It steams my clams when someone complains about Bintel's prices

[DorkSlayer (Peter)]

Originally Posted by kittenshark

...but don't get me started on people complaining to us about Astro Pete's prices and please please can we beat those prices?! How bout no?

Please accept my sincerest apologies for causing you so much inconvenience. I can only but imagine how it must feel when a customer complains that prices are too high. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been spared such a traumatic experience.

Rest easy, we're here to help you!!! When these troublesome customers come to see us, we will do all we can to spare you from their complaining. Have a nice day

[Tejas (Ben)]

in terms of this line: "...but don't get me started on people complaining to us about Astro Pete's prices and please please can we beat those prices?! How bout no?"

this is in part due to the big retailers such as officeworks, myer etc all having price match (or beat) policies. now i know your LAS isn't the same as these companies in terms of buying power but asking for a deal or price match is nothing to be steamed about. simply say no and move on.

for a purchase the size of the one i made for my first scope i'm going to see if i can get a deal.

when i brought it, it was a significant investment for me. my budget was around $1K but any money saved under this was able to be used for accessories and perhaps even a little treat for my wife.

i did a ton of research online. checked the sites of sirius and bintel, as well as Australian geographic and astro petes.

petes was the cheapest - by around $100. this is a significant amount of money to me. as a student at the time every cent counts.

i was also able to bring my scope to his shop on a viewing night and get tons of help there as well.

this is not an advertisment for pete, just me taking about my personal situation.

[kittenshark (Cheryl-Ann Tan)]

Originally Posted by DorkSlayer

Please accept my sincerest apologies for causing you so much inconvenience. I can only but imagine how it must feel when a customer complains that prices are too high. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been spared such a traumatic experience.

Rest easy, we're here to help you!!! When these troublesome customers come to see us, we will do all we can to spare you from their complaining. Have a nice day

As a matter of fact Pete, we do! I've just given directions to a customer today to find you regarding a 8" dob. They're up here anyway so why not shop around? You're welcome.

They usually come back down to get accessories from us after they get their scope anyway so it's good for both shops.

More money in accessories than in scopes anyway!

Say hi to Bonnie for me; I miss her food.

[kittenshark (Cheryl-Ann Tan)]

Originally Posted by Tejas

in terms of this line: "...but don't get me started on people complaining to us about Astro Pete's prices and please please can we beat those prices?! How bout no?"

this is in part due to the big retailers such as officeworks, myer etc all having price match (or beat) policies. now i know your LAS isn't the same as these companies in terms of buying power but asking for a deal or price match is nothing to be steamed about. simply say no and move on.

for a purchase the size of the one i made for my first scope i'm going to see if i can get a deal.

when i brought it, it was a significant investment for me. my budget was around $1K but any money saved under this was able to be used for accessories and perhaps even a little treat for my wife.

i did a ton of research online. checked the sites of sirius and bintel, as well as Australian geographic and astro petes.

petes was the cheapest - by around $100. this is a significant amount of money to me. as a student at the time every cent counts.

i was also able to bring my scope to his shop on a viewing night and get tons of help there as well.

this is not an advertisment for pete, just me taking about my personal situation.

We can occasionally match prices within reason, but when you're talking about us matching prices of an overseas supplier that ends up being our cost price or a few dollars above it, then no, which is the problem I'm bringing up in this thread.

If you want a good deal with most retailers, ask for a discount when you get a bunch of other accessories. It's usually more realistic.

[atalas]

Well,I must say, I've never been one to complain about prices to my local telescope shop and I would hate for them to close down(bintel)but, I don't see how back stabbing custermers on a public forum is good for business.

Shopped at bintel for many years and never once have I ever heard them complain about difficult custermers....guess some are more professianal than others.

[issdaol (Phil)]

Every time I see this thread it I have to wonder.....

I'm sure others may choose to disagree....but the title of the thread seems so stilted that it comes across as forced/contrived......

For what reason I ask .....

I have dealt with Bintel and other local suppliers as well as international suppliers....I have to say I have not heard many people out there complain to other suppliers about Bintel pricing.

Having owned my own retail business that did well in the past....I certainly did not get all up in arms if customers came to me and complained about my competitions pricing....in fact I was usually similar and sometime more expensive....

When you go into retail business with a shop front any savvy businessperson has done their market research and knows their competitive advantages, knows their overheads and costs and accepts the ups, downs, competition and attendant risks &/or benefits.

I think this thread is more about self promotion and self justification than any real concern about "Someone" complaining about Bintel's prices

[glend (Glen)]

It would be nice if they (Bintel) actually have things in stock. Twice in the last six months i have ordered gear and then silence. When i eventually ring i find out they are out of stock. Is it really too much trouble to let people know that when we order, or better yet put a stock indicator on each item like almost every major overseas retailer does. In my view they are 'too comfortable' with the status quo and need a shakeup.

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

why don't you just "ring" in the first place Glen?


geoff

[bugeater (Marty)]

I've been buying stuff on the internet for at least 15 years now and the local stores always have the same arguments. But they never look at themselves.

In the r/c planes/helis area they were so far behind the technology you were forced to import. Then when they started to stock the newer products, the pricing was massively inflated, plus they knew nothing about the products. It didn't help that almost universally the owners of these stores were incredibly unpleasant people to deal with. Unsurprisingly, I continued to import most stuff.

But what was particularly interesting was that the one local store with very low prices seemed to do a roaring trade. He was even okay to deal with. I'd buy there because I could look at the product and have it that day. Even if it cost a bit more than importing. I don't know if his wholesale costs were lower, but he was clearly playing a low margin, high volume game and completely out-competed the other local stores.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Originally Posted by GTB_an_Owl

why don't you just "ring" in the first place Glen?


geoff

Not everyone has time to call.

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Originally Posted by Nikolas

Not everyone has time to call.

Couldn't find time in 6 months of waiting for a 5 minute phone call? But has time to make a post here about it?

[Tinderboxsky (Steve)]

Originally Posted by issdaol

Every time I see this thread it I have to wonder.....

I'm sure others may choose to disagree....but the title of the thread seems so stilted that it comes across as forced/contrived......
.........
I think this thread is more about self promotion and self justification than any real concern about "Someone" complaining about Bintel's prices

I agree.

Steve

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Originally Posted by troypiggo

Couldn't find time in 6 months of waiting for a 5 minute phone call? But has time to make a post here about it?

I don't need to call, what's your point?

[troypiggo (Troy)]

Originally Posted by Nikolas

I don't need to call, what's your point?

Chill. Was referring to someone else.

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Originally Posted by troypiggo

Chill. Was referring to someone else.

Then maybe refer to them instead? hence the confusion

[dpastern (Dave Pastern)]

Originally Posted by Camelopardalis

I, for one, can't fathom those who look at a price overseas, can't master basic currency conversion or international shipping costs, and then expect local stores to match it.

I guess it comes down to price. Non Astro related, but I wanted a book on a '46 luftwaffe plane. Amazon had it new for USD $80 shipping immediately (about $30 USD shipping on top of that). Dymocks Australia wanted AUD $240! And, didn't stock it. And would take around 6 weeks to get the book into their warehouse to ship to me. And then wanted to charge me around AUD $30 for shipping on top of their inflated price. I sent their customer service team an Email asking if they could match the US price etc and never got a reply. Yeah...so...

With another hobby of mine (Hi Fi), local distributors are MOSTLY a huge rip off with price raking extraordinaire!

I love to support local Australian business and will do so wherever possible. Even if their prices are higher than what I can get from overseas, if it's close, I'll go with the local retailer even if I'm losing out a few $.

Years back I was talking to retailer about a Canon EOS 500mm f4.5 lens. He clearly told me that Canon Australia jacked the price up and I was far better to buy from B&H NY and privately import it to Australia. Canon Australia has now fixed price parity issues and local businesses are now more competitive in this respect thankfully.

Regional distributors are simply a means and a way to rip off local customers. Like with blu ray region coding...(HD DVD didn't have any region coding but guess what, the movie studios boycotted it making it a dead format, in favour of blu ray which guess what, did feature region coding). Market collusion but no government punished these big manufacturers and movie studies did they...so, as a consumer, I tend to look out for #1 unless local business can be competitive.

As an aside, I've always found Bintel's prices competitive and their service and support excellent. I'm not a big spender, but I've spent a little bit of money with them over the years ;-) i can't vouch for other retailers in Australia though.

[dpastern (Dave Pastern)]

Originally Posted by troypiggo

Couldn't find time in 6 months of waiting for a 5 minute phone call? But has time to make a post here about it?

Nicely said Troy. Some people need to help themselves before they expect others to help them...

[bugeater (Marty)]

Originally Posted by dpastern

Nicely said Troy. Some people need to help themselves before they expect others to help them...

Help themselves?

The very fact the suggestion is that you should have to ring to check stock levels indicates a pretty serious deficiency in the retailer relative to most others out there. At least relative to the online retailers I've ever dealt with (which are mostly not in the astronomy space to be fair).

[Kunama]

Originally Posted by bugeater

Help themselves?

The very fact the suggestion is that you should have to ring to check stock levels indicates a pretty serious deficiency in the retailer relative to most others out there. At least relative to the online retailers I've ever dealt with (which are mostly not in the astronomy space to be fair).

I would think it would be logical to call and check. Seems to me everyone these days has a mobile and most people are on them all day long, especially the younger users.

I would rather the store not indicate stock than to indicate that they have them but when you order something you get a reply saying there will be a delay.
I called Bintel a few days ago about a Delos, it was in stock and as a result of me calling it was in the post that day.....

[bugeater (Marty)]

Originally Posted by Kunama

I would think it would be logical to call and check. Seems to me everyone these days has a mobile and most people are on them all day long, especially the younger users.

I would rather the store not indicate stock than to indicate that they have them but when you order something you get a reply saying there will be a delay.
I called Bintel a few days ago about a Delos, it was in stock and as a result of me calling it was in the post that day.....

Well I assure you, isn't the norm and doesn't need to. Most online retailers get it right. Probably because those that don't, go out of business. I think they get away with it in astronomy because it's such a small market and most of the Australian retailers seem to behave the same way or worse.