Will you miss Jessops?

There seems to be as lot of negative comment here about Jessops. This is based on the experiences of those who have added to this thread and I certainly respect their views. I have bought quite a few items from Jessops over the years from a camera, lenses, bulk film (that dates me) and a film scanner. They have quite a few branches locally and I’ve not encountered bad service, and so, yes I will miss them. My last purchase was from a Liverpool branch and I bought a 50mm prime lens after trying it out, taking a few pictures in the shop, including the assistant who sold it to me. It was all very cordial and relaxed. Love the lens!     

Sadly, the days of camera shops may be in decline. I value being able to walk into a shop and look and handle items, plus get some useful information “face to face”. Apart from Jessops, I’ve had excellent service from Wilkinson’s in Southport and Preston.

One pet hate of mine, and I know at least two people personally who do this, is to go into a camera shop and “milk” information, handle the goods and spend a long time in the place before going home and buying the piece of kit “on-line”.

There is a wealth of good information on line about anything one might wish to buy, but it’s still good to enjoy seeing the “new toy” coming over the counter. I have bought many things on line including photographic items, and will continue so to do.  

Jessops may not have been perfect, but I repeat, will be missed by me. But then, I am an old guy.           

Wilkinson's in Kendal is also a very good shop and pleasant experience. I've bought a few things from them on my Lake District travels occasionally. Well recomend them.

But i am sure there are good jessops round the country but my experience of the Hull shop in the past has been very poor as indicated above. mainly due to lack of knowledge and genaral apathy of the staff.

definitely agree with you Rod about 'milking' the shpos for info and not buying. That is the very point my mate at Jacobs had and that is why they started asking for shop receipts before looking at problems on cameras.

Our local Jessops is situated right next door to an independent camera shop, whilst Jessops always seem to be low on stock, and even lower on customers the independent shop next door has it's window displays full of new and second hand gear and is always packed with people.

I've only ever bought one item from Jessops and it was a 10 inch digital photo frame in March 2012. It was half price (a Mothers Day special offer) and came with a 3 year new for old warranty should it go wrong - well I suppose that's the end of the warranty now. And sadly another empty shop on the high street. 

I see it's just been announced that all the Jessops shops will close by end of business today (Friday). There is no closing down sale, all stock will be returned to a central warehouse and from there back to the manufacturers. Any vultures hoping for bargains will be disappointed. Also Jessops will not accept returns, so tough luck if you have recently purchased anything from Jessops and it goes wrong. It is a sad end for the high-street camera shops. I feel sorry for the staff, many of whom must be photo enthusiasts. Hopefully they will get more than the statutory pay-off, but don't hold your breath.  

PS. I have just read that Jessops Gift Vouchers and order Deposits  will not be honoured. In the present economic climate, paying by Credit Card is the best choice, at least if the company fails you can get a refund from your Credit Card Company.

Nikon have been working with the Administrators, PwC, to reassure Jessop's customers of Nikon cameras to plan to undertake all outstanding repairs as quickly as possible. Nikon also added they will also honour any  Nikon repairs under Jessops' Photo and extended warranty scheme.  A phone number they gave for enquiries is-- 0330 123 0928.

Needless to say, our local Jessops remained shuttered today wth a notice to log onto their website. 

I see a report that Hilco might open Jessops Camera Concessions within HMV stores, if Hilco is successful in buying the Jessops Brand from PWC. This might just work, since there may be common ground with the customers of HMV and Jessops. 

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9821938/Hilco-could-open-Jessops-concessions-in-HMV.html

 Incidentally, I was amused to see a sign in the window of our local Jessops, which read as follows:

Thank you to all our loyal customers, and to everyone else who shopped at Amazon.com