Jessops Review

Overall Rating

Boots: Fair quality, usually fast.
Jessops: Inconsistent quality; very slow. Long queues all day.

Boots: Expensive!
Jessops: OK. They keep giving you Jessops free film - which hardly anyone ever uses (its acually re-branded low grain Agfa)

The Purpose of this review is to compare the two film development outlets Boots and Jessops. Alas, for those of us who aspire to the heady heights of "amateur photography" - we are still at the mercy of film developers. Over the past 20 years or so, I have tried them all - those horrible little "1-hour" kiosks on the High street, the supermarket "we-print-while-you-shop" deals, even tried and tested old work-horses such as Boots and Jessops (UK). What do they all have in common ? They have all ruined my photos at one time or another. OK, I can't really blame kiosks and supermarkets since you know perfectly well what the deal is. But with a respected developer such as Jessops - you'd think (even by looking at their monsterous catalogue alone) that they'd know a thing or two about developing and printing. I wish!

Jessops offer something they call "Diamond Laser" printing - whereby negatives are scanned, any under or over-exposure is "adjusted", the image is "digitally enhanced" (in one of the paintshop or photostudio software)and then the photo is printed on a laser printer. Well yes, the sharpness is good. But they make shadows look like bright day-light and they make bright daylight look like a night scene. On top of all that, they tell you the photos will be ready in 4 hours, then its "sorry sir, they'll be ready tomorrow now as we've been very busy" and then tomorrow they say "erm...we're working on a 48-hour turnaround time now..they'll be ready in 3 million years" etc. You get the point. If I request for diamond laser prints, they pop them in the wrong (blue) envelope and they come back as dingy awful snappy snaps done in some overnight DIY shed. And they never admit their fault. "should have instructed us if your film needed special attention, sir." Well I'm sorry, its just that normally I like developers to kick my films about a bit, then drag them through mud, you see. (Sarcasm).

Anyway, to cut a long story short - if you haven't got the skill/equipment/time to develop your own...you are at the mercy of the developers. So why bother with expensive image stabilised lenses and 3D matrix metering this and that cameras when the guy in Jessops just pops your film in a snappy snaps developing machine located in the garden shed.

Perhaps they want us to "go digital" so thay can put their feet up.

Members' Comments onah207's Review

• croker on 18th Dec 2003

  As an ex-branch manager of Jessops, and someone who left that industry over 6 years ago, I just felt it important to make a point.
  
  Big companies DO have "company policies" which should give a level of uniformity to their branches, however in a specialist retail field such as photography the quality of service you will recieve invariably is down to the individual you end up speaking to.
  
  Even 10 years ago the number of people with a background in using and learning photography via manual SLRs, who were THEN prepared to enter into the retail trade, was beginning to wane.
  You will undoubtably have encountered assistants who still have lingering memories of puberty and couldn't tell an OM10 from a T90, however in current technologies related to digital imaging I'm sure they could run rings round many of us.
  
  My advice to any enthusiast is to get to know the people at your local branch, and to approach the appropriate one for the appropriate query.
  
  Many MANY times across a 10 year career in that sector, spanning several firms (including Fox Talbot) I encountered customers who required the benefit of the collective knowledge of the in-branch staff. Those who asked for assistance were more than happy to wait a moment for the person with the most appropriate knowledge to become available.
  Those who demanded an immediate solution, however, would immediately complain at the prospect of a short wait. Heaven knows why, accurate advice will save them more time than trying to figure it out. Especially given that most folk have already tried to figure out a solution before they are prepared to ask.
  
  One more comment... Sarcasm! Unless you know the assistant you are dealing with just DON'T use it! They, like the rest of us, are just doing their jobs. If you are unhappy with their performance then highlight it clearly, or better still bring it to the attention of their manager. In fact - if you happen to be delighted with their performance please do the same.
  
  Across my time in the industry I have met and dealt with everyone from my own father ( a seasoned pro in motorsports photography) to David Suchet and even a delightfully innebriated Richard Harris (RIP) one Christmas Eve looking for a camera to use on Christmas Day. Many regular customers caught up with me as I moved from branch to branch.
  
  On announcing my change in career all those years ago one of them asked me "who on earth do I go to now?", I turned and looked at my staff and told him "between these six people there is all the expertise you could ask for, just accept that it may take two or three of them to pull together and help answer your problems"

• usha45 on 24th Dec 2003

  i have been working for the company since 1999 although i spent some time away studying at university. I have spent most of my time working in smaller equipment orientated store and some time working in a mini-lab equipped store. i have to agree with that last comment about expecting the assistant to know exactly what you want. The majority of customers who leave film in our hands for d&p are pleased with the service we offer, be it kodak processed or in store process. These orders can be ran through the machines almost automatically and be ready very quickly. Although it is almost common knowledge now that if you have extremely important or professional developing to be done then you would bring it to a pro lab where you can have a lot more say in how your prints would come out. Most would say that its worth the extra money.
  
  Its almost funny to watch hundreds of customers bundle into a small store to leave and collect prints after the summer or christmas holidays and expect all 1hour or even 24 hour services to function normally, they cant imagine that they perhaps arent the only people who need to get a film developed at the time.
  
  Its unfair to other customers wishing to make enquiries about say a broken SLR or needing assistance on choosing some filters for a new field of photography they wish to persue when the salesman with the best knowledge in that area is stuck with D&P customers having to explain why there is a delay on the mini lab or why they cannot have thier photos in an hour.
  
  Its very true to say that individual sales advisors have the knowledge in different areas, i myself could talk for hours about differences in the camcorder formats and the pros and cons of each, or how to make the most out of compact digital photography, and even digital SLR photography, where as some of my collegues would see this as a little daunting they could talk to a regular customer about depth of field on a range of lenses for close up photography where i would tend to be a bit more vague on the subject.
  So my advice to you or anyone else not happy with mini lab results on their amature photography is to splash out on some pro lab services if it means that much to you or you cant get on with your local store, as much as we would love to help you out... we need a little from you if we are to get it right, otherwise know that you are leaving it in our hands...
  
  Our should i say the hands of our lab staff, seeing as sales advisors dont usually touch the lab equipment and lab staff dont have a clue about the products (this seems to stress a lot of people out even though they are dressed in differing uniforms to distinguish them)

• richydick on 13th Jan 2004

  It's interesting that the reviewer mentions 'snappy snaps', accidentally using this name an a generic way to refer to high street photo processing kiosk. I came accross Snappy Snaps a couple of years ago when I was working in London and have used them ever since. The quality of the product and the service received was first rate, with the staff seeming to bend over backwards to be helpful.
  They are also used by many professional photographers because of their ability to meet the customers' requirments.
  If the reviewer were to take his photos to Snappy Snaps he might be pleasently surprised.

• croker on 15th Jan 2004

  Snappy Snaps, I have to say, do represent excellent service - and quite frankly even as a member of Jessops staff I used them. Admittedly not exclusively, but back then there were far fewer Jessops stores with labs on site, and if I wanted prints in a hurry, and Snappy Snaps were near to my location, they'd get the business.
  
  I do agree they have a very professional approach, despite not actually being a "pro lab".... however they do specialise in one field only.... and if you want equipment advice they may not be as versatile.
  
  As in my previous comments I did work for a number of firms during my time in the industry... I know what goes on behind closed doors, and as a consumer I'm picky about who I give my business to.. The only hesitation I EVER have with either Snappy Snaps or Jessops is which of the two I'd use for prints... the answer usually being whichever is more convenient based on my present location and time requirements.
  
  I will say this though, purely on equipment purchases.... I will absolutely NEVER purchase an item from any branch of any company who cannot field a member of staff who knows MORE about the product than I do. If I get my lottery win and head off to get a new Contax system (for example) I'll make my purchase via an appropriate specialist!

• toytrain on 4th Nov 2005

  If you feel so confident that you know so much about processing then why don't you use a pro lab instead of wasting the time of high street lab assistants.
  
  A pro lab may be able to answer all of your sarcastic questions as they deal with pseudo-amateurs everyday who claim to know much about the trade witout actually confessing they don't.