Wow...on internet right now purchasing a Meade LX200 10" or 12" for my wife...but after watching this, I am switching for sure to Celestron 11" HD.... I don't know if you are disgruntled or what, but you swayed me successfully.... thanks, I think. :) CD
You sir, saved me $4000 dollars. After further research, which quite frankly I was too excited to do before seeing this, I realized how many unhappy customers they have! I guess when they closed their California manufacturing plant and moved to Mexico quality took a hit. (What a shock)
Well I wanted that exact scope the 16 inch for the quality of image and the range that it allows you to see so what electrically driven telescope should I get instead preferably 16 inch or above that would fit in a 2.2 metre dome and allows you to see at the same range with the same image quality?
You've got me worried. I have a Meade Dobsonian and for some time I've been thinking about upgrading to an LX200 range scope. In addtion to the other comments (lack of spare parts) I shall now think twice about buying from Meade. Big thanks for puting this out. I shall certainly warn others.
I love my meade telescope, but I have had similar experiences when i have spoken to the customer service department. They also use screws on the upper OTA, that are one of a kind, you can not find them at any store and yet they do not sell replacement screws which will be needed when you will absolutely strip the screws after collimating the telescope over the years.
My 8" LX90 works as well now as when I bought it. Any calls to Meade customer service have been professional and helpful.
If you crack the case, doesn't it void the warranty? Which is typical of just about any company dealing with electronic devices. Doesn't seem to warrant a lawsuit to me.
@yweln This isn't about warranty work. It is about the ability to repair your device yourself after it is out of warranty. If Meade requires you to ship your telescope back to them then they should be required to foot the cost of shipping. This guy has an out of warranty scope he wants to repair himself and save several hundred dollars in shipping costs,yet Meade refuses to make the necessary parts available to their customers.
Just called them looking for a replacement gear that cracked.......They told me that model was made in china and they do not sell the parts, that I need to send it in and buy a new one or trade it. I pay all shipping. This gear is a $.05 part and they cant even tell me the size of the gear or where to buy it. The guy on the phone told me to drive around to local hobby shops till I found the gear. Yeah when I see the Meade name I will just keep on walking...
Well yes major stock sale = rats jumping ship, no wonder their website hasnt changed much in a long time and i cant find eye pieces of the 5000 series anymore, thank god i only bought a 6 inch telescope from them, I would have died if it would have been that tremendous size scope laying there wounded.
I am having the same run around and very poor customer service. My GPS portion won't work and all I want is the ability to swap out the board but nope they won't sell me just the board, they want 450.00 repair and 50.00 shipping. I want to scream every time I have to call customer service with Meade. I can't see them being viable much longer.
My Lx200 stop working after by mistake put the another rj-11 cable on the handpad. After checking the circuit board luckly was the handpad and i coud buy it on ebay.
You are preaching to the believers man. my first got scope was a Meade. I regret it to this day. It never worked correctly and customer service was a joke.
I have a 10" LX200 and the dec Motor started to runaway. I called Meade tech support and what a joke. Wouldn't give me any info and quoted $550 with me having to ship scope to them. I have been on many forums and everyone says don't send it to Meade.They can keep your scope up to a year and cannibalize other scopes to fix yours. And they try to get you to trade in your scope for a new one at a slight discount. I will never buy Meade again. I've called Celestron, great attitude very professional!
@t38ip Same experience here. I was a Meade guy until the same thing happened to me. Celestron is a much better company and their prices are much more reasonable. I have owned a Celestron CPC1100 for three year - love it and love the company.
Someone is feeling very important today! I've been a laborer all my life and nobody gives a crap about me and they don't care that you're some big-headed contractor either. Let's hope someone raises your taxes.
Thanks for your candid coverage of the Meade Scope. I was considering an LX200 but have put my plans on hold now until I either find an alternative or can be convinced otherwise. It's good people like yourself take the time to report on corporate greed and incompetence. The world needs more people like you! I am one of them!
thank you for this information the name of the company by force to by honest wet the equiment to sale and part to you lewsuit is fear, wet see issuet by Quality respond in or out garanty, I'll stay away from Meade!
Gregg: I called Meade today and got the same run-around. I own the exact same telescope although my scope was purchased some 15 years ago. I did not use it for many years, but when I tried to start it because I now have more time on my hands, I get no response. I checked the fuses and everything seems fine, it just will not even light up, let alone boot up. I can't believe they would require shipping the entire scope across country. I just asked for a new mother board and they said no.
So sorry to read of your problems - I have an old LX200 10" Classic and live in the UK - I have required a few circuit boards in the past from our main UK distributor (which I fitted) and they have helped me out each time so I have no axe to grind. The trouble with any make of scope now it that the electronics will fail and will be a problem - lot to be said for the old clock drive and just glass...
I have a 7" LX200GPS and watching this is stupid in a way. I don't mean to be mean but honestly, they need to keep things a secret, more than likely its going to be shipped to Mexico after it gets to Meade in California. They are obligated to change some minor details. Do not take the OTA off. Send the whole thing back to them if you haven't already, but there are small astronomy home businesses that would fix this for about $200 - $300. Astronomy-Shoppe is one of them. Dr. Clay could too.....
I Live in Brazil and I brought home a Lx200 GPS 8" - It was great until the control panel board stopped working.I called Meade and all they told is that they don't sell parts and I'd have to send the telescope to California so they can repair it. As you can imagine the shipping costs makes it insane, it would be cheaper to buy a new one.
So right now I'm shucked with a dead telescope. If anyone have a spare control panel board... ricardo_raymundo@uol.com.br
You have a nice scope and a nice house. I don't think the $450 repair bill is going to "break the bank." Incidentally, I had to sell my scope to pay for a $2,000 root canal, so quit your bitchin'.... : p
I understand your frustration, but some parts are not considered "user serviceable." All it would take is for one yahoo to buy a component off of them containing a high voltage capacitor and getting knocked on their ass and Meade would have a lawsuit anyway. You have to do your research if you want to DIY. I had the same scenario with Samsung LCD TV. They were repairing faulty power boards, but you had to jump through hoops to get it serviced. I wanted them to just send me the board...(con't)
@lizard944 (con't) but they wouldn't due to liability. I pulled the board and tested some components and found one bad capacitor on the board. Cost: a whopping .95 cents. Bottom line is-- it is a rare day if you can get some techs at any company to "talk shop" with you because of the very reason of what you're trying to do; a lawsuit. BTW, I had a clock drive fail on an older Meade, and they quoted $300 to fix. I sent it out and it came back fixed with "No Charge" printed on the invoice. YMMV.
Thank you for posting this. I had first purchased an LX-200 in 1992 and for many years was a satisfied customer. When I wanted to upgrade the main board in 1996, they gladly sold me the new main board and I easily installed it myself. Fast forward to 2003 where I work at a college and we have three 16 inch LX-200 GPS telescopes.
It took about 1 year to get the telescopes operating, as each telescope had a defective part. They did not want to send us parts, but rather ship to California for repair. Even though the telescopes were in warranty, we would have to pay the insured shipping which would be $2000 per telescope. After much arguing with Meade, the problem was solved by our legal team at the college after they sent a letter to Scott Byram of Meade informing him that the college was preparing a lawsuit.
Suddenly they agreed to send the parts, and I did the repairs quickly and easily. Fast forward to today (2010) and now two of the telescopes are broken again and they refuse to sell us parts. They refuse to provide us with circuit diagrams as well. Not sure yet what action the college will take now. It is not my decision to make.
Anyway, the transition of Meade from a good company to the pathetic fraudulent joke that it is today began the day they became a public company by offering common stock in 1997. Every one of their employees now deserves to burn in the eternal fires of Hades and to be prodded continually with a pitchfork by Beelzebub. Peace brother.
What's wrong with selling the part to the customer AFTER their warranty period??
NOBODY covers user installed electronic components. When you buy it, there are NO REFUNDS-NO EXCHANGES. If you damage it or burn it out during install, you have to buy another one. Plain & simple.
I can only wish you the best Greg with your law suit. It really is shabby the way Meade is treating you.
At the very least , if they are the "only" company qualified to repair the scope and require the entire instrument to effect said repair, then they should incur the shipping expenses.
Yes, best of lick Greg. I live in Canada, and just purchased a meade scope, only to regret the whole experience so far. Defective connection from controller handset to main unit...sent back to meade (Cali.), then had to pay $120 for return fees, and still same problem. Will be returning defective scope for refund after costly shippings and now probably restocking fee, as I will not send back to meade again for another $120.
oh yes... I forgot to mention their "customer support" ,, what a joke indeed. After telling me basically that i'm SOL with problems and fees, etc... the way the guy says " you have a nice day now", is the capper. (steam coming from ears now) This company will soon be history.
Wow...on internet right now purchasing a Meade LX200 10" or 12" for my wife...but after watching this, I am switching for sure to Celestron 11" HD.... I don't know if you are disgruntled or what, but you swayed me successfully.... thanks, I think. :) CD
davidcdenton1984 6 days ago
You sir, saved me $4000 dollars. After further research, which quite frankly I was too excited to do before seeing this, I realized how many unhappy customers they have! I guess when they closed their California manufacturing plant and moved to Mexico quality took a hit. (What a shock)
ASeventhSign 1 week ago
ive read many many posts on astro mart from people with the same problem.id never buy from them.
TheHemiphil81 1 week ago
Hi I recently moved back to the UK from Florida.
During the trip back my MEADE ETX90’s Mirror got chipped and I am having no luck at all finding a replacement mirror for it.
In fact I cannot find any parts at all for it.
steverogan 1 month ago
Well I wanted that exact scope the 16 inch for the quality of image and the range that it allows you to see so what electrically driven telescope should I get instead preferably 16 inch or above that would fit in a 2.2 metre dome and allows you to see at the same range with the same image quality?
murphycameron1 1 month ago
You've got me worried. I have a Meade Dobsonian and for some time I've been thinking about upgrading to an LX200 range scope. In addtion to the other comments (lack of spare parts) I shall now think twice about buying from Meade. Big thanks for puting this out. I shall certainly warn others.
TheMarsbar65 3 months ago
I love my meade telescope, but I have had similar experiences when i have spoken to the customer service department. They also use screws on the upper OTA, that are one of a kind, you can not find them at any store and yet they do not sell replacement screws which will be needed when you will absolutely strip the screws after collimating the telescope over the years.
Sjester101 4 months ago
the link doesnt work
beepilot1 4 months ago in playlist More videos from schafermedia
I was going to purchase the LX200 but am no longer sure.
IOWPC 5 months ago
My 8" LX90 works as well now as when I bought it. Any calls to Meade customer service have been professional and helpful.
If you crack the case, doesn't it void the warranty? Which is typical of just about any company dealing with electronic devices. Doesn't seem to warrant a lawsuit to me.
yweln 5 months ago
My 8" LX90 works as well now as when I bought it. Any calls to Meade customer service have been professional and helpful.
If you crack the case, doesn't it void the warranty?
yweln 5 months ago
@yweln This isn't about warranty work. It is about the ability to repair your device yourself after it is out of warranty. If Meade requires you to ship your telescope back to them then they should be required to foot the cost of shipping. This guy has an out of warranty scope he wants to repair himself and save several hundred dollars in shipping costs,yet Meade refuses to make the necessary parts available to their customers.
thedudeistoocool 3 months ago
Just called them looking for a replacement gear that cracked.......They told me that model was made in china and they do not sell the parts, that I need to send it in and buy a new one or trade it. I pay all shipping. This gear is a $.05 part and they cant even tell me the size of the gear or where to buy it. The guy on the phone told me to drive around to local hobby shops till I found the gear. Yeah when I see the Meade name I will just keep on walking...
CaseRocker 5 months ago
Well yes major stock sale = rats jumping ship, no wonder their website hasnt changed much in a long time and i cant find eye pieces of the 5000 series anymore, thank god i only bought a 6 inch telescope from them, I would have died if it would have been that tremendous size scope laying there wounded.
Transitrat1 6 months ago
MEADE = easiest way to destroy your hobby. I'm sorry to hear about this.
jasoneyes01 7 months ago
I am having the same run around and very poor customer service. My GPS portion won't work and all I want is the ability to swap out the board but nope they won't sell me just the board, they want 450.00 repair and 50.00 shipping. I want to scream every time I have to call customer service with Meade. I can't see them being viable much longer.
yppah4miH 8 months ago
@yppah4miH I have some info that may help up fix your scope.
meademods 2 weeks ago
My Lx200 stop working after by mistake put the another rj-11 cable on the handpad. After checking the circuit board luckly was the handpad and i coud buy it on ebay.
Greetings from Argentina.
techgm 8 months ago
Thanks for this heads up. Will avoid Meade, Never using them again. Shocking!!
CrashOrgasm 9 months ago
You are preaching to the believers man. my first got scope was a Meade. I regret it to this day. It never worked correctly and customer service was a joke.
KC9MDO 10 months ago
I have a 10" LX200 and the dec Motor started to runaway. I called Meade tech support and what a joke. Wouldn't give me any info and quoted $550 with me having to ship scope to them. I have been on many forums and everyone says don't send it to Meade.They can keep your scope up to a year and cannibalize other scopes to fix yours. And they try to get you to trade in your scope for a new one at a slight discount. I will never buy Meade again. I've called Celestron, great attitude very professional!
t38ip 10 months ago
@t38ip Same experience here. I was a Meade guy until the same thing happened to me. Celestron is a much better company and their prices are much more reasonable. I have owned a Celestron CPC1100 for three year - love it and love the company.
MrDlt123 5 months ago
Someone is feeling very important today! I've been a laborer all my life and nobody gives a crap about me and they don't care that you're some big-headed contractor either. Let's hope someone raises your taxes.
MrUnclestupidhead 10 months ago
G'day Greg,
Thanks for your candid coverage of the Meade Scope. I was considering an LX200 but have put my plans on hold now until I either find an alternative or can be convinced otherwise. It's good people like yourself take the time to report on corporate greed and incompetence. The world needs more people like you! I am one of them!
Brook
brookpap 10 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
thank you for this information the name of the company by force to by honest wet the equiment to sale and part to you lewsuit is fear, wet see issuet by Quality respond in or out garanty, I'll stay away from Meade!
raululerio 11 months ago
Thanks. I'm looking for a telescope and I'll stay away from Meade!
MySerenity11 1 year ago
Gregg: I called Meade today and got the same run-around. I own the exact same telescope although my scope was purchased some 15 years ago. I did not use it for many years, but when I tried to start it because I now have more time on my hands, I get no response. I checked the fuses and everything seems fine, it just will not even light up, let alone boot up. I can't believe they would require shipping the entire scope across country. I just asked for a new mother board and they said no.
tomtoak 1 year ago
So sorry to read of your problems - I have an old LX200 10" Classic and live in the UK - I have required a few circuit boards in the past from our main UK distributor (which I fitted) and they have helped me out each time so I have no axe to grind. The trouble with any make of scope now it that the electronics will fail and will be a problem - lot to be said for the old clock drive and just glass...
brucepeter2007 1 year ago
I have a 7" LX200GPS and watching this is stupid in a way. I don't mean to be mean but honestly, they need to keep things a secret, more than likely its going to be shipped to Mexico after it gets to Meade in California. They are obligated to change some minor details. Do not take the OTA off. Send the whole thing back to them if you haven't already, but there are small astronomy home businesses that would fix this for about $200 - $300. Astronomy-Shoppe is one of them. Dr. Clay could too.....
meade7lx200gps 1 year ago
Ups! I was looking looking at the Meade LX200 but now I'm staying away.
Thank you for the information!
vestergaard30 1 year ago
I Live in Brazil and I brought home a Lx200 GPS 8" - It was great until the control panel board stopped working.I called Meade and all they told is that they don't sell parts and I'd have to send the telescope to California so they can repair it. As you can imagine the shipping costs makes it insane, it would be cheaper to buy a new one.
So right now I'm shucked with a dead telescope. If anyone have a spare control panel board... ricardo_raymundo@uol.com.br
ricardoraymundo 1 year ago
You have a nice scope and a nice house. I don't think the $450 repair bill is going to "break the bank." Incidentally, I had to sell my scope to pay for a $2,000 root canal, so quit your bitchin'.... : p
lizard944 1 year ago
I understand your frustration, but some parts are not considered "user serviceable." All it would take is for one yahoo to buy a component off of them containing a high voltage capacitor and getting knocked on their ass and Meade would have a lawsuit anyway. You have to do your research if you want to DIY. I had the same scenario with Samsung LCD TV. They were repairing faulty power boards, but you had to jump through hoops to get it serviced. I wanted them to just send me the board...(con't)
lizard944 1 year ago
@lizard944 (con't) but they wouldn't due to liability. I pulled the board and tested some components and found one bad capacitor on the board. Cost: a whopping .95 cents. Bottom line is-- it is a rare day if you can get some techs at any company to "talk shop" with you because of the very reason of what you're trying to do; a lawsuit. BTW, I had a clock drive fail on an older Meade, and they quoted $300 to fix. I sent it out and it came back fixed with "No Charge" printed on the invoice. YMMV.
lizard944 1 year ago
Thank you for posting this. I had first purchased an LX-200 in 1992 and for many years was a satisfied customer. When I wanted to upgrade the main board in 1996, they gladly sold me the new main board and I easily installed it myself. Fast forward to 2003 where I work at a college and we have three 16 inch LX-200 GPS telescopes.
astropaparazzi 1 year ago
It took about 1 year to get the telescopes operating, as each telescope had a defective part. They did not want to send us parts, but rather ship to California for repair. Even though the telescopes were in warranty, we would have to pay the insured shipping which would be $2000 per telescope. After much arguing with Meade, the problem was solved by our legal team at the college after they sent a letter to Scott Byram of Meade informing him that the college was preparing a lawsuit.
astropaparazzi 1 year ago
Suddenly they agreed to send the parts, and I did the repairs quickly and easily. Fast forward to today (2010) and now two of the telescopes are broken again and they refuse to sell us parts. They refuse to provide us with circuit diagrams as well. Not sure yet what action the college will take now. It is not my decision to make.
astropaparazzi 1 year ago
Anyway, the transition of Meade from a good company to the pathetic fraudulent joke that it is today began the day they became a public company by offering common stock in 1997. Every one of their employees now deserves to burn in the eternal fires of Hades and to be prodded continually with a pitchfork by Beelzebub. Peace brother.
astropaparazzi 1 year ago
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astropaparazzi 1 year ago
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astropaparazzi 1 year ago
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astropaparazzi 1 year ago
Meade's stance makes no sense.
What's wrong with selling the part to the customer AFTER their warranty period??
NOBODY covers user installed electronic components. When you buy it, there are NO REFUNDS-NO EXCHANGES. If you damage it or burn it out during install, you have to buy another one. Plain & simple.
Just another reason I bought a Celestron.
SC0RePIO 1 year ago
I'm sending you an email today about my bad experiences with Meade's lackluster customer service.
TrekMTBikeRider 1 year ago
I can only wish you the best Greg with your law suit. It really is shabby the way Meade is treating you.
At the very least , if they are the "only" company qualified to repair the scope and require the entire instrument to effect said repair, then they should incur the shipping expenses.
snafujag100 1 year ago
Yes, best of lick Greg. I live in Canada, and just purchased a meade scope, only to regret the whole experience so far. Defective connection from controller handset to main unit...sent back to meade (Cali.), then had to pay $120 for return fees, and still same problem. Will be returning defective scope for refund after costly shippings and now probably restocking fee, as I will not send back to meade again for another $120.
** WARNING** Meade = STAY AWAY!!!
chiledilly 1 year ago
oh yes... I forgot to mention their "customer support" ,, what a joke indeed. After telling me basically that i'm SOL with problems and fees, etc... the way the guy says " you have a nice day now", is the capper. (steam coming from ears now) This company will soon be history.
chiledilly 1 year ago
i know a guy that went round and round with them a few times .. good luck .. hope you can get something done about the problem
crunchybobjones 1 year ago