Quote:
Originally Posted by glend
I am starting this only to provide an update on Celestron Australia.
- Today I had a telephone conversation with John Cross, Business Development Manager, for Celestron Australia Pty Ltd.
- Celestron now have a direct presence in Australia and John is responsible for Celestron products in Australia.
- John joined Celestron Australia from Sheldon and Hammond, and it is clear he was not happy about how the brand was looked after by that company, including pricing policy.
- Sheldon and Hammond have nothing to do with Celestron anymore.
- Celestron Australia supplies direct to only four premium retailers: Bintel, Sirius, Oz Scopes, and one other that I can't recall right now.
- Celestron Australia does not supply to Andrews Communications, and any Celestron products purchased through Andrews will not have a Celestron warranty (Andrews will have to warranty the product itself, and boxes will likely have labels and barcodes removed).
- John is working on pricing to ensure that Australia gets competitive offerings and there is no middleman setting additional margin any longer. The pricing on the CGX is a good example, where it was on parity with that offered by overseas retailers like BHP, Optcorp, etc, after currency conversion and allowing for local GST/shipping.
- The expectation is that the four premium retailers will provide all relevant service, and parts for Celestron products.
These are the main points. I don't see this as requiring debate, it is what it is. |
Can you please provide the rest of us with John's contact details?