[RickS (Rick)]

Originally Posted by Dennis

Oh man, that is terrible news, what an awful experience to be faced with this destruction upon opening the boxes. I hope it get sorted soon.

Cheers

Dennis

Thanks, Dennis!

Originally Posted by lhansen

Given the anticipation you get when buying something like this I can totally feel you disappointment. I am so sorry. this is where dealing with a reputable company that cares about outcomes becomes an importent consideration.

I hope it all works out in your favour

Thanks, Lars. Orion have been great to deal with so I'm expecting a good outcome.

Originally Posted by DavidTrap

OMG!!! Very sorry to see these pics Ric. What is the projected time for a replacement mirror & cell? Will you be able to fit it together here in Oz or will it require shipping back to the UK??

Hope the courier company doesn't fight the claim.

DT

David, a replacement mirror is available immediately. A new cell might take a little longer (when we were exchanging email on Friday night I hadn't had a chance to pull everything apart so I didn't know if the cell was OK or not). I should be able to fit the mirror and cell myself.

Originally Posted by blink138

i would have blubbed like a baby!
pat

Good idea, Pat! Perhaps I should have done that

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Ouch!!

I have received a number of very expensive mirror shipments over the years, but thankfully have never seen that sort of result.

Then again they all were double boxed, the inner being in a sea of styrofoam beans....so even dropping the box from head-height had no damaging effect.

Unfortunately bubble-wrap alone doesn't cut it...and shipping large mirrors in their cell is not a great idea if you can't monitor the handling every step of the way. (there fancy new "g-force" sensing labels that now address this)

Hope it works out OK in the end...

It was double boxed as well with some serious tape and cardboard to hold the mirror in place. Not quite to Takahashi triple box standards but they certainly did make a good effort. Thanks for the good wishes, Peter!

Originally Posted by MortonH

That's shocking,. I don't know how some of these couriers stay in business.

Morton

Unfortunately, they all have bad days. We use all the major couriers at work and none really shine.

Originally Posted by DavidNg

They certainly kicked your third parcel around. Just wondering with such sensitive and expensive equipment why wasn't a hard case or some sort of crate used?

It's a big scope, over 1m long, so if you add some extra layers of protection it gets really expensive to ship. I guess you just have to balance cost and the possibility of damage in transit.

Originally Posted by Tandum

That's a real pisser Rick. It looks like fining up this week too

I've reached the stage of being philosophical about it now, Robin I should be preparing for the eclipse this week anyway.

Originally Posted by gregbradley

Wow, that must have been disappointing. However rough couriers are a known quantity and double boxing in a sea of styrofoam as Peter points out is the level of packaging required against the occassional abuser.

Perhaps you can gently let them know thats how you want your replacement sent so it doesn't happen again.

What was the story with your camera? What brand and make is that?

Greg.

Greg, the camera was an Apogee U16M with D9 body. I bought it near new from IIS. Apogee have been good with their support and have been happy to honour the warranty (I checked with them before I bought it). Unfortunately, the sensor appears out of spec. Apogee sent some of my test data back to Truesense Imaging and they asked to get the sensor back for evaluation. I'm hoping they will replace it and send it back to me soon.