So Spicer Hallfield have gone into administration - now why does that not surprise me?
And it’s no good blaming the recession. I could see it coming twelve months ago last Focus when they went all arty-farty. They seemed to have lost touch with both reality and in what the rank and file of photographers need and want.
Products that we all knew and loved became delisted overnight, to be replaced by a huge range of oddly sized/shaped/coloured folders albums and accessories.
Worse still was their so called customer service. No longer could you pick up the phone and place an order. You had to order on-line via their “state of the fart” wed site – sorry: “portal”. This was almost impossible to navigate. The search facility was useless. And there was no obvious link to related products. And when you eventually got to the checkout, it was more often than not broken.
I actually spoke to their web guy about this and warned they would lose customers but he was more concerned in chastising me for criticizing his company publicly on this blog.
It is a shame to see any company go to the wall. Let’s hope someone with a bit of foresight will be found to take it over. Someone who understands the market place who could take the company back to its once successful grass roots.
