Urgent Querie

[Ronnie67]

Hi everyone I need your advice please, I marked it down as urgent as I have placed two orders to the value of £358.98 to a company called microglobe, they deal with binoculars, tripods, lensces and other items. Does anyone out there know of this company and ordered from them, reason for this my bank rang up saying that they have not heard of this company. Advice needed before i make the order.

Thanks

Ronnie

[KevUU]

A quick google review pulls up reviews for photo kit here. Seems legit enough, some variability on delivery times and communications. HTH.

[KevUU]

A quick google review pulls up reviews for photo kit here. Seems legit enough, some variability on delivery times and communications. HTH.

Just to clarify, I have no personal experience with them whatsoever. On reflection perhaps I should have given the link and omitted the summary.

[Ronnie67]

I would like to know if anyone bought from them, as my bank do not recognize the site and advised caution, but they a also said this does not mean they are not legit so need to get advice before continuing with my transaction

[Dellis]

If the banks are suggesting caution I'd be tempted to go elsewhere, there are plenty of decent dealers about without having to take chances with your hard earned....

Dave

[Astronut1982]

I've had a similar problem recently & the bank urging caution counts for absolutely nothing I'm afraid.

I bought a dew heater for the primary for my astrograph a few weeks back from Kendrick astro instruments recently but I had problems with my bank before I finally managed to buy it. I placed the order by debit card but the first 3 times the bank declined & so I contacted them. They told me that they had blocked the transaction because they hadn't heard of the company & suspected the payment was for pornography!!!! After laughing at the advisor I told them that it a was legit company based in Canada & asked him to google the name on his computer, 5 seconds later he came back on the phone & said 'oh right, it appears that we got this wrong'.

So I'm not saying that the company are legit as I'm not familiar with them although having checked their site, it does appear above board at first glance. I'm simply saying that just becasue the bank haven't heard of them doesn't mean the company doesn't exist.

If I were you, I'd go with my gut instinct as it usually won't let you down. If you feel it ok about the company then go for it, if not try looking elsewhere for a company that you do feel comfortable dealing with.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Ronnie67]

Cheers Jeff, its that £358.00 is a lot of money to loose and when the bank declined my transaction it put bells ringing in my head. That's why I put this post on here, I assumed someone from stargazers might know of them

Ronnie

[Ronnie67]

After listening to you i have decided to go to another company, i have ordered the Helios 20x100 binoculars and a tripod to support. cheers

[crazyjedi]

Always better safe than sorry. Maybe this is a heads up to these companies to advertise better ;-)

[JamesM]

Ronnie, glad you made the right decision for you. It is a tricky situation and I suppose we can get a bit twitchy given that many well known high street shops seemed to have disappeared in recent times which doesn't always provide the best confidence in the retail sector where a company might not be well known or is starting out.

Glad you have purchased a good pair of binoculars so lets hope the weather will play ball on their arrival.

Clear skies

James

[Ronnie67]

Cheers James, but its going to be Christmas before i can use the binoculars, as my wife bought them for me as a present, so sad and they are coming tomorrow. There was one thing which got me with this company, when I rang them up they never said who their where, for instance I dialed the number and said hello, I got back a hello, not good morning you are taking to Adam from sky Optics or anything like that, I am using Sky Optics as an example. They spoke Asian and when I said am I speaking to some one from Sky Optics they replied oh yes how can I help you. I did not think this was the professional way and when I spoke to my bank as they with held my transaction, they told me to be cautious with this company, that is when I posted this thread to see if anyone on Stargazers had had any dealings with hem, and after listening to a few of you decided not to go there and purchased my, or should I say my wife's Christmas items or me at a reputable company. So yeh thanks for the advice, so in the mean time out with the scope

Ronnie

[Laowei Tony]

I'm trying to figure out what language 'Asian' is...

On another note, if you might be concerned about the validity of a company you could use your credit card rather than a debit card as it offers greater consumer protection.

[glowjet]

Nice to see you have settled on a very nice pair of binoculars Ronnie, but you do not know whether anything has happened to them in transit, so is it not best to persuade the good wife to at least have a quick check, that they are ok, just in case they need to be returned, that would be my excuse He He He. Seriously though, It would be a big disappointment to find there was a fault, if the weather is kind over Christmas, then you are going to have to wait yet again for a replacement with the holidays

John.

[ollypenrice]

This is slightly disturbing in that banks are private organisations with investments of their own. Is it strictly fair for them to cast suspicion on people who might be legitamate traders and so cost those traders sales? If they can't tell a Kendrick dewheater from pornography then they don't seem to be terribly competent, either, and the potential exists for them to steer sales choices by their customers. If the banks were snow white then I wouldn't bother but since we now know that they're not I guess I am a bit bothered.

Olly

[knobby]

I've used Microglobe to buy a Nikon lens , long time ago, maybe 6 or 7 years ago.

Turned up in problems... Was a long time ago

[cantharis]

They told me that they had blocked the transaction because they hadn't heard of the company & suspected the payment was for pornography!!!!

I would be banging on the manager´s desk and demanding why he thought what I was purchasing was any of his damn business!!

[E621Keith]

I bought a pair of Pentax binoculars from Microglobe's London shop/warehouse in Holborn last year. They are fine and IMHO safer than many online only retailers that operate out of someone's flat or in another country.

Having said that, Microglobe is a box shifter, so don't expect the level of service you'd expect from a traditional dealer.

[Ronnie67]

You are probably all right, I suppose the banks was trying to protect its customers, when I went on their site and started to make the order a red box appeared with an alert message in it, however I did go to another trader and I get my wife to let me have a quick play to see if everything is ok

[crazyjedi]

seems a little bit like a Nanny state situation