Home Observatories UK

[Graham Beamson]

I have an observatory on order from Home Observatories UK (HOUK) and am finding it difficult to contact them for an update. The last installation that they did that I know of was the 17th and 18th of July. Has anyone been in contact with them since then ?

Thank you, Graham.

[johninderby]

There is this recent thread but nothing in the last few weeks so maybe not a lot of help.

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by johninderby

[clarkpm4242]

Hello Graham

They installed an observatory for me late last year.   The communication void between deposit and installation was very unnerving!  I was concerned!!

The building is great.  They are working flat out.

An unfortunate death in their team has some bearing on the poor comms.

All was fine when the install started happening.

Paul

[Cornelius Varley]

12 minutes ago, johninderby said:

There is this recent thread but nothing in the last few weeks so maybe not a lot of help.

 

That thread was actually started by Graham and was shut down by admin because it turned into a supplier bashing thread. 

[Tomatobro]

Is there a SGL member in the Roundham area willing to have a drive to the industrial estate and report back what they see?

[carastro]

It must be very frustrating for those waiting for an installation.  However it seems they do an excellent job when they do finally arrive.  They really ought to improve their communications.

Carole 

[Graham Beamson]

Thank you everyone.

I've just had a 'phone call from Gareth at HOUK and he is still having a lot of difficulties. He can't find a new assistant and is working on his own. He said that my observatory is next on his list. I told him that it can wait and that he should have a few days holiday to look after his family and himself.

Regards, Graham.

[RobertI]

A nice positive outcome so far - good to hear, despite their problems. When I ran a business I often found that customers were more than happy to accommodate difficulties if I was honest and open. Nothing worse than waffle and false promises. Good luck with the build. 

[malc-c]

14 hours ago, RobertI said:

A nice positive outcome so far - good to hear, despite their problems. When I ran a business I often found that customers were more than happy to accommodate difficulties if I was honest and open. Nothing worse than waffle and false promises. Good luck with the build. 

Rob,  that's the nub.  Most people except that delays happen, and businesses can have operational issues if they are kept in the loop.  The single issue that came to light in the previous discussion about HOUK was the lack of communication.  It's that experience of not receiving a reply to an email, or having a telephone ring and ring without being picked up, or answered by an answer phone and receiving no follow up to a left message that raises suspicions and speculations that things have turned for the worse, especially where people have parted with thousands of pounds.

Its sad that despite highlighting the original thread to HOUK and suggesting they contact their customers (I'm guessing that the number of customers is such that order books are in the 10's of units rather than 100's so it would only take an couple of hours over a few nights), that they are now getting a poor reputation when it could be so easily resolved.

Graham, I hope the promises of you being next on the list is fulfilled, and you will soon have your observatory up and running. 

Edited August 20, 2021 by malc-c
typo

[johninderby]

Glad to hear ypu are now getting somewhere with your order. 👍🏻

Lack of communication is so damaging to a business’s reputation. Don’t let your customer know what is going on and they will think the worst and nowadays with social media and forums an unhappy customer is likely to share their unhappiness. 

I’ve always found that keeping your customer up to date with an orders progress builds trust even when there are delays. 

[Cornelius Varley]

On request of Graham this thread is now locked.