bloody camera shop sales assistants

Quaker said:
That's a tough one to believe, sorry.

A shop assistant laughed at you, called you poor (which I assume you meant he/she inferred you didn't have much money) because you can't afford a Pro tripod??

You took that on the chin and went shopping in another store?
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i may have exaggerated a little but he did in a word pretty much just snub us because we bought unbranded photography equipment from argos

and ive only shopped a another store because its the only photography store in huddersfield (that ive found yet)
 
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I'm fortunate in having two Jessops, a Calumet, a reasonably well stocked Currys (up to D300/7D level models), a Harvey Normans with a small camera section (but who are competitive on prices) and an independant camera shop all within 10 miles of home. :D

Have to give a (y) to one of my local Jessops this week. I went in on Tues asking about a quick release plate for a tripod someone has given me (basic model but would get me started while I save up for a good one). Its discontinued but they offered to order in their current quick release plate (£5) to see if it fits. Took my mobile number and have texted this morning to tell me its arrived in store.
 
thorton said:
i may have exaggerated a little but he did in a word pretty much just snub us because we bought unbranded photography equipment from argos

and ive only shopped a another store because its the only photography store in huddersfield (that ive found yet)
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So he/she didn't laugh at you nor call you poor? Sorry mate but that's more than a "little" exaggerated.

Not blaming you because I have noticed on a few anti-Jessops threads how people get caught up in it and feel the urge to join in so to speak.

My experience of Jessops has been first class both locally and over in Meadowhell in Sheffield.
 
Never had a problem with returns to Jessops, all 3 local branches are decent with friendly staff.

You want a national chain with the worst possible returns policies? Try Jacobs, if it isn't a cut and dried Sale of Goods Act return you can forget it.
 
Naming and shaming a store on a public forum, and then admitting that you "exaggerated a bit", sounds like inviting a solicitor's letter. I wouldn't blame them a bit. This sort of thing can damage a business - a lot of people may have read the original post, but not the follow up thread.
 
Have to say that I know that particular "Micky in Derry Jessops" - he's a very keen photographer and has been for many years - long before he started in Jessop's.
He knows his stuff and loves a good-natured photography argument.
I'd say that his passion for photography and eagerness to explain to customers is what makes a big difference - he's a photographer first and a salesperson second!
Just in case he's reading this and getting a big head - your pics are still only art and not 'real' photography, Micky!
 
I've worked in Jessops in the past and I currently work on the camera section in Currys. Working in Jessops I'd say only half the staff actually knew what they were talking about, and I'm the only one in Currys worth talking to about cameras. It really is hit or miss whether or not you get someone who can give you some good advice, but a lot of it comes down to the fact that you're only really expected to know about your current stock when good advice really comes from understanding photography as a whole. I quite often have to pull up Google on the till to answer a customer's question but it means I can answer it to the best of my abilities rather than simply guessing.

I'd say it would be worth everyone's while to actually go and talk to the staff in your local shops and see if they're worth your repeated custom. It's not fair to write off a whole chain based on some bad experiences in other stores. It's hard for a store to hire only experienced professionals when, to be honest, would you want to work in a small store for low pay when you could make more money as a professional photographer? If you want to talk to professionals and professionals only you need to be prepared to pay more, but everyone wants to pay online prices. So you want to pay less for more professional service? Something's going to have to give there. I'd jump at the chance to work in a small independent store but at the moment Currys is the best I can get, and it allows me to transfer to Swansea when I go to uni so I have a job both in term time and holidays, while the pay is adequate for a teenaged student.
 
Sergei said:
Have to say that I know that particular "Micky in Derry Jessops" - he's a very keen photographer and has been for many years - long before he started in Jessop's.
He knows his stuff and loves a good-natured photography argument.
I'd say that his passion for photography and eagerness to explain to customers is what makes a big difference - he's a photographer first and a salesperson second!
Just in case he's reading this and getting a big head - your pics are still only art and not 'real' photography, Micky!
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i didn't realise he was a member on the site, but with the number of people on here it shouldn't be a surprise.

if you do read this micky:

fair play dude, i appreciated the help that day ;)
 
lexie said:
i didn't realise he was a member on the site, but with the number of people on here it shouldn't be a surprise.

if you do read this micky:

fair play dude, i appreciated the help that day ;)
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Not sure that he is actually a member on here, Keith - (Only joined the other day myself!) - but especially given his already burgeoning fanbase on TP, he could do a lot worse!!
:)
Also, it's all too easy for us to moan about poor service etc in High St stores (Jessop's or otherwise) - I think we've all been guilty at some time, I know I have! - so it would be good to hear a staff member's point of view occasionally, even if we don't always agree.
 
Sergei said:
Not sure that he is actually a member on here, Keith - (Only joined the other day myself!) - but especially given his already burgeoning fanbase on TP, he could do a lot worse!!
:)
Also, it's all too easy for us to moan about poor service etc in High St stores (Jessop's or otherwise) - I think we've all been guilty at some time, I know I have! - so it would be good to hear a staff member's point of view occasionally, even if we don't always agree.
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would you have a link to any of his work alan? i'd love to see some of it, it sounds like he's a pretty handy photographer
 
Been to that Jessops and the Guy( the only one I think as I always see ladies) has always been more than helpful......unfortunately I have found the ladies in Jessops both Derry and Belfast are more interested in getting you to develop prints must be a commission thing LOL
 
got a lot of help from the very same guy when buying my last lens ...
 
In situations like this it really can make a difference if you do 2 things:

open packaging carefully so it can be resealed if required
remain calm and reasonable

Glad you got the rght outcome
 
What a coincidence I was just reading the Ken Rockwell article about profession and he was giving his take on salespeople and said that salespeople are a profession as they are there to give advice and not make the actual sale, those who make the sale are merchants and that's the way the salesperson is going nowadays it's turning into a dog eat dog world based on commission from sales made.

I know alot of salespeople who don't know much about cameras are still honest, they may not know about the ISO ratings on a Panasonic LX5 but they'll turn around and say "I'm not sure, let me check the specs", on the odd occasion I've had a bad salesperson and I've turned around and said "what makes you qualified to sell cameras" and they'll usually say "I used to sell cars" or "door to door sales" etc it was those jobs that are based on the hard sell and so they are brought up on making a hard sell to customers.
 
In Warehouse Express we don't get commission, the way I see that is it stops staff from being competitive with eachother and more likely willing to help eachother out ..
We get paid even if we don't make the sales, and we will advise people on the right camera for them, not the most expensive .. it's more about finding out what the customer does, and take it from there
 
the_womble said:
In Warehouse Express we don't get commission, the way I see that is it stops staff from being competitive with eachother and more likely willing to help eachother out ..
We get paid even if we don't make the sales, and we will advise people on the right camera for them, not the most expensive .. it's more about finding out what the customer does, and take it from there
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That's exactly how I would handle it, everyone is equal they get paid even if they don't make the sale so it's calmer less rushed working environment. I also agree that you need to find out what the customer needs as for example if they wanted to do low light wildlife using a canon 450D you wouldn't recommend the budget Tamron 70-300mm due to the aperture constraint.
 
While we are having a rant about J e s s o p s ...... (I'm not going to give them a free link)

I just phoned one of their shops to check stock on a tripod I wanted to get today. They told me it was out of stock but that they could order it for me.

Turned out that they wanted to charge me more than it was advertised for on the J e s s o p s website. They lost my business.

Apparently, the shops do not have to charge the same prices as their parent companies website.
 
In fairness it's plastered all over their website that prices may be different in store.

I got an SB-600 today and did the sensible collect in store thing from their website.... You get it the same price then and get it same day.

Can't really comment on the service though as I looked into what I wanted and just clicked a few buttons... Didn't ask any staff for advice etc as personally I like to research into what I'm buying (not just camera stuff, I'm pretty sad in that respect whatever it is)

I generally guess it's pretty much the same comparing any national store with a local specialist... Take PC world for instance, I wouldn't ever ask for advice off anyone who worked there though gladly use the collect in store option if it works out cheaper than online or I need same day
 
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