"The tripod I ordered was delivered to me damaged and with several defects. However, OPT refuses to issue a full refund, saying that I am responsible for shipping and handling costs to return the defective tripod. They did offer to send a replacement, but will not allow me to simply return the defective product.

Their warehouse manager indicated that their policy dictates that even if I return the replacement tripod unopened, that OPT will deduct the cost of shipping for both the defective tripod and the replacement tripod from my refund. For the record, their return policy states "A full refund for the product will be given if the product is unopened and unaltered."

I am unable to understand how I cannot get a full refund for a product that was delivered damaged and defective. I will not be ordering anything from OPT in the future. "

"Terrible customer service and surprised they exist. "

"I had ordered an item that came damaged from the manufacturer (not OPT's fault). They took a very long time to respond and send me a replacement (the replacement they sent me, was an older model and not the new, upgraded one, that I had ordered). They eventually arranged for me to send the wrong item back to them. The sales agent, Angel, was very professional all the time - I have no issues with their staff. My issue is with their response times - they take forever to respond and keep saying it is due to COVID-19 (i.e. they are swamped with orders) which makes no sense as they are an online store (so they should be used to getting online orders) and half their items are out of stock (so they are not that busy fulfilling orders). So what exactly are their agents busy with?

They also took a long time giving me the refund after receiving the items. Not too big a deal, other than I had to pay the CC company as my statement included that charge and now I will have a credit sitting in my account which will eventually get used up. BTW, I ordered the same item from Amazon and had it next day - I really want to support these small businesses over Amazon, but given the problems you will have if something goes wrong with your order and the consequent headache in resolving it, makes me never want to order from these mom and pop shops again. Amazon just makes it so easy (e.g. Amazon sends the return label instantly after you submit a return request, while with OPT I had to send multiple emails to get a return label).

I should also mention that all their CSRs are not on the same page. I got an initial email from one CSR saying that replacements are not their problem and that I need to contact the manufacturer directly - which was shocking, as they are an authorized dealer. It shouldn't be my job, as a customer, to be negotiating a return - if that is the case, then I can buy it from the manufacturer directly and don't need them as an intermediary. BTW, this agent also mentioned that this policy is stated on their website - I checked and it seems this agent is right. They do seem to 'indicate' that they are not responsible to handle replacements. On the other hand retailers like B&H Photo and Adorama (apart from Amazon), have an automated process which sends you a return label instantly.

In conclusion, I liked Angel, but I would NEVER order anything from OPT again. They might be good if you receive a proper unit with no defect. However, manufacturing mistakes do happen, and if you are unlucky enough to be stuck with a product that has a defect, then OPT will make you jump through hoops - first for a return label and then for the refund (read some of the other 1 star reviews on here which discuss their problems getting a refund or replacement). I cannot recommend this place and would advise to order from bigger retailers like B&H Photo or Amazon.

I give 5 stars to Angel but then deduct 3 stars for the after sales service and the very slow communication."

"Emailed and called twice promised they would call back.. and nothing... use Tolga says what he will do And does it"

"I've been a customer of OPT for about 3 years, their sales service is great. However if you have a problem, good luck. Lots of problems, no response to emails, or text messages. Very slow and they do not keep promises. Its been 10 days since I filed my return request and still waiting. Amazon can process a return within minutes, and they are profitable. A measure of a company is not how they take your money, but how they take care of you if you have a problem. With OPT corp they ignore you. Shop else where, many other great shops and all are competitive on pricing. AVOID OPT "

"I have been a good client for years, and never had a bad experience previously. When I ask before ordering a product to confirm it is in stock I expect a truthful answer. Now I have to find a new vendor that tells the truth."

"Reached out to their customer service as a new customer and received no reply despite them reading the message and having it marked as seen. Asked about a rewards program and received no reply. My money will be going to another telescope provider"

"I am a beginner in the world of astronomy and did not know how to get into the hobby or what to get for equipment. I spoke with a few different sales people at OPT and they all were very friendly and willing to walk me through the entire process start to finish, including set up. They even gave me free shipping on the telescope I wanted. I couldn't be happier. A+ telescope store, I couldn't imagine getting better help anywhere else."

"I recently made a sizeable purchase from Optcorp. All but one box arrived damaged. One of the boxes contained a skywatcher 80mm telescope. It was boxed with foam padding around the included case. When I opened the box I could see the damage to the case. The scope was also damaged. I was leaving that day to go to our dark sky area. I talked to Tereasa in support. She had me take photos of all the shipping boxes, telescope case and scope. I was unable to use the damaged telescope on that trip. I sent it back the day I arrived back home. It took 3 days to receive my replacement telescope. I have read the bad reviews and expected a fight. I want everyone to know that Optcorp went above and beyond my expectations. I have ordered more products and will continue to look to them for my observation needs. Hats off to Tereasa!"

"The OPT team put their worth on display when they assisted me when I became ill.
With a very real likelihood of having to give up the hobby I have loved for well over 30 years, the OPT owners jumped into action and made it possible to enjoy my love for the stars well into my later years! They arranged to have an observatory and everything I needed to be delivered to my home with all the technical support I could possibly need.

This is more than any other company would ever have done! This may seem like an easy task to some... But I live in eastern Canada. They are in California! No easy task! But for them it was!

They have and always will have my deepest gratitude, and they will always have my purchases!

There is no other place!"

"What else is there to say? CS was there high point now it is at a all time low. Almost done with them. "

"I drove to find out that the used equipment post was misleading. Worse, when they acknowledge not mentioning what was missing in the post, they refused to lower the price to match. I drove 100+ miles for this worse customer experience."

"I've been doing business with OPT for quite a while. I'm not the typical customer and buy very expensive equipment and odd and unusual adapters, equipment and need indepth support and advice on the front end. Sometimes this stuff gets shipped to some mighty out of the way locations. I've purchased everything from tiny refractors up to and including a 24 inch Planewave and MANY scopes between. Spectrometer equipment and on and on. I keep going back because OPT has folks who can solve odd ball problems and frankly, have never let me down. I see some other reviews have had a different experience, odd, since I've worked with just about all the sales folks and even the owner. Well, I can tell you I'd recommend them unconditionally.
Peter"

"The final measure of any retailer is how they handle problems. When I called up after getting an order with a problem, the tone instantly switched to rude and defensive, quoting their "we aren't responsible for anything" disclaimer they have buried on their website. All before I even got to describing what was wrong.

When I spoke to management I was told "if we covered shipping every time we sent out an incorrect or defective item, we'd be out of business". That should probably tell you enough.

My scope was both not the pictured item I purchased and it was defective (unusable). I was then told my $729 80mm ED optical tube was a low quality brand and I should have bought something several times the money. Oddly, the Opt's website copy is rather more positive about the scope but I would settle for something in a working state. I've been around a while and I don't think I've ever before heard a retailer put the blame for a faulty product on a customer's purchase choices. It certainly wasn't in any training manuals when I worked retail.

I asked if they could get and send the minimal parts to get the scope up and running and they declined to help. Based on their apathy towards the issues, I have no faith in sending the scope back for repair - I got a strong impression that they felt there was not really a problem and that this "low end" scope was performing within expectations (threads in the focuser extension tube are bad and it won't even hold a diagonal upright).

A return for refund is a possibility, but there is an unbounded restock fee that is to be determined at their discretion because the scope has been handled. On an incorrect and defective item for heavens sake. Even if this was a return solely because I didn't like the item, I would no longer trust them to make that call on restock fee. So for the moment, the scope is a paperweight. Not sure what I will do with it, but I know I won't be dealing with Opt again.

Shortly after my purchase I got added to Opt's spam list, which began with an email about how they hate spam and they would only send out very occasional, special emails. They then proceeded to send daily emails about oddball products I'm guessing they were having trouble moving.

Just go to agenaastro.com instead. Customer service from Agena has always been above my expectations. They have very competitive pricing with Opt and often even cheaper shipping, yet somehow they haven't gone out of business.
"

"I had a good experience with OPT when Mike W. handled a trade-in of my old equipment for the purchased on new equipment. I did not want the hassle of trying to sell my old equipment on my own, I also knew that I can not expect them no make profit on the exchange. Mike W. was straight forward and helpful. I had no complaints about the service I received. I did most communication through email and had no complaints about communication. I ended up returning the Finder Scope I originally got for another model Finder Scope. There was no problems in handling this transaction by email."