A CUSTOMER COUNTS (Jessops)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	Jessops
Date:	21/12/06 (368 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Staff that know their products and respect customers.

Disadvantages: Not available in every town.

One of the most important aspects of a high street shop is the way in which it treats its customers. Jessops always stands out in my mind because of the way in which the staff went out of their way to help me under difficult circumstances. I shall relate my experience, though what impresses me is that the service they offer today is every bit as good as it was when I used the store, as I will explain.

My experience goes back to when I bought my first and second digital camera. I hadn't a clue what choice was the best for my needs, and although I had researched in magazines and on the internet, and had reached the stage of comparing a couple of cameras for advantages and disadvantages, I wasn't sure how to make a decision between those left on my list, and went to Jessops for help. There was no certainty that I would buy from them, and the shop was pretty full and staff busy. I waited, because I could hear from the advice given to other customers that the staff seemed to know their business, and was extremely glad that I did.

When it came to my turn, I needed the assistants time to explain the differences between those cameras that had interested me, and not only did they explain it, they did so in a manner that a technophobe could understand without being condascending. They were swift to let me try out the cameras, and nothing seemed to be too much trouble, which really impressed me. The shop was superbly stocked and gave the impression of a small family business where people cared about your custom, although Jessops is a large chain. Thier staff seemed intelligent, well trained, and really did know what they were talking about.

Having decided which camera I wanted to buy the first time in Jessops, I had already printed out details of cameras that I had found in magazines and on the internet and asked them about their price promise. I expected it to be that if you find the same item in a local shop cheaper, they would match the price, and certainly didn't expect it to extend to prices on the Internet, although the Manager assured me that it did. It actually made a difference of 50GPB which astounded me.

Jessops stock is very impressive and not only includes cameras and accessories, but goes as far as printers and scanners, Satallite navigators, storage items, Memory cards, Microscopes and Telescopes, Binoculars, Camcorders and all the kinds of accessories you would associate with them. The window is always packed with a good selection and if it's not there, it is certainly worth asking for. It surprises me how many people seem content to queue up in shops like Dixons or Comet to get fobbed off by staff that don't know their products, when one visit to Jessops compares so favourably as a shopping experience. Even their website is worthy of exploring, because they got it right, although I prefer the shop experience as staff fill in all those gaps in my knowledge and seem to be there to help.

My experience of the shop didn't stop at the first experience. A year or so later, I purchased a more expensive camera from Jessops, and again the price promise offer worked. Again, though the staff were different, they were helpful and friendly and explained functions on the camera that I was unsure about, told me all about the accessories that were available, and made me feel important as a customer. When I compare this with the feeling I got leaving Dixons, there really is no comparison, and the Dixons staff made me feel inadequate and ignorant, although in retrospect if a shop makes a potential customer feel like that, then it is their staff that are inadequate and ignorant for not valueing your custom.

Jessops even went further than that when I left my umbrella in their shop, and decided I wanted a carrying case for the camera. The Manager actually called around to my home on the way home from work and brought the item I had been undecided about together with my umbrella, and had a nice cup of tea with me, explaining usage of the camera even more than he had in the shop. His enthusiasm shined and that's a real rarity these days. Of course, one cannot expect this type of service from every branch of Jessops, but the Manager knew that I was going back to France and didn't have time to come back into the shop, as was a social kind of bloke.

This year, it was my sisters turn to want help. Similar to my experience, she had experienced the snub of larger stores and had almost given up on the hope of being helped. I told her on the phone to try Jessops and explained the benefits, and she was indeed delighted with the reception that she got and the treatment she was given by the staff, all busy and stressed by the Christmas peak period, but what prompts me to write this review is that throughout all the years that I have shopped in Jessops, right up to the present day, they haven't forgotten customer service, and somewhere along the line are continuing to do something that other shops fail to do, in treating every customer with the same courtesy and understanding that I got.

After sales service impressed me as well. Months after my purchase with Jessops, they were available to help me with a software problem that I had, which was quickly resolved. Their shops may not be the biggest or flashiest of shops, may not hit the television screen as often as the large chain do, though what they appear to have done is better. I don't need countless adverts to tell me about the quality of their service. It speaks for itself.

Summary: A superb experience of how a shop can treat customers.