I ordered a 5 inch F15 achromat objective lens and cell from D&G Optical on January 12, 1997. D&G said I should receive the lens by May of 1997. I called D&G around June 1. Barry Greiner (D&G co-owner) said it should be ready in June. I called again around July 1. Barry said it should be ready in July. I called around August 1. Barry said it was ready, and I should send the final payment. I did immediately. (I should note that this is fairly typical in the telescope optics industry - good handmade optics take time to make, and there's no high speed production line.)

Three weeks later I called to see if it had shipped yet, and Barry said he would ship it the next day. Two weeks later I called, and Barry said he would ship it the next day. One week later I called and Barry said he had shipped it the previous day. One week later I called and Barry said I would get it the next day. Sure enough, it arrived on September 17 (with a UPS 2nd day tag on it).

It was a beautiful lens with a very fine polish, mounted in an aluminum push-pull adjustable cell. But it wasn't coated, like the catalog and advertisements said it would be. By now I was getting tired of calling Barry every week. I left him another message, and when he called me back he was very apologetic and helpful. He told me he had recently switched coating companies, and was having some trouble with them. After having me check the lens a couple of different ways for an improper 'straw colored' coating, he said he would make another lens, get it coated, and notify me. I would then send my lens to D&G, and they would install the new lens in my cell. He said the new lens should be ready in three to four weeks and my warranty would be extended so I can evaluate the new lens upon receipt.

Eight weeks later, I called Barry again. He said the replacement lens had been polished and is ready for figuring. It would then be sent to the new coating company, and should be ready in 4 to 6 weeks. This was in mid- November.

Three and a half months later, Barry called me and said that the new lens was completed, and he would be sending it out to get coated. It should be back in a week or so, and he would call me when it was ready. Almost five weeks later, Barry called again and said he had been waiting for me to ship my lens to him. I shipped it, and about ten days later I finally received the replacement lens.

My advice to D&G: Be honest with your potential customers.  Tell them that it will take a year.  I would have still placed my order if you had told me up front that it would take a long time.  And I wouldn't have been so frustrated with you.  Nothing gives you a bad reputation faster then lying, or even the appearance of lying, to your customers.

The bottom line: It took well over a year, and many phone calls and emails, to receive what I ordered. But I am pleased with the quality of the lens and cell. D&G makes very good stuff, but be prepared for a frustrating experience getting it. -Dale Keller

I ordered a 6 inch F15 Achromat Tube Assembly from D&G Optical in November 1994. Their catalog stated a delivery time of 4 to 8 weeks for out of stock items. Curious, I called D&G and was told delivery would take 3 to 4 months. However, I knew from the experience of two people in my astronomical club that 9 to 12 months would be more likely.

It took 17 months to get the tube assembly, sans dewcap. It took another 20 months to get the dewcap. You must constantly call to find out the status of your order, at which time it is always on the verge of being shipped to you.

The dewcap is an example of what I mean. The tube assembly arrived in April 1996 without it's dewcap. Over the next 5 months I played phone tag with Barry Greiner six or seven times. First there were none in stock. Then they were waiting for a setscrew from a new vendor. Then it was to be shipped next week. And next week and next week again. In September I left a phone message to which I never received an answer. I became flustered and gave up.

In August 1997 Dale Keller said he had been talking with Barry about his 5 inch F15 lens assembly. I asked him to inquire about my dewcap. In September, Dale told me he was told by Barry that my dewcap was on it's way.

In November 1997 I got angry. I wrote a letter to Barry requesting that he honor our contract that he had confirmed in a letter in December 1994. I had to threaten to send a letter of complaint to the Postmaster General, but I did get a positive response.

I got my dewcap in December 1997. It's a nice dewcap. It complements and completes the telescope.

One last caveat. The inside surface of the front element of the doublet lens has what looks like residue from masking tape: an ugly patch 1-1/8 by 5 inches. And the lens still performs!

I believe it was worth the wait. In my last letter to Barry I tried to tell him this. I would have preferred to have been told up front how long delivery would really take, and then not have to constantly check up and remind D&G that I was still out here and we had made a written contract. I do not believe D&G goes by time on a clock, but by the time it takes to get these optics ready for us. - Tim Pimintel

Shawn ordered a 6 inch F 12 achromat objective lens and cell from D&G Optical. Possibly his story of woe will be posted here someday.