Telescope Planet ceases trading

[insomnia]

This is all assuming that TP has ceased trading for good. As said earlier, it could be down to personal problems, and not issues with how they operate as a company.

Its a wait and see situation.

[Astro_Baby]

Their site may have been hacked - they managed to ghet it hacked about 14 months ago and it ended up carrying a nasty virus as a result. If you went there your machine would be subjected to a sustained virus attack.

I warned them about it.

[GrahamE]

I realise the following is not the correct forum to post this but I am unable to post in the Supplier Reviews forum as I have not made the required 50 posts. Mod - please would you post this in the Supplier Reviews forum?

Has Telescope Planet gone bust?

Their website says:

"Telescope Planet temporary have Ceased Trading until Further Notice

Please email simon@telescopeplanet.co.uk

Thank you for your customer"

Graham

[Deneb]

Some people will be Pleased...

Nadeem.

[Ant]

This isn't a supplier review.

There is already a thread running about this - so I'll merge the two together.

Cheers

Ant

[Kai]

I wonder how much stock they are carrying? Presumably, if they were a big enough outfit, they would have some stock of scopes etc, which are now in the hands of 'official receiver'. They'll want to liquidate assets to pay creditors - sooo, possibility there could be some cheap scopes coming onto the market...maybe!?

I wouldnt hold your breath , 99% of the scopes would of been drop shipped from the Importers (Dhinds , Telescope House etc) so its will only be the stock in the showroom

[Darth_Muppet]

At least Telescope Planet had the decency to let you know they were going bust and you wouldnt be getting your stuff.

We never got that when The Practical Astronomer Magazine by Eddie Guscott went **** up!

[great_bear]

99% of the scopes would of been drop shipped from the Importers

How does that work exactly?

I suppose what I'm asking, is - if you're a retailer, is it legal for your web "stock level" to merely be the showroom scopes that are never sold, and then - when an order comes in - you just email the customer details to OVL in Woolpit (or whoever), they send a scope direct, and your "stock" level never changes?

[Kai]

How does that work exactly?

I suppose what I'm asking, is - if you're a retailer, is it legal for your web "stock level" to merely be the showroom scopes that are never sold, and then - when an order comes in - you just email the customer details to OVL in Woolpit (or whoever), they send a scope direct, and your "stock" level never changes?

Who says that your advertised stock level has to bear any resembelence to your actual stockholding , from a marketing point of view it may give you an advantage over others than do not show a level.

Drop shipping is very good for cash flow ie no money tied up in stock.

[brianb]

Presumably, if they were a big enough outfit, they would have some stock of scopes etc, which are now in the hands of 'official receiver'.

You'd think so .... but the issue with TP was that they never had stocks of anything.

[great_bear]

Who says that your advertised stock level has to bear any resembelence to your actual stockholding

Well - at the bare minimum, legally, you can't claim to have something in stock if you don't - that's why I mentioned using a "showroom" stock (as a dummy "1 in stock! Buy now!" item) when in reality the one you get comes direct from Optical Vision (SkyW), Hinds (Celest.) or Telescope House (Meade).

By extension, (and maybe by definition?) I assumed that meant that stock levels must legally be accurate? Maybe "in stock" is the only thing that needs to be accurate...

[insomnia]

As long as you can supply(drop ship) stock which is advertised on your website, then its all above board. It doesn't matter that the scopes in the show are for display purpose only.

How many times have you been into somewhere like PC World and wanted to buy something like a laptop, only to find that its out of stock, but they still have the in-store demo laptop sitting there. 99% of the time you are not able to buy the demo laptop as the store needs it so shoppers can play with it, drool over it, and as such buy 1.

A lot of retailers drop ship, its a good cost effective way to do business and keep overheads low whilst giving the customer a good deal. It works when it all runs smoothly, the moment there is a glitch in the drop ship supply chain is when problems happen.

[insomnia]

Their virtual stock may well of been their downfall. A retailers reputation is only as good as the company that they use to get their stock from.

If their supplier is causing delivery issues then it has a very big knock on effect to the retailer. Clearly a case of taking monies for something they could not promise or deliver.

Also the recent airport shutdowns would of had a major problem for scope imports.

[Takahashi]

The grammar-**** pedant in me is desperate to correct the use of things like "would of" or "well of" in this thread, but my reserved alter-ego is telling me that discretion is the best course to take.

Oops.

[insomnia]

Right, so sorry for my bad English.

So you just posted to comment on someones use of grammar?

Discretion is not saying anything

Clearly there is a required level of the 3 R's needed to post here.

[Takahashi]

Sorry, it's just that it's something that I see all over the 'net, and I'm afraid it annoys me no end. Never mind. Ignore me.

[yeti monster]

Thankfully, although I learnt the hard way about TP, I made such a stink about my solar film that I did actually get my goods. I am not at all surprised that they have fallen by the wayside, more like fallen down beside an old oak tree deep in the woods a long, long way from the wayside.

[insomnia]

Sky at night forum are also discussing the same thing. Looking very much as if they have gone bust.

[great_bear]

So you just posted to comment on someones use of grammar?

You missed an apostrophe - it's "someone's use of grammar..."

[insomnia]

So you are discriminating against my improper use of how to compose the perfect post?

A lesser person could be offended by you noticing my poor education.

Skulks away with hurt feelings

[Kai]

Sorry, it's just that it's something that I see all over the 'net, and I'm afraid it annoys me no end. Never mind. Ignore me.

People just adding random comments that have nothing to do with the topic being discussed just to make a point really annoy me.....

[Takahashi]

Yep, I made an inappropriate comment. Sorry. Again.

[daz]

I would say the notices on TP's web site are not from being hacked. We have had (numerous) emails from TP in the past about threads, and the style, capitalisation, etc. are consistent....

Sad when this happens, especially when you have paid for something and it is now not likely to appear. I'm sure I have seen something that said it IS only temporary due to a move, or ill health or something along those lines.

And a warning shot - while we are happy for the discussion to continue, any comments deemed to be libelous will be removed and the offender OP warned. Just because they are not trading does not mean WE cannot be sued for libel still!

[Robert Gordon]

Folks in the UK the Consumer Credit Act section 75 provides protection to those purchasing with a credit card (you are further protected under distance selling regulations where you use the internet). If you bought from TP and they did not deliver simply raise a complaint to your credit card company quoting section 75. They will generally refund with no issues. A template letter can be found with a few google searches. I was burned by TP on a CCD camera; complaint raised to my credit card company resulted in a refund stratight away - it is then up to then to pursue the loss.

[Robert Gordon]

I wonder how much stock they are carrying? Presumably, if they were a big enough outfit, they would have some stock of scopes etc, which are now in the hands of 'official receiver'. They'll want to liquidate assets to pay creditors - sooo, possibility there could be some cheap scopes coming onto the market...maybe!?

I'm thinking that that they didn't actually carry much stock. Most of the complaints you read about are failure to supply. I know that in my case the camera I ordered was not in stock (despite their web site claim). Moreover, although they took my money, they didn't even place an order for the camera with the manufacturer! I think their main problem was cash flow brought on by a flawed business model and a fair bit of incompetence.