Shoppers take advantage at Jessops while fight to save it goes on (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Shoppers take advantage at Jessops while fight to save it goes on
3:18pm Thursday 10th January 2013 in News
SHOPPERS have been taking advantage of a sale at troubled camera chain Jessops while talks continued to try and save the business.
The chain went into administration yesterday, with administrators warning that branch closures were inevitable.
Jessops has around 2,000 staff at 192 stores, including branches at Bournemouth's Castlepoint and Poole's Dolphin Centre.
Administrators are not currently honouring returns or gift vouchers and have warned that continued trading is “critically dependent” on ongoing discussions.
Jessops’ Poole branch was doing brisk trade yesterday with a steady stream of customers popping into the Dolphin Shopping Centre outlet.
A number of bargain hunters were scouring the store’s shelves.
Business remained quiet at the Castlepoint branch on Thursday afternoon, but some shoppers were looking for bargains.
Jenny Moyle, from Bournemouth, said: “I just thought I would try to get a bargain before it closes down but I didn't end up buying anything in the end. It's a shame for the people who work here.”
Alan Smith, from Wimborne, said: “It's a shame that the shop's in trouble because there are so many businesses closing down. But people can live without camera shops because they have all they need on their phones and home computers.”
Comments(17)
Couchy125
says...
3:38pm Thu 10 Jan 13
Couchy125
says...
3:52pm Thu 10 Jan 13
Cherry19 wrote:Great post.
Love the attitude of people, 'oh must get a cheap bargain, yeah feel sorry for the people losing their jobs, but hey ho, got a cheap deal' ... no wonder the retail sector is dying ... people have used the shops for too long to 'sample' items only to buy online ... don't you realise it has an impact on all of you and you will slowly watch the online prices creep up as well ... no doubt will get told by people 'it's cheaper online', well clearly none of you are employed in the retail sector!
The Seasider
says...
4:07pm Thu 10 Jan 13
I will never forget that image of David Cameron with arms full of shopping from Woolworths, on the last day it was open....
People love a bargain, regardless of the circumstances that has made it become a bargain. Money always trumps morality.
The cleverest retailers actually use the consumer vulture on a carcass mentality to shift more stock, having 'closeout sales', 'final clearance' and 'closing (due to relocation)' type events.
Its a shame Jessops is closing, but I think it proves that people will not pay for good customer service and product knowledge. The same thing happened to Threshers/ Wine Rack. Consumers are now left with supermarkets and the internet.
Arjay
says...
4:28pm Thu 10 Jan 13
Apparently, under our obscene insolvency laws, that's not theft?!.....
When will people learn not to buy these stupid vouchers?...
Use the ones with the silvery stripe and the Queen's head on them... when they stop honouring those, we're all in the poo!
Derf
says...
5:08pm Thu 10 Jan 13
Arjay wrote:It's not theft because there was no dishonesty at the time the voucher was issued. there will probably be some caveat on the T's & C's on the back of the voucher if anybody bothers reading it. If you accept the voucher, you accept the T's & C's.
As we've seen in previous insolvency cases, the administrators are not honouring gift vouchers.
Apparently, under our obscene insolvency laws, that's not theft?!.....
When will people learn not to buy these stupid vouchers?...
Use the ones with the silvery stripe and the Queen's head on them... when they stop honouring those, we're all in the poo!
they've stolen nothing, you simply become a creditor to the defunct company.
BENNY7
says...
7:00pm Thu 10 Jan 13
All I can say is that in retail customer service is no.1!! Although Jessops were extremely good at this & still are for the time being
Online is more convenient for the consumer not just 'cheaper'
Now to move along with the times all Jessops, HMV, Blockbuster etc etc had to do was believe in the internet 5 years ago & create a great user experience & they would still be thriving now Online & on the high street. Too late now as Amazon have beat them all to it.
I worked for an independent retail store in Poole for 10 years & spent 7 of those trying to get the owner to have an online presence which fell on death ears.
By the time we got online we had massive competition & just couldn't compete. I now sell for myself solely online & try my upmost to offer great experience & fingers crossed it is enough to keep retaining customers.
In regards to Jessops solely, my partner is a photographer & has loved shopping at Jessops for 3 years now along with shopping online when it made sense for convenience... It really is a shame to see them in trouble whereas I did not feel any sympathy for Comet as they were just plain awful!!
pete woodley
says...
7:13pm Thu 10 Jan 13
bosco1
says...
9:26pm Thu 10 Jan 13
dinkie123
says...
1:47am Fri 11 Jan 13
bosco1 wrote:I work/ed (I am at uni so work ad-hoc) at argos.... and they are moving more and more online, as people just don't want to visit stores, so they've decided to invest more in their website, their ebay store, and on the tv sales. I noticed it a lot this christmas...working everyday, the shop was no where near as busy as the last 3 years, but we were very very busy in the 2/3 days after christmas when the sales started!...people will only come out for bargains...and online, you can see a bargain!
Such a shame to see shops going in the high streets and towns.Will Argos be the next to go.? Just noticed a new channell on free view number 55 an exclusive "Argos" selling goods cheap.Who else will follow selling on the tv channels next.?!!
Shame, because people like me will lose their jobs, but.... I must admit, I shopped entirely online for christmas this year...mainly because airlines don't like you going over their weight limits (I study abroad), but also because it was sooooooooo much cheaper!
Local to Dorset
says...
4:05am Fri 11 Jan 13
I browsed then went to the counter, where a member of staff was explaining to another customer how they'd lost his roll of film!
Not only did staff ignore me and serve people who entered the shop after me, but when I was eventually served the member of staff disappeared in the middle of serving me - which gave me time to google the price of the camera case he was showing me, it was widely available at £8 cheaper elsewhere.
So I decided to leave, and explained why to the staff member when he returned from whatever had distracted him.
I purchased my camera case on eBay when I got home £8 cheaper with free postage.
Had I been served properly, I would have purchased at Jessops there and then.
Really, shops need to buck their ideas up with regard to customer service if they wish to survive while charging higher prices - if anyone from Jessops reads this, check your CCTV, I even asked the camera for someone to come and serve me!
Later I heard they'd gone into administration, not at all surprised if my experience was typical.
jeebuscripes
says...
8:01am Fri 11 Jan 13
Poor product selections, scruffy points of sale, inadequately trained staff, charges to park, the general public in close proximity, horrible artificial lighting, McDonalds wrappers strewn al over the street, people begging you to sign up to this and that, the stench of failure and a doomed future...all repeated across the country hundreds of times.
CourtOffside
says...
10:51am Fri 11 Jan 13
*wipes away tears of laughter*
hamworthygirl
says...
11:14am Fri 11 Jan 13
Cherry19 wrote:I have to say that was my first thought too, shame people didnt use the stores in the first place. I have shopped in Jessops for years they are always good for price and will match a price if you ask. Such a shame for the staff, I hope they get good redundancy.
Love the attitude of people, 'oh must get a cheap bargain, yeah feel sorry for the people losing their jobs, but hey ho, got a cheap deal' ... no wonder the retail sector is dying ... people have used the shops for too long to 'sample' items only to buy online ... don't you realise it has an impact on all of you and you will slowly watch the online prices creep up as well ... no doubt will get told by people 'it's cheaper online', well clearly none of you are employed in the retail sector!
InkZ
says...
11:34am Fri 11 Jan 13
It's the same with all these big branches, customer service is rubbish and prices are high. Sales assistants aren't experts in their field, just low paid standard retail staff.
If I was going to pay highstreet prices, I'd be going to the likes of Castle Cameras where you will actually get decent service and support a local business at the same time.
I won't miss Jessops just like I won't miss Comet, and I won't miss Game.
The businesses that I would miss are still going strong funnily enough.
As for the price matching mentioned above, they'll only price match local, at least they did in the Bournemouth store.
There's always the exception to the rule where you might get a good member of staff who happens to enjoy and be knowledgeable about photography but good luck.
I bet the people who buy cameras from Jessops are the same ones that buy bikes from Halfords :P
As always I feel sorry about people losing their jobs but these businesses really need to update their model and their demise is due to massive store expansion in the previous years.
kingstonpaul
says...
1:05pm Fri 11 Jan 13
This practice isn't/wasn't unique to Jessops. You'll find it happens across large numbers of retailers. Which means you have to look hard to find independent advice these days
sar72
says...
7:07pm Fri 11 Jan 13
Cherry19 says...
3:37pm Thu 10 Jan 13