FLO

[George!]

Just a quick message: Do FLO have a shop and not on the internet!

Many thanks for replies,

[Helen]

No, they are internet based (they have a unit that they operate from in Exeter, but its not a shop).

Helen

[Carbon Brush]

Hi George.

Don't let 'internet only' put you off purchasing.

They are very easy to buy from and you will be hard pushed to find anyone who has a bad word about them.

Unfortunately finding a shop with products you can feel and touch is a problem these days.

[Photosbykev]

FLO are very good but mainly internet/phones orders. Rother Valley Optics isn't that far from Manchester and has a reasonable selection of toys to dribble over

[MjrTom]

If you are after a shop to walk into which has stuff you can lay your hands on try these two:

» Opticstar - advanced CCD imaging solutions. based in Sale, Manchester

Telescopes and Binoculars from one of the UK'S premier specialists Stockport, Manchester. (Where I purchased my scope from)

[fatwoul]

I don't know if this continues to be the case after they recently moved, but I know the FLO guys said I was welcome to drop by during the week if I ever wanted to. But I live a lot closer. 40 minutes drive to visit a warehouse is not as bad as several hours!

[FLO]

I don't know if this continues to be the case after they recently moved, but I know the FLO guys said I was welcome to drop by during the week if I ever wanted to.

That is still the case

Unfortunately we do not have a showroom so it is less carpet, pictures and rows of telescopes and more concrete floor shelves and brown boxes. People do however use our unit as a collection point and if you phone ahead we can often prepare a product for demonstration.

Hope that helps,

Steve

[George!]

That is still the case

Unfortunately we do not have a showroom so it is less carpet, pictures and rows of telescopes and more concrete floor shelves and brown boxes. People do however use our unit as a collection point and if you phone ahead we can often prepare a product for demonstration.

Hope that helps,

Steve

Thanks thats great!

[chunky]

got mine from flo very good shop

[M4lcs67]

Me too. Got all of my kit apart from the powerpack from FLO. Great service. The only downside if any was could never seem to speak to someone directly on the phone. Always diverted to answerphone. I suppose thats what comes from having a busy and succesful operation. Still rate them highly though.

[pjmaciw]

I got everthing except the Telrad from FLO. Very quick efficient service.

I don't know why they don't sell Telrad.....strange.

[FLO]

Me too. Got all of my kit apart from the powerpack from FLO. Great service. The only downside if any was could never seem to speak to someone directly on the phone. Always diverted to answerphone. I suppose thats what comes from having a busy and succesful operation. Still rate them highly though.

That is a fair comment We invested in three separate phone lines and we do have the people here to answer them but we were still regularly overwhelmed. Eventually we had to accept that we were never going to keep on top of the phone calls (the profit margins in astro retail don't permit banks of people wearing headsets) so we invested more in our 'helpdesk'. It seems to be working well as it is more efficient than regular email alone and we can work out of hours during the busiest periods. And of course we sponsor SGL where information on all areas of astronomy is available.

I got everthing except the Telrad from FLO. Very quick efficient service.

I don't know why they don't sell Telrad.....strange.

We offer the Rigel QuikFinder, it is similar to the Telrad but is smaller, lighter and sits higher above the tube. They are both good

Thank-you for the support people

Steve