First Light Optics Ltd Reviews 111

TrustScore 4.5 out of 5

4.3

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I bought an 8" dobsonian telescope from this company and cheshire collimation tool from this company. From start to finish they were superb. I asked some questions and they responded very quickly. I h... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

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 i... See more

Company replied

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I decided to get get into amateur astronomy and focus on solar for now because at the solar maximum. FLO has been my go to place for the equipment in three orders I done to get operational: Solarquest... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

The knowledge and friendliness of the staff is first rate. Astronomy and particularly astrophotography is a pretty challenging hobby, with all sorts of differrent options and opinions. Yet at FLO th... See more


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4.3

Excellent

TrustScore 4.5 out of 5

111 reviews

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent customer service and product.

I bought an 8" dobsonian telescope from this company and cheshire collimation tool from this company. From start to finish they were superb. I asked some questions and they responded very quickly. I had questuins regarding further purchases and rather than getting more money out of me, advised me that the other purchase wasnt nesessary. The order arrived on the 2nd day after purchase. Incredible experience and my go too now for everything astronomy related.

10 April 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Nothing was too much trouble after…

Nothing was too much trouble after having problems with a battery inside a unit. Unit was still in warranty. Very responsive via email and got a new battery in two days. I probably wouldn't use anyone else.

23 January 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent customer service

Excellent customer service. I bought a Dobsonian telescope from this company about a month ago. It came really fast and was very impressive.

I accidentally knocked the telescope over onto carpet which cracked a small plastic part. I contacted them over email asking to buy a replacement part. The customer support (Alex) was very kind and got in contact with the brand Bressier and arranged to have them ship me a new part completely free. I have the part now a week later and my telescope is good as new.

Very happy with this company especially considering it was an error on my part, not theirs, and they still helped me fix it. I will definitely be buying from them again if I want more equipment.

Thank you!!

21 January 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Terrible service, misleading listings, and zero accountability

I placed an order for a Sky-Watcher telescope that was clearly listed as in stock on their website. After taking full payment, they went completely silent. Only when I followed up did they casually inform me that the item had actually been discontinued — something they should have known and disclosed before accepting my money.

There was no apology, no responsibility taken, and no proactive communication. Instead, they waited for me to chase them, then offered to sell the same components separately at a higher price. Absolutely unacceptable.

A company claiming to be professional should at least keep their listings accurate and inform customers immediately when an order cannot be fulfilled. This experience has been frustrating, disappointing, and a complete waste of time.

I would strongly advise others to think twice before ordering from them.

8 December 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent company

Excellent company. I have bought a lot of astronomy equipment from them over the years. They are reliable,efficient and provide an excellent service. They give helpful advice and generally go above and beyond what could reasonably be expected

30 September 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

My parcel worth iver 500pound was taken…

My parcel worth iver 500pound was taken to the totally wrong addreds ans now even tho they have admitted o have not recievzd it,they are making me wait and wait its been 4 daysvsince they lost my parcel..also customer service is horrible..theres no phone number to call and emails get left un answered

Avoid this company
Avoid any company that sells high value items but doesnt have a customer service number to phone

Edit

The company tried to force a replacement on me .it was only after i contacted trading standards and i told the company that trading standards said they cant force a replacement

Only then was a refund issued ...the companys response is a lie saying it was a no fuss refund....AVOID THIS COMPANY.
AVOID THIS COMPANY I TRIED TO ASK A QUESTION SO I CAN ORDER ANITHER TELESCOPE AFTER THERE LAST MESS UP AND THZ COMPANY TOLD ME THEY WONT TAKE MY ORDER BECAUSE I LEFT A NEGATIVE REVIEW

DELAY IN UPDATE DUE TO PERSONAL MATTERS

REPORTED TO TRADIN STANDARDS AND EMAILS SHARED WITH RELEVENT PEOPLE

19 September 2025
Unprompted review
First Light Optics Ltd logo

Reply from First Light Optics Ltd

Oliver ordered a telescope on Wednesday evening. We dispatched it via DPD on Thursday morning (the next day).

On Friday, Oliver informed us that DPD had mistakenly delivered the parcel to the wrong address. We contacted them the same day. They said their driver would try to retrieve the parcel that evening and then redeliver it. We communicated this to Oliver (we never ignored his emails) and promised to reply again when we reopen on Monday.

We have also assured him that if DPD fails to retrieve and redeliver, we will provide a full refund or send another.

Courier delivery errors are always frustrating. Fortunately, they are rare, and if the customer allows us a day or two to investigate, we invariably achieve a good outcome.

We will update our response ASAP.

Same-day update:

"... if the customer allows us a day or two to investigate, we invariably achieve a good outcome."

DPD could not retrieve the parcel, so we provided a full refund as requested. No fuss. No drama 🙂

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Top Company this one.

Top Company this one.
Ordered x2 Skywatcher wedges when out of stock.
Ann from customer services did an AMAZING job sorting my order out. 6 stars.

19 July 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Service!

Spoke to Vince on a couple of occasions and he was a great help. Ordered Seestar S50 yesterday 2nd July @14-32 and received it today 3rd July @ 14-52 via DPD. Excellent service just got to unbox, setup and try ASAP!

3 July 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

First Light, First Class

I contacted several astronomy equipment suppliers about a way to allow my 5-yr old grandson access, maybe on a tablet or PC, to see what I can see through the eyepiece of my Nexstar 8SE. Replies varied from nothing, to "not really as good as an eyepiece", until I was blown away by the first class response from FLO. An introduction to EAA, options for a set up to achieve what I wanted, all done at the speed of light (well, almost). All my follow up questions were answered just as promptly, and delivery of my final order was managed exactly as I wanted. We're both delighted with the result, and I cannot recommend FLO highly enough.

26 April 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fine organization and science before profit

I’ve purchased atlases, meteorites and a set of ED binoculars and First Light seem quick, thorough and professionally organized. I was particularly pleased with their planisphere. It might be a quaint observing aid but theirs is definitely the best on the market.
They also converse swiftly and helpfully to inquiries.
I will certainly use them in future.
J Engledew FRAS

12 June 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding service

First Light Optics consistently delivers outstanding service. A great example is my recent experience: I had an issue with my ZWO camera, and within a week it was collected, repaired, and returned to me. Truly impressive service. Call out to Chris in the FLO team.

12 June 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Perfect astro gear shop if your not Norwegian

I decided to get get into amateur astronomy and focus on solar for now because at the solar maximum. FLO has been my go to place for the equipment in three orders I done to get operational: Solarquest mount, Pentax zoom eyepiece, Lunt 60 h-alpha scope and a ZWO camera. Everything shipped fast, they uses DHL who are the best of the good delivering companies in my opinion. All items packed in a way I expect impossible could be harmed by any transportation disasters. Ok, so why the missing star? Well, I am Norwegian and FLO do not handle if all items is under 300 sterling in an order. Some trade complication between UK and Norway. Flo says are working on a solution, please do, that Lunt 1.25" Herscel prism incomming from a German shop as I write could been your business :D

16 March 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Stellar astronomy retailer

I've been a regular customer for 5-6 years and I've never had a problem. Staff have always been very helpful & providing items are in stock, delivery has been prompt & well packed.

16 March 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 3 out of 5 stars

I purchased a Skywatcher telescope from…

I purchased a Sky-watcher telescope from First Light Optics one month ago and decided to upgrade the primary mirror mask. I experienced terrible problems trying to remove the screws securing the primary mirror. Essentially the screws were so corroded that removing them required mole grips and not a screw driver. When I contacted FLO there was no offer of any assistance or even recognition of my concerns.
Having spent the best part of £1,700 on the telescope with upgrades, It's very disappointing,. I wasn't looking for a refund I just needed some assistance because all of the mirror mounting screws are unusable.
After much communication I was eventually contacted by another member of the FLO team who took my concerns seriously. They offered to collect the primary mirror and make good the issues with the fit of the mounting screws.

11 March 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

A very happy ending

Well it was a rather disaster in the purchase choosing department but NOT First Lights fault to stress. I bought a iOptron HAE18C after attending the Astronomy Festival in London. FYI they seemed to be the only ones doing discount codes to take away and buy stuff. I changed my mind and upgraded to an HAE29C without losing the discount and added a camera a iPolar and a ADC. Later I discoverd iOptron weren't playing nicely the app had gone from Google store and Apple's as well rather than buying a controller I cancelled the mount, tripod part of the order. Then I changed my mind about camera and ADC so cancelled them also. As it stands now money is fully refunded and no hassle. All in all very happy with the service after all they got no sale at all.

18 February 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

FLO Are very helpful and provide a good service

I purchased my first Dobsonian telescope from FLO back in 2011. It had a lot of use in my garden over the years showing my kids the planets and stars. I found I was using it less over the last year as I wanted something a bit more portable. I sold it and ordered a new scope, mount, eyepiece and red dot finder from FLO. I asked for a bit of advice on my selections and received quick responses. They used reliable couriers to delivery all the bits I ordered. I would recommend FLO to others.

13 February 2025
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Quick to take your money, but try and get it back!


About two weeks ago I purchased a mount from this company costing over a thousand pounds, so not cheap by any means. After a number of attempts to use it I found out it wasn't working correctly, so I informed this company. At first the emails were quite amicable and it was agreed that the mount should be returned to this company, and that was when it went wrong.

This was at the end of last week, and I was assured it would be finalised early this week. I am an Ex Soldier and I have very serious mental health problems, which I duly explained to someone at this company. Monday came and went, Tuesday came and went and nothing! On Wednesday this week I sent another email asking what was happening, and the rather curt reply was-"I've Been Busy!"

Because of my mental health problems, things like this which are literally nothing to normal people, are insurmountable problems for me. So today, I sent an email explaining to these people that this issue was sending me to the point of suicide!

I have now stopped any new conversions with these people, and hope to start legal proceedings against them on Monday. Which of course will come to nothing because they know all the dirty tricks!

If it's not Labour ripping off poor old pensioners, it's companies like this.

I await the "Cry me a River" "Holier Than Though" response from this company.

If only I was fifty years younger, because then I wouldn't need Trustpilot to sort these people out!

6 February 2025
Unprompted review
First Light Optics Ltd logo

Reply from First Light Optics Ltd

Again, a 1-star review from Depressed, and, like last time, we are perplexed.

Last year, we politely asked Depressed to no longer shop at FLO and explained that it was because we were not confident we could please him. Sometimes, a retailer and a customer are simply not a good match. He agreed. But then, he ordered another astronomy mount—a model that he’d previously purchased and returned.

He again chose to return the mount. We arranged another courier collection and provided another full refund. All our communications were prompt, considerate, and friendly. (We were extra careful, treading on eggshells!)

Things appeared to be going well. Depressed was calm and polite. We collected his mount, checked it in our workshop and refunded his payment in full. All in the space of one week. This is good, especially as it was the super-busy week leading up to Astrofest.

On the day we refunded, he posted this 1-star review and said he would “commence legal proceedings”. He hasn’t said what legal proceedings, or why, and we cannot imagine why. He isn’t out of pocket (we covered the cost of courier collection) and has already received a full refund.

In his review, he says he has a mental illness. We are sympathetic, but it would not have changed how we handled the situation. We could not have been more polite, friendly and considerate.

We hope Depressed believes us when we say we genuinely and sincerely wish him well.

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