Jessops

Not one thing I can say about here. I was in here looking at the GoPro heto4 camera. Great for scuba diving. The guy had a great knowledge and was great talking too. Shame he thought they all to 40 metres. While there is one that clearly says 45 metres that I seen in Dublin. He was great for asking about spare batteries and screens etc for the silver edition. Great little shop. I’m glad it’s still opened, as its sister shop in Liverpool went bust. Worth a look.

I here today to print some wedding photos as Christmas gifts for the family that couldn’t make it to the event. To cut a long story short the pictures I had on CD weren’t the full resolution pictures. The man who served me, Alan, let me print a couple of test pictures to see if they would work anyway. The pictures ended up cropped and I have to go back to the photographer but once I’ve got the full size pictures I’ll be back in to this store to purchase them due thanks to the great customer service I experienced.

The closure of Jessops wasn’t really a surprise as they had been experiencing financial issues for many years and their shares were basically junk status. Price Waterhouse Coopers cited competition from the internet which is probably accurate because you can save a whole loada cash online.
That said customer service could be variable. Service and expertise from the old timers among the sales staff was second to non and purely from the old skool of customer service. Those guys didn’t deserve to be punished. However, the new breed of staff Jessops were inclined to employ were not so worthy of compassion. Rude and indifferent behaviour towards customers was often the norm and I was a victim of it myself on more than one occasion. In saying that, service at the East Kilbride branch was always very good because again, they had a bunch of old timers working there one of whom I worked beside personally early in my career.
Dragon’s Den guru Peter Jones has apparently stepped in to save the Jessops brand but he has cherry picked the stores and only a few have been re-​opened. Again it is hard to see how Jones can make it work because the trading environment for retailers is hyper competitive. I mostly go to Ebay myself.

It’s a great store with friendly staff, it’s just a shame it’s so expensive compared to most online stores. If they could bring prices from being over £50 more expensive than the likes of Amazon and Wex to like £10-£15 I would buy everything in here — it’s great to be able to try out a lens on your camera, or a new bag before you commit to buying it.

Was in Jessops today as my camera’s flash is jammed in the camera and won’t release, so I was putting it in for repair and thought I’d check the kind of reviews it has on Unilocal; not very many of which are positive!
I’m a big Jessops fan, as someone who considers himself an amateur photographer I’m in and out here all the time and have never had a bad experience. I think it can be agreed that anything in here is going to require a remortgaging of your house, but for quality, you can’t really expect to be paying anything less. It’s a small Jessops, so if you’re looking for one of the lesser popular cameras/​other items, you’d probably be better either buying it from the website, or finding a bigger branch.
My main positive about this specific branch is how incredibly in-​the-​know the staff all are, and how passionate they are about helping you choose a product. The customer service they offer is truly outstanding, and having been in multiple times and spoken to at least 10 different staff members, it really is an outstanding knowledge and service that stretches across the board. They pretty much know everything there is to know about cameras!
Just thought I’d throw in my 2 cents about this branch, so hopefully people aren’t put off by a couple of negative reviews and see that positive experiences have been had!

There’s no denying that a visit here will leave you a little lighter in the pocket than your run-​of-​the-​mill electrical retailers; as stated elsewhere, even a pack of batteries will set you back a few bob more than you would expect.
However, I genuinely believe Jessops staff know the photography game inside out and found the customer service I received during my last visit to be exemplary. When deciding whether or not to go for a slightly better point and shoot or shell out for my first SLR, the staff member listened to my needs and actually suggested the former, a much cheaper option, was my best bet. He was right.
While I take on board the argument that most of this info can be found online, I found so many conflicting reports that it left me more confused than ever. By the sound of things, I struck if lucky with the member of staff who served me, reaffirming my belief that, when done properly, there’s still a place in today’s world for shops like these.

One day a couple of months ago, I was handed a ten-​year-​old camera by my then boss and instructed to get it working. She’d taken it out of the loft that morning, and it was covered in dust and dirt.
I took it and headed into Jessops on Sauchiehall Street. The member of staff I dealt with was really helpful, and was completely understanding when I explained what I wanted.
He didn’t even flinch a the sight of the old camera, and tactfully pretended not to notice the dust. He found new batteries and a new film and even tested the whole thing out for me. I left ten minutes later with the camera working.
So yes, Jessops might not be the cheapest camera shop — but I think the service more than makes up for this.

Having taken my time to research before purchasing my camera, I know the basics of what you should look for.
Being purely a camera shop, I expected Jessops to have a great range of cameras spoiling me for choice but truthfully, they have as much as Comet, Argos, etc.
They’re very expensive and although I got to look closely at cameras, I ended up buying online to save myself money.
I also went in here when my camera was broken. The girl was as unhelpful as she could be — pressing the on button, telling me it wasn’t working (really?), determining nothing was happening and saying they couldn’t fix it. She didn’t seem interested and I found it very awkward trying to talk to her.
Perhaps one staff member having a bad day has tainted my view of this shop but really I see no great benefit of shopping here than your average electronics store.

I don’t think there’s ever a good time to shop at Jessops.
Everything is ridiculously overpriced, and the selection is hardly that of a specialist store. If you’re looking for a digital camera, they don’t have many greater choices in terms of value or specialisation than your local Currys or similar.
If you’re a true camera lover, you’re probably more likely to find information and selection that are more attuned to your needs online, and if you don’t know what you’re looking for at all, any shop like Currys or Dixons will be able to point you towards a suitable point-​and-​shoot.
The accessories are overpriced too. One day while filming in Glasgow my coursemates and I popped in to buy some batteries, and were shocked at the cost. We would have been better off going to Sainsbury’s.
Their print services are alright, but again, it’s so much easier and cheaper to get any advice or services that Jessops provide online. Don’t waste your time or money here.