You cant beat Bintel

[xelasnave]

So often the only time a name gets mentioned is for critism.

I mean who bothers to give praise or rather who has time..well I have some time and I am using some of my time to give Bintel some praise.

Most of you know I bought heaps of gear but with one thing and another just cant get to use it.

Well last week I discovered all my filter draws were the wrong size..my fault entirely and the length of time between purchase and discovery really meant I could not call upon the retailer , Bintel, to change the wrong stuff for the right stuff...So I spoke to Don at Bintel and we worked out a solution which was to change the drawer holder to take my six incorrect units. Brilliant..so just now Don rings and tells me he has found the unit I need and is mailing it to me today...fantastic service...so Don how much do I owe you ." Dont worry Alex that is complimentary" ...heck I could hug the guy.

AND the times these guys have gone way past what you could expect I can not list.
I really wish I had said something each time they have helped me.

I know buying on the net presents as a money saving exercise but there is no way an internet vendor would stand by you the way Bintel stands by you...to me their dedication is priceless.

But now I should be right to image if the weather gives me a break.

It was clear last night at about 10 pm and I thought to have a go but when I went to sit on my mower ( it is my transport I can hardly walk these days and it has head lights) there was a puddle of water on the seat just from the dew, so I looked again and as my eyes became accustomed it was clear that the seeing meant it would not be worth the effort...I know slack but opening closing etc is a big deal for me these days so I opted for guitar practice.

I cant get over how Don's phone call has cheered me up ..it really has made my day.

Alex

[Startrek]

Don at Bintel was the first person I met in the showroom there at Glebe when I embarked on my Astro journey back in late 2016
We chatted for nearly 2 hours about the hobby and he steered me in the right direction about getting started.
Since then Don, John and many others at Bintel have been great to deal with and if something wasn’t available they would suggest an alternative that worked
I agree they are not always the “cheapest” but I prefer to talk to someone who knows the hobby inside and out. It’s not always about the dollars. Don’s an avid Fly fishing enthusiast but his passion is Astronomy and he’s always up for a good yarn.
Bintel ( Don ) have got me out of trouble on many occasions. I even brought my newts into the showroom when I just started and Don or Mick would collimate it for me on the spot. I did eventually learn how to collimate them myself after a few months
Regarding the grease smear issues with the 2600MC and 2600MM , I rang Bintel , they arranged the return for the camera and it was rectified and returned to me in 8 days under warranty, never had an issue since !!
There are many other situations where they have gone that extra bit to help me out
I do buy from 2 or 3 other suppliers but Bintel are my prime supplier and have been for over 5 years
Cheers

[The_bluester]

I have bought from three Aus suppliers on the whole.

Sidereal Trading here in Melbourne, who I go to for preference firstly as I count them as friends and second as they are local and very good to deal with.

Bintel I have bought from many times, right back to before they closed their store in Melbourne. I still have some gear I bought at that store.

Testar I have bought from a few times, including just this week for a new ZWO filter wheel, tilt plate and OAG to put on my ASI2600MC Pro so that it is identically set up spacing wise to my 2600MM Pro. I even have a spare clear glass filter that is parfocal to the set in my 2600MM so if I get spacing just right with one cam it should be very very close with the other. I bought from Testar as they had what I need in stock, the only ones in Australia who do at the moment. Handy enough I could also save myself $100 in the process. ZWO have updated the OAG unit for this filter wheel to have a bigger prism and Testar had one left of the old version with a healthy discount. I already have the original, smaller prism unit on the mono setup and know that with both my scopes it covers the sensor of my guide cams fully anyway, why spend an extra $100 to spill more light off the edges of the guider chip?

[JohnF]

Of course you can BEAT BINTEL. Where is My boxing Gloves ;);).










But as a Telescope shop, they are my favourite, and always have been helpful.

[Startrek]

Off the subject a bit , but I follow Astrobkoke in the UK , just the other day he demonstrated the new larger ZWO OAG for his new rig (CT 10 f4.8 CF newt and EQ8-R pro mount ) I’m building a similar rig for my NexDome , Sidereal KH 10” f5 CF newt with GSO gear on a new EQ8-R pro but using my 2600MC for the moment. Maybe 2600MM later this year , early next year. The new ZWO OAG looks great with plenty of adjustments
Cheers
Martin
PS I’ve use Testar as well but only for filters etc... It’s a shame Bintel had to close their Melbourne shop, I heard good reviews over the years from that shop as well.

[Hemi]

Completely Agree.

Bintel are great! Especially Don and John (fellow Pom!).

I hope they open a shop in Darwin soon.

[The_bluester]

I have been completely happy with the early M68 OAG with the smaller prism, having resigned myself to spending the money on the new one, finding the original at a discount was a bonus given I know that it covers the sensor on my guiders anyway. I have never ever found myself without a guide star so the discount option was a no-brainer given I would need a new and much more expensive guide cam to take advantage of the bigger prism anyway.

[JA]

I think Bintel is great with very can-do customer service as well as quick delivery on some lens adapters I purchased recently.

Best
JA

[Nikolas]

My biggest gripe was that Bintel left Melbourne I was shattered

[xelasnave]

Well some praise for Australia Post is in order.
Minutes ago I received both a text message and an email saying my parcel is at the post office...that aint bad ..as I said all you seem to hear is folk grizzling about things but just look around at all the wonderful humans doing their best ....so the Sun is out so a top down spin coming up as soon as I have finished my guitar practice...the magpies are here what a wonderful world.
Alex

[toc]

I think we are very lucky having Bintel, Testar and Sidereal Trading...

[xelasnave]

We certainly are lucky.

I ordered two power boxes one for the EQ6 and one for the EQ8 from Testar because Bintel did not have them and similar to my experience I wrote about here they got here in a couple of days .shipped fast and delivered fast..been in to Tabby picked the unit up made it back before it started to spit.
Alex

[taminga16]

Same.

[xelasnave]

A smart person could probably seek some sort of franchise arrangement that would.I expect make both franchisee and franchisor financially happy and help out the astronomy folk in Melbourne.
I see opportunity and it sees me if you see it too that makes three.

Alex

[sil]

Cant say I ‘ve needed support with my purchases, but Bintel has always been trouble free and reliable for me, no pushing for money buying stuff i dont want, not ending up on infuriating mail lists. From overseas Agena Astro is my first port of call. I agree with your sentiment Alex, sometime a store just goes that extra practical step to help and suddenly you feel humanity isn’t totally lost just yet. Dont go near social media though or the illusion is shattered. I like purchases to be simple straight forward, I’ve never done credit cards so even online my purchases are close to a regular cash transaction and thats all I want, hand over money, stuff shows up in the next week or two, nothing else, and for me thats great and I do tend to be loyal to simple and honest engagements any pushing of extended warranty crap or anything else and I just go elsewhere, I’d rather pay a bit more If I get the products I ordered just fine and a simple service.Bintel have been good for me for years and I’m sure will remain so, I never even go looking for prices elsewhere not ever, I check Bintel, if they have what I’m after in stock and the price is where I expect it, I just pay and buy and I know it’ll be packed well and show up soon safe. I never absolutely must have it in my hands within 24hr or i start screaming for refunds etc. I know there can be traffic/transport delays of a day or so, maybe a public holiday in the logistics chain somewhere or whatever. I imagine the recent NSW floods saw a huge amount of deliveries delayed or lost totally or in some sort of limbo. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone criticise Bintel over anything (no doubt some have, there always are right) And I agree With Alex there are times when we get happily surprised and want to tell the whole world but there’s not much option for that especially to be visible to new customers and we’ve seen/heard of 5 star ratings on places like amazon being fake and paid for by the sellers. This thread is just honest end user love for Bintel, no star ratings here or money changing hands or gifts of any sort.Plain and simple they are a good Aussie business and have been around for years for good reason clearly. Thank you from me too Bintel guys and gals and others :)