SCS Astro

[MikeP]

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking that astro retailers are sitting by the phone / screen, waiting for your order with a pile of expensive stock sitting there ready to go.

However, on Tuesday I ordered a Paracorr through the SCS web site and on Wednesday morning the Fedex man delivered a well packaged box containing my Paracorr.

Very impressive service for an item I expected to have to wait some time for.

Mike

[BinocularSky]

Wanted to buy a Universal Astronomics adaptor to mate a Vixen GP with a surveyor tripod; SCS are the sole UK agent for UA. Established (by email)that SCS could get it for me. Ordered on 2009 Nov 15. Waited patiently for over a year. My last communication was sent on 2011 Jan 11, requesting to know the status of my order. Not even an acknowledgement. Today, I canceled.

Not impressed!

[TheThing]

Continuing on my quest for an Orion ShortTube 80, I tried SCS Astro after the debacle of the Widescreen Centre (see thread slightly further down this page).

Quick e-mail response to my query about tube rings - all well and good.

Query about whether they could arrange delivery within a specified period - complete silence! Again, sent twice with read receipts so I know they've seen the e-mails. They just can't be bothered to reply!

So Orion will not be getting my business now. One of their authorised dealers doesn't stock the scope and the other two can't be bothered to reply to e-mails.

[terrym2002uk]

I ordered an Orion finder guilder package. This took over a month to arrive, which is not ideal but acceptable.

What's not acceptable is not responding to status enquiry emails and making a farce of the delivery. My door number is 39, my package was addressed to number 3 and the internal shipping note had number 30.

Hopeless. They are firmly on my last resort list.

If they want repeat business they need to get it together!

[DOBBY]

Placed an order back in September (Ho-Tech collimator)...had an e-mail to say it would take "up to 28 days"...after 6 weeks & no show...we rang them...talk about rude, abrupt & disinterested..wife was told they hadn't ordered it yet as we were the only ones to ask for one so far..when I rang..I got the same rude answer..but, was told it's on it's way, but, no idea when it will arrive. Needless to say I cancelled the order & got it elsewhere in the next post. So... never again...

[Zaphod360]

To be honest I hate righting negative reviews, usually I'd just decide to never use them again an move on however this one goes above and beyond poor service.

I placed an order for an Earthwin Optical powerswitch/filter slide described as ex-demo. I sent a few emails which weren't answered so decided to call the store. They answered promptly but we're extremely unhelpful (abrupt and a little rude) having little or no knowledge of the product. This had me worried, but as they are the only UK importer for this produce I didn't think I had much choice. I contacted the manufacturer in the states and they were more than helpful. Anyway SCS Astro described the item to me as being in 'as new' condition so I decided to go for it.

Several days later (no despatch email) it arrived. This item comes in a case which was scuffed and looked very second hand, inside the 'removable' 2" nose piece was seized in place and badly scratched. The mirror in the diagonal was very dusty with small pieces of foam coming out from the back of the mirror, one of the filter slide 1 1/4" adapters were missing and this was also an older version which isn't compatible with the Earthwin binoviewers which I hoped to get later on.

I called the shop and they said it was listed as ex-demo but following a brief exchange of words they accepted that it was wrong and offered a full refund including postage if I paid to return it. I was reluctant as it wasn't my fault but decided this was the easiest way.

I despatched the item and it was received on the 15th of December (courier provided signature), I waited and waited and sent several emails and finally got my refund (less the postage). So I'm still owed £10 and they've stopped responding to emails, I think I've given them plenty of time to allow for the Christmas period so today I'll be taking this further with my credit card company.

If only FLO could supply these, I know they're quite a niche item but they look like they'll be an amazing addition to anyone's astro equipment.

I'm currently dealing direct with the owner of Earthwin in the states to get one and he is a legend! Cracking bloke, very easy to talk to and very knowledgable.

[Wolfgangwand]

Well i know this goes against the grain a little in relation to some previous poor reviews for this Suppliers service but have to say that i've just had first class service and product from them.

Ordered a TV 85 Ivory Complete package yesterday at 12noon over the phone with them and took delivery first thing this morning . The original TV packaging is pristine and sent well protected , all items absolutely first class . Add to this that they have a very good offer price against this item on line ( best part of £280 against other Uk suppliers) i feel like an absolute winner .

The person who took my order was very helpful and pleasant so i think some credit where credit due . Thanks SCS.

[Luke]

I bought a Daystar Quark hydrogen-alpha "eyepiece" from SCS Astro. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the eyepiece view (for imaging, it was great!). SCS Astro kindly let me carry on using it while sorting out a replacement, which took some weeks with the Quark in high demand, being shipped from the States and Daystar needing clear skies to test!

Sadly, the replacement was not right either, fine for imaging, but with a problem in the wider eyepiece view. SCS Astro assured me it would be sorted out and I am delighted to say that the next replacement duly arrived, before I had even returned the one it was replacing, meaning I had no down time and I could have a little check that the new Quark was okay for imaging before returning the older unit.

I am very happy with the replacement. A big thank you to Kieron.

[Drop Of Sun]

As some folks may know, I have recommended that if you buy a Daystar Quark hydrogen-alpha eyepiece, buy it from a retailer who will look after you just in case there are issues. SCS Astro has been fantastic in helping to resolve my issues with the Quark.

My first Quark was replaced without hassle (please see image below to see what the filter was like - please note that I did not return it because of how the filter looked, I returned it because of flaws in the eyepiece view, regardless of whether the marks you see on the filter caused issues). I was also unhappy with the new unit that arrived to replace this first Quark, so the replacement itself was replaced.

I later bought a second Quark from SCS Astro and really enjoyed using it for imaging. Sadly, it stopped working within 12 months. After consulting with SCS Astro, I sent the Quark to Daystar in the USA for repair/replacement. Several weeks later a replacement Quark arrived. I could tell it was a replacement as the barrel did not have a scratch mark that the original had from new, and the view was very different and was filled with messy splotches that spanned across the filter. There was a horrible glow in areas and the Quark was in such an unacceptable state that I would not want to use it for visual (as you moved around, a mass of marks moved with you, it was hard to focus on the actual detail) and it was useless to me for imaging as well. Athough a flat can correct many issues, it cannot in my view correct the loss of defintion I could see in proms over parts of the view nor could it correct prom details lost in the high level of glow in areas over the eyepiece.

Having already had several units by Daystar that I returned (including two from other retailers), I was not happy to send this unacceptable replacement back for yet another replacment, as far as I was concerned, Daystar's replacement had failed and I wanted a refund. I understand that Daystar offered a warranty replacment. Kieron at SCS Astro has kindly agreed to write me a cheque to refund me in full including my cost of positing the unit to Daystar.

Here's an image of the filter on my first Quark: