Celestron International

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Celestron International
Contacted Technical Support twice via email regarding my Nexstar 4. Both times they responded promptly and they shipped me a free hand controller with software to use until the updated GoTo controllers are ready for shipment. No problems whatsoever.

Paul

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45913

Celestron International
FYI: The Better Business Bureau of Los Angeles now rates Celestron International as Unsatisfactory, due to non response to customer complaints. www.bbb.org

Overall Rating: No Vote
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45914

Celestron International
I recently got a CM1100 which had a couple of problems; not with the optics; they have exceeded my wildest hopes (60x per inch, no sweat on a good night and even 100x per inch with detail, albeit with lots of visible atmospheric disturbance).

Celestron failed to pack the hand controller, dc adapter, polar axis scope and safety clamp in the pier box. I called the dealer, who suggested I call Celstron (waffling on making good on it), and Celestron returned my call the same day, took the list of missing stuff, told me it was all supposed to be in the pier box, and got me 90% of the missing stuff in 3 days, no charge, no hassle, no quibbles. I still need a couple of their custom cables to power the electronics but that's on its way now too.

The optics are everything they promised, the mount is first class all the way, and the scope even shrugs off some aspects of less-than-ideal viewing.

Reading the instruction manual, and being courteous when asking for help has quickly resolved any and all problems. I'd not hesitate to buy Celestron again.

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45915

Celestron International
Meade and Celestron are competing against one another, which normally brings prices down and quality up. But in the Meade Celestron world (universe?)the prices have come down but so has the quality.
Both companies have forgotten their roots. Celestron Pacific (as it was called) started in 1964, and in 1970 the venerable C8 SCT was released. At the time, the C8 was not a worm driven telescope. Then Meade jumped into the SCT market in 1980 with the 2040 and 2080 scopes. In 1983 Celestron came out with the Super C8, which was much improved (worm driven). This is what should happen - competition should drive up quality. After both companies cut quality in the late 1980's and produced many scopes with crappy optics, BOTH companies suffered. It was a result of that ill-sited direction that many quality driven telescope manufacturers gained market headway, but not without many amateur astronomers getting burned along the way. As a result of their market share drop, Meade and Celestron tried to merge in 1990, but were turned down by the Federal Trade Commission. Just think how crappy their service would be had that merger been approved!! My own feelings are that they actually did merge in 1991, but just not officially. Basically they are both screwing their customers and getting away with it. Seems coincidental that the poor customer service and quality decline were right after the two companies got into bed and tried to "unite". Seems the customer is the only one getting "united" now. If we get "united" enough perhaps a new company will start-up and kick Meade and Celestron (Tasco) butts by showing what real customer service is.
There is no force that can beat a mass public opinion.

Overall Rating: No Vote
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45916

Celestron International
I purchased a C11 in the early 90s. I can not and would not recommend this
company or anyone. Simply horrid. Don't waste your money, save it and buy a real telescope.

Overall Rating: 0
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45917

Celestron International
Saw the ad for the new Celestron Nexstar GPS 11 inch scope in January of 2001. I ordered my scope in March of 2001. I paid for it in full and was told I would have it the first week of April.

Almost immediately they started to move the delievry date back a week at a time all summer long. They finally shipped their first 11 inch GPS scope on July 9th, 2001. Here it is August 1st and they moved the date last night back to August 15. This time it's because I am located in Canada and they are now delivering the US dealers their scopes first.

To add insult to injury they are already advertising the new Nexstar 8 GPS "on the heels of the most successful launch ever". Have these guys got any idea how short the observing season is in Canada?

How about shipping product to those who have alrady paid in full.

Overall Rating: 0
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45918

Celestron International
THere has been a considerable improvement in servie in the last year

Overall Rating: No Vote
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45919

Celestron International
Recently purchased a G-5 with no obvious mechanical problems so far. However, after unpacking the scope and checking for all the parts, I realized it was missing The Sky 1 CD-ROM that was listed on the box AND in the instruction manual (oh, and did I mention the G-5 web site desciption too?). Called Celestron customer support and left a detailed message. Call was returned within 2 hours on my answering machine by a customer service rep. The rep said that the Sky Level 1 CD-ROM was no longer supplied with the G-5 scope because it didn't have a electronic tracking system. Stange, it's listed on 3 places that the scope should come with this software. The web site still shows the G-5 as shipping with the Sky Level 1 charting software to this day. Obviously this person was an idiot.

I called Celeston's main number and asked to speak to a support technician and was told by the receptionist that she was a support tech answering calls until the receptionist got back and that she would help me. I told her the same thing I told the first rep and she said she'd mail me the CD out the same day. Two days later I received the CD, not bad IMHO. I loaded the software and got familiar with it. The software is basically used for creating skycharts and though there is a button/option to connect to a telescope (Ultima 2000), a software message comes up saying that you need to upgrade to a more expensive version to use GPS features because it is an ENTRY LEVEL version of the software. It would appear that not only was the first person misinformed about what ships with their product, he had no clue about how the software actually worked.

As far as doing business with Celestron again, I won't. If I have to send my scope back for repairs, I'll probably have only a 50 percent chance of getting it back in working order. It only adds insult to injury that I recently found out that Tasco bought Celestron. If I had known this prior to the purchase, I would have gone with an Orion scope instead.

First CS rep rating: 0
Second CS rep rating: 10

Overall rating: 5

Overall Rating: 5
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45920

Celestron International
NexStar 11 GPS is loaded with problems and their Tech support can't solve them. Will probably have to use the lemon law and file lawsuit to get my money back.

Overall Rating: 4
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45921

Celestron International
Older products were better. Hit or miss on getting calls or e-mails returned. Website is poor. No real world specs. Just a bunch or marketing mumbo-jumbo. Sold a very good Celestron scope. Mid 80's model Ultima 8. Orion's customer service superior. Swithching to Orion for accessories. Short choppy incomplete sentences.

Overall Rating: 5
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=45922

Celestron International
I have been nothing short of fully pleased with celestrons support of thier product! I have owned several products from Eyepieces, Firstscope 114mm, 80s model C8, 90s Deluxe C8, and 6" Starhopper. I have used e-mail to request support on many occasions and have always received response within a reasonable interval. Tech support has smail mailed me complete copies of manuals for a couple of my scopes at no cost. I'm a Celestron fan.

Overall Rating: 10
Price:10 Service:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=51937

Celestron International
I bought an expensive Nexstar 11" GPS and it had a few problems with the electronics - NOT the optics. The store I bought from was really good at trying to make the scope 100%, sending new parts etc...

... and the vendor also contacted Celestron, which promptly sent the new parts. I rate Celestron's equipment as great, optically... not electronically dependable, tho. You have a 1 year warranty - use it to work out any bugs.

And remember that the vendor is required to ensure you got what you paid for - anything missing or not working, the vendor must under the Sale of Goods and common law, either make the scope "fit for purpose" or give a complete refund.

Another thing: Celestron's telescopes come after you pay for them, with a notice that if returning it for repairs, etc... YOU must pay shipping. Please remember that if the scope is not "fit for purpose" you can demand a refund, and THEY must pay for any shipping. - an attorney who thinks people get screwed too often

Overall Rating: 4
Price:7 Service:2
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=62148

Celestron International
Bought a G9 for Christmas, super optics. 3 weeks into ownership, a tripod leg collapsed, OTA struck patio, shattered corrector was result. On close inspection, it was noted that a leg clamp had cracked. I placed a call to CI Tech Support and was instructed to ship everything back to CI. 3 weeks later, a new G9 was delivered to me at no cost, CI also absorbed the shipping. I called Tech Support to say thank you and was told, "Your satisfaction is what's really important". Refreshing ... the new G9 has superb optics, and I feel my decision to buy Celestron was a good one.

Overall Rating: 10
Price:10 Service:10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=71531

Celestron International
Give credit where credit is due. We had a customer that had a problem with his 11GPS. He contacted Celestron Tech Support. Celestron 3 day UPS Air Shipped him a new scope and included a prepaid UPS return tag. Well done.

Overall Rating: 9
Price:9 Service:10
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=88080

Celestron International
I bought a friend's Nexstar 5 telescope. It had been one of the first scopes to be shipped and it had a loose corrector plate which he had never noticed. Even though Celestron knew I was not the original owner and it was out of warranty anyway, Celestron fixed it for free. They also upgraded the software for free. They even paid for the shipping back. The scope was gone a total of six days and is now working great. I can't imagine customer service any better than this. Thanks Celestron.

Overall Rating: 10
Price:10 Service:10
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=123446

Celestron International
I also purchased a C11. Would not recommend purchasing it if you have any serious interest in astronomy.

Overall Rating: No Vote
Weight: 5 (Veritable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=573687

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