The Guardian reports that sales at Jessops, Britain’s biggest photographic chain, have plummeted after losses of £70m in 2006.

Total sales are down 27% in 2007 when compared with last year.

Back in 2004 I wrote about the less than impressive customer service I experienced when I took back a faulty Minolta digital camera several times. After that experience, I swore I would never buy anything major from Jessops ever again and I haven’t done…

The company has gone down the drain since it ceased to be a family-run firm in 1996.

In the last week I looked at a couple of high-definition camcorders. In particular the Sony HDR-HC7. Amazon price: £659.95 with free delivery. Jessops price: £899.99. More than £240 more expensive at Jessops. They have to be kidding!

Not that I’ll only buy online at the cheapest price. Back in February I bought a Fuji camera from Wildings which is on the other side of the road from Jessops and I was happy to pay a little bit extra to get it from a bricks and mortar store rather than through the mail from a website.