Scopes and Space shop - anyone know their status?

Kersh

ps200306 wrote: »

Again, thanks for the explanation. I still don't understand the currency issue. You are paying a dealer in Sterling, and the euro has plummeted against Sterling. But that dealer is buying from Celestron in dollars, and Sterling has appreciated against the dollar as well as the euro. He should be paying less, and passing the saving on to you. At the end of the day, the only thing that should matter is how the euro has fared against the dollar. Sure, it has fallen, but a euro customer in Ireland, buying through the UK, should be paying the same as a euro customer in Germany, apart from the middleman's cut.

Please don't think I am suggesting any ulterior motive. I'm checking the German prices directly against UK ones, and not understanding the discrepancy, so not really an Irish issue at all. I am thrilled to hear there is an enthusiastic dealer here, and I will check you out for any purchases where it makes sense. Can you do brands other than the ones you advertise, e.g. Starlight Xpress ?

(Agree with you about Altair -- bought one of the Skyshed Pods they import from Canada ... lead time was over six months, though I think there's a bit of [bad] luck involved as to where you happen along in the order cycle).

We dont benefit from any any changes in euro/dollar. We have a stg price list, and thats pretty much that for us!


Yes, we can source a lot of other suppliers. Usually what prompts us contacting a supplier is a customer looking for one of their products

mickmackey1

I don't mind paying a few bob extra to the Irish dealers; obviously supply and demand means the bigger markets are going to be more competitive.

The extra accountability more than outweighs the drawbacks in my view.

ps200306

mickmackey1 wrote: »

I don't mind paying a few bob extra to the Irish dealers; obviously supply and demand means the bigger markets are going to be more competitive.

The extra accountability more than outweighs the drawbacks in my view.

Good news! We've been a member of a bigger market for over 40 years. :pac:

And anecdotally I've found German suppliers more accountable than Irish ones.

That's no comment on the current thread though. I'll keep on trying to buy Irish in spite of myself.

EtoinShrdlu

I don't know about German suppliers in general, but my experience with Astroshop was poor.

I ended up going to them as they had the particular Orion scope I had originally tried to order from Scopes & Space before they went bust. After placing my order for the scope and some eyepieces, I received a confirmation email with a note to say the eyepieces weren't in stock (this had already been made clear before I ordered), and that there'd be a wait of 'up to' two weeks. Alternatively I could pay a little extra for P&P and have the items shipped separately, but I decided to wait. Two weeks passed and still no sign of the products. Using the tracking number they supplied I could see the eyepieces still weren't in stock. After a search of the web I found I could actually order everything from Orion's own site – although it would be slightly more expensive once P&P was added. I contacted Astroshop to change to order; just the scope, which they had in stock, and no eyepieces as I'd order them straight from Orion. I used the new tracking number they supplied to check the order the next day – telescope hadn't moved. The next day I did the same and got the same result. I sent them a mail to ask what was the delay in sending the scope and they informed me it was going into dispatch shortly. The next day I checked again – telescope still hadn't budged. I sent another mail only to be told they didn't actually have the telescope in stock after all. I replied to say I had been told the day before that it was going into dispatch, for which they apologised but could offer no explanation. Needless to say I cancelled the order with Astroshop and ordered the scope from Orion instead.

I had a look online to see what people were saying about them and, to be fair, in general it was positive. However, some people did mention that if you're unlucky enough to fall through the cracks you'll have a ball trying to make your way back out. Pastorship were always prompt with a reply to my enquiries, but as it turns out they were just telling me what I wanted to hear. I also felt the customer service was lacking when they didn't bother to tell me two weeks after my original order that the eyepieces I ordered still weren't in stock, despite the waiting time for them being 'up to' two weeks.