From: curtjb@halcyon.com (Curt Brown)
Subject: Subject: Newport Glass horror story (long) (was Re: ATM Materials)
Organization: The 23:00 News and Mail Service
Distribution: na
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 08:24:13 GMT

root@admin.mport.COM (admin) writes:
>combs@vaxr.llnl.gov writes:

>>     If you have abrasives and are looking just for glass, try Newport Glass
>>Works, LTD. 714/642-9980, 2044-D Placentia Ave, Costa Mesa, CA 92627.  They
>> ...
>> ...
>>Rich Combs                              combs@vaxr.llnl.gov
>============
>
>A word of warning about Newport Glass -  I ordered some supplies from them
>COD.
>
         < *** details of a horrible six-month ordeal removed *** >

>Good Luck
>
>  -rbd
>
>ps - I finally straightened it out


I sure wish I'd been able to read this post before I ordered from Newport.  A
member of my local astronomy club suggested Newport, as he had ordered some 6"
plano/plano blanks from them before.  I wanted to try my hand at mirror making,
starting with a small mirror to see if I had any aptitude and maybe going for a
17 to 20 inch mirror eventually.  Since I already have a 6" f/8 scope I thought
I'd try grinding a relatively fast 10" from a molded blank (making my own tool
from tiles and dental plaster).  I wasn't in any hurry -- I intended to make
the mirror during the winter and if it came out OK I'd finish the scope in the
spring.

I called Newport on Sep 14 and ordered a pyrex 10" blank, with a molded-in f/4
curve.  They said there were no molded f/4 blanks in stock, but were expecting
a new batch from the annealers in 1-2 weeks.  Like a fool, I ordered one.

Three or four weeks later I gave them a call.  "Sorry, we messed up the batch
and no f/4 blanks were molded".  When I asked them why they hadn't contacted me
I just got silence on the other end of the line.  They assured me that they
would find out what had gone wrong and call me back the next day.

Two days later I called them back and they said that they had no idea when
a new batch of 10" f/4 blanks would be manufactured, but offered to custom
grind a 10" plano to f/4 for me at no additional charge.  Not knowing when to
quit, I said "OK, but f/5 would be better", and they indicated that about three
days would be required to grind the blank and another week to eight days to
clear their shipping department and reach me via UPS.

In the first week of November I called them yet again... They had no idea who I
was or what my order was but promised to track it down and call me back that
afternoon.  The next day I called and was told that so-and-so had the day off.

Finally got in touch with him 2 or 3 days later and got no apology, no info,
just another promise to call me back.  I was so mad I couldn't bear to talk to
them for another minute.  Before I could call back to cancel my order, THEY
ACTUALLY CALLED ME BACK!  He said that my work order and plano blank were
there, and somebody had been assigned to my order.

It's now December, and I called back to cancel the order for good, and had to
wait 5 minutes while they found my work order.  When the guy came back on the
line, he said that he'd managed to find the ground blank and it was being
packed "right now", and that they were in so much of a hurry to ship it they
hadn't bothered to flatten the back (their usual treatment).  I hung up after
receiving his assurance that that it would have the back flattened before it
shipped (being a novice, I doubt I could figure a mirror otherwise).

Before you flame me:  Yes, I'm obviously a masochist for putting up with this
grief :-)  This was my first dealing with an astronomy-related supplier, and
Newport was recommended to me as one of the better ones.  No, I don't normally
order anything via mail-order unless they *swear* that they have the item in
stock.  Sorry for the long post... Deal with this outfit at your own risk.
Newsgroups: sci.astro