choosing where to buy equipment for the new astronomer is about as easy as it is to decide on what equipment to buy. i spent time visiting approximately 100 astronomy related web sites with the quest of finding the prefect supplier. these web sites had many articles and stories of successes, failures and down right dreadful stories from people buying equipment.

it came down to three major suppliers where the stories were toward the good side and i rated them by the number of good hits i reviewed. i started with the least recommended and placed my first call. i explained that i was a new customer interested in purchasing a telescope in the near future.

the first two suppliers’ basically told me to call back when i was ready to buy and offered no help in the process of selecting or recommending equipment that would be right for me.

the third was to telescopes.com and here is where the story gets good. to my surprise an extremely knowledgeable person was asking me questions about my interests, budget, brand favored, etc. (remember, this is after i told him i was not ready to buy just yet.)

we discussed several options and budgets over the 15 minute call. ready for this? he ended with “ please feel free to call again if you have any additional questions or need information on our products”.

well, after deciding what i wanted i returned to telescopes.com and placed my first order. i choose to buy what i needed in segments, “add as i learned approach” preventing me from being overwhelmed with equipment i was not ready for. the sales associate again was very knowledgeable and together, after some discussion, the order was placed.

everything arrived, on time, in perfect condition and was billed correctly.

i have now placed several orders (some small and some large) with telescopes.com and received the same attention, customer service, and quality products regardless of the total amount i spent.

most recently i was looking for an accessory that was not in stock. the sales associate asked if my need was urgent, and if i needed it today, i might want to look at other suppliers to see if someone might have one in stock. (hot item) my reply,,,,,,, i will wait,,,,,, and placed the order happily,,,,, knowing i will receive it correctly the first time. but most of all i want to contribute to their success so they will be there to answer my questions in the future.

note: i often get large amounts of unsolicited materials through email or the mail after making purchases over the web. i received not one after placing several orders with telescopes.com. if you are looking for a supplier to buy your telescope or accessories and want courteous knowledgeable people to help you make it happen, just contact www.telescopes.com.

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if you do decide on upgrading your eyepieces, here are a few words from my supplier that may help you in deciding. after reading his comments, you will see why i choose telescopes.com for my supplier. they know there stuff, and they learned it by experience, not by watching some manufacture's training video.

this is the reply i received back after sending telescopes.com an email to tell them i really liked the new televue 5x i purchased. i believe that sending your supplier feedback, good or bad about your purchase experience and product performance helps them do a better job in serving us.

reply: "that's great. i too, have used that powermate and was blown away. last night we had some of the most amazing views. m41 was simply stunning. we did an "eyepiece test" last night. we must have brought out about 6000$ in eyepieces. i have never been more convinced that the eyepiece quality can do so much. the televue naglers took the cake as the favorite, with a close 2nd to the pentax eyepieces."

i truly believe that all the products i have purchased are of high quality for the value. it is nice to know as my needs grow in astronomy, i have a place to go to fill them with people who actually used the products i am ordering to help me.

note: this reply does not suggest that any manufacture is better then another, it is in response to a personal correspondence and relates to products field tested on one evening for the seeing conditions and objects viewed for that night.

sights above