Jessops are clueless!

If you read mate, we had a demo product but it didn't work with his camera, so I went out of my way and unboxed one.

I think you're just trying to push buttons (as from your history that doesn't surprise me).

In my opinion that £6 was worth the points that I made, I think perhaps you missed that.

No, I didn't miss it...


Firstly, if your demo lens didn't work with a camera it should have (and you say the second one did) then that's not the customer's fault.

Secondly, you didn't "go out of your way",you're a salesperson - that's your job.

Thirdly, it sounds as if the customer asked for a valid price match but, according to you, it was refused "out of principle"

Fourthly,as you and I well know, Jessops don't sell demo or display items as used, they put them back in the cabinet and sell them as new.

And finally, trying to shame someone into a purchase really doesn't work....
 
  • If you read mate, we had a demo product but it didn't work with his camera, so I went out of my way and unboxed one.
  • As above
  • If you'd have read it correctly you'd have seen that I believe that £6 extra was worth having a member of staff to speak to about the product
  • I know he's under no obligation to purchase but he WANTED to purchase but refused to for an extra £6 - hardly a big sum of money
  • I personally don't feel it's right to come in, use something, and then leave at the loss of the store. I never go in a shop and ask to try something if I don't have intentions to purchase. Some people are different and I appreciate that.
  • It wasn't an assumption, he effectively said "I think the fact that I've had to drive and park cancels out that £6". Unless I'm god awfully mistaken.

    I think you're just trying to push buttons (as from your history that doesn't surprise me).
    It seems you just quoted the bullet points I made without reading the bulk of the text.
    Stop trolling please, normally I get along with you mate, but yeah, you seem like you're just trying to be a pest.


  • I am sorry but I agree with FITP, you are a salesperson so you did not go put of your way, you were doing your job, not the customers fault the lens did not work with the camera, so you got another one out, and if you had spoken to me the way you said you spoke to the customer I would have coplained too. Before you say anything I have worked in sales pretty much all my working life including managing a specialised retail shop for nearly ten years. I would personally look at you customer service skills and reasses them, I am supprised that you have not had some kind of warning for the way you dealt with the situation.
 
I honestly can see both sides to this.
As a salesperson you should try to give the best shopping experience you can if you wish to retain your customers. Aim for good advice and quality of service over the sound of the till. Managers obviously want to create sales and % margin but that should be the goal, not the method in my opinion.
On the other hand, from what was written (completely subjective I admit) the customer sounds like a complete arse. Especially regarding the "I had to drive to the store in my car"
I've worked in shop floor retail and normally got a lot of respect from my customers. But when you get out of the business side of things (pcworld a few years ago) and cross the shop to the general customer counter, you are looked upon quite often as a piece of crap with no skills, experience or anything of worth. The funniest/worst type are people with a little bit of knowledge who might have read a consumer magazine or two.
People demand without wanting to spend or even give you any respect. Some people say that we should reintroduce national service. on a less extreme side of things, people should work in a shop for a while and appreciate what arses the general customer can be.


my experience of jessops (nottingham), which was a bit dodge, was their Canon expert telling a potential customer that the 40D cannot focus in live-view....I suggested to the person at the counter that it 'might' with the right settings, but she carefully explained that it couldn't with the mirror up...and yes I explained that the mirror can drop whilst focusing which takes 1/2 second or so.
Meanwhile the expert behind me was telling them how it does focus but very very slowly....I was getting some film or something for a friend.
I've always preferred my Jacobs in Nottingham,. not sure why.
 
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No, I didn't miss it...


Firstly, if your demo lens didn't work with a camera it should have (and you say the second one did) then that's not the customer's fault.

Secondly, you didn't "go out of your way",you're a salesperson - that's your job.

Thirdly, it sounds as if the customer asked for a valid price match but, according to you, it was refused "out of principle"

Fourthly,as you and I well know, Jessops don't sell demo or display items as used, they put them back in the cabinet and sell them as new.

And finally, trying to shame someone into a purchase really doesn't work....

It wasn't a valid price match, our price match policy is high street stores.

And perhaps the stores you've been to do that, but ours certainly doesn't.

I didn't try and shame him into a purchase, I was just pointing out the reasons why we weren't price matching.

I think if you were on the other side of the till to the customer you'd have felt the same.

I am sorry but I agree with FITP, you are a salesperson so you did not go put of your way, you were doing your job, not the customers fault the lens did not work with the camera, so you got another one out, and if you had spoken to me the way you said you spoke to the customer I would have coplained too. Before you say anything I have worked in sales pretty much all my working life including managing a specialised retail shop for nearly ten years. I would personally look at you customer service skills and reasses them, I am supprised that you have not had some kind of warning for the way you dealt with the situation.

My customer service skills are normally fantastic. Normally, the customer is always right.

This particular occasion I was just fed up with people coming into our store, using all our kit, and then saying "nah I'll just buy from warehouse express because they're cheaper".

Especially when customers are rude.

Perhaps I was a little rude to this customer but in my opinion no more than he deserved. Treat others how you'd expect to be treated in my opinion.
 
I honestly can see both sides to this.
As a salesperson you should try to give the best shopping experience you can if you wish to retain your customers. Aim for good advice and quality of service over the sound of the till. Managers obviously want to create sales and % margin but that should be the goal, not the method in my opinion.
On the other hand, from what was written (completely subjective I admit) the customer sounds like a complete arse. Especially regarding the "I had to drive to the store in my car"
I've worked in shop floor retail and normally got a lot of respect from my customers. But when you get out of the business side of things (pcworld a few years ago) and cross the shop to the general customer counter, you are looked upon quite often as a piece of crap with no skills, experience or anything of worth. The funniest/worst type are people with a little bit of knowledge who might have read a consumer magazine or two.
People demand without wanting to spend or even give you any respect. Some people say that we should reintroduce national service. on a less extreme side of things, people should work in a shop for a while and appreciate what arses the general customer can be.


my experience of jessops (nottingham), which was a bit dodge, was their Canon expert telling a potential customer that the 40D cannot focus in live-view....I suggested to the person at the counter that it 'might' with the right settings, but she carefully explained that it couldn't with the mirror up...and yes I explained that the mirror can drop whilst focusing which takes 1/2 second or so.
Meanwhile the expert behind me was telling them how it does focus but very very slowly....I was getting some film or something for a friend.
I've always preferred my Jacobs in Nottingham,. not sure why.

I'm glad you can see where I was coming from. In my 2 years of working in Jessops, this is the only time I've actually said what I thought (albeit in the politest way I could at that present moment).

As far as your last paragraph goes, we had a 'Canon representative' try and put an 18-200 on a 5D and break the mount.
 
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Perhaps I was a little rude to this customer but in my opinion no more than he deserved. Treat others how you'd expect to be treated in my opinion.

No Sean, you don't get that luxury. The thing about working in retail is that you have to remain polite to the customer even when they are rude to you.
 
It wasn't a valid price match, our price match policy is high street stores.

And perhaps the stores you've been to do that, but ours certainly doesn't.

I didn't try and shame him into a purchase, I was just pointing out the reasons why we weren't price matching.

I think if you were on the other side of the till to the customer you'd have felt the same.

Out of interest, what happened to the lens he didn't buy? Was it marked down in price to be sold as used? If so by how much?

My customer service skills are normally fantastic. Normally, the customer is always right.

This particular occasion I was just fed up with people coming into our store, using all our kit, and then saying "nah I'll just buy from warehouse express because they're cheaper".

That's what "shopping" is all about, the customer came into your store, tried the product, liked it, but because of your reluctance to price match/attitude, didn't buy it. That isn't the customer's fault, he gave you an opportunity to make a sale, you chose not to take it.

Especially when customers are rude.

Perhaps I was a little rude to this customer but in my opinion no more than he deserved. Treat others how you'd expect to be treated in my opinion.

The point you seem to be missing is that for the sake of a bit of humility you have probably lost Jessops that customer for ever. So it's not £6 you've "saved" the company, but potentially hundreds of pounds of that customer's future purchases that you've lost.
 
I love everyone's attitude towards shop workers.

I don't get the luxury of being allowed to retort when a customer is a complete pig to me.

There is something about that that is very, very wrong. Perhaps it's just me? :shrug:

No FITP that's not the way it works. If a customer asks for a discount on the product since it has been on display we will reduce it by an agreed amount unless we have taken that product out of the box specifically for them to look at, in which case there will be no discount as far as it's 'used' status goes.
 
I love everyone's attitude towards shop workers.

I don't get the luxury of being allowed to retort when a customer is a complete pig to me.

There is something about that that is very, very wrong. Perhaps it's just me? :shrug:

It's not an attitude towards shop workers at all, the fact is that retail is like that. Not all of the public are nice people....on a completely different slant look at public service workers - they are in the public's firing line each and every day and have to deal with them in a professional manner.
 
It's not an attitude towards shop workers at all, the fact is that retail is like that. Not all of the public are nice people....on a completely different slant look at public service workers - they are in the public's firing line each and every day and have to deal with them in a professional manner.

I think it's just because I'm young. I hate retail and I shall, if I can help it, never work in retail again.

I apologise if I've offended anyone. I understand where you're coming from but I still don't regret my retaliation to the customer.

I think of it as a little victory for the hours upon hours of nasty and rude members of public I've dealt with in my 2 years.
 
Have to say I do regret making that public however. I should have known it would get me in trouble with the people on here. Should have just left it between me and co-workers tbh, as it has now left me in a foul mood and will probably stay that way for the rest of the day.
 
No Sean, you don't get that luxury. The thing about working in retail is that you have to remain polite to the customer even when they are rude to you.

Sorry, like DizMat I can see both sides to this, 99% of the time you bite your lip and smile, but the problem is, I wonder if its exactly that attitude that has made the demanding rude customer in the first place! The customer isn't always right, but there is an art to re-educating them :naughty: I have NEVER walked into a shop and been rude to the staff, regardless of how obnoxious they are [girlies in clothes shops completely ignoring you and continuing with their very important phone call to arrange that nights pish up, THATS rude!] I am not sure what came first, rude counter staff or rude customers but either way, expectatons are much higher from customers these days while their own attitudes [in *some* cases] have sunk to depths beyond belief - give them the grovelling kowtowing that seems to be expected and they will continue to treat mere shop staff with the same contempt. :bonk:

Oh, and before anyone jumps on me, some of our longest standing customers are those that have been incredibly rude in the past and have been 're-educated' [code for stand your ground and be firm, and even slightly rude yourself if necessary, albeit in a calm way] and in the art of getting what they want the right way. :p
 
Out of interest, what happened to the lens he didn't buy? Was it marked down in price to be sold as used? If so by how much?

No, it wasn't. It doesn't work like that. If a customer tries it out of the cabinet and then asks for a discount as it's been on display we will arrange and agree a discount. If it is taken out of the box when it is brand new we will not discount.

But now it is used, you told the customer that
"I said, "Well to be fair sir, you have actually now used this lens, meaning we can't sell this as new, it has to be sold as used."

So once again, what happened to the lens you demonstrated to the customer? If it was returned to the cabinet to be sold as new then you lied to the man....

That's what "shopping" is all about, the customer came into your store, tried the product, liked it, but because of your reluctance to price match/attitude, didn't buy it. That isn't the customer's fault, he gave you an opportunity to make a sale, you chose not to take it.

You're very much twisting it. It wasn't like that at all. He came in with the frame of mind of coming in to try it out, but only purchasing if we meet with his demands.

You don't know that, you are making assumptions. In reality no-one buys anything unless they are happy with the deal being offered.

The point you seem to be missing is that for the sake of a bit of humility you have probably lost Jessops that customer for ever. So it's not £6 you've "saved" the company, but potentially hundreds of pounds of that customer's future purchases that you've lost.

But because of the type of customer he is, it's 95% likely that that isn't the case.

And what type of customer is that? No disrespect, Sean, but you're not an expert in customer psychology.....
 
Sorry, like DizMat I can see both sides to this, 99% of the time you bite your lip and smile, but the problem is, I wonder if its exactly that attitude that has made the demanding rude customer in the first place! The customer isn't always right, but there is an art to re-educating them :naughty: I have NEVER walked into a shop and been rude to the staff, regardless of how obnoxious they are [girlies in clothes shops completely ignoring you and continuing with their very important phone call to arrange that nights pish up, THATS rude!] I am not sure what came first, rude counter staff or rude customers but either way, expectatons are much higher from customers these days while their own attitudes [in *some* cases] have sunk to depths beyond belief - give them the grovelling kowtowing that seems to be expected and they will continue to treat mere shop staff with the same contempt. :bonk:

Oh, and before anyone jumps on me, some of our longest standing customers are those that have been incredibly rude in the past and have been 're-educated' [code for stand your ground and be firm, and even slightly rude yourself if necessary, albeit in a calm way] and in the art of getting what they want the right way. :p

Quentin Wilson coined a great term for the salesman-car buyer interaction, which is applicable to any retail scenario,he called what the customer wants "retail foreplay"....
 
Quentin Wilson coined a great term for the salesman-car buyer interaction, which is applicable to any retail scenario,he called what the customer wants "retail foreplay"....

Flash, don't :LOL: I can apply all sorts of styles of 'foreplay' scenarios to dfferent types of customer and frankly, my lunch is waiting, I don't want putting off :LOL:
 
Out of interest, what happened to the lens he didn't buy? Was it marked down in price to be sold as used? If so by how much?

And what type of customer is that? No disrespect, Sean, but you're not an expert in customer psychology.....

I thought I had replied to that, sorry!

Nope, it hasn't been marked down as used and discounted.
It will be our (working :p) demo model until we've run out of stock. Then if someone wants to purchase our demo model we will arrange and agree to a modest discount.

No, I know I'm not an expert in customer psychology. Far from it. Heck, if I was, I wouldn't be working for Jessops.

But I've seen what I can only assume is pretty much every type of customer.

He is the kind of customer that will come into a shop to browse. If he wants it today, he'll probably haggle and will probably only purchase if the price suits him. He is likely to be an internet shopper, educated by the internet and its prices.
 
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I think it's just because I'm young. I hate retail and I shall, if I can help it, never work in retail again.

That's probably the best decision you'll ever make, FP!! I spent 6 years working at Tescos, when I was a student, for a load of jumped up little Hitlers, who treated you like you were braindead and the customers, more often than not, did the same. I found my normally calm, Piscean persona challenged on a daily/weekly basis. Also the working hours are cack - I vowed upon graduation never to work in retail or at the weekend again, and touch wood, I've been successful for 12 years!!

I remember one occasion when Tescos were implementing a 'continuous improvement' program called FUTURE throughout their stores. The jumped up little ginger toerag who senior managed our section came in one Saturday giving us grief because the shelves were empty (erm....we're 3 bakery staff down pal, and you wouldn't lay on any overtime!!). He buggered off, and came back 10 minutes later to tell us that he'd got some help from another section because we 'weren't coping'. He dissapeared again, and 5 minutes later came back to tell us that Dave from grocery was on his way, and that he'd 'show us how to do our jobs!'. At this point I blew up and asked him if he wanted me to come to the management FUTURE meetings to show them how to do their job, as I was doing a degree in Quality Management at the time!! :D His only come back was 'Bugger off, you Geordie' before he stormed off - we didn't see him for the rest of the day!! :D :D
 
I thought I had replied to that, sorry!

Nope, it hasn't been marked down as used and discounted.
It will be our (working :p) demo model until we've run out of stock. Then if someone wants to purchase our demo model we will arrange and agree to a modest discount.

No, I know I'm not an expert in customer psychology. Far from it. Heck, if I was, I wouldn't be working for Jessops.

But I've seen what I can only assume is pretty much every type of customer.

He is the kind of customer that will come into a shop to browse. If he wants it today, he will haggle and will only purchase if the price suits him. He is an internet shopper, educated by the internet and its prices.

Unfortunately that is the way of the world nowadays, but the thing is you had him in your shop ready to make a purchase and you sent him (and more importantly, his money) scurrying off to your competitors.
 
Flash, don't :LOL: I can apply all sorts of styles of 'foreplay' scenarios to dfferent types of customer and frankly, my lunch is waiting, I don't want putting off :LOL:

From my experince with customers, the only foreplay analogy I can apply is "Brace yourself Doris, this might hurt a bit"
 
..I can see both sides to this argument - the insight I bring is three years in retail with Jessops. I have also worked in retail for an outdoors shop and also managing peoples' Weddings and Conferences(not once was I treated in a disrespectful manner in this employment..not once..) and I have to say that, although there still are some lovely people that come into our store, Jessops is attracting allot of nasty customers comparatively. Yes, retail does mean that your'e in the firing line but it does not allow the fact that allot of people assume that it is okay to be rude and more-so assume that just because you work in a shop, and specifically because you work in Jessops your intellect is somewhat lacking. Yes, the company is getting one hell of allot of flack, yes there are some people employed in some stores that simply should not be employed there but that is a retail wide issue. Yes, the company has really started to go to the dogs but that does not allow the attitude that it somehow seems to be inviting towrads its staff. All I'm saying is that, having read far too many threads on how rubbish Jessops is, and, at times indiscriminately how crap the staff are, back off. The attitudes of many members of the public is quite frankly disgusting and it seems that this issue is highly prevelant nationwide. And kudos to you Food Poison for constantly standing up for your employer and standing your ground as I hate to say it, you seem to be the token Jessops' whipping boy on this forum at times. So to all of those other, somewhat pedantic, members of this, at times, lovely forum just back off, come down and re-evaluate some chosen attitudes. I wont be drawn in to arguing this further just if you take anything from this then keep a more open mind and stop being mean to Food Poison!!!
 
Unfortunately that is the way of the world nowadays, but the thing is you had him in your shop ready to make a purchase and you sent him (and more importantly, his money) scurrying off to your competitors.

To which I say good riddance :D

Seriously though, I have no loyalty in Jessops, and the only reason I work there is because I need money.

I care about one thing and one thing only - meeting my target.

Which I do, every day, and 95% of my customers are over the moon with the service they receive from me. I have customers that I know on first name terms coming in to show me new kit they've bought when I wasn't there during the week, showing me holiday photos, asking my advice on settings.

I might have sent him and his -£2 loss on profit (according to the computer system - obviously not the genuine statistic) away to another competitor, but then I don't really care. He annoyed me, I annoyed him, we'll never do business again. Not the end of my world.

I may be extremely ignorant in this but to be honest flash I'm moving an hour down south in a month and a half.

I'll care about the/my company when they care about me.
 
..I can see both sides to this argument - the insight I bring is three years in retail with Jessops. I have also worked in retail for an outdoors shop and also managing peoples' Weddings and Conferences(not once was I treated in a disrespectful manner in this employment..not once..) and I have to say that, although there still are some lovely people that come into our store, Jessops is attracting allot of nasty customers comparatively. Yes, retail does mean that your'e in the firing line but it does not allow the fact that allot of people assume that it is okay to be rude and more-so assume that just because you work in a shop, and specifically because you work in Jessops your intellect is somewhat lacking. Yes, the company is getting one hell of allot of flack, yes there are some people employed in some stores that simply should not be employed there but that is a retail wide issue. Yes, the company has really started to go to the dogs but that does not allow the attitude that it somehow seems to be inviting towrads its staff. All I'm saying is that, having read far too many threads on how rubbish Jessops is, and, at times indiscriminately how crap the staff are, back off. The attitudes of many members of the public is quite frankly disgusting and it seems that this issue is highly prevelant nationwide. And kudos to you Food Poison for constantly standing up for your employer and standing your ground as I hate to say it, you seem to be the token Jessops' whipping boy on this forum at times. So to all of those other, somewhat pedantic, members of this, at times, lovely forum just back off, come down and re-evaluate some chosen attitudes. I wont be drawn in to arguing this further just if you take anything from this then keep a more open mind and stop being mean to Food Poison!!!

....and........BREATHE :LOL:
 
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After your post Joodles it probably wasn't the best time to announce my lack of loyalty to Jessops :p

I have 100% loyalty to my store, by the way, and I will defend it till the cows come home.

Jessops as a company really need a boot in the bum, however :p
 
Lol, no but it has its comedic value ;) I agree - they are thoroughly rubbish to their staff. My loyalty is to my work colleagues! However, I am working my last ever shift this week....the discount on printing did me proud througout my degree though ;)
 
Well that's a new one!

I'm not sure what it's meant to mean however...

It was originally this one....

dummyspit.gif
 
If a customer comes into a store with a need, a good sales man can make a sale.

The only thing that can stand in the way of this... Company policy, or lack of stock. and a very good salesman can get round both of those problems.

I have never known a retailer who will never negotiate. The manager is usually given plenty of leeway in these matters, and if the customer has any experience as a buyer, there is always a position that will meet both sets of expectations.

That is why successful companies employ professional negotiators as buyers and suppliers employ professional salesmen who know what margins they have to play with.

In the case in question the Customer was his own worst enemy and the salesman should have involved the manager,when he realised he had gone as far as company rules would allow him. Negotiation should never get down to personalities.
 
I care about one thing and one thing only - meeting my target.


I'm afraid to say that that tends to be the standard attitude of staff in any box shifting outlet. What happened to making sure the customer left with what was most suited to their needs? Surely that's far more important than making sure they leave with whatever box makes the store/company the most profit or what there are too many of in the store room/central warehouse?
 
So Food Poison, what can Jessops branch sell a new Nikon D90 with a MB grip and an 18-105VR OR 16-85 ??
 
I'm afraid to say that that tends to be the standard attitude of staff in any box shifting outlet. What happened to making sure the customer left with what was most suited to their needs? Surely that's far more important than making sure they leave with whatever box makes the store/company the most profit or what there are too many of in the store room/central warehouse?

As far as company loyalty goes, that's as much as it extends to.

As I've said, my customers are 99% of the time more than happy, as I adhere to their needs :)
 
Dammit... Where did Talktalk go? This thread was interesting back then, now it's just gone a little gay.....
 
damn this manly hugging :p it's making Neo unconfortable!

funny thing is the worst customer we had at PCworld was actually a very respectable solicitor...she had a tantrum and actually threw an ink cartridge across the shop, took ages to clear up!!!
an ink cartridge...not a kidney or something important..something to do with a PC printer.
anyway as I recall she was a right stroppy woman who then brought in 2-3 bottles of wine for the memberse of staff she verbally abused.
quite amusing. all you can really do is grin and bare it.
all the upper management want is margin to target, all the lower management want is margin and a quiet lift.
all the staff want is to get the job done and not be unfairly harrassed.

The customer is always right....but it doesn't stop him from being a prize arse at times.
 
Argh I swear the customers all hate me aha. Every saturday, get someone in who is just looking to put me in a foul mood for the day.

Someone during the week (i only work weekends) had put this gentleman's film through wrong.
He wanted his photos printed at 7x5, but numpty lab manager (who was made redundant so doesn't care about anything) put them through 6x4 even though the customer had paid 7x5.
anyway.
customer came in upset, quite rightly, especially as there was a peculiar banding on his photographs.

we reprinted them saying it was probably our prints at that particular time, and obviously allowed him to keep his original prints and didn't charge him.

i apologised profusely ("i'm very sorry about this sir, i will sort it out for you as soon as possible")

we reprinted the photographs and the banding was still apparent on the same photographs as before (albeit less obvious). he showed us a scan from his own negative scanner that had no banding and said that it was our scanner that was wrong, despite the fact it was only on 1 or 2 images, and didn't show up on ANYONE else's negatives.

i can understand why he was upset, and so i asked if he'd like me to get the person working in the lab today for an explanation and he says "yes i'd also like an apology".
fair enough.

my colleague came out and explained since the banding was only on a few images it couldn't possibly be our scanner, especially as other people's images have come out fine.
she said that she was sorry but there was nothing we could do. we also suggested that his negative scanner might have a dust/scratch removal hence why he couldn't see the banding on his negative at home.

he said "well i still haven't received an apology" and i said "i AM very sorry sir, i can understand the frustration, but i did apologise when you first came in" and he goes "yes, but you didn't use the word 'apologise'."

he then announced he wouldn't be bringing any film back into jessops and that he thought our attitude was appalling. my colleague has been working there 7 years and shrugged it off but i took it personally and it put a right downer on my day.
 
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