Mouser sneaky damaged goods

[KL27x]

So here's a first.

I get a package from Mouser. The box looks a bit like an accordion. Inside are tubes of IC's that are bent into an S-shape. Obviously damaged by the carrier, right?

1. The box has been taped with several short sections of fiberglass tape, sideways, not lengthwise, as if it has been "repaired" by the carrier.... But the box doesn't have any of the usual brown tape along the seams, and there are no tape residue marks.
2.  The ESD bag is still sealed. And it's not long enough to have ever contained the IC tubes when there were straight. The glove don't fit, lol.
 

[rx8pilot]

CSI-EE
Season 1, Episode 1

This is a pretty weird setup. My first guess is that an employee was trying to be helpful without understanding how bad this is for the company.





Typet purly on my fone.

[Doctorandus_P]

Photo's ?


A frend of mine ordered a lot of stuff from Mouser some time ago, and when it arrived a lot of resistors were all of the wrong value.
He complained and Mouser promptly sent new resistors, with the same wrong value.

It seems that in the Mouser warehouse a whole box of resistors got the wrong barcode or whatever, and I wonder to how many people those resistors were sent before it got corrected.

Bit sloppy, but it's only one out of  a gazillion products from Mouser.
Mistakes get made, and somehow you gotta keep on living anyhow.

[Stray Electron]

   FWIW, anytime that I get a damaged box, I start taking pictures before I even open the box and I take a picture at each step along the way. That way no one can dispute the damage.  Having pictures makes quick work of getting a refund or replacement.

[KL27x]

I still haven't opened the ESD bag. To be fair it looks like the tubes could have barely fit, diagonally. But I have never seen Mouser bag IC tubes like this out of hundreds of orders. There's always an extra inch or 3 of room where they fold and tape the end of the bag.

It's the lack of any evidence that the box had ever been taped in the normal way that makes it really, extra odd. It has just 5 of these skinny fiberglass tape "butterfly bandages" around the seams.

These are leadless IC's, and I don't really expect there to be any damage, so I am not going to be contacting Mouser. I need these now, and that is that.

The most likely thing I think is they just happened to be bagged super tight, then the box got damaged before it was taped, while at Mouser. Then someone looked inside and said "well, they're probably still fine." And then they taped the damaged box up, funny. Maybe it was right before pickup, after shipping confirmation had already been sent. And they rightly figured, better to send them out on time and fix it if the customer has a problem. Maybe they even had the time to take them out of the bag for a better look and re-label a new bag after the tubes had been "shortened"... explaining the OJ glove fit.

If I don't see any IC fragments, I'll probably just use them all. If my app were more safety critical, I might discard the ones near the bends, at least, if not suffer a delay to get them all replaced. I think I'll try to sort those chips at the bends for a closer inspection and/or to save them for deep inventory/emergency reserve.

[stj]

hiring the wrong people, and/or not paying them enough to give a shit.

the same thing happened to me about 2 years ago from Rapid Electronics,
some joker bent half a dozen tubes of chipsockets to get them into a box one size down from the usual size.
not as bad as mouser, one bend - about 30' just to get a few inches.
pissed me off though, it damaged about 20 expensive turned-pin sockets.

[Bud]

Digikey still sends Cypress USB SOIC-56 chips just in static bags, not in a tube or any hard lining. Typically the pins around short edges of the IC package arrive bent. I spoke with them a few times but gave up and now buying those from a different place who ships them protected in tubes.

[wraper]

Actually the whole controversy sounds very stupid. As if mouser employee had a fiberglass tape laying around, specially for your package  .

But the box doesn't have any of the usual brown tape along the seams

Probably it was applied just in the middle, under fiberglass tape.

Inside are tubes of IC's that are bent into an S-shape. Obviously damaged by the carrier, right?

As if they had bent tubes, then put into shorter bag, then box was specially bent and taped with special fiberglass tape I'll tell you a little secret, people who pack components into bags and people / automated machines who put bags into the boxes are not the same. They are on opposite ends of long automated conveyor. And box gets taped by machine. Just imagine how much special attention your package would need to receive for it to avoid all standard automated procedures.

https://youtu.be/GxqJhkTEcXo

[wraper]

2.  The ESD bag is still sealed. And it's not long enough to have ever contained the IC tubes when there were straight. The glove don't fit, lol.

Bag not opened yet, no photos taken. But you already spread conspiracy theories on internet about length of the tubes not fitting in the bag.

[KL27x]

Believe w/e you want, lol. If you want a picture, come over and take one. Bag still unopened. And I could give a rat's ass if you believe anything I say.

I still love Mouser and will continue doing business with them. I care not about my relationship with wraper.

I'll tell you a little secret, people who pack components into bags and people / automated machines who put bags into the boxes are not the same.

The machine that bags and boxes and/or tapes them is perhaps what damaged the box before it was sealed.

Also, I'm skeptical that a machine folds over the bags and seals them, because the sticker is never aligned square on Mouser IC ESD bags. It's a yellow sticker that looks to be placed by hand. Digikey and most other places seal the bag with a heat sealer. Any rate, human intervention on an automated assembly line is not unheard of and actually expected. You have zero humans overseeing this, and my crushed box is jammed in a machine and still not shipped.... along with the 1000's of other orders that were supposed to have been processed in the interim.

Actually the whole controversy sounds very stupid

It's not a controversy to me. It's just an unusual event.



You sound stupid. 

[wraper]

I care not about my relationship with wraper.

Don't care either. It just annoys me a bit when FUD is spread.

Also, I'm skeptical that a machine folds over the bags and seals them, because the sticker is never aligned square on Mouser IC ESD bags.

I did not say that machine puts label on the bag. However from the video, packing list is placed into box, and box is sealed by machine. In any case, human or machine, component picking and placing into the box happens far far away on the opposite ends of conveyor. So suspecting that ordeal happened starting from picking components is a bit ridiculous.

[wraper]

Any rate, human intervention on an automated assembly line is not unheard of and actually expected.

At any rate, they would need to bypass like a kilometer of conveyor and bypass many processes for your suspicions to be true. Who the hell would do that? Not to say someone who picks components cannot print a shipping label. You would need a whole organised crime group just for the sake of your bent box.

You sound stupid. 

Totally agree if it's about you.

[langwadt]

Photo's ?


A frend of mine ordered a lot of stuff from Mouser some time ago, and when it arrived a lot of resistors were all of the wrong value.
He complained and Mouser promptly sent new resistors, with the same wrong value.

It seems that in the Mouser warehouse a whole box of resistors got the wrong barcode or whatever, and I wonder to how many people those resistors were sent before it got corrected.

Bit sloppy, but it's only one out of  a gazillion products from Mouser.
Mistakes get made, and somehow you gotta keep on living anyhow.

I remember one guy I worked with, after it happen three times he ordered one more than they had is stock so it would be
restocked  with the correct part

[KL27x]

Unlike you, I have better things to do. But I'm gonna ignore that for 20 minutes to hear your superior theory.

I'm sure you have some reasonable theory that doesn't include my going out and buying yellow stickers and mocking up a damaged box just to win an internet argument with Wraper, the infamously smartest guy on EEV forum.


If the unbent tubes had been in there, straight, it would not even have fit, normally. I have never seen my Mouser IC's bagged like this in 15 years and thousands of orders. Unbent tube laid over the bag for reference, end lined up with the seam at the bottom of the bag.

[Imgur](

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Probably it [the usual brown paper tape] was applied just in the middle, under fiberglass tape.

Here's a closeup of the seam of the box. 5 of these things. I'm sure someone cut itty pieces of brown tape and then carefully covered them with the fiberglass bandaids. Perfectly sensible. 
[Imgur](

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At any rate, they would need to bypass like a kilometer of conveyor and bypass many processes for your suspicions to be true.

Seriously, what the heck does this even mean? You saying a machine packages all of Mouser's orders, and this machine fixes itself whenever it has a problem?

*Additional information: When you squeeze the box end-to-end, there are 2 opposing creases approximately the same distance apart as the bends in the IC tubes. But you would have to take my word for it.

[wraper]

If the unbent tubes had been in there, straight, it would not even have fit, normally. I have never seen my Mouser IC's bagged like this in 15 years and thousands of orders. Unbent tube laid over the bag for reference, end lined up with the seam at the bottom of the bag.

Tube fits perfectly diagonally, even with some space left. And bag was folded by hand. Nothing wrong with that.

Here's a closeup of the seam of the box. 5 of these things. I'm sure someone cut itty pieces of brown tape and then carefully covered them with the fiberglass bandaids. Perfectly sensible. 
[Imgur](

)

It would be way more useful if there was a photo of a whole box. And it's not a fiberglass tape. It's a plastic packing strap used to seal boxes, you need a special machine/tool to apply that. Very good for automation. Sometimes I get those on boxes from TME. Maybe they started to use them instead of a brown paper tape. Using both tape and straps simultaneously would be waste of time and material. Now it seems that box simply arrived bent during shipping process and nobody ever tampered with it  .

[langwadt]

Unlike you, I have better things to do. But I'm gonna ignore that for 20 minutes to hear your superior theory.

I'm sure you have some reasonable theory that doesn't include my going out and buying yellow stickers and mocking up a damaged box just to win an internet argument with Wraper, the infamously smartest guy on EEV forum.


If the unbent tubes had been in there, straight, it would not even have fit, normally. I have never seen my Mouser IC's bagged like this in 15 years and thousands of orders. Unbent tube laid over the bag for reference, end lined up with the seam at the bottom of the bag.

[Imgur](

)

looks like it would fit just fine diagonally

[KL27x]

Tube fits perfectly diagonally

I have already stated this. That doesn't change the fact I've never had a Mouser IC order crammed this way. There has always been a few of inches leftover of empty space.

I don't have another Mouser order. This bag is direct from the manufacturer. This is how my Digikey orders usually look, too. There's a full 4 inches of extra space in the bag with the tubes lined up straight.
[Imgur](

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And bag was folded by hand.

Wait, wut!? Some human traversed kilometers of conveyor belts to hand fold my bag? 

It's a plastic band used to seal boxes

Are you being serious? They're 5 inches long and only stick to the box with adhesive. You'd know this if you could read english.

It would be way more useful if there was a photo of a whole box.

[edited to remove an unsafe suggestion]
The other half of the box looks more or less exactly the same, but it's a mirror image of this half. It has a label with information I'd rather not have to photoshop out, let alone w/e other personal or business info that might be on my bench if I zoom out that far. So perhaps you could use your imagination.

[MarkF]

Probably it [the usual brown paper tape] was applied just in the middle, under fiberglass tape.

Here's a closeup of the seam of the box. 5 of these things. I'm sure someone cut itty pieces of brown tape and then carefully covered them with the fiberglass bandaids. Perfectly sensible. 
[Imgur]http://(

)

That is just the standard 3M Filament Tape.

   

[wraper]

It's a plastic band used to seal boxes

Are you being serious? They're 5 inches long and only stick to the box with adhesive. You'd know this if you could read english.

OK, They are not plastic straps. Missed them on the first photo. But this obviously was used instead of paper tape. I don't see anything fishy with that. It's not bandaiding the box.

And bag was folded by hand.

Wait, wut!? Some human traversed kilometers of conveyor belts to hand fold my bag? 

Not every bag gets sealed by heat sealer. There is no reason to leave the gap if you seal by sticker.

[MarkF]

Frankly, it looks like the box broke open during shipping and the shipper (not Mouser) taped the pieces together.
Maybe not even the original box.

[KL27x]

Not every bag gets sealed by heat sealer. There is no reason to leave the gap if you seal by sticker.

None of my orders from Mouser are sealed by a heat sealer. They always use a sticker. They always leave extra space. About as much extra space as this order has WITH the tubes bent.

But this obviously was used instead of paper tape. I don't see anything fishy with that.

What about the automatic boxing machine? And the "human" that would have to come from kilometers away. And who would just "happen to have this special fiberglass tape." And the "whole organized crime ring" that would have to be involved in order to....

have simply inspected and rebagged an order that may have suffered machine damage.

[wraper]

What a controversy!!! Mouser packed $1500 worth of parts witout heat sealer and with no gap.  . And WTF, they even folded it on 2 sides and used 3 stickers!

None of my orders from Mouser are sealed by a heat sealer. They always use a sticker.

They heat seal quite often too.

[KL27x]

That's not IC tubes. That, or partial packages of switches or large components are often bagged like that.

When you have ordered full tubes of IC from Mouser, once, let alone 1000 times, let us know.

Even without the bag issue, the tape is unusual to me. But w/e.

[thm_w]

I have already stated this. That doesn't change the fact I've never had a Mouser IC order crammed this way. There has always been a few of inches leftover of empty space.

Yeah they didn't pack it really well. Politely contact support and they will help you out. Sometimes shipping is incredibly busy and people cut corners, or companies don't hire enough staff to finish the required workload correctly. But I suspect its not worth the time and money to properly pack every box, and its cheaper to deal with the odd damaged package.

[KL27x]

^This is what I think. The box was damaged at mouser, before it had been taped. Some human took the time to inspect the contents and deemed them good enough. I further suspect that they opened the bag to take a better look and then rebagged with a new label. The damaged box got a custom tape job.

But to Wraper this is a conspiracy.