Answers to FAQ
- Please can you send me a catalogue?
- Which chemistry set / microscope / telescope / ... do you recommend?
- How do I know you're genuine and not some kind of fraud?
- Can I order over the phone?
- My new password doesn't work..
- How can I make a rainbow/spectrum?
- What's the difference between the various prisms?
- The item you sent is wrong/damaged. How shall I return it?
- Do you ship to the US?
- Can I call into your shop / office / warehouse to purchase goods?
- Do you sell wholesale/trade?
- Why don't you encrypt my address?
- I've got an xxx. Please can you tell me its value?
- Where's my stuff?
- Where are you? Why do you sound American?
- Can you ship abroad from your eBay shop?
Can I call into your shop / office / warehouse to purchase goods?
No. We don't currently have any retail outlets but you are welcome to visit the warehouse (please call first). We are located in Kingstone, Herefordshire.
Can I order over the phone?
Yes, of course! Please call 01981 252962. We don't have call queues so you should normally get right through, if we have another caller on the line you can leave your number and we'll call you back.
How do I know you're genuine and not a fake?
Look at the evidence until you're convinced:
- The shop has been online since 2004.
- See our About Us page. You'll see that we have substantial backgrounds in scientific programming for institutes such as NASA and for the Hubble Space Telescope.
- Call us and talk to us. Ask us questions and try to catch us out..
- We advertise in Focus, How It Works, and various school publications. Look in W.H Smiths.
- We're mentioned and linked to on the Royal Society of Chemistry's website.
How can I make a rainbow/spectrum?
The simplest method is to place a prism in bright sunlight, and twist and turn it to project the spectrum onto a screen (e.g. a wall or ceiling). Ideally you will be in a room, by a window, so that the wall or ceiling isn't directly illuminated by sunlight. However, if you want more control - such as not having to wait for a sunny day - you need to understand the optical process. The light source ideally needs to be narrow in one dimension, and not spreading out. You can achieve this with a lamp, followed by a slit, then a convex lens (or magnifying glass) The narrower the slit the sharper the spectrum, but less bright. Focus an image of the slit on your screen (be it a box, piece of paper, or a wall or ceiling). Then place the prism or diffraction grating in the beam and rotate it (if prism) till you get the best spectrum. Our Rainbow Spectrum kit is ideal for experimenting and learning how to do this.
Can you ship abroad from your eBay shop?
We don't do some of the things from our eBay shop that we do from this one, because its not economical to do so (due to various overheads such as fees). So we regret that we don't offer overseas shipping from our eBay shop. We do from this one,
What's the difference between the various prisms?
The main factors are:
- Size
- A bigger prism makes the spectrum wider, but not longer.
- Angles
- Prisms typically are equilateral (3 sides and angles are the same) or right-angled (with two 45° angles)
- Material
- Glass has a higher refractive index than acrylic, which spreads out the colours more and makes the spectrum longer. Unless stated otherwise, our prisms are acrylic.
One would normally use an equilateral glass prism for colour dispersion (e.g. in spectroscopes) and right-angled for light deviation, e.g. to shorten binoculars. However, the Discovery prism does a very good job of producing a spectrum in bright sunlight, and I haven't been able to tell which one is 'better' for that, though acrylic would be less susceptible to breakage.
Our Rainbow Spectrum kit contains the glass prism and some diffraction grating and a lens, light source, and instructions on how to create spectra in the absence of bright sunlight, which we highly recommend for anyone wanting to gain some insight into the colour composition of light.
Where's my stuff?
Probably at your local Royal Mail sorting office
- At Christmas or during very bad weather (snow, flood, ...) deliveries might take longer.
- The 3-5 working days we quote is based on the Royal Mail's guidelines for second class post. Occasionally they take a little longer.
- Please check if your local Post Sorting Office is holding it for you. Normally the postie should leave you a note if you didn't answer the door, but occasionally they don't.
- Please be aware that sometimes credit cards are declined, and check your bank account. If you did not receive any email from us then we probably did not receive your order.
Here are some more reasons it might not arrive.
- We almost always send out orders the same or next BUSINESS day. If you submit your order late on Friday do NOT expect it to arrive Monday.
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Orders may fail to arrive for any number of reasons, e.g:
- you haven't waited long enough, even if you calculated the stated number of business days correctly - sometimes the mail takes longer, especially at Christmas.
- you gave us the wrong address or postcode. We do NOT change it (except to add or correct the postcode), it goes through exactly as you typed it.
- you didn't answer the door for the post/delivery man. You might not have heard the bell (you were talking/sneezing/...). They DON'T always leave a card. Check with your local sorting office.
- Somebody in our warehouse made a mistake. Their error rate is about 0.5%, i.e. 1 in about 200 orders are wrong. When that happens we try to encourage them to not make that mistake again, but they're only human, they'll find another one...
- We aren't answering you because we're on holiday (e.g. from Xmas eve till January 3rd). We aren't ignoring you - unless you were rude or aggressive. We WILL sort out your problem, but politeness is a wonderful lubricant! Treat us with respect and we'll do the same for you. We might even take time out of our holiday or weekend to help you!
Don't leave your Christmas shopping till the last minute - a proportion of those orders that theoretically should arrive in time, won't. One customer ordered on Christmas Eve and was upset that it didn't arrive by Christmas. No, really!
Which chemistry set /microscope / telescope / ... do you recommend?
Please see our recommendations page.
Where are you? Why do you sound American?
We are located in Kingstone, Herefordshire, near the Welsh border. Lucy is the one who normally answers the phone, she's American. Occasionally you'll get Alan who is British.
Do you sell wholesale/trade?
No.
Please can you send me a catalogue?
We don't have a catalogue at this time. We hope to have one soon. Until then, everything we have is on our website.
Do you ship to the US (or other country)?
Yes (probably). We are willing to ship almost anywhere (subject to government restrictions). Our website is not set up to handle delivery addresses outside the EU so if you would like to place an order you will have to email us the details and we can give you the final cost. We can then arrange a way to get your bank card details or alternate payment method.
The item you sent is wrong/damaged. How shall I return it?
PLEASE contact us first. We may be able to solve a problem, or offer a solution that obviates the need to return it, or we'll give you instructions where and how to return it (always by the cheapest method please).
I've got an xxx. Please can you tell me its value?
No. There are many factors that affect an item's value. The best way to determine it yourself is to use eBay. Go to the 'Advanced Search', type in what it is, and check the 'Completed listings' box. This will show you what items like yours have sold for, e.g. brass microscope.
My new password doesn't work..
Please be sure to type (or better, cut & paste) the password exactly, including upper & lowercase, and being careful not to swap '1' for 'l', and 'O' for '0', etc. To cut & paste (on a PC): double-click on the new password, right-click & select 'Copy', click in the password field in our site login page, right-click & select 'Paste'. Unfortunately we cannot change your password, the software doesn't allow it.
Why don't you encrypt my address?
Your personal data (name, address, phone, but NOT credit card data) is unencrypted because we feel it's only really necessary at the credit card stage. We appreciate that some people don't agree with that. We can agree to disagree or you may tell us why we're wrong. Basically, we doubt that anyone would find it worthwhile to sniff our traffic for publically available data. Your credit card data however is extremely secure, that is handled on a secured site.
If you don't find your question here, or you would like further clarification, please don't hesitate to call us on 01981 252 962. We are very friendly, don't bite, and know our products.