Good luck with that!
Since Celestron changed distributors, for what appears to be short sighted reasons, getting anything from them in a timely manner is difficult, if not impossible.
I am a Celestron owner and, as such, haven't had much in the way of problems, but, when I did, Extravision (where I bought it) was extremely helpful and sent a replacement part immediately. The difference in dealing with specialist is service!
I will never buy any new Celestron or Synta (who own Celestron) products again, not because they aren't good, as they are great, but because of the poor service in Australia, since they changed distributors.
I wanted to buy the Celestron Astrometric eyepiece through Bintel (supporting the Australian retailer, as I mostly do), but Sheldon & Hammond couldn't supply it and couldn't even give a time frame for delivery, according to Bintel.
I couldn't get it from overseas, from someone that actually had it in stock, either because of Celestron's restrictive practices. Instead of being able to purchase it from the US, as there was no stock in Australia, it was dictated by Celestron that I can only purchase it in Australia, but the Australian distributor doesn't stock it and didn't appear to be interested in satisfying their customer; frustrating.
Yes, I can even understand why they wouldn't have this item in stock in Australia as it isn't a high demand item. But, what really irritated me was that they couldn't even tell me when I would get it if I ordered it. But then, Extravision (my other preferred Australian dealer) did have an equivalent item, and in stock, yipeee.
Anyway, as it turned out, I lucked out, as Extravision had the Baader equivalent in stock. As I needed it fairly quickly I bought the Baader from Extravision, and although it was a bit more expensive than the Celestron equivalent, it turned out to be a superior eyepiece anyway. So Baader 1, Celestron nil. I am so happy that S&H didn't have the Celestron one now, as this was the first Baader eyepiece I have owned and it is great!
That is the difference in dealing with the specialist in the area than dealing with a dealer who mostly deals in kitchenwares, as far as I am aware. Celestron is just another product for them and not a passion, as with dedicated dealers such as Extravision and Bintel.
