Bristol Cameras Ltd

[Zermelo]

I wanted a Skywatcher 6x30 RACI finder, which unfortunately @FLOdon't offer.

I tried some of the other astro shops that did list it, but none had stock. Bristol Cameras had been mentioned on the forum in relation to this item, and it was listed on their website. Obviously their primary business is photography, so I doubt that they aim to keep stock of every astro product, even in normal times. The statuses on their site were either "In stock", "out of stock" or "available to order" (which they explained as "in stock with supplier/en route/being checked in"). My RACI was listed as the last of these three, which I took as being more hopeful than being out of stock. The price was also good, so I ordered.

Two weeks later, I received an email update saying that they had just been informed of a delay to the shipment, so my item wouldn't be arriving for another ten days or so. So it had been coming from abroad, and no great surprise in the delay, with the way things have been. The new date passed, as did Christmas and New Year, so I decided to give them a ring. The person I spoke to was completely up to speed with the situation:  the shipment that arrived in UK in December had not contained enough product to satisfy all the importers, so reduced quantities had been distributed to each of them. Bristol Cameras had allocated all theirs in order of purchase date (no problem with that) but I'd been one of the unlucky ones. They gave me an approximate date for the next shipment.

A few days ahead of the new due date I received an email saying my item had arrived and would be processed in the following 48 hours. It arrived a couple of days later via signed-for Royal Mail, and it looks to be fine on terrestrial targets (heaven knows when I'll get the next clear night to try it).

In Covid times most suppliers have been having difficulty with items they have to order in, so I have no problem the extended wait. It would have been nice not to have to chase the status, so I'll give them 4/5 on this occasion.