Telescope Planet - a Review

[Darren B]

Is it me or is it the two same stores that every one is complaining about. Luckily I have not used them. Luckily for me the traders I have used have been very good and honest. These are:-

Ian King Imaging, Telescope House, FLO, Ace Cameras, Altair Astro, Modern Astronomy, SCS Astro, Chris Livingston Telescopes, wide-Screen Centre and probably one or two others.

Thankfully there seems to be more good dealers than bad.

[johninderby]

Also: OpticStar

Very knowledgeable and 1st class service every time.

John

[Keithp]

Must admit I'm suprised this one is still going... Got burnt twice and that's it.

Maybe it should die off...

They might improve......................

maybe

or sink

[Nats]

Well for anyone who doesnt know if you paid by Visa Debit or Credit cards and havent received the product of received a faulty product you can claim your money back using 'Chargeback' by instigating it at your bank. IT will set up a dispute between the two banks and will reclaim your money spent. You can do it up to 120 days from the order. Thats what I am going to do if I dont hear from them in two days time - so far nothing despite several emails to them. They deserve to go bankrupt.

[Starflyer]

Is this true for any amount and for Debit cards? I thought you only had this protection when paying by credit card for purchases over £100?

I'll be very happy if your advice is correct. I ordered something over a month ago from TP and they sent me the wrong thing, despite numerous emails and many phone calls I have yet to receive what I paid for.

[Kai]

Is this true for any amount and for Debit cards? I thought you only had this protection when paying by credit card for purchases over £100?

.

Thats how i understand it , i remember a couple of years ago when Eu Jet went to the wall people who had paid via debit card were left to try and get the money back themselves whereas those who had paid via credit card were covered and credited.

[johninderby]

Debit cards are not covered. Only credit cards.

John

[Astro_Baby]

Credit cards only - any dispute and the cards will get the money back from the merchant. They can do this easily and will chargeback if you call and explain the problems.

Theres no min or max limit that they will use.

The merchant gets charged an admin fee and too many chargebacks and the merchant gets canned by the card companies. Chrageback ratios are held by Visa and MC and if a merchant runs over about .3% of volume in chargebacks their processing fees go up - a consistent high chargeback rate gets the merchant canned.

[Starflyer]

Thanks for the clarification, I shall have to investigate other routes to getting my money refunded.

[skye at night]

Is it me or is it the two same stores that every one is complaining about. Luckily I have not used them. Luckily for me the traders I have used have been very good and honest. These are:-

Ian King Imaging, Telescope House, FLO, Ace Cameras, Altair Astro, Modern Astronomy, SCS Astro, Chris Livingston Telescopes, wide-Screen Centre and probably one or two others.

Thankfully there seems to be more good dealers than bad.

I have emailed Widescreen many a time about different things and never once even got a reply....

Consequently they have never had any business from me....

OK not bad service.... but bad business practice...

Steve

[Astro_Baby]

Starflyer - you could take out a small claims court action for up to 5k. Its simple enough and would only cost (I think these days) £50 to initiate action which you'd get back in costs anyway.

They arent scary to do - its not like Rumpole of the Bailey. Judges in them are usually pretty straightforward and understand your not a legal expert etc.

Your local court would be the first stop. The clerks office will help you fill out paperwork and also advise you etc.

[Nats]

Debit cards are not covered. Only credit cards.

John

I am sorry but you are quite wrong debit card are covered and it isnt limited to over £100 purchases either. Just contact your bank and ask about Chargeback but dont be suprised if the person you speak to doesnt know anythingabout it - ask for their supervisor if they dont. Its all explained here and on loads of other wbsites if you search for 'chargeback':

"The majority of us are now aware of the benefits of using our credit cards in terms of the protection it offers us in the event the supplier is unable to offer the goods and services we have paid for.

But did you know that you can also claim the money back if you have paid on your Visa Debit card? And unlike your credit card, which imposes a minimum spend of £100, you can claim back any amount of money.

The process is called Visa Debit Chargeback, and, as the name suggests, is a procedure in which the banks will ‘charge back’ the value of the original transaction directly from the supplier’s bank, and pass this amount on to you.

All banks who issue Visa cards have only recently agreed to process chargeback requests, and there is still widespread confusion over what it is and how it works. Therefore if you meet a dead end in your discussions with bank staff, persist. The facility is there for you to take advantage of.

Invoking the chargeback procedure

If you suspect your card has been used fraudulently, if the goods and services you bought with your card are faulty or if they do not materialise, then you should contact the bank who has provided you with your Visa debit card within 120 days, requesting they initiate the chargeback process. It does not mean you will automatically and immediately get your money back. It will initially become a ‘dispute’ in which the claim will be fully investigated by both banks before any money is returned.

Addendum: This Visa Chargeback Scheme also applies to Visa Credit Cards"

Hope this helps get you your money back its what I am going to do any day now if they dont respond to my emails. It essentially sets up a dispute between the two banks.

[Nats]

Your rights when paying by credit cardChargeback on credit and Visa debit cards

What is chargeback?

Chargeback is a process that allows you to reverse a transaction if you are unhappy with the item received or if your credit or Visa debit card has been used fraudulently.

Chargeback is not enshrined in law like section 75, but is part of the Visa Scheme Rules, which participating banks subscribe to. It applies to all Visa debit cards, and can also be used for Visa credit card purchases where section 75 is not applicable – for goods costing less than £100 for instance. It also covers prepaid Visa cards and Visa Electron purchases.

MasterCard operates an equivalent scheme, but this only applies to MasterCard credit card payments, not to purchases made with a Maestro debit card.

When can chargeback be used?

Like section 75, chargeback can be used in cases of goods not arriving, arriving damaged, arriving not as described, or where the merchant has ceased trading.

Claims must be addressed to the bank that provides your Visa debit card or your credit card, which in turn will put in a request to the merchant’s bank. As a result, you should still get your money back from the merchant's bank, even if the merchant has ceased to trade.

Conditions and requirements of chargeback

The main requirement for compensation is evidence that there has been a breach of contract.

There is also a 120-day time limit on claims. This time limit starts from the day you are aware of a problem, or, in the case of something like flights with an airline that goes out of business, from the day the flight was due to depart.

Chargeback troubleshooting

If you have any trouble when putting in a claim to your credit or Visa debit card provider, try asking to speak to a supervisor. Chargeback is less well-known than section 75, and some bank staff may not be aware of this rule.

If your card provider rejects your chargeback claim, you can take your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of your final correspondence.

PayPal and chargeback

Although payments made through online payment systems such as PayPal are not covered by section 75, they should be covered by the chargeback rules, so it's worth putting in a claim.

When you make a purchase using PayPal, your PayPal account usually takes a corresponding amount from your current account to pay for it, making it easy to track the link between a purchase and its associated payment.

However, if you tend to keep cash in your PayPal account (for example if you've sold an item recently), PayPal will use this money to pay for new purchases, rather than taking it from your bank account. This could make it more difficult to establish the link between the purchase and the payment, although it's still worth putting in a claim, for example if you've missed the eBay and PayPal complaint deadlines or you're not happy with the outcome.

[Nats]

Well to be fair TP have got back in touch with me and say they are still waiting for my software to be in stock so we will see how it goes over the next week - whether that had anything to do with me threatening to start chargeback proceedings in a weeks time I dont know.

But it is reasuring that there are ways to keep these lousy merchants on their feet with a simple way to reclaim your money rather than just have to accept missing or faulty products or threatening going to the small courts which is likely to be a nightmare.

[ollypenrice]

This 'no reply' to enquiries from traders is pretty surprizing. It hapened to me when I was after a Takahashi, a sale worth having, wouldn't you say?

I do still feel that those complaining about the evidently shambolic Telescope Planet should write quick letters to the mags in which they advertise.

Olly

[Ben Ritchie]

This 'no reply' to enquiries from traders is pretty surprizing. It hapened to me when I was after a Takahashi, a sale worth having, wouldn't you say?

Yeah, I had the same thing when trying to buy a SBIG - couldn't get a response back, so I gave up and imported it myself. My "thumbs up" go to FLO, Modern Astronomy and Telescope House, spot-on service every time.

[johninderby]

Nowadays I never rely purely on emails if I want to contact a company. If I don't get an answer back to an email after 1 business day I'll give them a call to see if they actually received my email. Also one big problem that affects businesses in particular is quite a few of their replies will get blocked by spam filters which will be much more aggressive in their blocking with business type emails.

John

[NickH]

Is this true for any amount and for Debit cards? I thought you only had this protection when paying by credit card for purchases over £100?

I'll be very happy if your advice is correct. I ordered something over a month ago from TP and they sent me the wrong thing, despite numerous emails and many phone calls I have yet to receive what I paid for.

Sale of good act, just throw that at them...works for me every time never been done (had one guy almost begging me to not post on forums over a DVD recorder he sold me...and just got my money back from an Amazon retailer with similar threats, also my Sat Nav, after one email to the retailer, they sent me a brand new one instead of trying it on...)

Very persuasive act... that combined with basically telling them you will contact all the major press and forums....and will blacklist them beyond belief...usually does the trick

I take no prisoners.. had a run in with a guy on ebay only this morning over his selling of basically a lethal bit of kit (solar glass filter)...after several email exchanges, he relented and removed the item, aftre I told him I'd have him delisted from ebay,

[Starflyer]

Jonh - have you tried calling TP

[rydax4]

Starflyer

I have ongoing problems with TP, and according to my credit card company, if you do not recieve your goods within 30 days, you can cancel and the credit card company will get your money back. Check out consumer protection covering distance selling.

Cheers

[Talyn]

Debit cards are not covered. Only credit cards.

John

For those of us who don't have (and can't get!) a credit card, this is annoying.

[steve_bham]

For those of us who don't have (and can't get!) a credit card, this is annoying.

If you cant get or dont have a credit card, you can get a pre-paid credit card. Person at works got one and uses it for online payment.

Not sure if you have the same cover as a normal credit card.

[Astro_Baby]

Actually going to a small claims court (cases up to £5,000 last time I looked) is noweher near as scary or tough as you may imagine.

I did it to sue a few suppliers with and it was easy enough - pop down to the local courthouse, get some forms, send the forms off with payment (when I did it it was £25 I think). The Clerk of Courts office are very helpful.

You get a court date, dealer gets a summons to attend and thats it. So long as you have a reasonable case ie the goods were defective etc you will win hands down. A lawyer I know tells me that in most cases companies dont defend. They just accept they are going to get hit and wait for the court order.

Small claims isn't like Crown Court. You sit in an office with the Judge and the dealer and just explain your side of the story. Judges in small claims will give you all the help you need - you dont need to start studying for a law degree. The Judge in each of my cases was great - gave me advice, didnt allow any bullying from the other sides lawyer etc.

Its all plain spoken and common sense stuff. Bit scary the first time I did it but I go to law almost immediately these days.

I have fought three cases in small claims and won them all over shoddy goods, no goods received and just generally appalling service.

Remember as well that the sale of goods act also covers durability - that was what I fought one of my cases on. Everyone knows the 'must be of mercantable quality' and 'must be fit for purpose' lots of people forget the third big one 'goods must be of reasonable durability'

Theres a limit on costs claims in a small claims as well so if the other side hire a £10k a day lawyer you wont get socked with his costs if you lose. You dont need a lawyer you can do it all yourself - The Judge is there to help you and to make a ruling after everyone has had their two penneth.

Companies getting a summons usually sit up and take notice because it can hit their credit ratings if they pick up court jusdgements against them.

I won hands down on all three of mine, got my money back, court costs covered and in one of them the judge ruled that the company had harrassed me so made an order for damages and time. Which was nice.

Oh - if the company ignores a judgement (in my 2nd case their lawyer told the judge they would ignore it and not pay ) they are in contempt and Judges really hate that - company directors can be sent to do some porridge.

[ollypenrice]

My wife once had a sweet victory in the small claims court too. Someone didn't want to pay her and said that as far as he was concerned she could take him to the small claims court. She did, she won, and I gleefully penned a letter thanking him for settlement of the bill, the court costs, her expenses and, above all... for his excellent suggestion!

Olly

[Nats]

Well the courts are an alternative but taking time off work to attend etc is all a bit of hastle when you can simply claim a chargeback from the bank and let them do all the work - I mean you pay them lots in interest charges etc so why not get your money's worth from the bank when you need it right?