Starlight Instruments Quality Control?

[casstony]

I've had a few feathertouch focusers and they've all been top notch, as you'd expect from a premium manufacturer, but a recent purchase gives cause for concern. The threads cut in my latest adapter are rough as guts and needed to be cleaned up to get rid of metal shavings - running a finger over the threads would have sliced it open. The picture shows the old good quality adapter beside the new one.

[bmitchell82]

Ive never had an issue with Wayne, have you taken it up with him first?

[BPO]

Well, times are tough, and nothing is perfect, even though many will pretend that some things are. (FT focusers, anything made by Astro-Physics, etc, for instance.) And everyone makes mistakes and has the occasional off day. Or maybe your fears are well-founded.

[casstony]

Impossible to say if it's a fluke or not - nobody's more surprised than me to see a dodgy product from this company. Usually everything they sell is perfect or they sell it as a second, but this adapter would barely make it into the seconds pile.

[casstony]

I sent an email with the pic to give them an oportunity to explain but have had no reply.

[tlgerdes]

Everyone should get the opportunity to explain and help. I would have waited to hear from them before posting.

With a lot of these things, you are paying for 2 factors, first a good quality product, 2nd the after sales service if things dont meet you expectations.

I have recently had to go back to Moonlite over a badly built unit, but Ron has been more than helpful and so apologetic that a bad piece slipped out. Sometimes stuff happens that cant be helped, it is how they treat you and how you treat them that makes it all work.

I didnt complain and say things were faulty, I just said I think I have a problem and could I get some help.

[casstony]

Trevor, it's interesting to hear that you had a poor Moonlite product. How long did it take for Ron to get back to you?

I expected a next day reply from Starlight as I'm simply not accustomed to getting anything substandard from them. Understand that this thread is for information only, not leverage. I don't think this is something that just slipped through since the flaw is blindingly obvious.

[tlgerdes]

It took 3 nights for a first response and every other email has been answered overnight.

[casstony]

I got a satisfying response from Starlight this morning, so it appears customer service is up to scratch; here's part of the email:

We do clearly label our cosmetic 2nd parts so I can only come to the conclusion that this was a rejected part that got packaged by mistake. I can either send you a new adapter or if you are able to clean the threads on the adapter, I can credit your card back for the purchase of the adapter.

[bmitchell82]

I'm with Trevor on this one. you should have waited for his response and given reasonable time for him to respond (more than 1 day). There are not to many businesses around that will give you same day response irrespective of how good they are!

Starlight instruments are and will continue in my eyes to be one of the finest quality and best service companies I have ever dealt with!

I'm glad that Wayne has done the right thing for you in any case.

[casstony]

Personally I prefer to know the full story, whether or not defective products go out and if so, how is the customer service, although If I'd recieved a next day response I probably wouldn't have bothered posting. I prefer to know, for instance, that Trevor got a bad Moonlite that was subsequently put right, rather than not hear about it at all. Seems like my opinion is in the minority though :)

[Larryp]

I'm with you, Tony. I think REALLY well-run businesses take care of their problems IMMEDIATELY

[rmcconachy]

I'm with you Tony. You've shown the problem and you've also shown how it was dealt with. In some ways Starlight Instruments come out of this looking better than they did at the start because now we have additional evidence that they do care for and look after their customers when a mistake is made.

[rally]

Tony,

I am very glad it has all worked out for you, as I am sure it would have.

But . . What about the eternally old Australian custom of giving someone a Fair Go !

I am surprised the Mods didnt remove this thread.

I find it hard to see how the financial position of a small family oriented business should be put forward as the reason for a single occurrence of a part that was less than their usual high standard.

Just because you couldn't think of any other reason does not make it so !
How about an accident, a mistake, a new employee, a different employee, owner was sick or away on a trade show, part slipped into the finished tray instead of the rework tray, labelling was confused and a dozen others . . . all equally honest and innocent.

Our time zones are completely different, so it stands to reason that a 'day' in our local non global expectations might end up being easily 2 days in a global context even if it was acted on immediately over there, ignoring the fact that whoever deals with it is expected to deal with everything else on their plate in some form of priority order, so an extra 8 hours might carry over to three days here.

I have no affiliation with the firm or its owners or in fact ever even owned any of its products, but to take a oneoff error and publicly misconstrue it seems unfair and unjustified unless there was lot more history of such an enterprise wide reduction in overall quality which you have already said hasn't been the case.
Put yourself in their position.

Maybe you can amend the title or the opening statement to better reflect the situation ? afterall the words you have written will endure for another 10-20 years now.

Rally

[Zaps]

The company supplied a substandard product to a customer. The customer raised the issue with the company. The company offered to make things right. That all sounds okay to me.

Both parties have behaved reasonably and none of this makes me think any less of either.

[casstony]

Rally, I edited out my supposition as you suggested. I think the thread title is ok and I did take into account the time zone difference, having family in the US.
A dodgy part from a lesser company would be unremarkable.

After recieving the bad part and before I started this thread I still recommended Feathertouch as the best focuser imo in a cloudy nights thread.
Thanks to the guys who posted balancing replies in the thread.

[rally]

All good !

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: It still raises questions , as to how this product got to be sold , here on the open market in this condition ?
I would be the terrible work shop forman if something like this left our workshop in this state :mad2: ,
,, as they old saying goes , " heads will roll " , or " you are only as good as your last job " , oh yea , " not a good look people " my crew would get , and what happened ? Guys ? .
This looks like a little sabotarge , to me ? . Am I right . ?
Some one slipped a 3rd , or 4th into a shipment .
Brian.

[casstony]

Upon further consideration I think you've hit the nail on the head Brian - probably a Moonlite infiltrator in the assembly line :)