Maybe film IS dead

[markinlondon]

Not snobbery at all, WTL. I have received better service from students on their first day at Silverprint. If they don't know, they at least have the nous to ask more experienced staff and not make wild guesses or offer whatever comes to hand. This is a common trend in UK shops.

Specialist retailers need specialist staff, Jessops is rapidly turning into a box shifting enterprise which offers no added value beyond the ticket price.

Also, if I'd wanted the cheapest price, I'd have bought from an off-shore internet retailer. I wouldn't have shot any pictures today though. I usually buy supplies from Silverprint. They are far from the cheapest but have fresh stocks and can offer advice on substitutions. They would not ask me if I meant Tmax when requesting Tri-x.

Mark

 

[wtl]

I think it is a reasonable expectation of a photo shop to know a bit about photography. In a 100% digital shop, perhaps not knowing about film is acceptable, but where film is sold you would think they'd know the basics about the product they are selling.

p.s. who called you 'stupid', WTL? Are we reading the same thread... or do you work for Jessop's 😉

no, Brian, i don't work for jessop's.

but i do get this tired feeling of people constantly snapping on people who don't know certain things. there is always this elite attitude of "i know such and such and you don't, stupid..."

 

[BrianShaw]

no, Brian, i don't work for jessop's.

but i do get this tired feeling of people constantly snapping on people who don't know certain things. there is always this elite attitude of "i know such and such and you don't, stupid..."

Yes, that is a boring grind, isn't it? I try to discern if someone has a reasonable expectation about what they are whining about... or if they are just whining. There's a lot of "just whining" that goes on, but this may not be one of those situations.

 

[wtl]

Jessops is rapidly turning into a box shifting enterprise which offers no added value beyond the ticket price.

Mark

don't mean to single you out, Mark, but...the entire world is turning into a box shifting enterprise, unfortunately. it's the company at fault, not the sales person. my "snobs" comment was aiming at your original post and other followers that joked about these individual sales people for not knowing.

these guys, just like many of us, are just needing a job and the store hired them. i am fairly sure no training was provided to them - how do they suppose to knwo tri-x or such and such if they are not personally interested in photography?

but if i am reading the tone of your post incorrectly, i am sorry.

 

[markinlondon]

I'm not really arguing with you, wtl. I agree entirely that the profit motive is at fault here. I had previously had a very similar experience in another branch of this chain and should really have remembered what Lenin said about history ;-)
Mark

 

[Nachkebia]

You have to look at me how I dilute D76 in my bath room 😀

 

[dll927]

Living on the other side of the pond, I can't comment on Jessops, but it seems to me that the question here is not about the viability of film, but rather about incompetent employees. That's not a uniquely British problem, believe me.

 

[wtl]

You have to look at me how I dilute D76 in my bath room 😀

or i can just look at myself. 😱

i also heard that if you are not here talking everyday (most non-sense), you are a troll. 😕

 

[zuikologist]

Mark - if it's any consolation, I sometimes visit Jessops in Finchley Road, London. The shop is smaller than the average living room but the staff are knowledgeable and courteous and the store usually well stocked. Some of the staff have been there some time and are clearly enthusiasts. It seems to be a forgotten backwater of the Jessops empire - the place was probably fitted out in the late 1970's and has not changed since.

 

[jrong]

I had appalling service at Jessops at their Moorgate branch a few times and I know I'll never be back. Not only do they not know what you're talking about, but they have a habit of spewing a stream of B.S to customers. Jessops at Whiteleys, Bayswater always had very good service from a very accommodating chap there but they recently went all-digital too. The staff at Canary Wharf all seem to have an "attitude", particularly if you march in asking for things like developing chemicals or thermometers. Usually, they promise to order it in, but the items never arrive despite lots of promises. I give up. Sometimes I grit my teeth and make that arduous journey to Silverprint just because I know I can get stuff there.

🙁

 

[traveller]

You know rats about sport, so I guess sports is not part of your daily job, fair enough.
But if someone sells photographic stuff it is not that unreasonable to expect that he knows a little bit about photography.

You are absolutely right, but working in sales myself that is the situation I tend to ask if he (or she) ever had at least a inhouse training. That doesn't help if the person is not interested but it's worth a try.

If they don't offer any training the manager has the responsibility and should get fired.

 

[IGMeanwell]

This is all bad... but some of the Ritz Camera stores here in the US are so bad they don't even know popular items when you ask.

One day on a whim I stopped at a local Ritz Camera and asked if they by any chance had the 18-200 VR Nikkor... now I know the young women behind the counters are into photography as they use their own photos in the frames and whatnot ... but I just got blank stares

I asked if they had any Delta 3200 or Tmax 3200 while I was there and again just blank stares

maybe I was speaking incorrectly? Or I think I am speaking english but it comes out all weird in their head?

I like my local store Ray Supply the photo department knows exactly what I am talking about even if they don't have it in stock...

 

[Duke El]

Been reading through this thread with real interest.

Sorry, Marc, for you disappointing experience, but at least you got the film you needed at the time you needed it!

I guess a lot of us OT's are spoiled from the days when a camera store salesman (er...person, to be more PC) was actually a photog working his/her "day job". I remember here in NYC talking with a salesman at B&H once.

Knowing I was a Nikon shooter he referred to Canon lenses as ashtrays. I wonder what he told the Canon guys?

Alas, I think those days are long gone and ain't coming back.

That's what's good, though, about these websites. Folks can share info about gear, film etc. and then either go into a store knowing what they want - or betterwise, go on-line and find it for themselves!

 

[erikhaugsby]

what a bunch of snobs - so what if a sales person doesn't know what tri-x is? or a sr44 is not a lx44? what are they anyway?

are these things so important that everyone ought to know for some reason?

i know next to rats about sports and pretty much everything else in life. call me stupid all you want and see if i really care.

It's not that "everyone" should need to know them, just that a salesperson who works at a photographic store and sells things stocked in the store should understand and know that Tri-X is a 400ISO Kodak B&W emultion, and not all batteries are alkaline.

 

[Trius]

what a bunch of snobs - so what if a sales person doesn't know what tri-x is? or a sr44 is not a lx44? what are they anyway?

are these things so important that everyone ought to know for some reason?

i know next to rats about sports and pretty much everything else in life. call me stupid all you want and see if i really care.

Snobs? Good grief. Others have replied in detail, and the conversation has been civil; that's a good thing.

But if you get tired of reading threads like this, then just don't read them. And there's certainly no reason to call people names.

OK, so here's my rant bit:

Yes, the retail world is going to hell in a handbasket, but I will NOT go quietly into that dark night. It is that kind of herdlike mentality that allow such nonsense to continue.

Neither Mark nor anyone else who trades with Jessops mentioned wanting their goods and services there to be cheap. I'm quite sure that all of them understand the prices of those items, which are no longer mass market, to be discounted.

 

[aad]

Well, I asked for filters once and got handed a memory card-but he got fired a week later. Profit motive, y'know.

 

[wtl]

But if you get tired of reading threads like this, then just don't read them.

that should serve your comment about my comment very well...

arrogance can make a man blind.

 

[rpsawin]

Maybe it's time to become an informed consumer. Don't expect a retail salesperson to understand what you want. You have to be able to explain your request in order to get what you want. And when you encounter someone who knows D-76 from a D-70 it will be a very nice suprise.

Bob