Are David Hinds usually unhelpful in dealing with the general public?

[Cjg]

Long story short is that I emailed David Hinds for a rough estimate to fix the battery box in my Nexstar (the one damaged by leaking Duracell batteries) only to be told that "we are acting as distributor to the trade only" and to "Please visit our website at www.celestron.uk.com and choose a dealer from our dealer list" .

It's most likely that David Hinds will be making the repairs, is it unreasonable for me to expect that they would deal direct? Meh!

Chris

[Kai]

He doesn't generally deal with the public directly , why can't you " deal " with him via a retailer ?

[malc-c]

I too have had the same (probably standard) reply when seeking communication with them. At least they reply. I sent a mail to OVL a few weeks back requesting pricing for some spare parts for my 200P and never received a reply !

[FLO]

I think you bought your telescope from us Chris so we'll be happy to help

Steve

[Davey-T]

Some years ago I purchased a cheap Celestron refractor from CosCo, on the side it had a sticker saying to phone David Hinds for support.

When it went loopy I phoned and got through and they were very helpful in fixing it,l especially as they had no dealing with the sale of it.

Still got it, using as guidescope at the moment.

Dave

[x6gas]

Some years ago I purchased a cheap Celestron refractor from CosCo, on the side it had a sticker saying to phone David Hinds for support.

When it went loopy I phoned and got through and they were very helpful in fixing it,l especially as they had no dealing with the sale of it.

Still got it, using as guidescope at the moment.

Dave

Might be wrong, but didn't David Hinds used to be a retailer, but have become strictly a wholesaler?

The bigger issue for me is why Celestron kit is so much more expensive in Europe than in the US...

[brantuk]

X6gas is right - they became a wholesaler and don't deal with the public now - unless you get really lucky lol

[LukeSkywatcher]

I tried to use them once about 5 yrs ago and found them very abrupt. Needless to say i went elsewhere.

I wanted to buy a Celestron Eye Opener Kit from them and they cut me down in no certain terms and said that they will NOT sell Celestron products to Ireland because we have a main Celestron dealer here.

I didnt know that at the time that they can not sell to a country that also has a Celestron dealer and found their reply to me very rude,abrupt.

Not bitching about them but i feel they could have explained this to me in a friendlier manner.

Just my personal experience.

[andrew63]

I might be wrong, but i had the idea that Duracell batteries are guaranteed against leakage?

andrew

[Cjg]

I think you bought your telescope from us Chris so we'll be happy to help

Steve

Thanks Steve,

Martin has emailed and will ask the question with Hinds tomorrow.

many thanks for the help,

chris

[FLO]

Are David Hinds usually unhelpful in dealing with the general public?

I think it is more that DHinds (aka Celestron-UK) 'don't' deal direct with the public. They are an importer/distributer to the trade. Customer service is handled through their dealer network.

HTH,

Steve

[Cjg]

I might be wrong, but i had the idea that Duracell batteries are guaranteed against leakage?

andrew

They don' t make such a big song and dance of it now, Had a pc remote damaged years ago when two mn2400's leaked. Proctor and Gamble are being fair, but very very slow. Their tech team is USA based, so am hopeful that once they see the extent of the leakage on two of their mn1500's they will arrange the repair in the UK. That said, I will be blogging and uploading pics of the batteries to every social network I'm a member of unless they pull their fingers out!

[Capricorn]

G HInds used to be a retailer in Tring I think, had a fair sized shop and were always helpful.

They then became a distributor for Celestron and pulled out of the retail side some 10-12 years back, if I recall they still supported the retail aspect for a few years. Perhaps the support they gave as a retailer meant they were regularily approach afterwards, as I recall someone saying they asked DH for help and received it some 4-5 years ago.

Think they eventually move northwards to Leighton Buzzard area, somewhwere on the A5, and then "specialised" in the distribution aspects and withdrew from any retail aspects.

I would guess by now they really do want to be seperated from their previous incarnation as a retailer, hence the somewhat abrupt response. Otherwise people will just bypass the retailer and go to them, who have in fairness to DH pulled out of retail quite some time ago.

I do wonder how all this fits together now as Skywatcher and Celestron are both owned by Synta and OVL are the Skywatcher importer and distributor.

To be fair there is little else that DH can say, they are distributor only now, and the correct route is to contact your retailer. Maybe a little abrupt but that is the situation and has been for several years.

Not sure of trading rules however they could be tied to having to supply only to a registered company and maybe even one that is VAT registered. So that wipes out the public interface side. Throw in that another retailer could complain to Celestron/Synta that DH are engaged in retailing as well and so removing trade from registered Celestron retailers.

If you produced a package, sold the support rights of that package to an independant, then carried on supporting you would end up in court as being in breach of contract.

[vlebo]

I think you bought your telescope from us Chris so we'll be happy to help

Steve

Where does this leave you if you have purchased a Celestron product second hand and it is out of warranty but it needs repair ?

[Kai]

Where does this leave you if you have purchased a Celestron product second hand and it is out of warranty but it needs repair ?

I would still contact a retailer for a quote , if that retailer is smart then they would see you as a potential new customer so play the longer game.

[Cjg]

I would still contact a retailer for a quote , if that retailer is smart then they would see you as a potential new customer so play the longer game.

Having seen the lengths that FLO go to to "look after" their customers, even when the problem is not of their making....I'd suggest them as first port of call!

I only went direct to David Hinds as ultimately they will have to supply the part(s) it would hardly have been that much trouble for them to indicate rough costs; thankfully there is a solution, albeit having to take up FLO's time and energy to ask the same question.

Cheers

Chris

[reddoss]

When I bought my 8 inch next star, I had no idea that D. Hindes was just a distributor. I phoned them up asking for advice about dew shields. He told me how to make one myself with very good advice that to work effectively the length had to be twice the aperture. Very helpful, great advice and home made dew shields that work ever since!

[MushroomBill]

I bought my 8SE and some other bits from DH in Leighton Buzzard in 2009 as they are quite close by. They did a good deal as I remember and were reasonably helpful.

However when I needed some further help in 2011, they suggested I speak to the retailler that I purchased from! Even though it was them, I was still told to get a quote from a dealer on the list. As someone else mentioned, they were a little abrupt and awkward - they could've dealt with it a lot better. I fixed it myself and avoided all the delays and hassle of couriers to take it from here to Dealer XYZ and on to Leighton Buzzard and back round the loop again. Talk about going round in circles!!

This is probably silly of me (as the telescope is great) but now I tend to avoid Celestron. I suppose I have a reluctance to send my money via Leighton Buzzard.... Just what do I do about all the Baader bits I want?

[Cjg]

Thankfully FLO have dealt with this for me, and will deal with DH for the repairs. I completely understand that DH are now little more than box shifters, and they were polite'ish in their email, however, they could have dealt with my question with a little more "politeness".

Anyhow, all's well thanks to FLO.

Chris

[Earl]

The do sell some clearout stuff on ebay, lots of hyperstar recently

[glowjet]

David Hinds was in existence over 55 years, ago he used to supply mirrors and astronomical bits and pieces, published information to help you make your own telescope, as I remember dealing with him. He is now long retired and his Son runs the business, but only deals direct with trade outlets and no longer has any consumer contact

John.

[russ.will]

I too have had the same (probably standard) reply when seeking communication with them. At least they reply. I sent a mail to OVL a few weeks back requesting pricing for some spare parts for my 200P and never received a reply !

To be fair to OVL, I contacted them direct after constantly being forgotten about by m dealer. They said they would get back to me when the part (Auto Dob motherboard) was in stock, which was on a shipment from the far east. 4 weeks went by, an email arrived saying send a cheque and the part arrived two days later without the cheque eben having cleared. Not bad.

The real issue is that lack of spares the importers of the big names actually carry.

Russell

[sologuitarist61]

It is the same all over, I had a problem with Skywatcher and OVL said the same thing, go to a retailer.

[FLO]

Where does this leave you if you have purchased a Celestron product second hand and it is out of warranty but it needs repair ?

I can't speak for other retailers but here is our policy regarding repairs in and out of warranty.

HTH