bintel & celestron

[mozzie]

just on bintels site and noticed a couple of smaller xlt celestron scopes not there normal range and in there night sky paper mike was commenting on one of the brands and distribution how it was going to change i wonder what is going on has anybody heard anything
mozzie

[wasyoungonce]

Was at Bintel Melbourne today (edit:...talking to Anthony).

Extravision has lost the import dealership of Celestron equipment & a new company is taking over. I believe the new company has a relationship or is Australian Geographic...Celestron site shows the new dealers here (http://www.celestron.com/c3/dealers.php?Country=AUSTRALIA&imageField22.x=47&imageField22.y=6&Type=INT):

Great...Celestron scope on sale with dept store nick nacks.....We will see the impact if any soon, for better or worse.

[dpastern]

York Optical told me the other day that they'd changed distributors as well. Interesting.

Dave

[AstroJunk]

Situation Normal -AG already sells Celestron. The only issue becomes exclusivity, whether more or less dealers eventuate..

[Chippy]

The question here is distribution as opposed to dealership. I thought Extravision "were" the sole Australian distributors. So AG might be the new distributor? Will be interesting to see if prices tumble :) LOL

[stephenb]

I agree, but somehow though I don't think they will :(. Well have to wait and see.

I would like to know more about this new distributor http://www.sheldonandhammond.com.au/ . Their website is still under construction. O wonder if you get a free set of steak knives with every SCT? (I wonder if they know what an SCT is?)

[rider]

I go for a walk at lunch time, under the Gateway bridge in Brisbane, and for the last 6 months there has been a small office/warehouse/distribution-dock which is just chock full of those department store wobbletronic Celestrons. Doesnt seem to be a high end scope in the place.

cant remember the name, but I suspect they are the new culprit.

Rider

[Robert9]

Yellow Pages gives their address as 78 Logan Rd Woolloongabba QLD 4102. Is that where you walk, Rider?
I've been waiting since January on a replacement disk of SkyX which came with my scope. The software on the disk was faulty. Celestron won't supply direct with their corrected version, and told me to see my distributer - York. York says that the new agents haven't got them (yet?). Hmmm.
Robert

[mswhin63]

I remember going into one of those stores to check for parts for my (wait for it) sucked in scope :whistle: so I could modify it to at least get it to work.

They only carried cheap stuff (RP focusersand so-on), none of the real good quip. They couldn't even refer me to someone that could help.

"Got sucked in by high magnifacation when I bought my scope" :P
Learn't my lesson the hard way

[wasyoungonce]

Sorry for some confusion ...I really meant to say the new authorised importer is a company called..."B"...something or other..maybe Golden Bell...sorry for being vague my ears were not screwed on that day!

I believe they (the importer) are forming/seeking/authorising an Australian distributors/dealers base. Which may or may not mean new dealers.

In the years previous lot's of people have complained about the cost of Celestron products in Aus (including me) and a new dealer may change all that...but ...there is an old saying "be careful what you whish for"

[dpastern]

I think we're going to see a lot of cheaper Celestron stuff hitting the market. Most people won't want to spend more than $400 in total. Well, ordinary people. They'll see it, buy it for the kids, it'll get used a few times and then probably packed away and forgotten. You know how fickle kids can be ;-) Parents won't want to invest a lot of money, and there's probably more people percentage wise in the bracket that I described, than people seriously interested in Astronomy.

Dave

[stephenb]

Let's hope that whatever eventuates, it results in a reasonable distributor base for the Australian market.

[Outbackmanyep]

Gee i hope AG don't become sole distributors.....they wouldn't know the open end from the closed end......

[stephenb]

I would be more concerned with a company this large providing service and support, ideally in each major state. But that is wishful thinking in this country's limited market.

[mozzie]

i started this thread as i was a little concerned that my mate has to of there scopes the 5"nexstar and the 11" cpc a lot of money spent on both scopes and if he has a warranty prob or a break down there is someone there to help as we all know all scopes have a issue at sometime or another
mozzie

[stephenb]

I notice that BinTel have taken all but the 5Se off their website. Whereas they had the entire range a few months ago.

The SE range is certainly not discontinued. They are extremely popular in the US and the UK but not in Australia, where we are obsessed with Chinese Dobsonians. I wonder is this is as a result of the changes going on with Australian Distributors. I envy our US and UK brothers and their wide choice of dealers.

And mozzie, you're right. With the big brands, as with any brand really, you want peace of mind that you will receive reliable service and support when/if required.

[rider]

Hey this is cool, I get to quote my self!

- Been for a walk, - the warehouse above is "Extravision". It's still full, so I don't think they have lost the franchise. - It's got lots of little boxes with dept. store refractors in them. maybe they have decided to hit the low end of the market.

Rider

[Jen]

:lol::lol::lol: i done that once :whistle: i think i even replied to myself too
:rofl: