Celestron US no longer selling parts

[asimov]

Ok, this is not a rant or a 'Celestron sling off' by me, lets get that straight shall we:thumbsup:

I'm just here to state the facts.

As some of you may know, 18 months ago my CGE mount started playing up. It all started with the 'errors 16/17'. It's taken this long to effectively diagnose the problem back to the MC board in the electronic pier, with the help of the guys on CN.

Last week I notified Celestron tech. support of the problem & that I wanted to buy a replacement board. I found out beforehand (from a fellow American imager with much the same mount) the board was $106USD.

Celestron tech. support wrote back saying to get in touch with my local distributor..The new Celestron distributor is:
http://www.sheldonandhammond.com.au/ (http://www.sheldonandhammond.com.au/)

Apon writing the distributor in obtaining a board, the price was to be $499AUD but the distributor was not going to provide the board, & to approach my nearest authorized Celestron dealer.

In the end, it was going to cost me close to 1KAUD to get a replacement board.

The day before I emailed Celestron tech. support, they changed their policy on selling parts to the public. They no longer sell parts until further notice.

I don't want this thread locked, so keep your replies factual. The Astro public have a right to know.

Thanks.

[bmitchell82]

ide be sending my thoughts to them in the form of a Email don't just send it to anybody either, try and peg a top person! because thats wrong! you could always talk to ACCC to see what your rights are as a consumer as it is a clear rip off, wasnt the banks recently pulled up for the same thing?

[renormalised]

You know what they're trying to do...get people whose scopes break like that to fork out for a new one. It's an old trick...you want to sell more goods, so you restrict the availability of spare parts to such an extent that in order to keep using their product, the customer has to either wait until the manufacturer decides to sell parts (again, in this case), or they have to resort to buying a new unit altogether. Alright for somewhere like the US, but you found out yourself just how much it's going to cost trying to source the parts out here. Unfair in the extreme.

In the end game, what I would advise people to do, both here and in the US (everywhere for that matter) is to boycott the buying and selling of Celestron telescopes and accessories. Or for that matter, anyone else that did this. Even for the US, making people buy the whole unit for whatever the mounts are worth over there c.f. to the cost of the part USD$106, is nothing more than predatory. What's even worse is this...the cost of the part in the US c.f. to the cost out here. They have the gall to charge (you might as well say) $500 for a part that costs nearly 1/5th that price!!!!. I'd not only report that to the ACCC, I'd make it known publicly what they were doing...over the radio and in the papers. They wouldn't be the only business getting away with blue murder like that, but if you made a big enough fuss and complaint over it, other people would come forward with their tales as well. Too much of this sort of nonsense goes on and people just put up with it!!!!. This sort of nonsense needs to be stopped. It's got nothing to do with the costs or whatever other excuse they come up with...it's just sheer greed.

[asimov]

Yes Brendan, I've made my thoughts known to all involved, in no uncertain terms I might add. which probably didn't help matters, however I stand by my decision to not purchase another Celestron item ever. Judging by the many problems guys have had with this particular mount, I'm better off keeping it as a 5K paperweight rather than fix it, only to have yet another problem down the track.

[asimov]

Heh...I was way ahead of them 18 months ago & bought the EQ6 as backup.

[mswhin63]

I dont think ACCC will be able to help with this one as it is a sale to a private consumer. ACCC deal primarily Business to Business competition.

Also Celestron is a US company so the durastiction is the US. The only avenue is for Fair Trading but I do know that distributors can reject the sale of parts to consumers and cct infomration to other business unless they attain a formal partnership that usually entails qualified training etc etc.

If you can calculate the amount rate per hour labour would be to carry out the work to repair based on past infomration on hardware cost you may be able to take this up with fair trading for profiteering based on no available competition. Example $106.00US parts, $850.00 labour 45 minutes - looks like a good ground to investigate.

Anyway best best proceedure is if you are a private consumer Fair Trading is your first option before ACCC. Let FT decide if it is a competition issue.

[mswhin63]

Hi Daz, my 11 y/o occasionally reads threads with me, he understands the implication of words with deletives and would prefer refraining please.

[wasyoungonce]

Sheldon Hammond are the dealers...kitchen wares with your Astro gear..sigh! That is depressing.

Sorry to hear about the mount. It looks as if the RA/DEC motors are eeprom controlled and the DEC has..fried.

If it is indeed an eeprom & you can get the bin file for the programming and get replacements chips, then it is do-able. It's a little hard to tell, you have to peel up the IC's sticker to read their part number to correctly ident the IC.

Of course a letter to Celestron outlining that the cost to repair locally is a "prohibitive" disgrace may/not help.

Edit;

Could be a microcontroller IC?

[asimov]

C'mon guys, keep it clean. I kindly asked I didn't want this thread locked.

[renormalised]

Well, if you buy one of our Celestron Edge HD1100 or 1400 scopes, we'll throw in a free set of steak knives!!!:):P

If it's faulty, we'll only supply a teaspoon:):P

[renormalised]

Wonder if you can get detergent from Sheldon and Hammond??:):P

They sell everything else!!!:):P

[wasyoungonce]

I looked up the Celestron CGE site & they have motor controller firmwares (http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?ProdID=93)on their site (bottom of page)..in the "support page".

I suspect this updates the motor controllers via computer link, it's an exe file (http://www.celestron.com/c3/support3/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=1747&nav=0,255). Thus I'm thinking the ICs are micro-controllers, not eeproms

If this is so, maybe you can change the IC to a new one & flash re-program it?

You need to peel back a sticker to read the IC part numbers. Of Ask if someone knows the Manufacturers Reference Number (MRNs).

[Bassnut]

I do servicing, on gear from the US, UK, china, NZ etc and get parts/assemblies from all those places, through a variety of (official) channels.

The kind of mark ups you describe for spares is certainly not unusual for non-mass produced equipment, especially from the US.

Its complicated, and difficult to justify when you see the end user cost, but there are many reasons for the way spare are priced, you are not really paying for the part itself, the raw cost is likely to be less than $20, even for a whole loaded PCB.

It might look like a rip off, but you wont get anyware complaining, I get this "problem" dumped on me all the time, its common.

[asimov]

Thanks for the idea guys regarding ACCC however Malcolm has it covered, they won't handle this issue.

That's correct wasyoungonce, the IC is fried. A simple task to replace it rather than the whole board I would have thought, however I'm WAY WAY out of my depth in the electronics department. If it's mechanical, I can fix it.

[asimov]

Who's complaining? I'm just stating the facts mate.

[wasyoungonce]

Any local TV repair tech could replace that IC for a few $. I used to do lots of jobs like that, moons ago but I'm just too far.

Would be a bread'n butter job for a tech.

All you need is the MRN of the IC..or the tech could ident it replce it!

Worth a shot.:shrug:

[asimov]

Yep, I'll give it a shot for sure, thanks for that.

[Bassnut]

Sorry, sure, I ment thinking of attempting to change the status quo in some way.

[wasyoungonce]

yep keep us informed on progress.

[asimov]

However fixing my problem is of little consequence, I couldn't care less in fact. Life is for living & even more so now that I'm pushing 50:) I've wasted more money on being an alcoholic (now reformed lol) in a month that what I've spent on this mount;) so having it collecting dust sitting in the shed is of little to no consequence to me.

If Celestron don't want to come to the party, big deal. I'll just supply myself with another brand of mount to continue my planet imaging 'career':thumbsup::lol:

Just wanted to tell folk out there what the score is with Celestron.

[Louwai]

I have to say that the excessive cost of Celestron stuff in Oz is the main reason why I don't buy it.
And won't be buying it any time soon.

[asimov]

Thanks for your comments all.

I've gone as far as I can go on this. I've voiced my total disgust & my dissapointment on this issue to the appropriate people (Celestron in the US & the 'steak knife' distributor here;) ) & it seems they think they have me over a barrel.

The bottom line is, fork over $500 plus or don't get it fixed. Another interesting thing is that after the brand manager at Sheldon & Hammond gave me the official $499 quote, he then went on to say I would have to organize the order with an authorized Celestron retailer. No doubt they'd want their cut as well..

Hell, I've been a loyal Celestron customer for a reasonable length of time, but no more. I'm now on a one man Celestron embargo mission. I have friends in the US that will never deal with Celestron again over this (& other matters not published on forums).

Here's the statement issued by Celestron tech. support BTW:

"We have indeed changed the parts policy very recently.

Many parts will no longer be available outside of either a warranty or non-warranty repair.
However, we have been told by management that some "electronics" will still be available. We will seek clarification on this and get back with you.

Clear skies,
Celestron Technical Support"

Whatever:rolleyes:

[multiweb]

I'd be really peed too. :shrug: Not sure what's going on with Celestron in Oz. Something's not right. Shame coz they got some real good gear upcoming. I'm hearing more and more of these stories though. :question:

[bmitchell82]

skies might be clear but you can USE YOUR EQUIPMENT TO CAPTURE THE MOMENT :d argh

[casstony]

Asimov, might be worth giving Andrews a call to see if they can assist; AFAIK they are not associated with Celestron Australia and source their Celestron gear directly from overseas.

[marki]

Brand loyalty should only apply when it's earned e.g. the consumer has a good experience with both products and support channels provided by the supplier at competative prices. I think the main problem here is that we as consumers of astro goodies have always had reasonable prices and access to all bits celestron when compared to their competition. It is obvious that this is no longer a priority for either the manufacturer (celestron) or their designated distributor (the steak knife and fork mob) and as consumers we need to make a firm decision not to purchase their wares at inflated prices. Celestron products are no better then their direct competition so why pay more for the same quality product?. Perhaps they have decided that telescopes are not profitable enough at competitive prices and are looking to produce other items such as steak knives and kitchen ware who knows? I have no doubt the celestron retailers and distributors themselves read these posts and their response to our complaints has been zero. Simple answer is to make them keep their products on the shelf leaving them to foot the bill. If they are stubborn enough the celstron brand will die in OZ but who cares, there are far too many other options to give it a passing thought.

Mark

[asimov]

I have it on very good authority that Celestron are also stating they are having 'warranty issues' ATM.

Here's an extract from a phone convo. with tech support. My American friend doing the calling who won't mind me quoting this (This is specifically about the board I'm wanting: original part# NXW411, replacement part# NXW432.)

'He replied, (tech support) "Celestron is no longer selling parts, I would have to ship them my mount for repair."

I said, "Is this some sort of new policy? I just purchased one about a month ago."

He replied, "Yes, they were having warranty issues and no longer sold parts."

I said, "All right, Thank you very much.'

So, it could be that Celestron will cancel the new policy once the 'warranty backlog' on their mounts etc. are out of the way.

[mithrandir]

It should still fall under the "statutory warranty" and "fit for purpose" rules of the various Departments of Fair Trading.

The manufacturer's warranty of x years does not stop you making a claim after that if it would be reasonable to expect the device to last longer than the manufacturer's time, given the price and purpose.

[Ian Robinson]

My approach would be to ignore the local distributer and dealers and Celestron's stupid restrictions on imports and simply approach ScopeCity in the USA and ask for a replacement board from them.

Here's the email : sales@scopecity.com (sales@scopecity.com)

[asimov]

I probably should clarify that the CGE mount was purchased in the US 3 yrs ago & is obviously out of warranty, so in actual fact this has nothing, or very little to do with the distributor here.

[asimov]

Been there done that Ian. These retailers source their parts from Celestron. I emailed 4 seperate retailers in the US & received basically the same reply: "Sorry, Celestron no longer selling parts, try your local distributor" :rofl:

Anyway not to worry, I was over my particular mount yonks ago. My main concern is other folk buying mounts in the near future & being forced to send the mount back for repairs & replacement of 10 dollar parts, & that's precisely what's going to happen from indications, weather it's under warranty or not.

[bloodhound31]

I would like to say, "Thank you John" for this information. It is very good to know these little things behind the scenes of reputable manufacturers, when considering buying gear that you know may need upgrades/add-ons in the future.

Bless ya mate!

Baz.

[asimov]

Thanks Bazza. I know a lot more than what I let on about & that can be unfortunate sometimes! LOL.

[asimov]

And this, just in from OPT the place of purchase in my case.

"Hi John,

I just received a reply from Celestron and they state that they will only repair the parts at the facility and not sell parts directly. This is unfortunately how they the support system works. The customer needs to send in the telescope to a Celestron dealer (in or out of warranty) and they will estimate the repair costs and proceed accordingly.

I do apologize for the issue and I think that the best option would be to try and locate the parts on Astromart.com or another “e-bay” classified style of website.

I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Thanks again,

**** *******
OPT Internet Sales
Technical Support Manager
918 Mission Avenue
Oceanside, CA 92054"

[sejanus]

thats really disgraceful

[casstony]

It occurs to me that this new policy may be an attempt to deal with rogue operators (dealers that bypass the official distributor). Celestron may refuse to service equipment that was not purchased through official channels.

It might be self defeating in the long run though, with buyers choosing to buy a Losmandy, etc instead of dealing with a difficult company.

[asimov]

Well, for whatever reason Tony, I'd doubt we'll ever get told the whole truth.

I wouldn't say there's an official 'embargo' going on as such, but it's looking on the cards for the near future.

For anyone wanting to voice their concerns, here's the address:

http://www.celestron.com/c3/support3/index.php

[casstony]

I would write if I thought it would do any good, but the business is of sufficient size that their sole motivation is profit; a few whinging customers from the end of the earth are easily dismissed (as is amply demonstrated by pricing here).

I like smaller companies; you have a chance of talking to someone who cares and they don't have a strict 'rules are rules' policy.

[Jaybee]

John, chances are that the $499.00 that you were quoted is the dealers RRP in Australia, Sheldons would not quote trade prices to the general public, thats not to say that a dealer would stick to that as its the 'Recommended' Retail Price. I know some dealers that pay no attention to it and put huge markups on things. While I'm not an authorized Celestron Dealer, I do have an account with Sheldons, as they are also the Australian Distributor for Zippo, Maglite, Barksa & Vitrinox, among others, that we sell in our business. If you want to pursue the part, let me know and I'll see if I can get it for you at my cost plus any postage. Markups vary but If $499 was the RRP, my buy price would be less than that. Send me a PM if you decide this is what you want to do.

[wasyoungonce]

That is very decent Jaybee:thumbsup:

[asimov]

Thank you John, & I'll be in touch with you soon.

[asimov]

A fair bit has happened since my last post about OPT, but briefly:

OPT has attempted to compromise with Celestron in my case (offshore). Celestron are willing to let me ship the electronic pier (under a non warrany situation) rather than ship the whole mount to them, as Celestron are not 100% sure of my diagnosis of the problem. Well I had a hand in the diagnosis but it was with the help of certain parties on the CN forum that we got a definite answer to the problem.

I could have arranged this long ago with Celestron had I been in a position to do so or indeed WANTED TO. & not to mention the fact that I would have gone with the best solution post Celestron new policy: Get the board from the Australian distributor for $499 WITHOUT sending my pier in.

I will not compromise with Celestron in this fashion nor will I accept any terms dictated to me. It's the replacement board for the USD quoted price before the new policy came into effect, or nothing. I'll quite happily settle for nothing & continue to use the EQ6 that I purchased 18 months ago to replace this Celestron mount. Something was telling me (yes, 18 months ago) that something was going to go drastically wrong regarding this mount. I hate being right sometimes..

Anyway, thank you to the guys at OPT for doing what they could but unfortunately, given my position I will not be sending my pier anywhere, let alone to Celestron USA.

[RB]

Asi, better check that replacement electric blanket too mate, it's probably out of warranty as well. :lol:

[gb_astro]

AFAIK they are not associated with Celestron America either yet they must have access to parts to cover their warranty obligations.
Definitely worth a call.

gb.