First Light Optics Ltd Reviews 112

I have now purchased multiple items from this company and so far the service has been excellent. Items always packaged to a great standard and delivered within a day or two of placing the order. I haven't had any need to contact their support team as of yet, but i expect this to be also excellent.

My first experience with FLO was about six years ago. Even then they rarely answered the phone. Recently I started using them again and found that they were responsive via email and delivery was fine. However, I recently wanted to place an order of about £1,200 and needed to discuss a number of things concerning the order so asked them to ring me. I got the standard response "We find we can offer a better level of service via email" i.e we serve our customers better by not talking to them. Utterly ridiculous. I said ring me or the order goes elsewhere and they still refused. So be it.
Shame.

I am new to this hobby and the help and advice I have recieved has been brilliant, very knowledgable. Returns have been dealt with promptly. I will have no issue using FLO again.

Amazing customer service and super fast delivery. It was the last place we could find to buy the mount that would deliver in time for christmas. It arrived next day ! I will defiantly make another order in the future.

Between the ridiculously long wait times. I waited a little over 2 months for my purchase when the initial delivery estimate was 15 days (as it showed on the website at time of purchase).

Upon emailing about this I was told It was definitely 30 days (it definitely wasn't) but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and allowed them 30 days, which turned into 30 working days.. which then turned into the end of October.. a little over 2 months I have finally received PART! of my order.

Steve (One of the owners) and Ian seem to email back in somewhat of a condescending tone and treat you like an idiot every time you email, enquiring about where your purchase is (after all they have your money at this point) and blame Covid... This isnt a excuse for bad customer service, but first light seem to think it is.

Initially I had high hopes when I made this purchase even though only part of it has showed up (the rest is apparently due some time in December... when I ordered it in august) now Id advise anyone looking at this to avoid this company.

Its highly likely they have absolutely 0 stock in and are struggling to deal with the orders.

Most companies would stop taking orders... But FLO... They want your money whether they have the stock or not.

Edit: 21/12/2023

It seems their response to this review was about as fast as their delivery times, taking a little over 3 years to reply to this.

Bought a dob scope from these guys earlier in the year. Unfortunately there was a small fault with part of the scope and being quite particular I requested a return and refund as a replacement couldn't be sourced for a few weeks (Lockdown).

The staff immediately agreed to a refund and arranged the return with no courier charges and a minimum of fuss to myself. The e-mail responses were always kind and courteous and I received my refund in a timely manner.

Anyone can be all smiles and forelock tugging when you're handing over your money but you only really get the true measure of a company when things go wrong, and in this regard First Light Optics have been first class.

So buy from these guys with confidence, and be assured that if you aren't satisfied or if stuff goes wrong that they'll bend over backwards to put things right.

Brilliant ordered items for my husband birthday, I didn't see that the shipping date was after his birthday, after contacting first optics, I received a lovely email from Steve saying he would do what he could to ensure something would arrive in time for his birthday. No only did the whole order arrive it time for his birthday but Steve and his colleagues wished my husband a lovely birthday.
After not having a great lock down this was a lovely thing for them to do.

On May 14 place an order that according to FLO was available in 1 or 2 days. until now, the items are lost inside a black hole somewhere in the Royal Mail Tracked in England. FLO, once the purchase is made, wash its hands. It does not report any incident to the customer. A real disaster. They claim to stock almost all kind of products that don´t have. I recommend Astroshop, TS in Germany even 365 Astronomy

From my initial email enquiries (which were responded to quickly and succinctly) to the order and delivery of my Star Adventurer Pro bundle, FLO have set the bar high when it comes to customer queries and online business transactions. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking to purchase astronomy equipment. Will be purchasing from them again soon (initially a tripod for star tracker and then an eq5 go to mount for a skywatcher 130 PDS). Keep up the great work FLO.

Great customer service, had an issue with a set of filters, probably damaged in transit / not their fault but they replaced them and took all the stress out of the situation straight away. Ordered a number of items since and all delivered in perfect condition.

I've used FLO for a few years now. They are consistent in giving a great level of service. I have received prompt advice from Ian King and buying online is easy. Their prices always seem to be very competitive.

I've been using FLO since the end of last year when I started getting back into the hobby. They really are fantastic. I've had questions, they've answered them, and not in a way to get more money out of you by upselling etc, but genuine helpful advice. I've had post sale issues, they've solved them. I've needed to return items, they've had no quibble. Really can't praise them enough. The only reason I'd go elsewhere for gear is if they don't stock something and even then I'd ask FLO first.

Good service. Quick delivery.

I have been ordering from Firstlight Optics for over 10 years now.
Outstanding service and value. I have always found it clear whether something was in stock and have never had a problem with a delayed delivery. Once or twice I have been directed to one of their competitors when they felt I was best served by a product they didn't supply. Phenomenal customer service

I've bought a lot of astronomy equipment over the past few years, and out of all the companies I've deals with, FLO are hands down the winners on every front.

Easy to use website, accurate stock levels reported, helpful staff if you have questions, and up-to-date information available on the status of your order on the website.

Super helpful business, and can't recommend highly enough.

I have bought several items from FLO in the last year or so. Great service , quick delivery. Very happy to use them again.

To be honest I relied in reviews like this and all the good mentions and references materialized. Before buying I asked them in the contact request form and got a very fast and useful answer to my doubts. FLO delivers in a quickly and efficient way the products. I bought a pair of Hawke Binoculars. They came very well protected for the shipping in a box through DHL delivery and it just was my best buying experience so far (from the many I had). Really recommendable.

Bought celestron ultima eyepiece duo. Initially a little skeptical as was such a good price of £59. However eyepiece arrived within 2 working days with 2 pound delivery charge. eyepiece looks fantastic, no issues at all. couldn't be happier with the service over all. Will definetly be using again.

I emailed on Friday afternoon to confirm if they had a ZWO camera in stock (rather than, as I have experienced elsewhere, relying on their suppliers having items in stock). They had. I asked if I could collect from their warehouse. Yes, but order it online first. Within an hour I showed up, and I had my camera. Staff were delightfully friendly.

Knowledgeable people and excellent service!