First Light Optics

[jabeoo1]

Just wanted to say I popped into FLO today.  Needed to see if a new RA finder would be compatible with my current finder bracket.  Took bracket in & staff member (sorry his name escapes me)     helped me fit it.   Had a nice chat and a joke or two then left.  I did not even have to pay for the item up front ! !  

Was told to take it away & pay later once I was happy with it.   This company has great trust in their clients & very good customer service.  

Nice to know we all must be a trustworthy bunch of lovely people on SGL and beyond.   Does honesty and astronomy really have a positive correlation ? 

Cheers FLO.  

[Daniel-K]

as a company i think they do everything right, ive ordered lots of kit from FLO and have never been let down. today they pleased me even more with placing an order at 1pm yesterday in less than 24 hours it is in my hand ready for tonight's clear skies. Hats of to FLO and thank you for yet another pleasant transaction.

[ghostdance]

I've been meaning to post something about FLO for ages, about their SUPERB personal service, lightning fast delivery and all-round topness.

FLO were brilliant in helping me with the Vixen 2.1's, for example.

But today takes the biscuit: my Baader Wonder Fluid and cloth were delivered by zippy means as always, but REALLY...It was the goldwrapped chocolate deer I found nestled in the box as a little xmas pressie that has prompted this post. Made my day. Awww FLO.... Thank you! And a Very Merry, Cool Yule to you all!

[bmc]

last year my girlfriend bought several items from F.L.O for my Christmas. unfortunately 1 item was not included in the delivery. i contacted Steve from F.L.O to remedy the issue. after quite a number of emails, and weeks, the situation was not resolved (though promised several times it had). in frustration and disappointment i posted a review on this section highlighting the plight and poor service. a day after the review was  posted the situation was resolved (strangely). i then came back onto the review section and praised Steve for resolving the issue.

that was that i thought.

no.

1 year later, again my girlfriend went onto F.L.O website and ordered over £250 worth of equipment. several days later the money was refunded back to her account. she emailed Steve asking what the problem was, as she had been on the website and all the goods were still in stock. 

Steve emailed her back (with a link to this forum, and to my review of the poor service i had posted), and stated that he was happy to hear she had enjoyed his service prior, but thought that he would not satisfy me, therefore he was refusing her business, and suggested that she should use his competitors instead. 

so fellow stargazers, beware. if you receive poor service from F.L.O and tell us about it. it is clear Steve will act with prejudice, keep your information and  blacklist you as he has done with my girlfriend. 

[chops]

I've ordered a few times from FLO, service has always been great; if something's not in stock then I'm kept updated and it's much appreciated.

When I needed to return one item which was faulty, there was zero fuss, very fast turn around, flexible and helpful service (their courier swapped the item on the doorstep - giving me a replacement as he collected the faulty one).

[FLO]

so fellow stargazers, beware. if you receive poor service from F.L.O and tell us about it. it is clear Steve will act with prejudice, keep your information and  blacklist you

We have never blacklisted someone for writing a negative review. That would be ridiculous. It would also be counter-productive because negative reviews keep us on our toes and help us to improve. 

It is true we asked bmc to shop elsewhere but not because he posted a negative review (his review and our response is here in this thread dated 27th Jan 2014). 

We did consider bmc's review unreasonable (he didn't mention we had already dispatched a replacement - twice - and had refunded his payment in full as our apology for the inconvenience caused) but that isn’t why we no longer accept orders from him. That decision was made when he accused me of lying. 

No retailer wants to lose a customer but we are not confident we can please bmc so have respectfully asked him to place his orders with our competitors. 

HTH, 

Steve

[Macavity]

Availed myself of a (fairly ubiquitous!) Christmas deal on Baader Hyperions.

Nevertheless chose to buy a Baader 31mm Aspheric Eyepiece from FLO - And

a (£36) set of *budget* T2 extension tubes for Eyepiece Projection experiments.

Ordered on the FIRST business day after Christmas, I received a well-packed

parcel, via Fed-Ex, at 11 a.m. the following day... in North Wales. All items were 

more than adequately protected against the vagaries of the delivery process!

Having previously bought / sold a Baader Hyperion, I was pleased to note this

eyepiece is of the "LATEST STOCK" (Posh box, black nosepiece, additional 

accessories etc.). My deliberate reason for choosing (a high turnover?) FLO.

P.S. The T2 extensions benefited from a drop of 3-in-one oil as expected. lol

But as an initial guidance to final requirements represented a 50% saving...

[greglloyd]

Just wanted to drop a quick post about the great service from FLO today. I ordered a Moonlite focuser on Wednesday evening which was promptly shipped by FLO yesterday via Fedex Next Day (I'm in NI). 

Got a little concerned today when the aforementioned focuser did not arrive at my workplace. Checked the Fedex website and they said "Delivery Attempted - Card Left". Checked with the door man and no delivery was attempted all day.

I decided to give Fedex a call (you would think that would be easy!) to find out what had happened and got through to a rather unhelpful call agent who just wouldn't even talk to me about it. She told me there was a 'problem' and to go and speak to the retailer!

Gave Steve a call at FLO, and he quickly took my details and got on to Fedex. Seems there was some problem the delivery guy experienced and he updated the system to say he had attempted to deliver. It's now arranged to arrive on Monday (fingers crossed!). Steve apologised for the delay and even refunded me the courier charges. He said that if there is any issue come Monday, to give him a buzz and they will sort it.

Brilliant service - thanks Steve!

My two hobbies are Astro and RC Helicopters - both niche markets. Quality gear in both these hobbies is impossible to obtain locally, and people rely on internet businesses to get the stuff they want / need for their hobbies. Businesses in these markets are reliant on good reputation as word gets quickly around if you don't look after your customers. 

So congrats FLO on providing your great service. All my orders have gone very smoothly to date, and I'm sure I'll be gazing through my Moonlite focuser at some stage next week!

As a side note, I previously bought a NexStar 6SE from FLO which was delivered extremely quickly by Fedex, so no doubt this is just one of those rare occasions when the courier didn't get it delivered on time. They are usually fine :-)

Thanks again,

Greg

[esxste]

Excellent service from Steve B at FLO.

I sent in a question Monday last week regarding the Celestron AVX mount, solar filters, and coma correctors. Steve replied to my question within a couple of hours, providing me with a detailed account of his experience with the mount, and a balanced review of the differences between the Skywatcher and Baader coma correctors. 

I ordered the mount, coma corrector and solar filter on the Wednesday and promptly received confirmation by email. Looking at the order status on the website, it was updated to show that they were expecting a delivery of the mount on Friday from their supplier. When I ordered, with a delivery date of 3 to 5 days, being the optimist, estimated I would receive all items on Monday or Tuesday and ensured someone would be around to accept the delivery on those days. 

By Monday lunchtime, there was no update on the status of the order, and I decided to contact Steve again to ask for an update on the estimated delivery day so I could make arrangements to accept delivery, fully expecting him to say Wednesday or Thursday.

Steve replied to me again very quickly, explained that the mount had been only been delivered to them that day, and asked if I would like it to be delivered tomorrow - quick confirmation back and forth, and around 11am Tuesday morning FedEx arrived with all my items neatly packed into one box. 

Not sure if I can really credit FLO with this, but I think they forgot to pack the clouds too, as I even got to use it in anger that night with the clouds clearing away about 10pm!

[dobbie]

Another big thank you to flo, ordered a pier extension at 3.00 yesterday

Just turned up now 11.00am Exeter to leeds , even British rail can't beat that

well done chaps.

[Cjg]

After three years the battery in my Skywatcher powertank would not hold a charge - am a little surprised; I've never left it overnight in a cold boot or garage floor, have regularly charged it up after each use or each month in the Summer and winter...researching the web, it seems that the supplied charger delivers a full charge, irrespective of the state of the battery; I've probably cooked the supplied SLA batttery by overcharging it!

Anyway, two questions answered the same day via FLO's website regarding the Tracer battery, one order placed and delivery via Fed Ex today. The price for the Tracer is excellent too.

Thanks all.

Chris

[Space Beagle]

My latest deal with FLO

Ordered a new Skywatcher 250px Flex Tube, Astrozap shroud, Rigel finder and a Moonlite focuser installation kit from FLO late afternoon on a Friday. No problems with the website at all, very easy to use, well apart from me forgetting what my user account password was – but even that was easy to resolve!

Received an email on the next Monday to say everything was being dispatched: The scope from the supplier and all the other items from FLO themselves. Fedex tracking details given for both deliveries.

Fedex van delivered all the items on the next day, all very well packaged and all intact.

Obviously I unpacked and commenced assembly straight away!

Just need to check collimation and await clear skies now!

Lovely looking scope and a really smooth and fast job from FLO!

I emailed them to confirm the delivery and received a nice reply from Martin the next morning.

Thanks so much for a brilliant service!

Regards

Doc

[Hawksmoor]

Had some problems with the operation of the first  Star Adventurer delivered to my house.  My email to First Light Optics was acted upon within a few hours and from that moment onwards I received excellent customer support. This week I received a fully operational replacement.    FLO organised all the transport arrangements for the replacement and return of the old unit. The process was seamless.  As a retired company director with past responsibilities for customer satisfaction I was much impressed by Steve B at FLO.  I consider myself a valued customer and cannot wait to get imaging with my new Star Adventurer.

Thank you very much FLO team

George Roberts (Hawksmoor)

[pyrasanth]

It is so very rare to do business with a company & feel valued. First Light Optics makes every transaction feel very special. It is a pleasure to do business with FLO & my buying experience has been nothing short of outstanding. I do a lot of business with FLO & if they have the item I need they get the business & I buy a fair amount as any one at FLO will verify- so I haven't been paid to write this!

My new purchase is a Celestron RASA & I could not have wished for a better dialogue or rapport with FLO. They deserve to be the world's top astronomy retailer & I think one day they will be.

Best wishes to you all at FLO & clear skies to you all.

[Cjg]

It's always a pain when you gear fails. My Nextstar 5 Mount has had a lot of use over the past four years. It's been awash with dew more times than I can remember, and occasionally gets rattled and bumped in the back of my Mini (Cooper) so wasn't a total surprise when the altitude motor started to sound strained and move at a very slow speed.

FLO have made the process of getting it repaired / serviced and back to me painless. 

• They got a quote for the work within a few hours of my asking,
• arranged for the collection by Fed EX (at less cost than I could arrange or post)
• sorted out the repair and arranged delivery back to me promptly

The icing on the cake I guess is that as FLO have been charged less than quoted by the importer, they have passed that reduction onto me.

Anyone can be good pre-sales, but the level of aftercare once the sale is made shows just what a great company they are, so "thank you".

Chris

[ultranova]

Hi Every one, Having saved up for what seem's like years I finally bit the bullet and decided to have a go with a Mono chip.

Having used a modified Canon 1100d and the OCS Qh8yl camera for a while it was time to take it to the next step.

Having seen very good reviews about ATIK cameras I thought long and hard as to what Mono camera would suite me best with the Telescopes I have.

I finally after much pondering decided on the Atik 428ex.

Here comes the good part.

As soon as I hit the payment button, I knew I should have got the 383L (DONT ASK)

so in the morning I sent a email to FLO asking if I can change the order to the 383L+

To cut a long story short, By the end of the Day and a few Emails later Martin and Steve changed the order and I received it on the day I asked.

I found the Service to be quick and polite through the whole process,

I am now the proud owner of a Atik 383L+ and would like to thank First Light Optics for there extra effort in changing the order and Getting it out to me For the day I asked.

Thanks FLO.

Paul

[Cjg]

I've wanted a Vixen Porta11 mount for a while now. They have been in short supply. Am email enquiry to FLO was replied to within a couple of hours, they let me know that a shipment was due to reach the importer last Friday.

This week, on Monday another email to say that a small quantity had been delivered to Exeter, if I still wanted one....I ordered from the FLO site before I replied to their email!

On the day I'm working (not so much) from home, the DHL van arrived as promised and here it is.

Highly recommended, great communications, delivered on the day we arranged.

Thank you!

Chris

[ultranova]

Hi Every one, I have been saving up for a filter wheel and filters to compliment the Atik 383L+ I got from Flo a few weeks back, having done a few Ha images with the camera I bit the bullet and ordered the Atik EFW2 Filter wheel and the Baader 2 inch LRGB filters,

Because of work commitments the only day I could wait in for the gear to arrive was Today (Thursday) so I left a message on the bottom of the order form on Flo's web site saying I would need it delivered to day, and sure enough it arrived today. The main box it came in was plenty strong enough and was well packed out with support material inside to protect the goods. what more can one say, first class service as usual.

The only thing that did not arrive was the clear skies to try the new gear out

Clear skies

Paul

[Benno]

I would just like to add my comments to the mounting mountain of praise for the First Light Optics team.

Whilst considering a new telescope purchase, I had a few questions regarding the imaging set up required for the particular scope.

I sent FLO and email and received a wealth of information and guidance.

Based on this I placed my order over the weekend, the items were despatched on the Monday and they were all received in perfect order on the Tuesday.

The knowledge and advice that this team has is invaluable and whenever you receive correspondence from them, regarding questions you have raised, you never feel like you are being pushed for a sale.

Great service, Great advice and great prices.

Well done all at FLO.

Best regards,

Benno.

[Uranium235]

I would just like to say a massive thanks to the FLO team for sorting out my replacement Star71

Ive set it up, made no adjustments or fiddling - and ..... kerpow!! Round stars in all four corners - this is one happy bunny!!

[glass]

Very helpful information/advice over quite a few days from Martin at First Light Optics on my intention of buying a telescope from them. Eventually I bought it from another supplier but he appeared genuinely pleased I'd got what I wanted.

[David Smith]

First Rate Optics!

Contacted FLO about an item from a manufacturer for which they are an authorised distributor but the item was not on their website. Had an email back from Martin the next morning saying they would order it in for me and would contact me once it arrived. Had another email a couple of days later saying it had arrived and was cheaper than previously quoted - bonus. Placed the order Thursday morning and it was delivered next day.

 

Thanks Martin, thanks FLO. Always a pleasure doing business with you.

[AWR]

Typically great service from FLO, who I've used a couple of times these past weeks.  In the first instance Steve replied to my multiple questions even though it was an hour past their helpdesk closing time.  In the second instance an excellent 11 minute wait for a reply from Martin.

(By way of comparison, I've been waiting 3 days for a reply from Altair - I'll not hold my breath!)

The live stock levels on their website are also really useful.  Both orders were dispatched and received promptly.

Andrew

[Chris]

+1 I always try to buy from FLO if I can, they really do go the extra mile

[Shelster1973]

Just wanted to say a great big thanks you to all the people at FLO who sorted me out with my shiny new CCD today.

Arranged for me to go and collect as it is just down the road from me and when I eventually found it, all was good.  Didn't think I was in the right unit to start with, but my spidey senses started tingling when I saw the wall poster of various imaging targets and then was fully confirmed by the FLO compliments slip that was on the chair in the vestibule area.

Also decided that I was going to get a filter to go with my camera and they let me walk out with a 7nm Baader Ha filter and said I could just place the order when I got home.....absolute trust and absolutely amazing people.  A full credit to retailers and the world of astro.

Will definitely be going back there for my filter wheel and remaining filters when funds allow.

Cheers guys and very many thanks