On 9 January I took my Fuji bridge camera into a Jessops store to ask about a repair. I paid £25 to get an estimate and my camera was sent to the company which does the repairs on Jessop's behalf. I was told it could take 6-8 weeks for the repair to be done and my camera returned and that if I went ahead with the repair then the £25 would be taken off the total cost but if I decided not to go ahead then I wouldn't get my £25 back.

After not hearing anything for about 3 weeks I went into the store to ask and they said that the repairers were still waiting for a price for parts. I eventually got a quote on a letter dated 12 February and the estimate was for £101.40 (including VAT) and that the quote was valid for 4 weeks. The day after I received the letter I returned to the local store and confirmed that I wished to go ahead with the repair and an assistant logged this onto a PC/Till and told me that I would get notification when my camera was ready to be collected.

Yesterday, after having patiently waited 8 weeks and not hearing anything, I went back into the store to find out what was happening, a sales assistant looked into it and came back and told me that as I hadn't given confirmation for the repair to go ahead the estimate was now over £180. I told him that I had confirmed it and that I had watched an assistant input this into the till and that the estimate had been just over £100, he checked again and confirmed that I had done this and that there must be a mix up with the repairers who were now asking for the higher price. He said that he would contact the repairers and do all he could to get the repair done at the original lower price.

Where do I stand with this? It seems to me that Jessops have cocked up somewhere and are now expecting me to pay for this mistake. The camera is about 2 and a half years old and £180 is about the top end of what it would now be worth but I really don't see why I should have to pay the higher price when I had already given consent for the repair with the original estimate. Added to this is the fact that the letter states that the original estimate is valid for 4 weeks and those 4 weeks aren't up until tomorrow.

Can anyone help/advise me please?

Do you have proof of the original quote?

Do you have proof of the original quote?

"I eventually got a quote on a letter dated 12 February "

Yes I still have the original letter, I will be going into Jessops after work to show them it.

A quotation is that, not an estimate. they can be held to it or be forced to pay the difference if they refuse to now carry out the work and you get it done elsewhere at a higher price. Let them know that it is in their interest to sort it out asap.

Hi clark

It ain't great service. Write a Formal Letter of Complaint , mark it as such. Explain what's happened, how they have let you down and want them to do.

Send it to:-

Mr Neil Old

Chief Operating Officer

Jessops

[email protected]

Think I may have it sorted, seems the original quote was for cleaning the lenses but they looked at it and realised this wouldn't solve the problem and that it need a new lens. I've spoken to the repair person who said they weren't charging Jessops as they haven't done any work and I've told Jessops Customer Services this and they said that if that's the case they won't charge me. The person from my local Jessops who rang me to explain the differences in quotes said that I would be charged the original price but I don't think he was fully aware of all the facts. As the camera is being returned to me in the same condition I sent it I don't see why I should be charged. Thanks for all your help, much appreciated.

Jessops also have a customer services email address –[email protected]

Hi BF, where has Coniff gone?