Hi all. I thought I would relay a story of personal woe and the recent happy ending. Several months ago I purchased a new Celestron AS-GT mount from Orion and picked it up at the Orion retail store in Cupertino, California. When I got the mount home to Petaluma (90 or so miles from Cupertino), I unpacked it and verified that all of the components were present and accounted for. The next morning, before I had my coffee, I proceeded to assemble the mount in our library*. Maybe it was the lack of caffeine, but for some reason I lost my grip on the mount head as I lifted it to the top of the tripod and it spiraled to earth with a *BLAM!*
Okay, more like a dull thud as it landed on a rug and then glanced off the foot of a bookcase. Shock and awe. I was horrified and had a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I examined the mount head and to my dismay both plastic covers on the drives were cracked. I hurriedly assembled the mount and tested it, and fortunately it appeared to operate perfectly. This was confirmed under the night sky later that eveining.
At first, I thought: "No big deal. It still works fine. It won't be new forever anyway." But that obsessive-compulsive streak in me wouldn't let well enough alone. So finally, two days ago, I e-mailed Celestron customer support explaining that I screwed up and broke my motor covers (totally my fault) and wondered whether I could PURCHASE new ones. To my surprise, later that very day Celestron e-mailed me and said they would send me replacements gratis if I would provide my shipping address, which I promptly did. Today, at zero cost to me I received replacement covers from Celestron. They ate the cost of the covers and the $4.80 in express shipping. I'm stunned. Never has Celestron's customer support been so good in my experience.
I say kudos to Synta and the *NEW* Celestron.
Clear skies,
Jim
* Lest you think I'm being snobbish, let me explain the "library." Marriage is a combination of joys and compromises. The "library" is one of those compromises that resolved in my favor. Three years ago when we purchased our home in Petaluma, we set about to plan decorating, furnishings, window coverings and the like. As you can imagine, with a very few exceptions, the home decorating decisions were compromises in which I found myself on the short end. The home featured our first dining room. In my view, a dining room is a large amount of square footage generally allocated for events that happen once per year or even less frequently, furnished with extremely expensive furniture that takes so little use that you could in most cases hand it down to your great, great, great, great, great grandchildren. We are not formal people. When we entertain, we have our guests share the same space our family shares (kitchen, family room, patio, etc.). In short, that dining room was going to see very scant use. Then it dawned on me - we read and two of my contributions to the marital community were one elegant, antique, floor-to-extended-ceiling-almost, breakfront bookcase and a very large, very elegant panel Kirman Persian rug. Seizing the thought I broached the subject of converting the dining room into a clubby library instead. To my utter amazement, she agreed. The only catch was that we needed more shelving, so I had to have a local craftsman construct a semi-reproduction mate to my antique bookcase. Done deal. So you see, our "library" is nothing more than a table-less dining room full of old wood, clubby overstuffed leather chairs and ottomans, books, repro vintage artwork, and, of course, telescopes. If you have a little-used dining room, I highly recommend a library conversion. We took a space we would scarcely use and turned it into a space we use many times per week.
Okay, more like a dull thud as it landed on a rug and then glanced off the foot of a bookcase. Shock and awe. I was horrified and had a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I examined the mount head and to my dismay both plastic covers on the drives were cracked. I hurriedly assembled the mount and tested it, and fortunately it appeared to operate perfectly. This was confirmed under the night sky later that eveining.
At first, I thought: "No big deal. It still works fine. It won't be new forever anyway." But that obsessive-compulsive streak in me wouldn't let well enough alone. So finally, two days ago, I e-mailed Celestron customer support explaining that I screwed up and broke my motor covers (totally my fault) and wondered whether I could PURCHASE new ones. To my surprise, later that very day Celestron e-mailed me and said they would send me replacements gratis if I would provide my shipping address, which I promptly did. Today, at zero cost to me I received replacement covers from Celestron. They ate the cost of the covers and the $4.80 in express shipping. I'm stunned. Never has Celestron's customer support been so good in my experience.
I say kudos to Synta and the *NEW* Celestron.
Clear skies,
Jim
* Lest you think I'm being snobbish, let me explain the "library." Marriage is a combination of joys and compromises. The "library" is one of those compromises that resolved in my favor. Three years ago when we purchased our home in Petaluma, we set about to plan decorating, furnishings, window coverings and the like. As you can imagine, with a very few exceptions, the home decorating decisions were compromises in which I found myself on the short end. The home featured our first dining room. In my view, a dining room is a large amount of square footage generally allocated for events that happen once per year or even less frequently, furnished with extremely expensive furniture that takes so little use that you could in most cases hand it down to your great, great, great, great, great grandchildren. We are not formal people. When we entertain, we have our guests share the same space our family shares (kitchen, family room, patio, etc.). In short, that dining room was going to see very scant use. Then it dawned on me - we read and two of my contributions to the marital community were one elegant, antique, floor-to-extended-ceiling-almost, breakfront bookcase and a very large, very elegant panel Kirman Persian rug. Seizing the thought I broached the subject of converting the dining room into a clubby library instead. To my utter amazement, she agreed. The only catch was that we needed more shelving, so I had to have a local craftsman construct a semi-reproduction mate to my antique bookcase. Done deal. So you see, our "library" is nothing more than a table-less dining room full of old wood, clubby overstuffed leather chairs and ottomans, books, repro vintage artwork, and, of course, telescopes. If you have a little-used dining room, I highly recommend a library conversion. We took a space we would scarcely use and turned it into a space we use many times per week.
