Sky at Night Magazine

[agskyatnight]

I am not sure if the moderators of the Sky at Night forum will allow this post post as it relates to a commercial firm, but as Chairman of Macclesfield Astronomical Society, I feel very strongly that amateur astronomers should be made aware of the following ...

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Dear all

I think I should make you all aware of my recent dealings with ScopesnSkies.com, as I feel it should be a warning to others before they place an order with this company.

I ordered an ex-demo AC493 2 inch T-thread camera adaptor on 24 April. On the 25th the money was taken from my account. By May 2nd I hadn't received the item so I called ScopesnSkies and explained the situation. The person I spoken to said they would investigate and call me back. They never did.

I called again on May 5th and explained the issues again. I was told that the item hadn't been sent and it didn't seem to exist anymore. I was offered a new item as a replacement (for the same cost). Although unhappy at the fact that my money had been taken before the product had been dispatched, I accepted and also placed an additional order for a set of 3x 15mm T-thread extension tubes (at £19.99).

The money was taken from my account for the new order on May 6

Cut to May 19, and I still had not received my products. Previously, I was upset and felt let down, now I was annoyed.

I called and asked how long on average it takes to dispatch an item after it has been ordered. I was told 4-5 days. I had been waiting nearly four weeks.

I once again explained my disappointment. I was told that the after my call on May 5th the AC493 had gone out of stock. I asked why. I was then told that the item allocated to me had been sent to another customer. By this time I'm feeling angry. I asked why I hadn't been informed. There was no answer.

I requested recompense for all these errors. I was told that this would have to be referred to the Manager and that I would be called back.

My call was returned and I was offered £1.99 off my £31.00 order, which to be frank is embarrassing.

Ultimately, the unwillingness of ScopesnSkies to be fair in this issue led me to cancel my order. I have been told that my money will be returned within 24 hours. We'll see.

My position as Chairman of Macclesfield Astronomical Society puts me in contact with lots of people who need advice on finding good, customer-focused retailers to buy equipment from. Suffice to say that I will not be recommending ScopesnSkies.com to any of them, and I certainly won't be using them again.

Andrew Greenwood

Chairman, Macclesfield Astronomical Society
<www.maccastro.com>
<www.imagepalette.com>

[sftonkin]

[url=http://forum.skyatnightmagazine.com/tm.asp?m=35149&mpage=1&key=]Deja vu[/url]

[reggie]

I guess all we need now is a long post from the owner/manager/person who is supposed to be in charge explaining why they are so poor at customer services, which no doubt will also provide us with a direct phone number to call should there be any problems, apologising and promising it will never happen again. I just wonder if anyone has ever talked to trading standards about them?

I really would like to buy some bits from scopesnskies but every time I think about it another one of these posts pop up.

[astro_baby]

Wonder if I can apply for the post of customer services manager - clearly the current one isnt up to much [:)]

[ok0510@126.com]

I wonder if people realise what harm they are doing with just a little bit of poor service. This is the first time I have heard of this online store performing poorly, but it's enough to stop me placing an order there.

My local Jessops manager hasn't really seemed interested in helping me shop there when I have been in a few times, the result being, that the £2000+ I have spent on camera equipment over the last 10 months hasn't been with him. I may not have spent it all with him anyway, as they can't compete with online prices most times, but at least if he had seemed to care about my business, he would have stood a chance of my money.

I realise £2000 isn't a huge amount these days, but bearing in mind, I am only 1 of thousands of people who enter his store every year, his unit, like ScopesnSkies.com, is losing out on an awful lot of business. Maybe one day people in the luxury(for these are not essential items) retail business will learn their lesson, but I won't hold my breath!

[skyhawke63]

Search this forum there is another thread about this from a while back with a reply
from someone from the company. Also check out www.stargazerslounge.com as
they have a thread along the same lines.
7 months and still no sign of my order.

NC

[kimb]

Here it is http://forum.skyatnightmagazine.com/tm.asp?m=35149&mpage=1&key=scopes+AND+skies

[philip pugh]

We're not supposed to recommend suppliers but I know the people I order most of my stuff from personally and they are practising astronomers. Not everyone who works at these retail outlets are. I've also had good service when asking other retailers. It could be partly because I used to review stuff for a rival magazine and retailers were afraid of a poor press but I prefer to think it was because they were generally interested in helping me get the most of my kit and not just taking my money.

My advice is to buy from somewhere run by astronomers.

Question to mods: Can we recommend retailers by PM if someone asks?

[sftonkin]

[quote]ORIGINAL: Philip Pugh

We're not supposed to recommend suppliers
[/quote]

Why not? (I do if I'm asked.)

[psychobilly]

There doesn't appear to be (and shouldn't be) be a problem with individuals offering their views on where to purchase based on their particular experiences good or bad from a supplier.

Billy...