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I'm Waiting for the Man (The Telescope Man)

dick_dangerous

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dick_dangerous

dick_dangerous

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Hi All,

I ordered my telescope about two and half weeks ago, but it still hasn't arrived. Is this normal? I was told it would turn up two weeks ago and it didn't, so I got them to deliver it to my home address and was told either today or tomorrow. The thing is I haven't heard anything yet as to which day exactly I'm likely to expect it - I was kind of expecting some kind of phone call or something. I have the week off work so I'm at home, but I don't particularly want to be sat on my rear end waiting for the phone to ring.

And two and a half weeks seems a very long time to have to wait to receive something that was supposed to come the week after I ordered it. Not that we've exactly been inundated with decent nights for observing but I had at least hoped to align the finderscope with the parakeet that peers in at my window...

So... um... what do I do now? Sit in twiddling my thumbs waiting for the doorbell to ring, or should I maybe phone someone? And is this a normal wait time?!

Thanks,

DD

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haitch

haitch

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I'm surprised you left it so long and haven't contacted the suppliers, nobody here can answer your question as well as they could.

Unless there is a review on the supplier in the reviews section ;-)

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dick_dangerous

dick_dangerous

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I brought it from Astronomia at their London Wetland Centre store. I checked twice and it hadn't even gone to the Dorking store so, as I was off work this week, I arranged for it to be delivered to my home address. I don't have a tracking number or anything though, and have only been told "Tuesday or Wednesday." I don't mean to be funny, but pretty much every other company gives you at least a day's delivery window.

Perhaps I should contact the Dorking branch?

Thanks,

Paul

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E621Keith

E621Keith

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Odd, Astronomia is usually quite good. Did you order an out of stock item? You get most 'in stock' items within a week, but they don't keep everything in stock. Some items are drop shipped and they may take longer to deliver.

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dick_dangerous

dick_dangerous

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As far as I know it was in stock. I can hold on until next week I suppose. It's not like every night is crisp and clear at the moment... But after that I'm going to have to seriously consider cancelling the order and going to a different supplier. They did after all tell me it would arrive two weeks ago. Call me impatient if you want!

DD

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sastay

sastay

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I had a similar problem with my recent delivery, they did send an item quite promptly but it was the wrong one... Had to wait another week for it to be collected and the correct one delivered, so I feel your pain.

However, you are noy being impatient, your supplier is giving you the run-around. If you can wait then that's OK for you but if you cannot wait I would get onto them and chase it up. How far away are they from you? maybe you could pick it up?

Three weeks is a long time to wait for an item that was promised two weeks ago. If they have not / cannot issue you with a tracking number I would be concerned, even you you sell something on fleaBay you can get a tracking number from the post office (or at least proof of postage) Personally I would be spending my money elsewhere in the absence of any kind of assurance and a BIG apology.

On the plus side though, the weather is pretty poor so I dont think any of us are missing much..!

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dick_dangerous

dick_dangerous

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Well it's Good Friday and still no word. They did say it might not dispatch until Tuesday but I'm going to have to pick it up now because I believe the next time I'm actually free at home is some time around the start of June. It's fortunate that the shop is so close to me, otherwise I'd be up a certain well know polluted waterway without any visible means of propulsion.

Interesting what you say about them being out of stock a lot; probably it's better for me to sit tight than go to another supplier, but then I also feel strongly about customer service. If something's not going to be in for a few weeks, it's better to err on the side of caution and tell the purchaser when they buy it rather than giving telling them an optimistic arrival date. Still, they did say that it would go out onn Tuesday so I will defer judgement until then!

DD

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Stargazer_00

Stargazer_00

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Chances are there is a stack ons boat coming over from china to be delivered to ovl who will in turn ship to you or your retailer. The Approximate days are usually based on expected shipping times and customs clearance.Ift does seem that all UK suppliers of sky watcher products opt to ship from ovl direct to you which means none carry stock and further if ovl goes out of stock then all retailers do.

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M4lcs67

M4lcs67

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Agreed. Every piece of astro gear I have bought has been through them. If they sell it then I would go to them every time. Competitively priced as well. The thing that sets them head and shoulders above the rest though is their customer service. Out of the top drawer.

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Stargazer_00

Stargazer_00

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Tht's a bit unfair and not really helping the OP :/ I would reaffirm a point I made earlier. Most dealers in the UK appear to ship Skywatcher scopes from OVL. OVL is the UK distributer for Skywatcher products.

When you place an order with FLO, or another uk retailer for a sky watcher scope I expect that they put your order details through to OVL and OVL ship out to you directly. The retailer is then invoiced for the scope and they use your money to pay OVL and keep the profit, absolutely standard business practice.

The point is regardless of retailer the distributor is OVL and if OVL goes out of stock then they all do. Now some retailers may be fortunate in that they have a warehouse of their own and OVL release stock to them on credit and they distribute form their local premises and maintain a stock level which OVL replenishes peridocally. It's possible that ST80s could fall into this category as they are relatiely small, they are also in high demand so it's unlikely. Certainly the larger scopes are probably never in stock with any uk retailers and always distributed from OVL directly.

So I just wanted to say, I dont think that it would've matter too much where you bought this particular scope from. I would be upset with your retailer for making a promise that wasn't kept and I would be asking for a more accurate idea when the scope was going to be delivered.

With all that said, I just checked FLO and they show stock. FLO are usually good at keeping stock status up to date so I would pop a call to your retailer today. If they can't give you a firm date in the next week I would cancel and order from FLO. I assume delivery is not a problem as you had mentioned previously that delivery to the local store was an option. You wouldnt have this with FLO. OVL ship using FedEx as well so you have the standard courier arrangement of 2 deliveries then pick up at local depot, I am not sure how close the depot is if you cant be home for the delivery.

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neil phillips

neil phillips

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Tht's a bit unfair and not really helping the OP :/ I would reaffirm a point I made earlier. Most dealers in the UK appear to ship Skywatcher scopes from OVL. OVL is the UK distributer for Skywatcher products.

When you place an order with FLO, or another uk retailer for a sky watcher scope I expect that they put your order details through to OVL and OVL ship out to you directly. The retailer is then invoiced for the scope and they use your money to pay OVL and keep the profit, absolutely standard business practice.

The point is regardless of retailer the distributor is OVL and if OVL goes out of stock then they all do. Now some retailers may be fortunate in that they have a warehouse of their own and OVL release stock to them on credit and they distribute form their local premises and maintain a stock level which OVL replenishes peridocally. It's possible that ST80s could fall into this category as they are relatiely small, they are also in high demand so it's unlikely. Certainly the larger scopes are probably never in stock with any uk retailers and always distributed from OVL directly.

So I just wanted to say, I dont think that it would've matter too much where you bought this particular scope from. I would be upset with your retailer for making a promise that wasn't kept and I would be asking for a more accurate idea when the scope was going to be delivered.

With all that said, I just checked FLO and they show stock. FLO are usually good at keeping stock status up to date so I would pop a call to your retailer today. If they can't give you a firm date in the next week I would cancel and order from FLO. I assume delivery is not a problem as you had mentioned previously that delivery to the local store was an option. You wouldnt have this with FLO. OVL ship using FedEx as well so you have the standard courier arrangement of 2 deliveries then pick up at local depot, I am not sure how close the depot is if you cant be home for the delivery.

Think this is pretty much spot on, FLO is without question reliable to the point of being family. But i would like to add, i had a problem with Astronomia. But they sorted it out pronto. My impression was they do care about customer service. Well they did for me is all i can say. I suspect instead of being disgusting service as has been suggested, Its likely OVL who are keeping this situation from being resolved. Just stating my experiances, and agree with stargazing 00s assesment. I would say the same about FLO if anyone suggested disgusting service, based on a delay from OVL. Promises possibly get get moved around i dont know. Like possibly promises from OVL just a guess. But anything directly with the company ( something they have control over ) i found they did have my best interests to heart.

Just my 2 cents

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