I ordered a telescope on December 2nd for my son that should have arrived as a Christmas gift. I received multiple emails about delays in December then stopped even getting those. I initiated contact in April as months had gone by with no further contact and was told it was to arrive in June. That has come and gone with no response to two more emails Ive sent. I have no issue with delays due to COVID but to charge up front then not deliver the item for almost ten months is ridiculous. Even considering unusual circumstances, this was handled extremely poorly and I am now waiting a response to multiple emails asking about a refund at this point.

After much trial and error, I only buy from OPT. They often have stuff in stock when other stores dont. Their service is superb, they know their stuff! I have called them many times, and they are patient and intelligent. You dont want to spend 100s of dollars and not be able to use what you bought. Thank you for doing business the old fashioned way!

Their pricing is great and unless you buy something used, you wont find a cheaper alternative. Shipping is generally free, so if you are looking elsewhere, factor that into your decision.I think they have been a bit overwhelmed during the pandemic, so they can be slow to respond to emails. They are upfront about things being in/out of stock, though you have to know if something is out of stock they have little to no control over that.They say they ship the same day an order is received (by a certain time of the day), but I havent always found that to be the case (again, pandemic). They nearly always create the *label* for shipping the same day, but they dont always get it to the post office on the same day (or indeed, the next day). Ive also had some minor issues where they provided tracking for UPS, but actually sent the item USPS. Emails about how/why this happened werent responded to. Again, these were relatively minor issues, and I got everything I ordered. A little communication would have gone a long way on their part. Otherwise, this would be a 5-star review.

I have ordered most of my astrophotography gear from OPT and highly recommend their services. Shipping has been a breeze (when items are in stock). When items are backordered, OPT will notify when the item is on the way, out for delivery, and delivered.

Quick and easy! Always making sure you got what you needed before you hit order! Order my first telescope through them and had great results since then.

I with I could give them zero stars. This company has hands down the worst customer service I can possibly imagine. I ordered a telescope that indicated it would be in in 2-4 weeks back in December. When it hadnt shown up or been shipped in 6 weeks, I contacted them for an update. The update that I finally got indicated it was now backordered and was due to arrive to them in June. I waited until June with no additional updates from them and then reached out again for an update. At which point my order was cancelled, because the telescope I ordered is apparently no longer being made by the manufacturer. So Ive been out hundreds of dollars and waited six months for a Christmas gift for my son to arrive only to now be told that it wont be arriving at all. This company came recommended by someone who is heavily involved with telescopes, so we thought maybe they would be decent to work with. We could not have been more wrong. They claimed to be in constant contact with their suppliers, yet they didnt know the product they happily took our money for was no longer available until I asked about it. I wonder how much longer they would have help onto my money if I hadnt checked in again. Hopefully I actually get it back when this is all done. I will never order from them again and I highly recommend that no one else order from them either. Their customer service is a HUGE joke and thats not worth it for such an expensive purchase.

Allpro service, very knowledgeable with current product lines and options. Refunds no hassle, great store and friendly people there to help.I live in the Bay Area and enjoy dropping by the store on trips to San Diego to see all the new & used telescopes and equipment.

Im looking at some of the other reviews about how fast and timely they received their products. These are most likely phony reviews posted by the company. I ordered two items from them at Xmas time and my wife ordered one item. My two items took 1 month and 3 months to receive. The item my wife ordered took 5 months to arrive. The products are very nice and as expected. The company fails to inform you up front how long it takes to get things and when you inquire about shipping schedules, they are very elusive. The products are built and shipped from China as a first come first serve basis and are put in a queue when the order is placed. I looked at a bunch of reviews for another company Optics Planet and seems to be about the same with them. Looking through some other reviews on here, reminded me of the payment process. Most companies dont charge your credit card until the product ships but that is not the case with OPT. They charge your card as soon as the order is placed.

The level of service and customer focus has been taken to a new level! Drew Evans and Scott Laymon put the customer first and make it a point to be responsive. They are building a great team on the west coast.If covid has taught us anything it is that no industry has been unaffected by the pandemic. The have it next day amazon style approach works great when the machine is well oiled and there are no hiccups in the supply chain. In times like these, all good things come with time.

I recently purchased a William Optics telescope from OPT. They were the only place I could find that had it in stock. I live in Canada, so I was a little worried about shipping. This went far better than I had expected and I received the telescope very fast. I highly recommend giving OPT your business !

Was looking for the Celestron NexStar SLT 102 telescope. The 102 was on backorder thru the Celestron site but they do have other retailers that carry Celestron products. I chose to go with OPT and they did a great job getting my order to me in a reasonable amount of time. Telescope was very easy to put together and although there have been cloudy skies in the Atlanta area, I have been unable to use it. However, I plan on purchasing a Barlow lens and taking it up to our lake house where there are definitely dark and hopefully clear skies to view the heavens. The OPT website also offers classes to those new to astronomy and new to using the telescope among others. Just go to the OPT homepage and click on Learn with OPT. Great looking telescope and although I have not used it yet, I have been able to look thru the instruction manual to get familiar with the operation of the telescope when I view for the first time.

March 24 - asked OPT tech support what specific solar filter would fit the telescope I purchased from OPT. Ordered what the tech expert suggested - guess what - May 12 it didnt fit. OPT made me pay for the return shipping!!! Their mistake. I had to send OPT the communication - where they told me to order the incorrect part. Still radio silent on that. Finally ordered the correct filter May 21 and its still on BO - customer service / communications on BO too! Last order with these guys.

Beware of OPT and their questionable practices. I order two very expensive eyepieces and received two cheap eyepieces that were not even close in appearance or naming. When I called to obtain some type of refund I was put on hold for 20 minutes and then hung up on. When I called back that was another 15 minutes was told that I had to send in photos of the eyepieces I received, these photos would be reviewed some time in the near future, then this photos would go to the warehouse, someone at the warehouse will review the photos and decide if I indeed received the wrong eyepieces. If they agree I got the wrong eyepieces they would email customer service who would then determine if I should receive the eyepieces I originally ordered. Then and only then would an RMA be submitted to me after which I would mail the eyepieces back to OPT, then the warehouse would contact customer service to verify receipt of the eyepieces and the warehouse would have to wait for a go ahead from customer service to ship out the eyepieces. OPT is very quick to take your money, send out the wrong equipment, then engage with a convoluted procedure to give you what you originally paid for. If this were a credible company they would mail out the correct eyepieces with an enclosed RMA-Done!. You have been warned. I would recommend you spend your hard earned money somewhere, anywhere else. I sure will in the future.

Ordered a new heavy duty tripod for my Nexstar 8SE. They shipped all the way to Maui (for a reasonable fee). Shipping was very quick and received it intact. They double boxed it which protected it well. Highly recommended.

I am fed up with the lack of follow up and communication from this company. They are apologetic when they get a call to you. But they NEVER follow up and do what they say will be done. I ordered items and it was bad. I was told..as soon as the old is in the syste., we will ship out the new one.Now..WITH that you would expect at the LEAST a tracking #?Nope...I called and no one has a clue where my replacement is. I am so tired of the runaround by this company, its just sickening. I know of others that feel the exact same way.

Poor customer service. I bought a telescope as a Christmas gift for my husband at the beginning of December. It did not finally show up until the month of March. We had to call several times to get any information from them. There were no updates or any attempt to reach out to us and assure us that our purchase was still on its way.

I bought the Omegon Tracking Mount online from this store, and it arrived timely, and in a well-packaged box. The tracker is a great compact, light-weight, and very affordable gadget to avoid star trailing when taking wide-field, longer exposure pictures. Straightforward to set up out of the box (see the attached no-track/track pictures for a first quick 60s exposure experiment on a cloudy night when the box arrived). Highly recommended. The only tiny minor point is that the polar finder tube is not easy on the eye, so I will replace that with an actual finder scope.

I had one of the best customer support recently from this company. I disagree with people that is impossible to get in touch with customer support. I waited on (phone) line maybe 5 minutes to get my place and to talk to a person. Danielle answered and provided me very clear options on how to address my back-order concerns. She was clear, kind, and thoughtful. I had to decide to cancel my order, because I cannot afford getting my credit taken, and I need it to buy another Christmas gift. That was my decision, so I will get a refund with no problem.I will totally come back again to this company for future purchases.We all are dealing with challenging time, and we have to hear and support each other. All the best for all!

Great team of people. Even with shipping times being out of their control they still maintained constant updates and responses. will definitely be purchasing from them again.

Very quick shipment. This telescope is perfect for me. It was recommended for beginners. Very happy with it!

In an era of miserable customer service, this outfit takes first place.The service agent sent his email and phone number, and then just refused to respond for days. I finally gave up. The excuses for him were worthy of a sitcom. Very disappointed after spending a considerable amount of money with them.

I really like the how knowledgeable and helpful the staff is. I had asked a simple question about a component that they did not currently offer and within 15 minutes they had added it to their website and put it into my order. The selection is great and they beat their delivery estimate for an item I had backordered. I would definitely recommend them.

My OPT purchase was quick and easy. Product was packaged very well. Was received quickly. Product was as described. Worked great. I looking forward to buying more from this company. ie a new telescope and mount.

First contacted customer support 20 days ago. My money is gone I just receive automated emails. I even tried to reach out via multiple other platforms with no luck. $300 is a lot to spend to just get swept under the rug by a company and I might have to have my bank manually refund this. I was really hoping for a better experience on my 1st OPT order but so far my money is just gone.Edit: they reached out and provided my refund. I hope to have a better experience next time i order.

Excellent company to purchase from. Very knowledgeable staff who helped me over the phone before the purchase. After ordering, they shipped out the telescope the same day.

This is a one stop shop for astronomers. Their inventory is very large and they usually stock the most popular items. If they don’t have the item you need, they can get it to you within days. The staff is very knowledgeable and they can give you advice on whatever needs you may have related to astronomy. Great place to shop!

From Christmas, I purchase a 1. Sky Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Pro Pack. It was easy to setup, but first I would look for information videos on YouTube. I used it to take pictures of the Full Moon in December 2020. I set the unit to the moon setting and it stayed on target. I also tried for sunrise and that setting seem to work fine also. I cant wait to use it for astrophotography. Starting in February 2021, the Milky Way will be visible again in the early morning hours. I cant wait to head to dark sky site and try. I had questions for the Support Group at OPT, and I had quick response. I am very satisfy with product and staff at OPT.

This place is horrible so far. I placed my very first order with them. I paid for overnight shipping and still have not received my product. I’ve emailed them three separate times, no response. I’ve called several times and their automated machine just hangs up on my because there is “no one” available. I ordered through this website specifically because of the “fast” shipping. At this point I want a refund and to take my business elsewhere but I can’t even reach a person to do that! Horrible experience. Never again.

Great company. I think a lot negative feedback is coming from supply issues due to COVID. A lot of resellers are getting unfairly targeted due to stock. Ive ordered a large set of eyepieces, a Telrad and a counter weight from them. Overall they are quite quick to respond to question, given all the messages they are getting for stock issues. I recommend them and intend to order from them again. In stock items arrive quickly and are boxed appropriately. Thanks again.

Ordered a telescope in November, I still havent received it. I get covid has caused back orders but its been two months. My big issue is that Ive sent several emails asking about updates with only one reply that had no relevant information.Ive been on hold over the phone several times and have been hung up on, switched to another rep and hung up on, left voicemail etc... Im starting to think this is a very well thought out scam. I would try to get my money back from them but Im sure Ill get hung up on again or not receive any customer service. Im probably going to have to go through Pay Pal to have my money refunded. Very not impressed!!! Do not buy from them!!!!Zero stars if it was possible.

Opt has made quite a blunder of my orders before although I will say they put extreme efforts to remedy my issues and eventually got me all taken care of. Although I’d have liked to not have had the issues to begin with OPT gets a thumbs up for putting efforts into fixing and getting me my product and I’ve never had damaged items or anything missing. Great job OPT.

Dont bother right now. Their customer support team is so short staffed and overwhelmed that if you get a defective scope and need it replaced youll be placed into email purgatory for a month. In the end I didnt even get the scope exchanged, they havent responded to an email in 13 days and processed a refund without comment.Looking at the other reviews they used to be better. Please invest back into your customer support team, they need help.

I bought a telescope over the Summer and took it on a trip to Colorado shortly thereafter. It was in my checked luggage and when I went to use it to my surprise it was damaged. I could tell from previous use of my scope that it was a quality product so by suitcase must have taken a hard hit. I reached out to OPT and was put in touch with Angel Amicay, an employee of the company. He has spend the last two days on the phone w me while I run around looking for my owners manuals and has been taking a lot of his time to assist me. We are currently in middle of this process but his patience and knowledge of the product are instilling me with confidence that I will be using my scope again soon. Customer service like this is hard to find these days and that deserves recognition. Great job Angel and thank you!

This was my first order from OPT as I am just getting into Astrophotography. Everything went without a hitch, good pricing and awesome selection of equipment. I will be doing a lot of business with them going forward!

Great company to do business with! My order shipped within a day, and arrived quickly as a result, despite being on the other coast.

My online purchases have been hassle free, they communicated honestly and openly. Their prices are fair and the service was reliable. Ill be using them again.

Ordered a telescope with a delivery date of 2 weeks, it has now been OVER SEVEN MONTHS. Any time I ask for an update the answer is “oh, it’ll just be a few more weeks.” Terrible.

Have been a very long time customer of OPT back when owned by Craig. Always outstanding service. Wish I could say the same about the current situation. Once your order is placed, your card is charged reqardless if it is in stock or not. Wrong filter wheel sent to me which they acknowledged but they have gone silent since I asked about a call tag. I have tried to cancel the order as it was in stock elsewhere. I will consider doing a chargeback on the entire order to see if that gets their attention. Covid or not, there is not excuse for lack of communications. Cant recommend them anymore and can only hope they return to the OPT of old. Dean

Outstanding technical and customer service and the best telescope prices anywhere.............my next scope will be from OPT.........they treated me like family, not a customer................raymond lowery

I ordered a Skytracker for my wifes 50th birthday, was being delivered to a friends address where we were going to be. Ordered showed processed all things were good, then for no reason they canceled the order and recalled the shipment. No phone call, no correspondence. When I requested why the order was canceled they stated cause of fraud. Not my credit card but their internal decision. Then sent an e mail that stated they could only ship to the billing address, however there is a bill to and ship to for you to fill out. Never heard of such a thing. Screwed up my wifes 50th birthday gift.Company is a joke..Will never do business with them again

Ordered Telescope, next day air. Got nothing. Tried calling to follow up, no response. Tried emailing and chatting as well... no response. Too bad, because we really wanted the telescope they had.

After watching their Youtube videos, I was inspired. The staff was very helpful and I found the right scope. It was delivered as promised and I couldnt be happier. Thanks OPT!

Customer service far from world class. They never have a problem billing you quickly, but if you have a question expect to have to ask multiple times before getting a response. I understand that companies are under duress from Covid but they go beyond a reasonable patience level. This is disturbing, as there are other places to shop, many that price match... so when the field is level, service is a large factor. All of this relates to something I was billed for and never received. A month after inquiring all you get is a canned response to this review, and no attempt by the owner to even consider helping you. Terrible service.UPDATE:I received my item in February 2021, after it was ordered in June of 2020. The last update from them I received was September of 2020 (where it was promised by the end of that month), and was initiated by myself, again having to mail multiple times before receiving a response. Four months later, I actually got it. I was notified when it was shipped, but little consolation at that point.

I bought a Telegizmos cover from OPT and it is great quality.Even higher quality is Angel the sales associate at OPT who helped me.Thank you Angel and OPTMark

My husband ordered a star tracker to surprise me for my 50th birthday. He had managed to find a way to surprise me and have it shipped to a friends we would be visiting while traveling in our 5th wheel for the Winter. I couldnt figure out why he got so upset until I learned they canceled the order because the billing address didnt match shipping address, which even if it was our home address used they still wouldnt match. The worse thing is they never even tried to verify, canceled after it was shipped. Needless to say no surprise and he had to tell me what he is trying to get me by my birthday now that he has to order it somewhere else.

The worst online shopping experience Ive had in 25 years. Google Shopping advised that there was stock of the product I ordered, OPTs website showed low stock. I ordered the product, received an order confirmation, received a further congrats on your new gear email. Three days later and after not receiving a shipping confirmation email or any details, I emailed OPT and was then after a few more days advise that the telescope wasnt in stock and would be back in stock mid-April.I have since requested a refund by emailing three times, calling, sending messages through the Facebook chat and through the website chat - have only received one answer through messenger offering to get me a call back - which hasnt been followed up on despite my reply.OPT is simply the WORST!

Terrible customer service, they only care about getting as much money out of you as possible. They dont help in anyway and only want to send you an invoice of the most expensive products. I will never purchase from them again.I highly recommend taking your business elsewhere, as they dont offer anything thats special. They will lie to you about product availability and then charge you months before the item is available. Im not sure how this place has a four star rating.

OPT had what I was looking for, and the item was shipped within a few hours of ordering! Great service!

I love this place! After dealing with multiple other companies trying to solve an issue with my telescope I decided to call OTPCourp and luckily I did! When I called I was transferred to Jake and he not only knew how to fix my issue but he also provided me with a lot of useful information. Thank you Jake and OTP! I highly recommend these guys and I will definitely return!!

From OPT, I rEcently bought an IOptron AZ Mount Pro from OPT, a used but like new one because that was the only one I could find anywhere. The mount works well for my 4 inch refractor weighing 17 pounds with a 2 inch diagonal, heavy eyepiece and Telrad finder. The GoTo finds, any vibrations quickly dampen and tracking is quite plus accurate. Two minor complaints about this AZ PRO mount: (1) the leveling bubble refuses to enter the center circle even when two other levels confirm the mount is leveled throughout a complete azimuth revolution, and (2) instruction manuals seem to be provided only online. I can live with both problems and plan to keep the iOptron mount indefinitely.As for OPT, the online service has been good. The additional mount parts ordered have been in stock or were quickly obtained and have arrived as expected once shipped. I needed help over the phone one time and that was provided immediately even on a Saturday afternoon. I appreciate their used equipment section as there seems to be a worldwide shortage of astronomy equipment in these peculiar times. The OPT web page could consolidate links to optional equipment available for the AZ Mount PRO. I have used Cloudy Nights online forums to identify what add on equipment was needed and so far OPT has provided. Not much to complain about with this company.

Very disappointed in the service. Tried to use Chat yesterday to obtain an update on my order and why it has not shipped. Initial chat was acknowledged but there was no response after that. Unclear if it was a technical issue or not. But for an online only company you would think there would be better options to check on order status and get updates. At this point Id prefer to cancel my order and buy elsewhere so I can have the items in time for a gift this weekend. But cant get a response.

Two weeks since they shipped my order and I havent received it yet. No one answers their phone to help me and emails go unanswered. Horrible service.Edit- They shipped my item via USPS, totally aware that packages they send out are not moving because of Californias obnoxious shutdown. They offered no answers as to when my package will leave that godforsaken state. They have my money and have washed their hands of it. Last time I order anything from OPT.

On the East coast, there is High Point-here on the West coast we have OPT. Time after time, transaction after transaction, OPT has shipped the same day, at reasonable prices and the goods have been delivered in perfect condition. This is my go to seller!

I bought a celestron scope on 11/20 directly from the Opt website. My credit card was charged as soon as the purchase was completed online. I received no communication on expected lead time. I emailed support at the end of december and was told lead time expected to deliver by end of January. customer support then became unresponsive to later lead time requests. i emailed support again in late january and again in mid february with no reply. I then had to cancel the order because it became apparent i would never receive it nor would i get any reply from support. I would highly advise against ordering through opt. I can understand long lead times at the manufacturing level out of their control, but i experienced very poor customer service on their end. additionally, my credit card should not have been charged until the product ships. now i have to dispute the charge and fight to get my money back.

They choose how to contact you and when. They also think its ok not to tell you when your order is ready to be shipped or if the product you ordered is in stock! Waiting 3 months and counting for a simple telescope. Purchase from Amazon! Support global retailers, jfc.

Easily the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Ordered a telescope next day air, and a week later still no confirmation that its in transit. It is impossible to get anyone to answer questions whether its over the phone, email or their chat app. Would not recommend.

After receiving excellent help and insightful recommendations from one of their salemen, I decided to place an order on a telescope over a month ago. After about a week, OPT reached out to me to let me know that I would be receiving my order later than I thought. They were very apologetic and explained everything to me, and I can honestly say that the transparency I received from their customer service was very much appreciated. Every person I have dealt with either via phone or email has been helpful, and although I am still waiting on my order, I understand that it is not necessarily OPTs fault. Many factors are affecting not just me but many other customers and retailers in general. All in all, Im very pleased with my experience with OPT, and I will definitely be purchasing from them again!-Tony

I, as others, also ordered a telescope. I placed my order on Nov 7th, 2020. I received a couple of emails later on telling me that due to COVID orders were delayed. I completely understand this reason. The only problem I have with this company is that I have not received an email about my order status since Dec 5th, 2020, not even a response after contacting them a couple of times. I decided to cancel my order because the company failed to keep me updated on the status of my order and now they dont even respond to my cancellation emails or my IM inquiries. This is the first time I ordered from this company and for sure it will be my last. Based on the horrible customer service and professionalism this company has, I greatly recommend not buying from them. I gave one star since I cannot give zero.

Under normal circumstances probably a good company. However, if my current experience with them is typical of the way they will go forward while coved is raging proceed with caution. Make sure if you purchase something from them you are absolutely sure of it. My own experience was not good. I took a chance on a William Optics item that doesn’t live up to the hype, purchased it from them and then when I wanted to exchange/return my requests for an authorization were ignored. This happened over three attempts and after being assure twice someone would respond. Nothing. Proceed with caution, that is all I can suggest.

The web site is absolutely useless. They have NOTHING in stock. If you dont carry a product then why bother advertising it. These notes of more on the way in 14 - 28 days and extended backorder.... has been there for weeks.This is what happens when you give one country, China, all of our manufacturing and either through purposeful or unforeseen circumstances can no longer provide the product. The world better wake up.

I am so impressed with the level of customer service Ive so far received from OPT staff with my growing and backordered shipment. I cant imagine the pressure during COVID times that they have, dealing with shipment delays and the holidays. Kudos to them!

The OWB filter is awesome. Easy to drop in to my full spectrum canon camera and take normal photos when not doing astrophotography.

We purchased Celestron Skymaster binoculars from OPT. Glad to support a small business, and we love the quality. Despite complaints from other reviews, I found the service personnel to be very helpful in a time when we all need to be a little patient (I saw containers piled up in the port in Oakland on the news - Christmas during Covid was a logjam). I would definitely buy from OPT again. They know high quality optical equipment, and I found the price to be better than the Gigantazon stores they compete against. The Celestron binoculars work great for star gazing as they bring in a lot of light and have high end prisms and coatings, but we also use them for looking at birds and animals in the back yard. I also bought an adaptor that allows me to attach the binoculars to a tripod I already owned for use with a camera. I am very happy with my purchases.

Fantastic product selection and customer service. I order online frequently from OptCorp and never have a single doubt about my order.

I recently purchased a camera for my telescope. ZWO AS1224MC. Not being a computer wiz I was concerned about any issues that could arise. Before purchasing I contacted sales to make sure my selection would work with my Mac. I quickly received a return message stating it would. After receiving the camera I found the installation of the software to be beyond my abilities. I have called OPT several times over the past several days. Only once did I actually speak to person. She attempted to pass me to their support staff which led to me being on hold for about an hour and then being cut off. I tried to return the call but got no where. Very frustrating. Not sure I would recommend this company.

Website wasn’t saying “out of stock”. I ordered for my friend birthday, But technically it was out of stock. So after 5 days waiting I spent an hour(yes) on the phone to get that now I have to wait 2-3 month... Unacceptable service.

After giving them more than $3000, they no longer answer phones, respond to emails, or ship my product. I will have to go through my credit card company to get my. money back. They say they are the largest telescope store, but my experience suggests this store is a scam. UPDATE: after numerous emails, failed phone calls, and chat sessions that end with instruction on how to contact OPT a different method, I did receive the most important part of my order (the telescope). They do claim to have excellent service, and since many items are out of stock, they either cant get inventory, or they are selling so much inventory during COVID they cant keep up, and havent adapted.. It would be unfortunate if they were unable to get stock to sell....but if they had more demand than expected, there has been ample time to adapt to COVID.UPDATE 2: after weeks of trying to contact them, we determined that my telescope was defective. They gave me an RMA. I spent $200 to send back the telescope. And now they have ghosted me. No phone, no emails, no chat. I had to dispute with my credit card company. This company is toxic and should be avoided.

As many others have stated, their customer service is pathetic. Theyre more than happy to process your order and take your money, but good luck getting them to answer the phone or an email! I like how they constantly use covid as excuse. Will never order from them again

If you know exactly what you want and OPT has it in stock, you can order it and they will ship it to you. (and earn 2 stars) If you need knowledgeable, friendly advise on the equipment they sell, or hassle free returns, look elsewhere.I recently ordered multiple items worth several thousand dollars from OPT. One item which the sales rep recommended, (and was mistaken as to its function), was not in stock. I was told it would ship in a week or two. Two months after paying for it, still waiting. It is a poor business practice to charge a customer when an item is ordered rather than when it ships. I was not happy with another item, which the sales rep recommended, and requested a return authorization number - 2 weeks after purchase. Instead OPT politely suggested that I didnt know what I was doing and forwarded me a link to a YouTube video. No return number was provided, and the video was not helpful.My future purchases will be elsewhere.

Customer service is hard to get a hold of. Follow up: Two months after initial customer service issues, once again they are unavailable to help resolve more issues. We canceled order. They said they would refund money. Never did. :( - They even replied to this comment saying they would reach out....they never did that either.

Ive been reaching out to the company about not receiving my order but no answer always get a voice message to call back during operation hours so I tried every day different times still nothing and Ive emailed as well

Fast shipping, great packaging and fair prices. I am happy.

I have been trying to cancel an order for two weeks now. Their website claims a 1-2 day response time. I now have an ongoing chain of 14 emails with no response. Its like screaming into a black hole.

Customer service is non existant. I have requested an rma to return an item nobody will respond, which has bern a week. Then started a chat and was told to get ahold of the returns dept. Which I have done a couple of times. Will never buy from them ever again.Update: January 29th, finally got my refund after several emails. If they are so busy, maybe they should hire more people and work weekends..

I wrote a harsh review after waiting two months for my order and when it arrived, it did not contain all the items I ordered. It seems as though some of irritation in my numerous attempts to contact them, got through. A two day delivery arrived at my house today with all but one of the remaining items. Missing a Dew shield. Although I still believe their customer service leaves something to desire, I most apologize for my jumping the gun and admit the company finally came through.All of the equipment arrived undamaged and waiting for my use. I will change my rating of 1 to a 3 based solely on their failure to respond to any of my communications. The equipment is outstanding and I can only hope any future orders with OPT will go more smoothly.

I have the 8in skywatcher. Great views and easy to use. Well worth the money

Purchased a telescope through them after reading the description on their website for its capabilities. The item was on backorder so it took quite some time to be delivered. However, their communication on the order status was non-existent other than to say it was backordered. Took multiple attempts on numerous occasions to get an answer on even an expected time frame. Eventually was delivered and the product itself was well packaged and a very nice telescope. Problem number two though was that the telescope was unable to do what they advertised it to be capable of. Astromaster 130EQ Newtonian Telescope was described to be able to see star clusters, the moon, and planetary detail. When I set it up I attempted to look at Mars...not only did it show no detail, I was able to see it better and get better color of the planet with the naked eye. After discussing with the manufacturer it was determined the telescope was operating and setup properly. Only then did they tell me that it is not designed to see Planets without purchasing better lenses (to the tune of $130 plus) to try and make it work ok. After contacting OPT, they also said I would need to buy the better lenses. Now I am trying to get a FULL refund for the telescope versus a partial one after returning it due to their incorrect website description. Be cautious about purchasing from them as it is now evident that their online descriptions are inaccurate unless you are willing to spend even more money to make the product work.

I just want to take a moment to complement OPT and their call-in support staff. So far, everytime Ive called in theyve tried to help, have been patient listening to my request and trying to help. My order HAS taken FOREVER LOL, but that I know is NOT their fault, darn COVID so Ive been excited waiting, spending time reading about other things and I would call the staff asking about these other things I may need to consider on my order and they have always been helpful. Again, my hats off to them.

This is my go-to store for astronomy and astrophotography. They have a great selection, fair prices and always ship my orders fast! Great communication too!

I ordered a telescope as christmas gift, I realized the website said they will receive more in 14-28 days so I needed to cancel my order. This process has been super difficult not to mention the telescope was priced great and shipping said it was free, i went to complete the order and turns out i HAD to pay for shipping which was $60!!!!!!!!! I found the exact same telescope on a different website for $10 more than this one BUT shipping was free. I ordered it last night and i got an email today saying it has already shipped and will be here by the 10th. Still haven’t gotten to speak to someone in regards to cancelling my order and they are very difficult to get in touch with... terrible customer service I do not recommend this site to anyone!

Great buyer experience. Highly recommended.

I ordered a telescope from OPT in early May. I was informed at that time that it would arrive in June - a timeframe I was ok with. June came and went and the telescope never arrived so I called to inquire about the status. I was then informed that the product would arrive in 2 weeks. After two weeks has passed and, again, the telescope never I arrived I called to inquire as to the status. I was told it would arrive mid-October. Its now the end of October and the telescope still is not here. Very disappointed.

Excellent service!Despite what many people comment, everyone needs to take into consideration the challenge with Covid at this time. Being that many people are out of work, many are taking up a new hobby - Astronomy and Astrophotography. As one can imagine, OPT is getting bombarded with purchases and yes, it does take a while to get product. With that said, GREAT JOB OPT!!!

Customer service is non existent. Their website states same day shipping. I called to insure that the telescope I was ordering was in stock and was told yes, it was in stock. I placed the order and received an order confirmation the following day by email. After 10 days not receiving shipping notification I have been calling for two days, continuously all day. They send you directly to voicemail. I emailed them two days ago and have received no reply. Very disappointing. Telescope was for my Grandsons Birthday. There should be a penalty for false advertising.

I ordered the Celestron Nexstar Evolution 9.25 from OPT at the end of August, knowing in advance that it would be a back-order situation. I certainly didnt expect it to be nearly 4 months, however, but this was not OPTs fault. The manufacturer was overburdened with orders, etc. due to the whole COVID-19 dynamic. The folks at OPT were always prepared to provide me with the most current update from Celestron and were very helpful along the way. Its crazy times right now all around, and I was very pleased with the level of professionalism in which they handled my order.When it finally shipped, I received it within just a couple of days! It arrived safe and sound and in excellent condition. I am very excited and pleased in choosing to make this particular product investment with OPT.

Worst customer service, ever. Purchased a RedCat, Sky Tracker, and accessory for my tri-pod. Was told by customer service and sales that my order would be shipped by middle November. They also agreed to keep it at their warehouse for me to pick up, since I was local.Well, here we are at the end of December. Was promised a full refund for my order, and they only processed a partial for the redcat. Don’t have or want the other accessories since they were specific to that item. Already had to deal with them trying to ship it before they received the RedCat, and contrary to what was agreed upon.Oh, but I’m still making the payments for financing, even though nothing has been done correctly. Today was my 10th call to sales/customer service. I have sent multiple emails too. Do yourself a favor, go to the manufacturer directly, or Adorama. These guys are a total racket. Tired of COVID being used as an excuse willful fraud!

World class customer service? I think not. I ordered 4 weeks ago, took my money. No shipping details or information received and they have failed to return numerous calls, emails and messages!

I ordered an open box Hyperstar adapter for my SCT telescope from OPT. I had questions about it before I ordered and the customer service was prompt and helpful! The Hyperstar adapter has been an awesome piece of gear for my astrophotography rig.

I ordered a few items (incl. a ZWO camera) 3 months ago knowing that Covid impacted their business - as many other businesses - and that delivery may take up to 4 weeks. They confirmed my order and charged my credit card same day. My experience with other companies is, the credit card gets charged when the order gets out of the door for delivery.Two month later I contacted them via chat, their response: I will have Zach reach out to you. I dont know all their staff, so asked who is Zach and how/when is he contacting me. A good hour later I received a one word answer: Email. Three days later I received an email from Zachery stating that my order will be delivered next week (would have been 2nd week of November, two months after I ordered).As many of the OPT customers experienced, no delivery, no email, nothing. Another two weeks later I emailed again: no answer at all. However, I received and still receive advertising emails stating ZWO cameras are back in stock and deliverable, really!They offered that I can cancel my order if delivery takes too long, hence last week I canceled the order by email and chat. I provided name, email address, and order number. I requested confirmation of the cancelation, but except the automated answer (we received your email ....): nothing.So I contact them again today (chat) requesting the cancelation confirmation and received a very interesting answer: Please provide: Shop number, name, and email address. My response that I provided all that information already last week was not answered.Dont do business with OPT. Theyre more than happy to process your order and take your money, but their service is terrible! I will never purchase from them again.

Oceanside photo and telescope. The place ALL the pros and beginners alike get the best products at the best prices and recieve the best service, hands down. To go anywhere else leads to disappointment. D.Janson President and co-founder of the Peoples Astronomy club of Boise, idaho and co-founder of The Colehaven Suburban observatory83704 with Doug Lewis as founder and ceo.

Have purchased several products from OPT very satisfied them them and service.

0 stars. Minimal communication. The item/gift was ordered late November and no sign of shipping and it is January 10. Do not order anything from this company.

I recieved the Raptor 61 in two days after it was shipped so that was a plus. The packaging was nice and secure. The scope is a very nice quality build, as are the hex rings and mounting plates. The bag is nicer than I was expecting, like a nice laptop bag with a few pockets. A few extra items I was not expecting such as the 2021 lunar calender, a raptor sticker and a limited blueprint poster so I appreciate those extra items. With the accessories attached, it was heavier than I was expecting but did manage to work on my Sky watcher star adventurer pro mount with some balancing adjustments (this was not including a guidescope attached). As mentioned in one of the other comments, I did run into a minor issue with mounting the 4 V style dovetail where the bolts would have some resistance at the very end, I applied a little bit of extra force and it tightened up just fine, perhaps there was a small burr do to machining but I still got it mounted. As for balancing on my star adventurer, the counter weight was all the way down and it seamed to work ok with my nikon D750 attached. It would definitely help with balancing using a longer v style dovetail but would require you to rotate the scope so that the focus locking screw would be out of the way of the mounting bar. So my scope will be upside down. The image quality is very nice and I did see minor star elongation in the corners when in full frame. But once in crop mode. It was perfect. My recommendation is if you are mounting extra accessories along the scope such as guidescope/ electronic focuser or any more weight, you may want to put this on a larger mount but the longer v style dovetail might solve some of the balancing issues. I also tested the scope out for wildlife and it works very well, it is very sharp and separates the subject from the background nicely. The image of Andromeda Galaxy is a single image not edited at 60 seconds ISO 2000 from a bortle class 4. My final thoughts are this is a very nice scope, amazing quality and built like a little tank, dont be scared about that little mounting issue with the bolt resistance, it might be different in every thread. If you want to use a washer instead of forcing the bolt, than that should work also. I am very happy with this scope and am happy with how it works. I think it will definitely compete with the Redcat51 and sharpstar EDPH II.Clear skies everyone!

I had issues with my Oceanside Photo & Telescopes order and as such I canceled my order. In the past I always had courteous and excellent service from OPT. I do not want jeopardize OPTs business by going public with my complaint because it is an issue between OPT and me and the public should stay out of it. By al means, continue to shop with OPT.

I have buy a used ioptron 120 EC mount from OPT telescope in july 31st 2020, since the payment , no reply , and still not ship now on August 24it s a 4495 usd mount with 774 usd for shippingbefore the payment, the customer service reply me within the day , and after the sale is paid , no service , neither by mail or phoneis that the OPT commitment for highest levels of customer service ?

They suck, plain and simple. Been waiting on a backorder since July 24, 2020. Customer service never responds to any emails after October of 2020.

Phenomenal Orion Binoculars (25 x 100) that I purchased from OPT. Extremely well packaged! I was a bit worried about the delivery coming by UPS Ground from California to New Jersey, but it arrived perfectly. Now its time to check out the skies tonight....

They charge your credit card within a second after you place the order, and then never answer the phone call or email. No estimate of delivery, no customer service. It has been a week since I placed the order. I will keep updating the review later.(Updates two weeks after the order was placed) I received an auto-reply style email: due to covid-19, we are receiving massive amounts of emails and calls, blah blah......Going to cancel the order, but not sure when I can get refund to the credit card. Maybe I should dispute through the credit card company.

OPT has been wonderful from start to finish. I have received all my equipment in a very timely manner. One item is on backorder but they told me when to expect it. When I have called the customer service number somebody is always there to answer the phone. Theresa Weatherly went out of her way to save me some money. She was very nice and professional. I would highly recommend OPT to anyone looking for any telescopes,cameras or accessories.The people at OPT are the stars of the stargazing business. Great company and service.Thanks OPT! See you soon.

OPT has been there every step of the way when it comes to a strong understanding of the intricate details that encompass astrophotography. I have always been into photography and filming but OPT gave me a new perspective and understanding on how anyone can look far into the sky and capture beautiful pictures. This is not an easy hobby and OPT is a major contributor to my success.