FLO

You are welcome to remove and straighten it but we’ll still send you a new spider vane.

Sorry to hear that. It is not serious but it should be straight for a clean diffraction spike. We will of course send you a new spider-vane (they are easy to fit). Will contact Bresser in the morning for ETA. Feel free to use the telescope. HTH, Steve

I see this morning it is on a DHL van in your area so should be with you today 🙂 Let us hope they have both packages... Steve

@Matt01 That must be frustrating. At least DHL's tracking info confirms it was collected from our warehouse yesterday. DHL are a good courier, I am confident their tracking will make sense in the morning. If it doesn't please drop us an email, we will then chase them for you when we reopen tomorrow. HTH, Steve

Unfortunately that question is not easy for us to answer (applies also to a number of other Astro Essentials products sourced from the same manufacturer in China). The factory appears permanently stuck on "will dispatch in 1-2x weeks" but appears unable to do so. I guess we shouldn't be too critical, these are extraordinary times and most/all Chinese manufactures are struggling with high demand and materials shortages, but some manufacturers are better communicators than others. Currently we don't have a reliable ETA for this product so will understand if you choose to cancel, otherwise we will dispatch one to you as soon as we are able. Promise. Steve

I don't know you from your username but we have several 10" Quattro telescopes arriving at the warehouse this week. If you've been waiting since August then I am confident one will be assigned to you 🙂 HTH, Steve

We won't 🙂 My colleagues in the warehouse are assigning them to customers in date order. I am confident yours will be dispatched today. It is better if you email your questions because we then have all your info to hand. Generally speaking each order is handled separately and dispatched when complete but if you have requested they be dispatched together then they will. HTH, Steve

It certainly has 😎 We have been receiving several pallets of Sky-watcher stock daily since last Thursday. More arriving tomorrow and Thursday. No problem, I have seen your PM and will reply tomorrow when at my desk. All good 🙂 Steve

Yes. Our stock delivery of Bresser Messier 10" Dobsonians has arrived 🙂 My colleagues in the warehouse are assigning them to customer orders and dispatching as I type. We will have two remaining... Bresser Messier 10" Dobsonian Telescope After they have sold there will be none until early next year. Steve

Not yet. Will post here when we have news.

Our warehouse will remain open. Our business is low risk so we can continue receiving and dispatching orders. I am pleased for my colleagues and our customers but am aware many businesses are not as fortunate so posting a happy smiley doesn’t feel appropriate. These are extraordinary times. Steve

We will know for sure after Boris has delivered his address to the nation (watching BBC news as I type!). We didn’t need to close last time so don’t anticipate needing to this time. Our premises in Exeter is not a retail showroom, it is a warehouse. All staff that can work from home are doing so, myself included. Other than postmen and couriers we are not receiving visitors at the warehouse. We have also been COVID-19 risk assessed. I am confident we are doing everything possible to stay safe and stay open. HTH, Steve

Adam assures us he and his team will continue importing and distributing Celestron and Baader Planetarium products to the best of their ability until they close. Following their closure Celestron will continue to be distributed in the UK by Celestron Global. I would like to say the transition will be seamless but that is unlikely. The timing (leading up to Christmas!) and pandemic will result in more disruption. This situation affects all UK astronomy retailers. Hopefully most of our existing customer orders will be fulfilled from stock already enroute to us but thereafter we predict there will be a shortage of Celestron products (especially mid-high value items) until around Jan/Feb, when Celestron Global should have enough stock to continue distribution. We will begin contacting our customers with existing backorders tomorrow. Thank-you for your patience and understanding. Steve

David Hinds Ltd, a family business that has traded in one form or another since 1965, has announced they will close mid-late November. David Hinds was originally a manufacturer of mirrors for Newtonian telescopes that remain highly regarded amongst collectors. He and his family later opened a retail store for astronomy products then became UK distributor for Celestron and Baader Planetarium accessories. From myself and everyone at FLO we want to thank Adam, Orla, Daniel & Nicki Hinds for their service and support over the years. We wish them well in whatever paths they choose to take. These are extraordinary times! Steve

Received via PM 🙂 I see when you placed your order our website provided a dispatch estimate up to 5th November so, assuming nothing changes at Bresser, your order will be good to go in approx ten days. HTH, Steve

Without your name, email or order number I cannot answer that. Please email us, we can then find and check your orders progress. If you prefer us to check then update you here please PM me your order number. HTH, Steve

Based on information received from Bresser, I think our websites current dispatch estimates for their telescopes are realistic. If you email us your order details then myself or a colleague will happily find your order then reply with an update. Generally speaking, the dispatch estimates displayed on our website product pages are for new orders so it is the dispatch estimate provided when you place your order that matters. When you place an order, if an item is in stock then it will be automatically reserved for you then dispatched. If an item is out of stock then it will be automatically assigned to your order when it becomes available. Items are assigned according to date (our inventory system monitors your position in the queue for each and every item). We dispatch orders when complete so if you have ordered multiple items (some in stock, some out of stock) but need an in-stock item urgently, please email us. If asked to split an order we might request a small payment to cover the increased delivery cost. Our website displays a dispatch estimate on every product description page. Also when viewing your shopping cart you can see dispatch estimates for every item. It is not possible for someone to place an order at FLO without seeing our dispatch estimates but we freely admit they are only estimates based on information available to us. During the pandemic information from manufacturers and distributors often changes with little or no notice so if you suspect your order might be delayed please email us for an update. HTH, Steve

Thank-you for your kind comments 🙂 Steve

We were expecting and preparing for a large delivery of Sky-Watcher to arrive at our warehouse around the 28th. Unfortunately the importer/distributor says IT problems at Felixstowe will likely delay unloading so we are now expecting the delivery around the first week of November. Deliveries from ZWO and IOptron are also expected to arrive over the next week or two. HTH, Steve

Please email questions@firstlightoptics.com saying which CEM40 interests you, we will then do our best to provide an ETA 🙂

I don’t know, I haven’t compared them. ^ In our first post in this discussion we made it clear StellaLyra CC & RC telescopes are manufactured for us by GSO in Taiwan. Retailers do not manufacture telescopes. HTH, Steve

For these telescopes GSO provide mirrors with ‘enhanced Al coating to 95% reflectivity’. As far as we know there are no alternative specifications available for these models. HTH, Steve

We are the vendor. We have provided a telescope that has been tested by Es Reid so are confident it will perform well. We offered to accept the telescope back for refund because after he received it Jaxon posted here saying he also wants a report/certificate. We don't offer that. All telescopes sold at FLO are covered by our 30-day return policy. HTH, Steve

At FLO we must be careful not to change something for the sake of change. @Seelive referred to market forces: Currently FLO is responsible for the majority of Esprit telescopes purchased in the U.K. Most owners want Es to check their telescope before dispatch. Returns are very low and very few owners request a ‘certificate’ (those that do, perhaps 3-4x annually, usually live outside the U.K. so are not familiar with Es’ reputation). We like the idea of a holo-sticker but are reluctant to ask Es for anything that might increase the time/cost necessary for him to test a telescope. Steve

You are welcome to return your telescope for a full refund. Steve