Frequently Ask Questions (FAQ)
General business topics
(last updated April 21, 2008)
1) When does my credit card get billed?
2) How long are the lead-times for secondary mounts?
3) Which star parties will ProtoStar be attending?
4) What methods of payment can I use?
5) Why don't I receive answers to my e-mail from ProtoStar?
1) When does my credit card get billed?
For stocked items like secondary mirrors and flocked light trap, your credit card is billed when we ship the products (usually within 1-2 days of placing the order. For secondary mounts, your credit card is billed when we begin construction of the mount, and this will depend on what lead-time you were quoted. The mounting will usually ship out about two weeks after your credit card is billed.
Note that PayPal orders are billed immediately when you place an online order. For this reason, we recommend using a credit card when ordering secondary mounts.
2) How long are the lead-times for secondary mounts?
Secondary mounts are custom-made to your tube size, and the lead-times depend upon the size of the mount. For most times of the year, the lead-time is 1-3 weeks. (Stocked products like flocked light trap material, secondary mirrors, and telescope tubes are usually shipped within 24 hours of your order.) We maintain a regularly updated list of product lead-times here.
3) Which star parties will ProtoStar be attending?
We regularly attend starparty events around the country. Notices of upcoming events we plan to attend are listed on the homepage.
4) What methods of payment can I use?
We accept Visa, Mastercard, and Discover credit cards, along with PayPal. Money orders can also be used. Personal checks are acceptable if issued from a U.S.A. bank.
Foreign orders. Orders from outside the U.S.A. can be made with credit card, PayPal, or a bank-issued check or money order (in U.S. dollars). When using our online shopping cart, PayPal is not recommended for foreign ordering because PayPal processes your payment immediately, and the calculated shipping charges won't be correct. This requires you to manually submit a second PayPal payment for the small balance due. This inconvenience is avoided when you use a credit card, since we manually process credit cards, and only after we have quoted you the proper shipping charge by e-mail.
5) Why don't I receive answers to my e-mail from ProtoStar?
Sadly, e-mail has become much less reliable in the last few years due to the high volume of spam, and the common use of spam filters. We do answer e-mail promptly, but the most likely reason you don't receive a reply is your ISP is blocking our e-mails with an aggressive spam filter. E-mail providers protect their customers from spam by actively blocking e-mails they consider harmful. Some even block whole domains or IP address ranges (i.e., "blacklisting").
Providers we've had trouble in the past due to this rigid handling of e-mails include:
- yahoo.com
- rogers.com (Roger Communications)
- charter.net
- comcast.net
- core.com
- many governmental, military, and educational accounts (.gov, .mil, and .edu)
If you don't get a response from us please check the spam folder of your e-mail client, or try contacting us with an e-mail account that uses a different provider. Also, you can add our domain (fpi-protostar.com) to your spam filter's "white list" if your ISP gives you such control. This will let all mail from us reach you.
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