Jessops Swansea

[Dylanlewis2000]

Apparently ... or so i have been told, Jessops is to undergo a major restructure, which means they may be pulling out of Swansea. This is just a rumor that i have heard off a few people.

Its been a bit of a hard time for Jessops latley, and to be honest, i think its sad to see a highstreet retailer go out of the market place. I know we have all had the discussion that Jessops are a bit over priced, but what we must remember is people are going to lose thier jobs out of this too.

Your thoughts please.

[manipula]

Lots of rumours, none of which have any happenings behind them to make them true.

The company is going through a lot of thought processes currently but noone knows anything about what that actually means. Certainly no talk of job losses.

[TimSewell]

Although I'm no fan of big business I would be very disturbed to see Jessops go bust, given that over the last decade they have sent many independent photographic retailers out of business. If they were to, in turn, disappear, a lot of small to medium size towns would be left with nothing.

Or is that the online-dominated future? A few pro-oriented retailers in big cities and everybody else treading the Warehouse Express route?

[laimis.s]

i heard the same in Preston (lancashire).

serves them right for charging such high prices :) no wonder why hardly anybody goes the anymore... (i only visit it to peep at some camera bodies...)

[FelixP]

They've got a brand new shop in Cardiff now, with two floors. It's great because they stock just about every Canon product, and so you can go have a fiddle with it all! :lol: They're pretty good with prices too, they were willing to price match a 70-200 F4L to £430 for me, which ain't bad!

[PETERSYMES]

Well with my experience of Jessops, So what!
My local shops are Bluewater and Maidstone in Kent, neither stock very much of anything, the people working in the shops know less about photography and equipment than me (which isn't saying much) and they are way too expensive.
Whats wrong with Warehouse Express anyway? i use them all the time and i think they are a very good retailer!

[Anke]

Overpriced with useless members of staff anyway. My town has two other great independent camera stores, filled with knowledgable staff and most people in the know go in there for their gear.

[rhys]

The Swansea shop seems from my experience to be staffed with deadbeats. There was one guy with blonde hair down to his waist. I remember feeling distinctly uncomfortable as he minced his way around the shop. The staff there were rude, uncooperative, slow, ignorant and did not want to serve. The stock they had was minimal and it took weeks for anything ordered to arrive. I could go across the road to the Camera Centre and get sterling service with a smile and all problems promptly resolved. Not only that but I could haggle the price and got on well with the manager. It's like chalk and cheese!

[Anke]

The Swansea shop seems from my experience to be staffed with deadbeats. There was one guy with blonde hair down to his waist. I remember feeling distinctly uncomfortable as he minced his way around the shop. The staff there were rude, uncooperative, slow, ignorant and did not want to serve. The stock they had was minimal and it took weeks for anything ordered to arrive. I could go across the road to the Camera Centre and get sterling service with a smile and all problems promptly resolved. Not only that but I could haggle the price and got on well with the manager. It's like chalk and cheese!


Sounds like my local Jessops. Perhaps that's their store blueprint? :D

Someone explain to me why Jessops keep absolutely no stock in their stores, why wait to have it delivered to a store before you can have it when you can just order online or indeed walk to a nice independent store and take home today?

[manipula]

Someone explain to me why Jessops keep absolutely no stock in their stores, why wait to have it delivered to a store before you can have it when you can just order online or indeed walk to a nice independent store and take home today?

Because it promotes Jessops' online ordering or collect at store system, thereby limiting the ammount of dead stock left in shops every time a new camera is brought out. And the online side of the business is inherantly cheaper to run from one big warehouse than the stores, it's the one element of overhauling their company to try and get it back on form financially that makes some sense to me.

And because not everywhere has independant stores.

And because in the coming climate of high street retail and the online stores, if they're the one company who don't have an online ordering system in a few years, once buying patterns have changed (and they will) you'll be complaining about them not having a decent online shop. :p

Believe me I hate Jessops as much as the next person but the bashing must at least have some grounds. They're expensive and I've said why. Many of them seem to be (although none that I worked in) manned by berks, but that is surely a comment on the berks in them as opposed to painint everyone who works for them as idiots...

[rhys]

Lol. I haven't heard anybody called a burk for years. It is, however, highly appropriate.

There's an interesting comparison here. There's a shop in Columbia called "Ashley Furniture". They sell a whole range of furniture but don't actually stock any of it - you have to order it and then they deliver - at their convenience - to your home. You can't drive up with a pick-up truck and drive away with a new sofa as you can with almost all the other stores.

I wonder whether this is a new model - the stores are for demonstration purposes only on the basis that it's cheaper just to demo products and then supply them only when ordered?

[sportysnaps]

bye bye swansea shop - nothing very usefull in the shop anyway

[Dylanlewis2000]

the swansea shop is still going.. much to my supprise! The camera centre accross the road is a far better shop, albeit a bit smaller, they have a lot more stock there.

I went to buy a Lowepro sling300...

Jessops-

Me: Hi there, do you have the Lowepro slingshot 300 in stock?
Jessops: URM... ill have a look now... no we dont have it in, but we can order it, or if you go online you can order it in to the store and get it from us, the store price is £99
Me: Well your web has it for £89
Jessops: One sec... yes we can match it
Me: Do you offer any sort of price matching
Jessops: No
Me: So you wont match your own company camers 2 u ? as they are a fair bit cheaper
Jessops: *NO*

Camera Centre
Me: Hi there, do you have the Lowepro slingshot 300 in stock?
Camera Centre: Points behind me... ill get it down for you now
Me: How much is it here
Camera centre: £89
Me: Do you do price matches
Camera centre: No not really...... *Pause* How much have you seen it for and where
Me: Cameras 2 u £54.99 + Postage
Camera centee: .... ill just check now....... Yes ok will match it

This honestly did happen, i was so happy with camera centre, and appauled at jessops they didnt even entertain me... since then i have bought 3 filters, which amounts to around £60, telescope conversion kit £60, Flash £180, all from the camera centre, because of the better service i have recieved. It does go a long way and i really prefere buying from shops like this!

[PETERSYMES]

Not suprised, unfortunately i think Jessops rely on a business model used by a lot of other bigger companies at the moment. Just a numbers game, throw enough mud and some will stick and under this model Customer Service is not important.
They rely on their marketing and advertising machines to pull in enough potential customers that if X% leave disgusted they have enough left to make a profit.
Smaller traders rely on keeping their smaller customer base happy so they will return to buy again (the way it should be)
i spend A couple of million a year in my job with suppliers and far too many operate on the same principles as Jessops, there are a few notable exceptions who automatically get my business even though they are not the cheapest in the market, the others i use until i can find somebody better.
Personally i choose to vote with my wallet, i never use Jessops for anything had very similar lack of service.
If enough people do this they will either adapt or become extinct, hoepfully leaving the door open for smaller specialists who care and probably struggle financially at present.

[Robert16]

My last visit to Jessops in Glasgow....It's at lunchtime, I ask the guy if they have whatever it was in stock, he replies " I'm not sure, erm... I don't think so.." I say " Could you check for me?" He pauses then says " Yeah". I wait for nearly 5 minutes then, looking around I notice the same guy with his jacket on leaving the shop.:shock: I ask another member of staff where he is going. Yep, on his lunchbreak. I explain what has happened and he looks blankly at me and says " I don't know if we have those". Me "Could you check.. no, just leave it"

[Dylanlewis2000]

thats absolutley appauling! I work in a retail shop myself, and would never do that to a customer.

[manipula]

Which Glasgow shop?

[Robert16]

Sauchiehall St. I don't think the guy did it out of rudeness - I genuinely think that he forgot all about me - either way it's pretty weak.

[manipula]

That sucks, the big one?

[Robert16]

To be honest they have been helpful in the past. I think that there is an attitude of " don't care" creeping in, perhaps with all the closures? Who knows?

[I Simonius]

Apparently ... or so i have been told, Jessops is to undergo a major restructure, which means they may be pulling out of Swansea. This is just a rumor that i have heard off a few people.

Its been a bit of a hard time for Jessops latley, and to be honest, i think its sad to see a highstreet retailer go out of the market place. I know we have all had the discussion that Jessops are a bit over priced, but what we must remember is people are going to lose thier jobs out of this too.

Your thoughts please.

Jesops are in throuble that's no secret - they have closed two shop s in Norwich

[Burrelly]

I have had no issues with the Staff in Glasgow to be honest. But I guess it because they know me :)

[nwa2]

I do most of my photographic shopping on line now, but I do still pop into Jessops (Livingston) from time to time. I have always found their staff to be helpful and knowledgable - although they rarely have the stuff I want :-)

I bought my 40d from Jessops a few weeks ago, I did pay a slight (maybe £20) premium over say warehouse express but for major purposes I still like the security of a real shop.