and all I could think about was getting to town at lunch time to buy the D80 and have the rest of today and all day Sunday to play with it. So when you walk into a shop to buy £500 + Cam (They did not even have to do a sales pitch on me ) and walk away without something that I had been dreaming about for months is somewhat frustrating to say the least.

[Lello]

Just a note following on about my visit to Jessops. The reason I went into the store last Wednesday was to look at a lens to compliment the D80 I was going to buy. I had been speaking to Don over the last week or so about lens's and between Don and me we came up with the Sigma 70-200f2.8 lens. So last Wednesday asked the guy in Jessops if he had the Sigma in stock for me to look at (to give me an idea of size/weight etc) he said they only had the Canon mount, so he got a new lens out of the box and attached to a Canon 400D for me to look at, I had a play it (very nice lens indeed) and at that point is when I asked him for a price for D80 body only and the sigma (which he said would have to be special order for the Nikon mount. The price was just over £1300.00 so when I showed up on Saturday and we had a disagreement about the price (at least £20.00) we did not as far as talking about the lens, I'm not saying I would have put an order in for the lens, but who knows, maybe if they would have been more customer focused!! the point is the guy knew that I was not a time waster when I showed on Saturday up to buy the d80, and even if I had not ordered the lens Yesterday
If I came out a happy shopper then I might have gone back for the lens at some point. So potentially they may have lost a sale of over £1300.00 (maybe they don't really want to make money?) And I might still phone the number that Joe gave me just to vent my frustration out on them. (I could have been out today taking photographs with my new cam )

[Canis Vulpes]

I imagine that customers of Jessops ask advice and guidance before buying a DSLR. For you to walk in and say I want a ...... and a high spec lens I would have thought the sale assistance would be more than willing to snatch your credit card and debit £20 less. I remember when I purchased by Fuji S2 pro, i originally wanted a Nikon D100 but after two hours of playing in the shop (Jacobs) I arrived at the S2. The sales assistance was very patient and helpful. Afterall Its was a £1800 purchase after lens, bag and batteries!

Slightly different angle, for me its not all about cost its service, quality and warranty. I usually buy my lenses from Grays of Westminster, not the cheapest but they do offer a two year warranty on all purchases. I always insist on free carriage or pop-in in person if in London.

I hate paying carriage especially if I am paying £1000+ on equipment, least they can do is put it on a carrier for free.

[Joe]

It's obvious from this that the service does vary from one branch to another, or indeed one sales advisor to another.
Like most retail outlets we have what's known as a monthly 'gap busters'....a mystery shopper to everyone else. It's one of several ways head office can get a snapshot (pardon the pun) view of current staff training levels areas of strength and areas where something is needed....
It's clear something is needed here!

Lello, if you call that number , it doesn't just increase the chance of help for yourself, but it also quite effectively turns a spotlight on to that particular branch...head office will then ask the branch the 'whys' and 'whats' and 'wheres' of improvement.


In summary, the more customers who express unhappiness about Jessops service they've received DIRECT TO CUSTOMER LIASON at Jessops, the more likely something will change at Jessops.
I would actively encourage people to ring head office, customer liason 0116 232 6111

Unfortunately, I can only relay what's being said on here back as an employee.......believe it or not it has much more impact if the customers approach Jessops themselves with concerns, rather than post here.

Most of all.......enjoy your cameras, and hope you get some good shots

[walwyn]

When there was just the Jessop on Hinkley Road Leicester it was great. Then they expanded to have shops all over the place and things can be a bit hit or miss. Camera repair appears to have been contracted out and I had a OM10 stuck shutter fixed only for it go wrong about a year later and I don't reckon I'd put more than 12 films though it.

OTOH I've had good mail-order service from them, and they can be knowledgeable (but probably not on a Saturday afternoon). I was rather disappointed by the Hinkley Road Branch when I popped in again after a, mumbly-mumbly number of years, not the same place as I recalled at all, totally different atmosphere. Oh well!

[blackmarlin]

Hey guys, get off Eponas back, She has made a comment which I think is justified. Keep it friendly and no taking sides.

Alan

[Joe]

Jessops has just come in the top ten retailers, as published by 'which'.

[steve2005]

Originally Posted by Joe

Jessops has just come in the top ten retailers, as published by 'which'.

How the hell did that happen?

[nirofo]

Originally Posted by Joe

Jessops has just come in the top ten retailers, as published by 'which'.

I wonder who does Which's survey's, must be a real numpty ??

nirofo.

[yelvertoft]

Originally Posted by nirofo

I wonder who does Which's survey's, must be a real numpty ??

nirofo.

Depends which market sector you are aiming at. If your target market is Joe Public looking for a point and shoot consumer level digicam, then I can understand how Jessops come to be top of the pile. For this market sector, they are generally good. For people who don't want specialist equipment, and can't be bothered to do lots of research on their product first, Jessops are not bad.

If you are an enthusiast, looking for some of the more obscure stuff, and have done lots of market research first, then you may well know more than the bloke in the shop serving you (on that particular product). This is not surprising as not all staff can be expected to have the same depth of knowledge as you, having spent hours and hours researching. Under such circumstances, the unknowing member of the public will come out of the shop happy, the enthusiast will come out disappointed.