Coyote00

Keeping the scope and taking the refund would be nice but was not an option.  
 

So I bought the scope as a refurb scope, paid $300 instead of the $400 price with full warranty and direct from celestron which it appears they don’t normally sell direct other than these refurbs. 
 

They don’t have any more refurbs in stock hence the reason they can’t just send a replacement if I return this one, and they clearly  aren’t going to send a new in its place.  They will probably send a new tube back with mirrors as basically everything internal is damaged and the tube is scratched up which I am fine with either way.  
 

The other parts all look new and function perfectly, I figured on a scope which has limited “wear” items buying refurb was a safe gamble since they are really simple items in the end (at least for a manual scope and no computer) barring the primary coming loose during shipping. 
 

Well they won’t ship just the mirrors, so instead of saving themselves shipping costs and repair time, I will instead be sending the whole tube back. Oh well, will stay on them and see how long it takes to get it back. Thanks everyone for the advice!

50 minutes ago, Louis D said:

What you got was a customer return that they just sent back out without doing any quality checks.  Unfortunately, this is pretty common in the US.  You have no way of knowing how long it will take them to "repair" it nor how well done those repairs will be made.  Once you agree to a repair instead of a return, you are then hostage to their timeline with no legal or financial recourse.

Likely, but of course they listed it as “fully inspected with full warranty of a new scope”

1 hour ago, DaveL59 said:

at least you got a result if they can turn it around quickly 🙂

You can always repaint the inner of the tube later on if you want, or flock it which would probably perform better.

Just looked up flocking, will probably do that since I have the scope almost completely apart anyways.  
 

I have a trip in a few weeks that I want to take the telescope on and comments about being at the mercy of their repair dept even though they said they would expedite concerns me.  I think I will just see if they will send the replacement parts and put them in myself.

3 minutes ago, Louis D said:

More than likely, they'll send you a refurbished scope.  You can check this by making an indelible mark somewhere inconspicuous on the scope that you know to be unique to you.  The scope they return "fixed" will be someone else's return that went through the repair process earlier.  You'll be able to tell because it will have wear marks somewhere, and yet different from your original scope.  That, and your mark will be missing.  This happens a lot with warranty returns.  It's doubtful they would bother with reblackening the interior of the tube since they probably don't have the local facilities to do that.  Another problem is that the warranty return process can last 2 to 3 months because they're under no obligation to hurry.

Well I got a deal on this because I bought it as a refurbished scope directly from celestron, but they said they will expedite repair as it arrived broken and not just being sent in for normal warranty work. 

1 minute ago, TerryMcK said:

In the UK we have different regulations pertaining to purchases/returns etc. which are bound in law. I’m guessing by your handle and wording that you are not in the UK so may be subject to different purchasing regulations. Best to check your rights with regards to returning items in your country which may be different than the UK.

That said I agree with Steve, Dave and John

Is this a UK specific forum? Sorry if it is, I didn’t realize, but yes I am in the US. 

Thanks for the input, unfortunately they told me they no longer have them in stock and can only refund or repair.  They are covering all shipping costs, but it is a valid point about value on resale. I’m not worried about collimating and would probably buy the tool regardless.

Brand new to this other than a cheap scope as a kid but looking to share now with my kids.  

Ordered a celestron starsense explorer dx130 direct from celestron but during shipping the primary mirror came loose and damaged itself and the secondary.  

Contacted them and they want me to return just the scope for repair. I realized it would be easier/faster if they just sent me a new primary and secondary mirror and I just replace them myself, doesn’t seem too hard, already removed the secondary to get the primary out before sending back.  Any thoughts?

The only other damage is the inside of the tube is scratched up from the mirror sliding back and forth during shipment. Would these scratches affect the scope’s performance at all? Thanks.