Explore Scientific Germany

[emadmoussa]

As much as I love their products, Explore Scientific in Germany on 3 different occasions proved to have a very faulty customer service system.

I'm just tired of this ''PROCRASTINATION'' and ''FALSE PROMISES''...

First they sold me a faulty Giro mount, it took me two days to communicate the problem with them, then another 3 days to arrange a pick-up and now it's been 2 weeks trying to get my mount back. If I had a nickel every time they said ''tomorrow is the latest to send the mount back"...I'm very unimpressed with their service. They don't answer emails, they don't pick up the phone and it's really hard to sort things out with them.

Being in German is not an excuse for delayed shipping. When I ordered the giro mount I simultaneously ordered a counterweight shaft from Teleskop Service in Germany and a pier extension from OptCorp in the US...the shaft arrived 3 days later and the extension took about a week to get here. The mount, you guess it, took yet another week after that to get even dispatched. Bear in mind they state on their website ''ready to dispatch in 1-3 days".

I absolutely love Explore Scientific products, I have a bunch of them and they're no doubt top of the range. Customer service on the other hand is a nightmare. Unless I absolutely have to and can't find an item anywhere else, I will not buy anything from Explore Scientific in the future. I need to get my mount back and then I will forget I ever dealt with them.

This is at least my experience with them - other people might have a different opinion.

[YKSE]

I've purchased 3 EPs in two different occasions from ES. The quality of the EPs (Maxvision), the packaging and delivery are very good. What I'm missing is their quality in customer care. They're very slow in answering questions by mail, one reply a day was the best I've got, more often it took 2 or 3 days. Some reply was not very professional, like this one:

Me: I'm placing my order for two eyepieces, Maxvision 68-deg 16mm and 20mm. The shipping fees shows 12.9€ or 16.9€, not 9.9€ as your information shows. Can you have a look at it please?

ES(30 hours later):it depends on the weight, the country and the delivery service

On their webpage, the shipping fee 9,9€ is valid for items up to 30kg  
 

ES has great products, but they really have a long way to go to improve their customer service.

[Reeny]

No major problems, but this was a very weird buying experience.

If you are in a hurry - expect to wait a while for your order to be processed.

As mentioned in the post below by YKSE - they seem to be staffed by part time workers, on an ad-hoc, half day basis.

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/197483-explore-scientific-germany/

This should not a problem if you know what to expect.

The good bits were - UPS tracking / robust packaging / good product / at an affordable price

Everything about the service is OK, apart from the hands on personal stuff.

i.e. the important bit.

I ordered 2x Maxvisions 11am Friday UK time (12 noon in Germany).

No problems so far.

10am Monday morning came the reply email stating that the item was being picked and packed for despatch now.

Great, It's on it's way.

3pm e-mail said the items have been despatched.

Wrong.

UPS picked it up on Tuesday evening.

The package had stayed in the warehouse for 3-working days (5-days including the weekend)

Why did it take 3-days to cross the warehouse floor - I don't know.

The end result was satisfactory, and I would consider buying from them again.

Just make sure that you are not in a hurry for the items.

And expect to be charged 9.90 euro for a 7-day tracked delivery service.

(5-days in the warehouse / 2-days on the road)

All is well that ends well.