Just a heads up for those who are thinking of buying a Celestron Ultima 100 spotting scope through Amazon.
I purchased this scope back in April through Celestron’s Amazon store. I only used it maybe half a dozen times, always carefully. In early June I noticed two black specs through the viewfinder. Tried lightly blowing them off but they didn’t move. Thought maybe the lens or mirror was scratched. Contacted Amazon only to find out the returns window was closed. Took the scope to my local optics repair store and was told that the specs were likely flaking from the antireflective coating on the inside of the scope. A few days later and $60 poorer I was told by the owner that this was the case. He cleaned the flakes off, but a week later more flakes appeared. I took it back and he cleaned it for free, thinking maybe he missed some. Another two weeks later and more flakes. This time he said the scope coating was defective and suggested I contact Celestron to see if they would replace it or refund my money under their warranty. I did this and after some back and forth and after managing to get pictures of the black specs in the viewfinder they agreed to replace the scope but not to refund my money. There was only one problem. Supposedly due to Covid, this scope is back ordered and now after returning the scope I am waiting months to get a new one (and hopefully it will be new and not a refurbished one).
This is the second Celestron scope I have purchased through Celestron’s Amazon store that was defective. The first was a Landscout I bought three years ago that the lens fell out. At least that was within the 30-day return window. I replaced it with a cheap Barska scope that now I wish I had kept.
So frustrating because while the Landscout was only $100, this one cost almost $600 Canadian, which might not seem like much compared to the high end ED scopes but it isn’t a toy either and shouldn’t fall apart after a little over 7 weeks of light use.
I purchased this scope back in April through Celestron’s Amazon store. I only used it maybe half a dozen times, always carefully. In early June I noticed two black specs through the viewfinder. Tried lightly blowing them off but they didn’t move. Thought maybe the lens or mirror was scratched. Contacted Amazon only to find out the returns window was closed. Took the scope to my local optics repair store and was told that the specs were likely flaking from the antireflective coating on the inside of the scope. A few days later and $60 poorer I was told by the owner that this was the case. He cleaned the flakes off, but a week later more flakes appeared. I took it back and he cleaned it for free, thinking maybe he missed some. Another two weeks later and more flakes. This time he said the scope coating was defective and suggested I contact Celestron to see if they would replace it or refund my money under their warranty. I did this and after some back and forth and after managing to get pictures of the black specs in the viewfinder they agreed to replace the scope but not to refund my money. There was only one problem. Supposedly due to Covid, this scope is back ordered and now after returning the scope I am waiting months to get a new one (and hopefully it will be new and not a refurbished one).
This is the second Celestron scope I have purchased through Celestron’s Amazon store that was defective. The first was a Landscout I bought three years ago that the lens fell out. At least that was within the 30-day return window. I replaced it with a cheap Barska scope that now I wish I had kept.
So frustrating because while the Landscout was only $100, this one cost almost $600 Canadian, which might not seem like much compared to the high end ED scopes but it isn’t a toy either and shouldn’t fall apart after a little over 7 weeks of light use.
