Tom, I corresponded with the owner of Protostar, Bryan Greer, some years ago on ATM matters. Here's what I can tell you. Protostar is pretty much a one-man shop. Bryan also has a day job and conducts Protostar business after hours. Because of this, his time is limited and he often does not follow-up on emails and phone messages because if he did, he'd spend no time in the shop getting out orders. There have been many complaint threads on Cloudy Nights over the last several years because of long delays and no communication. About three or four years ago, I placed an order with Bryan for a spider and secondary holder. After some months went by, I emailed him about it and was given a ship date about a week away. Two weeks later, nothing had arrived. I emailed him again, and was given yet another ship date about a week out. Two weeks after that, nothing yet so I emailed him again. This time I got no response. After a total wait time of nearly six months, I posted my story on one of the CN complaint threads. The next day, my PayPal payment had been refunded, even though in the thread all I posted was that I would appreciate an actual ship date, or at least a confirmation that the order would be further delayed. All I wanted was communication and an honest reply. I did not ask for a refund but apparently Bryan read the thread and took unilateral action. Bryan no longer posts to CN, I'm guessing because of all the complaint threads. Many of his products are not made in-house, he just re-ships items that he purchases in bulk. So it's the luck of the draw. Some people get quick turnaround, others are left hanging for months, and there is little to no follow-up communication. It's sad because he does sell superior products, but the way he conducts his business means he loses a lot of sales. I know that I would not order anything at this point, until Protostar has demonstrated that the problem has been fixed. If the business is not profitable enough for Bryan to hire full-time help and expand, it will probably never be fixed. Thats about all I can tell you. I really wish Bryan the best of luck. He's got an uphill road ahead of him. On Thu, Apr 10, 2014 at 3:08 PM, Thomas Sevcik <sfv1ts@hotmail.com> wrote:
Has anyone on this list dealt with a company named Prostar-Telescope Making & Upgrading? I ordered a secondary mirror through them on the 30th of March and they withdrew the funds on the 6th of this month. But I haven't received any word if the order was shipped. The email I sent bounced back as failed and no has ever answered the phone there at 614-855-5341. Don't try the one number; 1-866-227-6240 they have listed for answering your questions - you'll get a automated answering machine who wants you to give your credit card number for a $100 gift card! Has anyone else heard of any complaints about these people? Tom Sevcik