Where has the quality and service gone? (Jessops)

Member Name: pinkspider

Product:	Jessops
Date:	27/08/08 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Big brand name, good range

Disadvantages: Poorly trained staff, overpriced

To many, Jessops is THE place to shop for all your camera needs.
For me though, it is THE place that I will try to avoid at all costs if I'm wanting to buy any new camera equipment.

My reasons are few and simple and have occurred on far too many occasions for them to warrant being called 'the odd slip up' or 'just a bad day'.

The current Norwich branch opened in late 2006 and was the largest Jessops store, to date, in the area. Prior to this there were two smaller shops within 50 yards of each other; one for the general sales of cameras and the associated equipment and one for printing.

Pre 2006 I had only used the two stores on a few occasions, mainly for printing purposes and had been mildly satisfied with the print quality and service received.
I don't know whether it was due to the fact that the company only had a small presence in the city at the time or because the shops were so cramped and oppressive but the staff that worked there always seemed to be more interested in the goings on of their mobile phones rather than the members of paying public who had come to them for a service.

As I mentioned above, these two shops closed in late 2006 after the opening of the much larger shop in the new Norwich 'Chapelfield Mall' complex.
Because of this, I will be basing the rest of the review on my experiences in this new 'improved' shop.

***Products and pricing***
There is no denying that Jessops hold a good and varied range of cameras along with lenses, studio equipment, printers and the like.

Whether you're looking for the latest compact digital camera or a far more robust DSLR, chances are you will be able to find what you're after in store - but at what cost...?
...Well, generally, a rather princely sum!
I remember popping into Jessops at around the time of the release of the new Nikon D300 and D3 and was somewhat amazed that they were advertising the cameras at full RRP whereas other, much smaller, camera shops in Norwich where already offering them at a favourable discount.
Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate that an RRP is there for a reason - but when you are a chain business of this size surely it is possible to offer some sort of reasonable discount/offer on these products - especially when you consider that the lesser shops about were doing so already.
I am also constantly amazed that they can charge as much as they do for accessories, such as memory cards. You can, at times, be paying at much as 5 times that of some supermarkets and online retailers. And again, I appreciate that online shopping cuts the cost to the consumer but Jessops also charge these ridiculous rates online.

It would, though, be naive and ignorant of me to say that Jessops pricing is ALWAYS extortionate.
Some products are offered at competitive and sound prices, such as their printer range and also a fair number of their upper range tripods.
But this doesn't really seem to add up to me when I have found, on average, that if I shopped exclusively at Jessops I would be spending around 15% - 20% more than most other retailers of the same product.

Great customer service makes up for it though, surely...?

***Customer service and experience***

...yes, great customer service should and does reflect in the price and my willingness to pay that little extra.

If know that I'm going to walk into a shop and be able to have my needs met with a smile and the knowledge required then I am more than happy to pay a little extra for that service, but in the case of Jessops (at least in the case of the Norwich branch) this customer service and 'experience' seems to be lacking in vast quantities.

Invariably, members of staff will do anything to glance off any eye contact that is made by a customer - much preferring to scuttle off behind the scenes where they appear from some time later, generally with a packet of crisps or mobile phone in hand.

Surely, if you're employed in a retail, front of house job you should at least be approachable by customers?
Apparently not a prerequisite of the job at Jessops.

Another problematic area, it would seem, is the knowledge (or lack of) that the majority of staff hold.
I have been met with blank looks on many a time when I have posed a question, even on a simple matter such as "does this camera take a SD or CompactFlash memory card?" and to make is worse, there seems to be no intuition and no concern if they don't know the answer - there is no "Please bare with me a second, I will go and find someone who can help you"...just silence and then off the scuttle again.

I'm sure that some readers at this point will just feel that I'm being overly critical of this company and perhaps to some extent I am - but I know I am not alone.
There have been countless times when I have been chatting away in one of our smaller shops (for example; our branch of the London Camera Exchange) and people have wandered in looking rather confused and somewhat put out and when asked what the problem is it generally starts with something such as "Someone at Jessops just sold me XXX and it's not working" or "I've just bought this from Jessops for £XX and have just seen it in your window for £XX less - why?"

It seems to me, that the Jessops that was historically (camera enthusiasts, experts in the field and those who want to provide an excellent service), has been replaced with run of the mill, knowledge baron shop assistants who nine times out of ten have no interest in photography but are just there because it's a job.

And Jessops, themselves, no longer seem to hire staff on photography knowledge or experience but more on age and the minimum wage they can get away with paying them.

...and my god does it show.

So, in summary of my experiences, I would not happily recommend Jessops for the purchase of cameras and equipment - based purely on the fact of price and what service your receive for it.

I would be more inclined to send someone there if they needed films developed - but even then, it would only be on the basis that they are in a quick and convenient location and seem to work to satisfactory turn arounds.
Although, if I was going on print quality alone - I would not advise a visit.

I hope this review has proved useful to some, although I appreciate that it is one based more on my own disgruntled options rather than a majorative one or fact.

I felt compelled to write it though as I sometimes feel that people are all too quick to rush to the first big Brand they see rather than searching out those smaller, more customer focused service that really will make you leave the shop smiling.

Summary: Jessops seems to generate sales purely on a brand name and not it's customer experience