Repairs to Solar Equipment. Some advice

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Repairs to Solar Equipment. Some advice

Post by Astrograph »

Dear All

As an astronomy retailer I like to think that one thing that sets us apart is our attitude to service. We are not a discounter or mass market box shifter. Instead we try and offer advice. We carefully select what we want to sell based on quality and make sure that anything performance critical is tested before it gets sent to a customer. That alone is one reason people buy Quarks from us.They work.

Unfortunately things can still break for a multitude of reasons. When this happens, customers should have faith that the supplier of their product will look after them. It seems however that many customers who have problems don't bother contacting their dealer, they just contact the manufacturer. Some manufacturers have an odd attitude to customer service as do many distributors. This leads to upset customers.

I don't like to think any of our customers are unhappy. I would hope the same is true of customers from other retailers. The best way to ensure this is if you get a fault, go to your retailer first. They will deal with any aggravation from the supplier and make sure any warranty repair is carried out at no expense to you, as it should be. If the retailer is not interested then don't use them. It is the only way poor retailers will disappear. Manufacturers don't tell retailers that they have had a retailers customers contact them direct, so we don't know whats happening. The first I hear about a problem is usually via a forum where the customer is ranting about the poor experience they are getting from a manufacturer. You could argue it is self inflicted. So don't do it. Contact your retailer first. Its what we are here for!

Rupert Smith
Astrograph Ltd


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Re: Repairs to Solar Equipment. Some advice

Post by Montana »

Dear Rupert,
I hope I haven't caused any offence, I honestly didn't want to bother you with any hassle. Actually you are the first retailer I have ever bought from. I bought all my other solar products direct from the manufacturer and so have always liased with the owner e.g Ken at Solarscope and Yuri at TEC, so it was natural for me to go straight to them with a warrenty repair. When I bought my PST I had to send the warrenty card off Coronado as well. I have never thought to bother the retailer as I thought it's not their problem. However, Daystar is the first company that haven't replied to me and I didn't know how best to deal with them.
Very sorry Rupert for missing you out, you live and learn.
Alexandra


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Re: Repairs to Solar Equipment. Some advice

Post by Astrograph »

Absolutely no offence taken Alexandra. What people don't perhaps realise is that the supplier is the one you have the warranty with. Its also a bit like all those ebay ad's that say the buyer is responsible for shipping. There not, its a suppliers responsibility to make sure people get what they expect. Its why I hate drop shippers. Its lazy.

In a world populated by bad and lazy retailers, its no wonder people look to buy direct. Trouble is that manufacturers are not setup to deal with the odd customer so unless they actually have a customer service department then it can be a problem. Even if they do it might just be populated by balloon heads who don't know anything.

As for Daystar, Jen Winter is very much the main person at Daystar so if she is busy or away (as she is now) then the other admin staff might not respond as you would like. They have enough to do with people like me moaning at them!


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Re: Repairs to Solar Equipment. Some advice

Post by Valery »

Dear Rupert,

I have sent you two e-mails. No reply yet. Can you tell me this is a spam filter work or you just ignored these e-mails?


Valery.


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Re: Repairs to Solar Equipment. Some advice

Post by Astrograph »

Hi Valery,

Last email I had from you which I replied to was on April 11. Can't see you in Spam but I had some lost email due to mailbox problem. Could be that. Please resend.


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Re: Repairs to Solar Equipment. Some advice

Post by _Zakalwe »

Astrograph wrote:Dear All

As an astronomy retailer I like to think that one thing that sets us apart is our attitude to service. We are not a discounter or mass market box shifter. Instead we try and offer advice. We carefully select what we want to sell based on quality and make sure that anything performance critical is tested before it gets sent to a customer. That alone is one reason people buy Quarks from us.They work.

Unfortunately things can still break for a multitude of reasons. When this happens, customers should have faith that the supplier of their product will look after them. It seems however that many customers who have problems don't bother contacting their dealer, they just contact the manufacturer. Some manufacturers have an odd attitude to customer service as do many distributors. This leads to upset customers.

I don't like to think any of our customers are unhappy. I would hope the same is true of customers from other retailers. The best way to ensure this is if you get a fault, go to your retailer first. They will deal with any aggravation from the supplier and make sure any warranty repair is carried out at no expense to you, as it should be. If the retailer is not interested then don't use them. It is the only way poor retailers will disappear. Manufacturers don't tell retailers that they have had a retailers customers contact them direct, so we don't know whats happening. The first I hear about a problem is usually via a forum where the customer is ranting about the poor experience they are getting from a manufacturer. You could argue it is self inflicted. So don't do it. Contact your retailer first. Its what we are here for!

Rupert Smith
Astrograph Ltd
Very well said Rupert,

For us in the UK it's always worth reminding consumers that their contract exists with the retailer, not the manufacturer. All claims must go by and be handled by the retailer that the kit was bought from. Unscrupulous retailers sometimes try to palm off issues to their supplier of the manufacturer which is against consumer law in the UK.


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