Frustrating Planet…

Well this post is going to be a bit of a rant I’m afraid, so you’ve been warned

I recently ordered a Solar Filter for my telescope from Telescope Planet. All started off quite good as I’d also ordered an observing hood along with it and straight away an email came back from the company advising that the hoods were out of stock, and would be a while coming in so would I like to cancel the order?! I decided I could wait for the hood so asked them to leave the order in place. Shortly after that I had a few humorous emails with the admin chap at Telescope Planet about light pollution etc. Anyway, to cut a long story short(ish)…. So the next day the Solar Filter turned up, which is a pretty fast turn around for delivery so I was impressed of course. Unfortunately the Solar Filter didn’t fit. It fits telescopes up between 130-150mm diameter and my telescope is 150mm aperture, so the external width of the tube is more than 150mm. I emailed Telescope Planet about 4 times explaining my dilemma and received no response. I phoned twice, John (my hubby) phoned twice, still no answer to the question “can I exchange for the next size please?”. Finally after one more email I got a response from the original admin chap. Yes, I could exchange, Hooray!!! So I sent the item back and duly waited a couple of days… Didn’t hear anything from the company so I telephoned, again I was told I needed to speak to the admin guy and they’d get him to call me back. He didn’t. Sent ump tine emails, no response. Finally I had to send a snotty email saying I’d like an exchange item or receive a full refund, but a response at least by the end of the week or I’d take legal advise. Needless to say I got an email straight back! The next size is out of stock – that was all the email said, nothing more, nothing less. So I asked for a refund and that is going through, that’s when they finally added “apologies for any inconvenience”.

My main point is am I the only person who thinks customer service has gone down the drain these days? What a shocking customer service department this company has if you ask me.

Anyway, I feel better now I’ve had a rant, but I’ve yet to see the refund appear on my credit card statement so the saga may still continue, who knows…..

Family History

I’ve been researching my family history for some time now and because its been ongoing for a while, information now arrives in drips and drabs. I did have a bit of fortune this weekend though as I’m a member of the FHSC (Family History Society Cheshire) and they had published a request of mine for anyone with information of the Gater name in Crewe/Nantwich region to please get in touch. One such person did just that and a whole array of information has just been opened up. Its such a good feeling to swap family stories with someone new who might be a connection to your family line. Anyway, emails are still flowing back and forth so I look forward to learning yet more about the Gater name and genealogy in general, (this chap who has contacted me has extensive experience as he’s been working on his family tree since 1959).

An unsweet chariot?

England RU team suffered on Saturday again against South Africa. The first half definitely showed promise and we even managed to equalize at one point, then in the second half it seemed we just ran out of stamina and let the game slip. It was certainly good to have Jonny Wilkinson back as a stomach bug has plagued the side over the last couple of weeks, and his influence shone through.  For full details on the game see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/english/6716305.stm