A.e.c.

[Tandum]

I've been trying to get a 36mm filter plate for a starlight wheel. I ordered one via AEC 3 months ago while I was getting some tak parts.

Claude was rigning me about the tak parts as they didn't want to sell them to me, but after I supplied a video of the problem, the parts where in the mail.

However, I can't get any info at all from them regarding this filter wheel plate. I contacted starlight and they are instock in the UK. I rang claude to tell him this, but all my emails regarding an ETA go unanswered.

What do I do? It's so easy to order direct from the UK and I now have filters for the wheel? I don't wanna piss off the au tak dealer when I have a heaps of tak gear. Starlight show them as the .au dealer?

[Waxing_Gibbous]

Hmmmn....
Ditto! I ordered a TAK ep turret about 7 weeks ago, paid a deposit and haven't heard a peep since. My e-mails also go unanswered.
Something up? Anyone got any inside info?

[Tandum]

Paid a deposit :( Bugger .....

2 months with no reply ?

[leinad]

Same boat; havent seen an email reply since from Oct 18th.
Best give him a call; maybe he's on leave; or has email issues?

[TheFacelessMen]

Sounds strange as Claude does love to talk!!!

I talked to him about 2 weeks ago. He did mention something about going overseas for a holiday but I am not sure if he has left yet.

I know he has been still selling gear up to the last time I called so it's weird!

[JohnG]

Try ringing him, I spoke to him yesterday afternoon after I sent him an email, he did tell me that he was having email problems.

Cheers

[RB]

Yep, I've always only rung Claude, I don't email him for orders.
I usually set aside a couple of hours, he likes to chat. :lol:

[Paul Haese]

Time we had a new dealer. Sorry Claude but your service is crap. Claude will wait to get something in if he has enough orders. I was told that I had to wait 4 weeks for my EM400 and it ended up being over double the quoted time frame. If is about shipping. He makes promises but does not deliver. I hear all sorts of stories about what he has done to people.

My suggestion is go to OPT or someone like that and make the order with them. I bet it will be here before you get rung by AEC.

[asimov]

I agree with Paul, after a couple of dealings with the guy.

[dynobolt]

Big calls Paul and John.

Have been dealing with Claude the last 2 years and have not encountered any problems. I have purchased various scopes and accessories from him(including quite recently) and I would pretty much summarise my views as Stephen Brennan on the attached link http://members.ozemail.com.au/~aecclaudio/feedback.htm

Emails do sometimes play up. If you don't get a response, ring him and maybe leave contact numbers so that he can call you if any problems. His phone is working as I spoke to him today.

[leon]

Same here Dave he has always been prompt in both ordering stuff, and in fact replying to E-Mails, never had a issue with him, or his outsider "Leon"

Leon

[Tandum]

His emailer is broken, he has his return address spelt wrong and most mail servers reject mail with an invalid return address. So he can recceive but can't send.

[RB]

Ditto, always great to deal with.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[peter andre]

I have been dealing with Claude over the phone quite a lot , and find him a very trusty and honest guy.
I also believe his Takahashi prices are quite favourable with OPT.
Once you have added Freight/Import duty/insurance, you will find his prices pretty much the same compared with USA dealers.
I also find it not very nice to Attack him here on IIS, if you are not happy with him do buy overseas!
Is Claude a member of IIS??, is he allowed to talk back and defend himself on IIS??
peter:)

[marc4darkskies]

Always had satisfactory dealings with Claude. He even put me in direct contact with the folks in Japan to help me through my mount dramas in July. No complaints here.

Cheers, Marcus

[sejanus]

I like claude but by christ the guy can talk

[issdaol]

Hi,

Apart from being a happy customer, I am in no other way aligned or associated with Claude/A.E.C. so I am a little surprised by some of the negative comments here.

I have been dealing with Claude/A.E.C. for some time now and have found his sales, service and advice to be well balanced and very professional.

He quite often calls with after sales advice, recommendations and information on specials. On occasion he has gone out of his way to assist with enquiries on specific products and recently covered the cost of goods that were incorrectly sent by the Manufacturers mistake.


From a contact perspective, if anything I find that Claude can keep you on the phone a little longer than you might be counting on :lol:

I have definately had worse advice, communication & service from other suppliers.

As for recent contact he has been in contact & contactable over the past few weeks so maybe the problem is just timing or technical problems.

I believe that he has been having intermittent communication issues for a little while recently so I would suggest another attempt.

[AEC-Claudio]

Hi everyone, just posting this for Claude to answer some of the concerns here

Claude's email was not working, he could still receive just fine but out-going email would appear to be sent but apparently no-one got his messages. This had started about the 1st of November when he changed email programs.



Claude tried to send you an update (2nd November) to inform you that the Turret should be arriving in the next shipment. He also sent another email last night. Claude had told you when you ordered it (10th October), back when his email WAS working, that the Turrets were in short supply and only made by Takahashi on-request.

In anycase; If you can't get a reply from Claude by email, surely you can pick up the phone and find out the reason why?

- Leon

[AEC-Claudio]

As for Paul Haese, he was notified on 22nd September 2008 that Takahashi were having a materials/parts shortage and therefore there would be a substantial delay on delivery. So his quoted 4-week delivery date was no longer valid. In anycase, his EM400 was shipped in just under 7 weeks, not the 9 weeks or more as he stated!!

At this point, I would like to make it crystal-clear that AEC:

a) places the order with the supplier immediately after it is confirmed;
b) pays the supplier in advance, so all orders are fully-paid before shipment;
c) has all orders are shipped by air-freight; even the largest/heaviest ones;
d) and dispatches all orders to the customer immediately as soon as they arrive.

Therefore, any fair minded person should be able to understand that no dealer can do anymore than that to limit delays!

Despite the fact that Takahashi products are not mass-produced; their delivery time is generally only 2 to 4 weeks, not many months or even years like some other suppliers. So, when Takahashi do have a delay in shipment times it's nothing to jump up and down about; after all, even they are not perfect!

- Claude Voarino (AEC)

[Paul Haese]

Claude this is blatantly not true. You never once informed me that there was a delay in materials or parts. I contacted Takahashi myself and they stated that you were waiting on the completion of a Mewlon 300 before shipping any gear to Australia. At the time you had two orders for an EM400 and a Mewlon 300. I know this because I was told my Takahashi, they said it was your option not ship. My mount was finished in 4 weeks and not what you have stated here. It was over 9 weeks before delivery took place. I totally refute your claim of 7 weeks. In any case my mount could have been shipped in the correct time, but YOU chose not to do so.

The basis of my gripe against your company not only extends to this case. There have been times I have tried to contact you regarding fittings and other Takahashi accessories and you have not been able to supply the relevant information of what is made and what is not made. When I have contacted Takahashi Japan or America they have provided the correct information straight away. By way of example you stated that Takahashi does not make a pier adapter for the EM400. They in fact do and did make one at the time. You could not even find out if they did.

MY gripes are real and I know that I am not the only person who has this opinion about time frames stated or getting the correct information. I will leave it to them to join in if they like.

You can either take note of this or simply ignore it, but any good salesman will make sure word of mouth is good his way. And; that is done by listening to the complaints of the customer and making sure this does not happen again. I am glad you have given your opinion.

That is all I have to say on the matter.

[iceman]

This thread is getting out of hand enough that I need to lock it.

Of course we can't take sides in anything like this and there's always multiple stories for any situation.

General advice for anyone is to do your research, speak to other forum members privately and ask for their experiences, and use your own common sense and judgement.