what is your expirience of shopping with astronomy ireland?

ive been talking to astronomy ireland,with regards to buying a scope, and they seem very good, but i would like some customers expiriences. for someone in ireland, are they as good a scope shop as their is? how are their prices and service level?

ive been talking to astronomy ireland,with regards to buying a scope, and they seem very good, but i would like some customers expiriences. for someone in ireland, are they as good a scope shop as their is? how are their prices and service level?

ok I'll take a stab at this

The prices A&S listed on their website in the past were exorbitant. I see they don't list any prices so I can't comment on them now. They are, at least last I checked - this may well have changed, the exclusive Celestron dealer in the Republic which didn't help keep prices competitive.

A&S also only stock certain telescopes brands. Meade, Helios/Skywatcher, etc. are not sold by them. You should check out these other brands to see what they offer in the range you are looking for.

So my advice for dealing with A&S is pretty much the same as for any Irish seller! Shop around! Check what other equipment from other sellers suits your needs, if you do go for a celestron compare prices with other dealers to ensure that you are getting a good deal.

This weekend the Whirlpool Star party is on in Birr, and I think some astronomy shops will be there. Andromeda Optics, North Down telescopes, and possibly Greenwitch may be there. If you can get to Birr today it might be worth your while, even if the dealers are not there you can chat to people about telescopes and your needs.

I've never bought a telescope from A&S. For my 10" I decided that a Meade LXD55 was what I wanted, but A&S did not stock this, I got it from Greenwich in the UK. My Mak I bought from Andromeda Optics, A&S didn't stock anything like what I was looking for.

Here are the shops that I have dealt with that I would reccommend. I'd advise you to contact these before commiting to a purchase from A&S, even if its just to compare prices for what you want.
Andromeda Optics www.andromedaoptics.com/ Website is getting updated; easiest way to contact them is to pm the user Wallymee on this site.
North Down Telescopes www.mccreaa.freeserve.co.uk/ Deals in new and second hand equipment can supply all brands at good prices
Greenwich Astronomy www.greenwich-observatory.co.uk/ Helpful staff, good UK prices will deliver here, supporters of the whirlpool star party (they were there a couple of years ago anyway). I bought a bat detector from them recently!

As with most Irish sellers - Shop around and be as informed as you can before you buy!

Most dealers worth their salt should be able to offer you a price match. So no matter where you shop always make sure you know the competition's pricing and ask the dealer concerned to match it.

Please please shop around, DO NOT take the first thing you find that looks good.
There were a number of threads about this in the past if you want to go digging for them here, I'm not sure how they apply these days.

Do not confine yourself to a particular make, be it either celestron or meade, most makes are pretty good these days, if in doubt ask here on the boards.

I bought astro parts from both Andromeda optics and North Down Telescopes (Andy) this weekend at the WSP and have done so in the past, I would have no problem recommending either of these 2 shops.

Their service is not all that great I am afraid.

I bought a rather pricy scope from them a little over a year ago with 2 years warranty.

My starpointer/finder was broken so I brought it back over 2 months ago and I am still waiting on a new one
Each time I contact them I am being fobbed of with some excuse ranging from "the manufacturer can not deliver them" and various other stories.

Celestron is very nice, but as the only once selling them is AI , my nect scope will be a MEADE ( I had a chance to use one 2 weeks ago and liked them very much as well).

So at the moment I am using a low mag eyepiece as starfinder, but when pay a lot of money for a scope you expect to make full use of its features.

regarding the high price from astronomy ireland, i was talking to the owner, and, he says that if i find a lower price, he will match that. doesnt seem all that bad!