Mostly, I’m an online shopper, especially when it comes to electronic goods as Internet prices are usually the most competitive although I’m not averse to shopping on the high street as long as the price is right. It’s always nicer to have that instant gratification of taking a new purchase home rather than waiting for the courier to arrive.

Anyway, the time had come to buy a new Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens (I’d tested a friend’s previously and loved the results) so I checked online and found that the best price was £349 from Warehouse Express (not including the £40 Canon cashback offer). Jacobs were £0.99 more expensive and Jessops were way off the mark at £379.99.

Of the three, Jessops and Jacobs both had stores in the city centre. So, off I went. Naturally, my first stop was Jacobs, but they didn’t have the lens in stock. I was a bit surprised, since the lens appears to be quite a popular choice. Anyway, I remembered that Jessops would match the price of competitors selling the same products at a lower price so I made my way over to the store.

Jessops had one of the lenses in stock. Great! I asked if they’d do a price match and was told that they’d price match against another store within a 2-mile radius with current stock. Jacobs were well within that distance. Great!

“Do Jacobs have any stock”, the Jessops man asked me.

“No, but they offered to order one into the store for me”, I replied.

“In that case, sorry. We can only do the price match if they’ve got stock”, the Jessops man shrugged.

“But I could just ask Jacobs to order one in and buy from them instead!”

“Sorry, it’s the rules.”

So, I traipsed off home with no bounty, ordered from Warehouse Express late on a Saturday night and received my order by the following Tuesday.

I used to like Jessops and have spent a fair bit of money with them over the years, but since I don’t need the face-to-face service, they’re starting to lose their appeal. Come on, Jessops. The margins might be tight, but at least it would have been a sale of a stocked item plus over £80 of filters for 10-minutes of a sales advisor’s time.

Next time, I think I’ll just save the journey time, parking fee and wear on my car.