Skywatcher 80ed esprit Reid certificate?

[Jaxson]

Hi everyone  bought my Skywatcher 80ed esprit Pro Refractor after many delays  Refractor  cames with no es Reid certification  which I paid £75 for in the included purchase  price.  I BOUGHT FROM FLO emailed them weres mycertificate for my telescope no reply the same day I am nothappy with their service and will return the telescope for a full refund  if no reply. 

Edited October 18, 2020 by Jaxson

[Jaxson]

Just now, Jaxson said:

Hi everyone  bought my Skywatcher 80ed esprit Pro Refractor after many delays  Refractor  cames with no es Reid certification  which I paid £75 for in the included purchase  price.  I BOUGHT FROM FLO emailed them weres mycertificate for my telescope no reply the same day I am nothappy with their service and will return the telescope for a full refund  if no reply. 

has anyone had similar problems?

[Icesheet]

When did you email? I'm absolutely certain you will get a reply and will get the issue resolved one way or another. However, jumping to complaints of poor service and threats to return when you don't get a reply the same day is a bit extreme don't you think?

[PeterCPC]

I bought an Esprit 100 from FLO recently and asked the same question - was told that no certificates were issued.

[Dinglem]

I never got a certificate with my 100ED from @FLO but I'm not bothered it's a great scope. ES Reid is well respected and there is no mention on the website that a certificate will be supplied just that it will be bench tested.

[david_taurus83]

Have you tried the scope yet? If there's no issues with it, what's the problem?

Its your choice to return for a refund if your not happy but its a bit premature if you've not actually tested it. There's a long waiting list for these scopes so if you return they'll have no problem moving it on!

[gilesco]

Since recently, FLO only offer the Esprit series with the bench test, they don't sell any that have not been benchtested. So your invoice is your certificate.

[johninderby]

£75.00 is a real bargain for a proper bench test of a refractor. By having all the Esprit scopes tested they are able to get a break on the price charged by ES Reid. My StellaMira scope was bench tested by ES Reid and has been flawless. 👍🏻

[FLO]

Hi Jaxson,

Delays during the pandemic are due only to the pandemic. Manufacturers continue to struggle with high demand, materials shortages and reduced shipping channels. More info can be found at our website. 

We close for weekends but myself or a colleague will see your email then respond when we reopen tomorrow/Monday. 

Enjoy your weekend 🙂

Steve 

[gilesco]

From what I can tell, the bench test is:

(a) visual inspection
(b) aiming a laser at the head of a pin, or small bearing, to create an artificial star and viewing the artificial star at various points through the telescope. Looking for chromatic aberrations, changes in size etc...

Dud telescopes go back to the distributor, the good ones get shipped to FLO.

[johnturley]

14 minutes ago, gilesco said:

 

Dud telescopes go back to the distributor, the good ones get shipped to FLO.

From what I gather, there are very few (if any) dud Esprits, occasionally one requires the collimation to be tweeked.

John 

[Icesheet]

1 hour ago, PeterCPC said:

I bought an Esprit 100 from FLO recently and asked the same question - was told that no certificates were issued.

 

1 hour ago, Dinglem said:

I never got a certificate with my 100ED from @FLO but I'm not bothered it's a great scope. ES Reid is well respected and there is no mention on the website that a certificate will be supplied just that it will be bench tested.

 

1 hour ago, gilesco said:

Since recently, FLO only offer the Esprit series with the bench test, they don't sell any that have not been benchtested. So your invoice is your certificate.

I think it's fantastic that this service is offered, and it would really give me peace of mind but I must say I'm surprised that there is nothing official supplied with the scope to confirm this. Not that I would expect a detailed optical report but even just a piece of paper with the serial number of the scope saying 'Bench tested by Es Reid' with one of those digitised signatures. I wouldn't think that's too much to ask?

Edited October 18, 2020 by Icesheet

[newbie alert]

Buying at the moment is be grateful to even receive the scope.. I'd be looking at it in awe, not looking for a bit of paper in the box..  mine was bought secondhand so no es bench test as I know, certainly no test certificate.. does that stop me from enjoying the scope( nope)

Using a platform to raise your issues because you've not got a reply over the weekend..laughable 

[FLO]

Regarding the Es Reid optical bench test. To keep the price low we ask only that Es' confirms the telescope is a good example and performs as it should. He checks the optics are well figured and properly aligned. I.e. he checks for star-shape, colour, spherical aberrations and astigmatism. If he finds a misalignment/aberration he corrects it on the bench. If this is not possible the telescope is rejected. Es doesn't provide a test report or certificate. Think of it as an extra layer of quality control. 

For more info regarding the Es Reid test please see here: 

Some time after that post we made the Es Reid test available for Esprit telescopes. Then about a month ago we decided to Es Reid test ‘all’ our Esprit telescopes. Our customer receipts make this clear but perhaps we should also consider adding a holo-sticker or similar to the telescopes, so they are easily identifiable. Will give that some thought. 

It is Sunday and my lunch is on the table so will log off now 🙂

Steve 

[johninderby]

Yes think a proper little label on the scope saying “E.S. Reid Tested” would be a nice touch. 👍🏻

[Jaxson]

1 hour ago, PeterCPC said:

I bought an Esprit 100 from FLO recently and asked the same question - was told that no certificates were issued.

Rother valley optics horizon line of refractors come with a test certificate you would think you would at least get a copy of the original test of your telescope after all you paid for it.

[Jaxson]

8 minutes ago, FLO said:

Regarding the Es Reid optical bench test. To keep the price low we ask only that Es' confirms the telescope is a good example and performs as it should. He checks the optics are well figured and properly aligned. I.e. he checks for star-shape, colour, spherical aberrations and astigmatism. If he finds a misalignment/aberration he corrects it on the bench. If this is not possible the telescope is rejected. Es' doesn't provide a test report or certificate. Think of it as an extra layer of quality control. 

For more info regarding the Es Reid test please see here: 

Some time after that post we made the Es Reid test available for Esprit telescopes. Then about a month ago we decided to Es Reid test ‘all’ our Esprit telescopes. Our customer receipts make this clear but perhaps we should also consider adding a holo-sticker or similar to the telescopes, so they are easily identifiable. Will give that some thought. 

It is Sunday and my lunch is on the table so will log off now 🙂

Steve 

Thanks for your reply that would be a great idea and I think a lot of buyers would appreciate that.

[FLO]

42 minutes ago, Jaxson said:

Rother valley optics horizon line of refractors come with a test certificate you would think you would at least get a copy of the original test of your telescope after all you paid for it.

You are welcome to return your telescope for a full refund. 

Steve 

[david_taurus83]

Tbf, every supplier could throw in a test 'certificate' saying its the best scope in the world regardless of if it was genuinely tested at all. The only way to know if its good is to try it out.

[johninderby]

Test certificate vs the opinion of an optical expert who has many years of experience in real world optics testing. 🤔

I know which I trust more. 🙂

Edited October 18, 2020 by johninderby

[Seelive]

Is the test optional? If it is, then I would have thought that some form of 'paperwork' would not be too difficult to be provided to say that the 'optional' extra that has been paid for has 'actually' been done. If it's a non-optional 'standard' surcharge, then I would suspect market forces will prevail.

[Skipper Billy]

13 hours ago, Jaxson said:

Hi everyone  bought my Skywatcher 80ed esprit Pro Refractor after many delays  Refractor  cames with no es Reid certification  which I paid £75 for in the included purchase  price.  I BOUGHT FROM FLO emailed them weres mycertificate for my telescope no reply the same day I am nothappy with their service and will return the telescope for a full refund  if no reply. 

One of the many prerequisites for astronomy is patience - I think you may have chosen the wrong hobby.

[johninderby]

As mentioned earlier in this thread the ES Reid test is mentioned on the customers invoice so there is your “paperwork”.

Think a label on the scope will be a good additional step for  FLO though.

Edited October 18, 2020 by johninderby

[gilesco]

14 minutes ago, johninderby said:

As mentioned earlier in this thread the ES Reid test is mentioned on the customers invoice so there is your “paperwork”.

Think a label on the scope will be a good additional step for  FLO though.

Steve did mention, before going for his Sunday dinner, that they would look into perhaps a holo sticker (I assume a sticker with a hologram that is tamper-evident) that they'd put on scopes that have gone through the process. So they may do that in the future, although I wonder whether stickers would be made available to those who have already purchased a tested scope... they will have to consider this, as otherwise people will be selling second-hand scopes with and without provenance and those who have been tested and didn't have a holo sticker would be a bit miffed.

[FLO]

At FLO we must be careful not to change something for the sake of change. @Seelive referred to market forces: Currently FLO is responsible for the majority of Esprit telescopes purchased in the U.K. Most owners want Es to check their telescope before dispatch. Returns are very low and very few owners request a ‘certificate’ (those that do, perhaps 3-4x annually, usually live outside the U.K. so are not familiar with Es’ reputation). 

We like the idea of a holo-sticker but are reluctant to ask Es for anything that might increase the time/cost necessary for him to test a telescope. 

Steve