hey guys plaz help, im woried????

[Raju]

hi, last month i bought a telescope. i bought it from Flo optics- which alot of people recomened on this forumn. i was so so happy and excited. it was my second ever telescope and a big one too. from a 144mm to 200mm. ive been so excited. i payed them on the 31st of january. today it is the 21st of febuary. i payed them £375. i still havent got it yet. and these people dont answer the phone.

i havent really spent that much money on anything but i felt i had to. but i am heavily dissapointed. should i open a dispute with paypal? what should i do? have i been conned or something?

plz help me

thank you

[space3]

hey Raju,

I made a purchase from flo last month and it took a few weeks, 3 weeks i think, which was a long wait, and I also was thinking something was wrong even the guys at work were saying it will never arrive, so I was getting worried, but all worked out in the end, flo were waiting for stock and so on, if you cant get them on the fone, email them, I did and I got a fast response,

all should work out

[Panzer]

I doubt they'd con you as they seem a pretty reputable company. I got mine from FLO too.

It might just be that it's not in stock yet. A lot of items on their list say "call for availability", stuff like that. I've never been able to get through on the phone either, and its horrible having to wait for things in the post, especially when you're so excited! Have you left an answerphone message asking them to call you back? Do you have any proof of payment, order number etc?

[Sarah]

You won't have been conned. We have made regular purchases from them over the last couple of years, big and small. They are always very helpful. As already mentioned, either leave a message for them , or email them. They have always got back to me.

[FLO]

plz help me

thank you

Hi Jaed,

Please don't be concerned, I'll look into the delay and lack of communication when back at the office tommorrow then phone with an update

Thank-you for your patience

Steve

[Ceti Alpha V]

I think you will be ok Raju, this website is sponsored by FLO. I understand supply is short just now following the success of recent programmes on TV - like Stargazing Live.

However, I'd e-mail them expressing your concerns and they will hopefully reply with a better update on stocks and expected delivery - maybe even one or two forum members may have good connection with the staff and will hopefully post something to help put your mind at rest.

I know we all hear of internet companies that are just cons - had/ having a bit of problems with one company (not astronomy related) myself. And it is worrying but, FLO look the real deal - send an e-mail and hopefully all will be ok with your order.

Good luck and clear skies for your new scope when it arrives.

[ColB]

Absolutely no need to worry mate. I've ordered loads of stuff from these guys and the one time I had a problem (a duff collimator, by no means their fault), they replaced it straight away with a better model.

[David Galvin]

Be assured that FLO are as honest and genuine as they come. If they were not then many on this site would let you know. I noticed that Steve (FLO) has already replied and I believe him to be a man of his word.

[Neilius]

Hi Raju, I too bought one a few days after you and am still waiting myself. They told me that delivery should be sometime in the 3rd week of February (this week) when I phoned them 2 weeks ago.

I know, patience! But I'm finding the waiting unbearable too.

On the other hand, we haven't had a clear night in about 2 weeks anyway!

[Neilius]

Hi Jaed,

Please don't be concerned, I'll look into the delay and lack of communication when back at the office tommorrow then phone with an update

Thank-you for your patience

Steve

Can you look into my order too, please Steve?

Cheers!

(Order details: Neil & Leeds - about as much as i'm going to give away in public!)

[FLO]

Will do

The last seven weeks have been remarkable for the astro retail industry. I'll post details tomorrow in the sponsor section but in a nutshell we - importers, distributers and retailers - were caught offguard which has resulted in a desperate shortage of equipment and a phenomenal increase in communications.

Hang in there please, we are normally better than this

[Neilius]

Thanks FLO, much appreciated.

[Raju]

Will do

The last seven weeks have been remarkable for the astro retail industry. I'll post details tomorrow in the sponsor section but in a nutshell we - importers, distributers and retailers - were caught offguard which has resulted in a desperate shortage of equipment and a phenomenal increase in communications.

Hang in there please, we are normally better than this

so your the man of FLO!!

You dont understand how happy you made me feel by responding to my post........ please sort something out...i am literally dieing of excitement..... you made me feel a bit better.... its becasue my friends keep on asking "so wheres this telescope then?" "are you sure they just didnt just rob you" so thats what is added to my worries....... again thanks for your response and i hope to hear from you tomorrow for an update.........

One more thing..... WHAT in gods name is wrong with the phone??????.

kind regards

[FLO]

One more thing..... WHAT in gods name is wrong with the phone??????.

kind regards

I think it has melted!

FLO is based at a managed business centre that boasts a digital phone system with high speed internet access and 'Cat 6 cabling' (whatever that is!). Essentially the center has its own phone system and businesses hire the number of phones/numbers they require. FLO has three phones/numbers, when phone-1 is in use the call is relayed to phone-2, if that is in use it relays to phone-3. If all three are in use it switches to ansafone (you never hear an engaged tone). Recently, the number of messages built up so quickly that it overloaded the system and prevented other businesses accessing their messages! Never happened before, they say. Messages can only be cleared manually one at a time so because they were arriving faster than we could clear them the company disconnected our ansafone system, erased everything, then reinstaled it. We lost 169 messages in 5-mins! That was a bad day

However, things are gradually returning to normal and we (all of us, not just FLO) should be in a much better position when the boats start arriving from China.

I'll post more about this tomorrow in the sponsor section but until then checkout this graph showing visitor numbers to our website following the BBC Stargazing Live series of programs.

HTH,

Steve

[Daz Type-R]

I too have had issues with contacting FLO by phone, but sent an e-mail off, got a reply the very next day, Martin has all ways answered my queries quickly, can't complain about that! I also ordered my scope on a Monday, it arrived on the Wednesday - fab service!

Yeah my red light torch did not turn up that I ordered, so I asked if there was an issue by e-mail, Martin said they were out of stock until March.

As others have said, you have not been conned, I have found FLO to be great and will gladly use them again!

Don't blame FLO, blame Prof Brian Cox and the BBC!!!

[scotttumsh01]

Ye likewise, ordered on a wedensday got it thursday, they are really good, sorry to hear you havnt been so lucky, i am sure it will be resolved soon.

[FLO]

Don't blame FLO, blame Prof Brian Cox and the BBC!!!

That man is definitely on FLO's Christmas card list!

Actually, SGL's SteveL should share some of the 'blame'. At around the time Brian Cox was making astronomy cool the Daily Mail were writing a feature on Steve and his astrophotography. The resulting traffic to his website Steve’s Astro and the traffic arriving at FLO from his links page has been very nice indeed! And he does look rather dapper wearing his FLO hoody

having a surge in page-views, orders and communications is rather a nice problem to have

[great_bear]

But even in what might be considered "quieter" times, it can still be a nightmare trying to get through to FLO by phone.

Are you aware of this?

There's loads of "little" orders (eyepieces etc.) that you've lost from me, simply because I got fed up of waiting to speak to someone and so I ordered from other companies instead. If that's true for me, then it's got to be true for dozens of other people too.

And whilst it can be said that "the website is always open" - sometimes folks just want to pick up the phone and request a purchase - and they don't want to have to leave a message - they want to speak to someone or try again later - that's simply the way many customers behave...

With all those lost "little" purchases, customer loyalty tends to drift elsewhere for the bigger purchases too. You think to yourself "I'll order this from FLO" and after a few failed calls you think: "Why am I bothering with them? - I can get this from Telescope House instead..."

Making sure that "all calls are answered" should be a priority for any business - even if it means hiring temporary staff for busy periods.

Please note that I'm not "having a go" at FLO - I'm just concerned at the amount of business you must be losing - permanently - by not answering calls in a timely manner.

[NickK]

Fingers crossed for the EQ6 ordered to arrive before SGL6 (also the office shipping address will not be valid past end of March - I'll have moved jobs!)

I've ordered form FLO before - they're genuine and have delivered very quickly (the kit was in stock obviously!).

Stargazers Live is a blessing and curse simultaneously!

[FLO]

Are you aware of this?

Hi Jeremy,

Yes, we are aware. Martin joined us nearly a year ago and works almost entirely on the helpdesk and phones so things have already improved. Lisa will also switch to full-time this May and we will add another phone for her so things will improve again then.

And, our website will undergo a significant upgrade around summertime. It was planned for last year but we moved into larger premises and upgraded our computer and phone system instead. I don't want to reveal too much at this stage but the new site will provide more information so should reduce the need for some people to phone us.

Dare I say we also sponsor Stargazerslounge, the UK's largest (3rd largest in the World!) and most active astronomy forum. No other UK dealer invests in a forum the way we do and to the extent we do. SGL is an excellent place for information gathering.

I cannot promise that you will always get through, astronomy is a technical subject with a language that is difficult for beginners so we do receive a tremendous amount of communications. We are never 'quiet'. But I can promise we will always do our very best

[stafford_stargazer]

Ummm i wonder if the new website will have a live stock info,thats my main reason for calling just to check stock,then order online I still think your the best FLO

[G2EWS]

Hi Raju,

I don't think you need to worry about getting your scope!

However, I have found that it is much quicker to contact FLO by email. I always get a response within 24 hours, which is very good for a busy company.

Best regards

Chris

[yeti monster]

You folks who are waiting, all you're missing out on is the clouds anyway! The clouds, as we know, are caused by astro-purchasing, so really FLO aren't to blame in any way whatsoever...

[johninderby]

I've never been worried about ordering anything from FLO. Even if there was a problem with an order it would definitely get sorted ASAP.

I do have one complaint though. Since moving into the larger premises FLO seem to be stocking extra large helpings of clouds to ship out with every order. :D

John

[eriwig]

I can vouch for FLOs service, I have had issues getting my first order through as well (damn Royal Mail! I only live in Northern Ireland... it's not that hard to get to!) but I have been in touch with Martin almost every week since it was sent and he has been great. Although I wasn't too worried as the weather has been rubbish anyway

2nd try is in the post again now so hopefully it will make it this time!

Not FLOs fault though and it definitely wouldn't put me off buying more from them, quite the opposite. If a retailer is that busy for that long it is usually a sign that they are a trusted retailer