Anyone bought from A.E.C. in SA?

[johngwheeler]

Hi All,

I'm looking at some scopes from a smaller Australian importer called A.E.C. (www.astronomy-electronics-centre.com.au/).

I'm doing my "due diligence" on the supplier before handing over any cash. Has anyone bought from them before? I've had some e-mails from the manager (Claude) and he sounds helpful - but I just wanted to check. I almost got burnt ordering a telescope from some scam-artists in Indonesia, so I'm wary of internet purchases!

Thanks,

John.

[Kunama]

Buy with confidence from AEC. I've spent thousands there.

[Profiler]

Pretty unkind to refer to AEC as a "smaller" anything. They are the sole authorised distributor for Takahashi in Australia and New Zealand. Takahashi is probably one of the very best manufacturers of astro gear in the world and they wouldn't touch with a barge pole any distributor who was even remotely unreliable. The after sales support from both AEC and Takahashi are legendary - unlike many others who claim quality/support to their products right here in Australia.

[johngwheeler]

Thank you - this is what I wanted to know (assuming you don't work for them ;) )

[johngwheeler]

Good point about Takahashi using them as sole ANZ distributor - they wouldn't damage their rep using a cowboy.

I only referred to A.E.C. as "small", because it I've only just discovered their web site after hundreds of searches looking for scopes. I obviously haven't been looking for a Takahashi :)

They look like a good outfit - although I have a bit of trouble understanding whether they actually have any stock in Australia (for any manufacturer) or just deal with the import & distribution side.

I'll phone Claude directly with my questions - e-mail seems a bit ambiguous regrading pricing / stock etc.

[Larryp]

You'll find Claude has a lot of stuff in stock. He is excellent to deal with.
Like Kunama (Matt), I have spent many thousands of dollars there and never had a problem.

[RB]

Yes buy with confidence John.
Claude's a top bloke, I've bought all my TAK gear from him.
An EM200 and TOA 130 plus an EM400 and TOA 150.
Delivered on time and by courier, all in perfect condition.

Tell him Andrew from IIS says hello.

RB
:)

[LewisM]

Yep, Claude is highly endorsed. IF you ring him, do so from a home phone and not a mobile or payphone unless you want an extraordinarily large bill! My record is 2hrs on a mobile once... the man can talk :)

There have been issues with delays in stock arrivals before, but if you are patient, all is good. Most is beyond his control. His pricing is BETTER than all the US Tak dealers, and as good or LESS than Peter Tan in HK. I have often told him Peter's price on a part for a Tak and Claude has beaten it or MATCHED it.

I have not spent THOUSANDS with Claude (I always ended up finding or trading for a second hand Tak at the last moment before purchase!), bu many hundreds. He has even included free items a few times (some Tak green touch up paint, MASSIVE discount on 2 new Lodestars etc)

[Shiraz]

I bought an SX camera through AEC and had mixed feelings about the exercise.

Claude would only order the unit from the UK when I had paid half the amount in deposit - that in itself was bit scary, since I had no previous experience with AEC and the Google streetview of the business address is not re-assuring. It arrived within about a month and in good order, so that bit worked OK. However, when the camera failed after a few weeks, Claude was unable to provide any local assistance in getting it fixed, apart from telling me that SX cameras never fail and then instructing me that I should send it direct to SX in the UK for warranty repair. The completely DIY nature of the after sales service was disappointing and not what I was expecting when buying from an Australian dealership - AEC did eventually refund my postage costs though.

[AlexN]

I bought my fsq85 from AEC a few years back. It arrived 3 working days and was one of the easiest transactions I've made for top end astro gear.

[Allan]

Peter Tan in Hong Kong is not an official Tak dealer, so there may be warranty issues if it comes to that. Grandeye is Hong Kong's official dealer and currently is even cheaper than Tan. The problem is Grandeye won't ship to Australia because they don't want to step on Claude's toes, which is nice of them I thought. Tan will ship to Australia though.

I can get myself to Hong Kong for free, so I am buying a TOA130 in person. I won't put into print the saving, but I will say it is large.

[SkyWatch]

Yeah, Claude certainly loves a chat! ;)

His prices are good though- unless you can get to Hong Kong for free (not a bad trick Allan: do you go by canoe?), and he always tries to do the right thing by you. He has been around for a long time too. :thumbsup:

[Hans Tucker]

I don't think the restriction to in country authorised dealers exists anymore for Takahashi products because AEC states on their website that they accept international orders. So if AEC is willing to ship outside Australia Grandeye shouldn't feel bad about shipping into Australia. The only issues is that you can only make warranty claims through the vendor you purchased your equipment through.

[BeanerSA]

I've looked at this web store before. Guy deals out of his house in the sticks? Is that correct?

[Kunama]

Well I guess you are correct, anywhere in SA could be considered to be "in the sticks" ........... I have no means to travel to Cleve in SA so a shopfront is not necessary, in fact would force higher prices. ;)

[gregbradley]

You've got a TOA150? Wow. C'mon post some images!

Greg.

[RB]

It just looks like any other TOA 150 Greg. :shrug:

:lol:

[LewisM]

Yeah Andrew, it's how ya use it eh? :P

[RB]

hmmm.... don't go there Lew, it's still in the box, haven't taken it out yet.

:help:

[LewisM]

Oh the double entendres.... thou shalt not digress :P

I heard a vicious rumour from Astrofest that apparently my FSQ-106ED was for sale... wish I knew it was for sale, I might have gotten money for it instead of trading it for an FSQ-106N...(always the intention, was NEVER for sale). Chinese whispers... probably that Phil Sheehan dude :P :) :D

[Clancy Lane]

Sorry Lewis, Couldn't get to Astrofest this year as becoming a single Dad doesn't allow me any recreation time! :P

Congratulations on your new scope

cheers,

Phil

[OzEclipse]

+1 for Claude and AEC. I also had delivery problems but this was not AEC's fault. I believe that the only courier that goes through cleve is Startrack express so Claude has to use them. The idiots at Startrack sent my mount from Cleve to adelaide to melbourne to adelaide to melbourne to adelaide. Some sort of error on the bar code caused the box to go back and forth instead of coming to canberra.

It arrived here with the boxes falling apart, held togeher with startrack packing tape. however after all that, the mount was fine. A couple of counterweights had minor cosmetic marks which I said I wasn't worried about. AEC insisted on replacing them.

I have a couple of friends in Qld who have spent man tens of thousands of dollars with him, three large tak refractors and two EM400 mounts between them and they both swear by him.

We have numerous very good local suppliers. I have had nothing but good experiences including after sales service if problems arose from Andrews, Bintel and Myastroshop. I'm sure there are others around the country that I haven't dealt with.

Joe

[SpaceNoob]

Exact same problem happened to me with the FSQ. It did 5 trips total, back and forward between S.A and Canberra. It took a long time to try intercept the rogue package and it wasn't until someone at the Canberra depot noticed the package for the 5th time and put it aside. The only positive I have from the experience is that Takahashi package their stuff well and the collimation held perfect. I was advised that the error was not the transport company, but that an additional sticker was left on the box.... I believe their Tak stuff comes in to Sydney and is then transported to S.A. So if stickers/labels aren't removed..... it can become a boomerang.

[Exfso]

One thing to remember if buying Takahashi from AEC, there is absolutely no one in Australia who can service these telescopes, they have to go back to Japan. Claude did recommend a company to me some years ago who he said were qualified to service Takahashi Refractors, I took him at his word on this and it ended in tears. They nearly destroyed my Toa130 and it had to be sent back to Takahashi to be totally rebuilt. (the company have since ceased trading, not surprisingly)