May I vent?

[Maideneer]

Thanks for allowing me to release a little bit of frustration here.  I've checked stock on the major sites every day for seven straight months as I was in the market for a C9.25HD + CGEM II Mount - as we know the global supply chain is all disrupted so this made for a tedious exercise.

Finally about 3 weeks ago I saw some in stock and snapped one up.  Sure enough everything shipped ok and arrived at my house 12 days ago.  Starting to assemble everything I got to the point to attach the counterweight bar to the mount and realized there was no counterweight bar to be found!  Whoever did the packing somewhere along the line did not include the bar in the box.  I had to contact the retailer and tell them about it and they began the process of contacting Celestron for a replacement.  A day or two later I was relieved to learn a brand new bar was on its way but would take about a week to arrive due to shipping. Ok, so patiently I waited (again) and last Thursday was the day the bar was due to arrive.  I come home from work and sure enough the box is there at the steps, although it felt suspiciously light!  Bring it inside, open it up...and it's an EMPTY box.  I thought someone was playing a prank on me like on a hidden camera show.  Then I discover the box had about a 2" gaping hole in one corner and somehow the thing must have slipped out (or someone stole it).  So back I went to Celestron customer service again who is now trying to get me set up with yet another bar and told me that it would take another 7-10 days to receive it, hopefully anyway.

Here I sit with a beautiful, brand new $4,000 telescope for 2 weeks now and I cannot use it because of some crazy turn of events that sounds highly ridiculous and totally improbable and yet here we are.  I wish I could say I was frustrated which is probably an understatement right now.  Sure, this all seems like a first world problem and I know there are starving children somewhere so boo-hoo about your telescope, I get that.  I just can't believe my luck, it's like someone or something doesn't want me having this scope!

[doublevodka]

That is some awful luck, hopefully it's resolved soon 🤞

In the meantime, any engineering companies nearby? Maybe they could knock you up a suitable bar while you wait for the genuine one to arrive? After all it's just a metal bar with a thread on one end and a safety stop on the other, minutes of work for someone who knows what they are doing

[RobertI]

Very frustrating. I hope when it finally arrives and you start using your lovely scope, it will quickly become a distant memory. 

[reezeh]

The absurdity would make this almost funny if you weren't suffering. I hope your replacement counterweight bar arrives quickly and you have lots of enjoyment with your scope

[johnst]

Ok, that is tough to take and I sympathize with you, I think a lot of people get that things aren't going for you. I try to look at positives when that happens such as at least it's happened in the summer when you can't do much observing, (unless you're an owl) and it's not the mount itself, hope that helps👍

[Knighty2112]

You’ll laugh about this later on, but for now it must be very frustrating for you. Hope you get the replacement bar out to as soon as possible. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

[Alan White]

I feel your pain, that so reflects what happens in my life all too often.
My camper van is sat in the garage, needing a £25 part, been with them 7 days, so far lots of wrong bits delivered by varying suppliers and no repair done 😬 worst bit is I was due away for 2 weeks last Saturday, my summer holiday is evaporating!
The garage are as frustrated as me, they have camper vans themselves.

[Peter Drew]

Best to get all of your astro bad luck over with in one go.  The first views through your new scope will be all the sweeter.     

[Swoop1]

That is a right pain Maideneer.

Of course, you know what is coming don't you? Your counterweight bar will arrive on the day a weeks worth of cloud rolls in........

[Maideneer]

Welp, I've been advised Friday is the day again.  UPS is shipping and this time will require my signature upon receipt.  Hoping this finally clears it all up.

[Mr Spock]

Perhaps they all need to raise the bar... 

[Swoop1]

We need a groan like button!

[Sunshine]

When you get the bar you should start a  "what did the postman FINALLY bring" thread, I'm sure it will be a popular thread. Humour aside, we cant wait to hear all about first light with that awesome scope!.

Edited August 10, 2021 by Sunshine

[Maideneer]

The bar arrived today!  If I told you Celestron packed it well, that would be an understatement.  The entire box was taped over followed by about a pound of packing material inside, and then the bar itself was first wrapped in about 2 feet of bubble wrap followed by a couple circles worth of packing tape followed by another 2 feet of bubble wrap lol. I've never seen a box prepared that way haha.

Aye I'm so relieved!  Which means of course the next couple of days will be filled with clouds of course, but that's ok...I can now take my time and learn the thing. What a ride!

[Clarkey]

Sounds similar to my delivery of a new dovetail. The first TWO were lost in transit out the corner of the box. Third one was very well packed and arrived ok. Interestingly, both were UPS too. Fortunately not as annoying just a pain....