Digikey bad experiences

[DavidDLC]

The more I know Digikey the less I like it.

I was chatting with technical support, the guy was not able to help me and he gave me a phone number to call and get a free sample to see if the part he was recommending will work for me.

I called the number and got nothing, the lady on the phone told me free samples are only for manufacturers that will produce hundreds and hundreds of parts.

What bothers me is why I didn't get this information on the first place ? Why the technical support does not know that ? I just wasted my time by calling them.

Before this I had a bad service support experience with them as well. I got a part that I was not looking for, it was similar but not exactly, they said they have mixed parts on the bin, and they will send me the correct part again, well I received the exactly same wrong part, so I called them again, and now they told me that the description was correct that I ordered the incorrect part, I explained to them that somebody told me they have mixed parts and based on the description I was correct, they said no I was incorrect, what the heck, if the description says golden leads, you expect to receive golden leads and not silver!

I will buy less stuff from Digikey and slowly switch to other vendor.

 

[T4P]

I have used Digikey - once and that's it.
But the slap dash service seems to change around the world, i'll explain why

I bought the MSP430 TI Watch from tideals.com... 24$ complementary shipping by TI (32$SGD to simplify things)

Guess what? I opened my bank and i saw that i got charged 82$ ! I sent a ticket and they replied to me and also refund me the difference in about 3 days ( That's normal here )

Good that they replied fast but i'm a bit worried to buy anything from DK that involves discounts ... A mistake once doesn't mean i will trust them anymore
Sure, they refunded me the difference, but it's a ruined experience.

How long have they been opened? Still can't even sort out their discounting system!

[krenzo]

Really?  I've been using Digikey for over 10 years and have never had a problem with them.

[DavidDLC]

Really?  I've been using Digikey for over 10 years and have never had a problem with them.

Yes, really.

Lucky you.

[free_electron]

Same here. Digikey customer since 2000. Zero problems. Apart from a few times a wrong part. I had the right order code , it had the right label on it but the part in the bag was wrong (was a 14 pin chip as opposed ot an 8 pin... mixup in the end letters... the other was a 2MHz crystal as opposed to a 20MHz crystal...)

Both times they overnighted me the right one. I could keep the other.
Stellar service.

truth be told, i am in the US. as for international stuff. i can't comment. i know people that have no trouble and i know people that have trouble , mostly with stupid customs rules and market protection ( like digikey not being able to sell maxim parts in some european countries because some german outfit has a monopoly contract on those for a number of countries... )

Customs are a pest. i had a situation years ago where i needed oxygen sensors for scubadiving. I tried to buy them in Belgium . 200 euro a piece... and the manu date was unknown ( these things die after 3 to 4 years by themselves because of the chemical reaction stopping, this is normal behavour. you just need to buy 'fresh ones' ) So i hop on the web , find a scuba story in new york that sells em for 48$.. i order 3... ship 3 day using UPS. day 4 , nothing , day 5 , nothing , day  6 nothing ( every day i called ups. answer :stuck in customs...

Package was properly labeled 'oxygen sensors ,with invoice , so no wishy-washy 'gift' or '0 dollar' value . Day 7 i get a call from customs. What is this ? what are you going to use this for ? why do you need 3 ? are you going to sell these ?

So i explain them my hobby is scubadiving and these are used to analyze the nitrox oxygen content and that i was building my own analyzer. Eventually they clear them ( i had to pay like 25$ duty ).

The final comment from customs officer was  : we will let them go since you are not a company , but these things classify as 'medical equipment' and can only be imported by a company having the right paperwork. The official company that is registered for this product is in france... i called that company.. want a sensor ? ok its 200 euro a piece. oh you are not a company ? sorry no sale.

Here i am trying to design an oxygen analyzer and come up with an innovative idea and i am being blocked by some stupid rule.

i had the same with a motorized ball valve i needed a slow opening and closing motorized valve to do the gas blending. Valve needs to be able to hold 7500psi.
I find a company in germany... sorry , no sale , you are no company and besides you need paperwork. This is classified for petrochemical apps and you cannot re-export this... i gave up. Since a few weeks later i was going to florida for a scuba vacation i simply walked in the first compressor store there and bought a few. Perfectly legal , over the counter. Same for the gas sensors. Any serious scuba store in the US carries those.

As for free samples ... if you are not going to buy a few million aftwards most manufacturers will not give you anything. Especially if your email address ends in @yahoo.com or @gmail.com. If it ends in a big company name the floodgates open wide.

[Psi]

Same, i've had really good service from digikey.

A few wrong items over the years, but a quick chat with sales on the website and they shipped me the right item.

Once it was a large tube of 100 to220 fets instead of 100 tiny zener diodes ,LOL.
They wanted those returned which was understandable. All i had to do was put them into a box, write the address on it and drop it off at the nearest 'Business Service Center' with a letter they supplied. They took care of the rest and paying for the return postage.

The other time it was 10 thermal fuses instead of 10 TVS diodes. They didn't want those returned and send me replacements right away.

I've also used the website text chat feature to ask some unusual questions and they've always been able to answer me.
Once i wanted to know how often and when they update their currency conversions. (1st of every month)
 

[Freighternut]

Looks like Digikey like Kiwi's.

I have had no issues at all over many years purchasing from DigiKey. I purchase a lot small quantities and have never had an issue with wrong parts etc.

I usually spend up to and above the NZ$125 that qualifies for free shipping to New Zealand.

4 -5 day's is typical delivery time.

[Short Circuit]

Customer for more than 14 years, bi-weekly shipments on average, probably 3 wrong parts in all that time. Once production quantity which I missed being wrong and shipped back and forth between my office and assembly house. Took about 6 months to find out, then contacted Digikey about it, and parts exchanged, no problem.

[Bored@Work]

For a time Digikey didn't manage to print the right INCOTERMS on the shipping papers, not even if their lives would depend on them. That caused more than the usual hassle with customs and when we had enough of that it did cost them some business.

[Time]

I think your first mistake was assuming technical support at digikey was supposed to know about 1 out of the thousands (millions maybe?) of parts they carry.  A lot of companies give free samples to anyone no questions asked but given the also vast amount of parts makers they can't really keep tabs on who does and who doesn't.

and maybe they were tinned gold leads?

They are a distributor.  Not a company who designs any real devices so don't expect them to have much in the way of technical advice.

[T4P]

If they dare to distribute, they should know what they are doing!
Element14/Farnell does know what they are selling   

[free_electron]

Element14/Farnell does know what they are selling   

And that's not nearly as 1/100 of what digikey has in stock.. Element14 and Fartnell are good for screws and ducttape... Parts ?? meh ... they don't do full linecards, meaning if digikey represents a certain manufacturer they can supply any part form that manufacturer in any package any temp grade. Farnell and E14 pick specific parts they thing will sell well in small quantitiy. Good luck ordering 20 reels of a certain part at these guys. They won't have enough stock at hand. Digikey and mouser will

As for parts handling.. i've had tqfp's shipped stuck in a bit of foam. Arriving with bent pins. That doesn't happen with digikey. They package in trays.

I used to buy lots of stuff from farnell in the 90's but it became more and more troublesome to make designs with modern parts. They simply did not carry them. Then i discovered digikey in 2000 ... the catalogue was only a centimeter , about 3  pages in 12 point font... today .. we hit 3000 pages in a font that requires a microscope to read...

and the digikey websearch is way better than farnell or e14. The sites are too slow and too much flashy graphics. digikey works like google. put  in a few keywords and you have a fast drill-down table.

[T4P]

I use element14 only for one reason : FREE delivery.
For me i don't see a lack of parts oddly  But if i do want 2 reels i have to look up the mfr and see who is distributing them

But yeah, element14's too flashy

[DavidDLC]

I have been buying stuff from them for a long time as well, but....

All the companies should have a big focus on Customer Experience, before this happened I was happy always trying to get all my stuff from them.

But then when you face issues and you notice how do they handle it, it's when your point of view start to change.

I was thinking: How much it will hurt them to send me a dollar sample ? Nothing, and by doing that they will keep a happy customer, my situation was not that I requested the sample by myself, it was coming from a suggestion from technical support.

Sometimes is good for the companies to "spend" some money to keep a customer happy on the long term.

I have seen several complains about this company, including on Dave's videos, so there is something there to take care.

David.

[Short Circuit]

...
I will buy less stuff from Digikey and slowly switch to other vendor.

Actually quite interested knowing this other vendor, having comparable linecard, proto and production qty stock and pricing...

[free_electron]

only one comes close and that is Mouser. i find myself more and more buying from mouser. They often are a bit cheaper than digikey prices.

[DavidDLC]

only one comes close and that is Mouser. i find myself more and more buying from mouser. They often are a bit cheaper than digikey prices.

Yes, Mouser is one of them.

[Psi]

I usually spend up to and above the NZ$125 that qualifies for free shipping to New Zealand.
4 -5 day's is typical delivery time.

I've noticed that if i order NZ Monday i don't get the package until NZ Friday or Monday.  (4-7days)

However..

If i order on Friday (or even Saturday at 1am) the package usually arrives Monday morning. (2-3 days)

[free_electron]

only one comes close and that is Mouser. i find myself more and more buying from mouser. They often are a bit cheaper than digikey prices.

Yes, Mouser is one of them.

and the others are ?

Arrow ?
Avnet ?
Future ?
EBV ?
Newark ?

[Mechatrommer]

Zero problems. Apart from a few times a wrong part

big problem! yes its no problem if they are next to your house. yesterday the swmbo got the wrong clothing color, its 1000+ km away from seller (not 100,000++km like digikey), i think i'll just let her "learn" the managerial thing on how to get a replacement.

I use element14 only for one reason : FREE delivery

i can understand that. its back of your house . yeah e14 provide better shipping option (singapore branch), faster etc... but the high price of most items and lack of stock sometime made me back away, but surprisingly, some components are cheaper than digikey.

[Zopsi]

Funny that you started this thread as I've had two bad experiences with Digikey over the past 3 weeks. They provided inadequate packing on materials and it was damaged due to their negligence in packing. Then their customer service refused to refund the purchase and pay return shipping because they didn't believe it was their fault. I then provided them with pictures detailing the inadequate packing and they finally agreed to refund it. In all it took two weeks and a manager in order to get them to agree to refund those items.

I also had an issue with them where they charged me for something I did not buy. Needless to say that was interesting.

Before I used a combination of Newark, Mouser, and Digikey. Now I just use Mouser and Newark. I will never look back. 

[Psi]

I always provide pics when i talk to them about issues (incorrect parts etc).

Expecting them to just take someone at their word is probably asking a bit much.

[Zopsi]

I always provide pics when i talk to them about issues (incorrect parts etc).

Expecting them to just take someone at their word is probably asking a bit much.

As do I, I sent preliminary pictures in my first conversation with support. They didn't believe me so I took something like 16 pictures detailing damage and pointing out specific things in the pictures. I have no expectation of someone taking me for my word as I wouldn't trust someone accusing me of something without providing evidence. I had to keep calling and emailing until I got someone who would listen to me.

[48X24X48X]

I personally don't have any bad experience with Digikey or Mouser.
I usually use Element-14/Newark and RS for smaller prototype purchase.
Mouser for bigger volume purchase and Digikey if Mouser ran out of stock for certain parts.
You'll notice that passive parts like resistor, capacitor, and certain types of made in China connectors are cheaper in E-14/Newark compared to Digikey and Mouser. And E-14 used to give free shipping for any amount order, but now you'll need to purchase a minimum order to get free shipping.

[nukie]

x-on.com.au really scrappy website but search function works quite well. Useful if you know your part no. and I am surprised with the huge array of parts. I use them for small shipments where total order do not qualify for free shipping else where.

tapatalk

[NZST205]

Just thought I'd give them a try as Mouser couldn't supply the whole order so I gave it to Digikey. Got here to NZ, but their local delivery agent is Flyway. So 4 days USA->NZ then 4 days with Flyway, had to drive 2 hours to collect, I've never had a good experience with Flyway, they are the pits. Then when checking off the shipment found that someone picked the wrong parts - what's worse they were wrong Vage, wrong pitch and wrong uF, so totally useless. Production now stops whilst we wait for another 100 to arrive. They're replacing but at what cost to them and us 

[Addicted2AnalogTek]

I've been buying strictly from Mouser and Element 14 lately.  Digikey almost never has the exact components that I need, and most of the time I can get Mouser to grab stock in the part that I need even if I only need a few.  I may have to wait about 4 weeks, but at least I don't have to buy 5000 of the item!!

[rx8pilot]

No real issues with Digi-Key since 2007. Probably about 4 orders per month. 

Once or twice the wrong part showed up but they overnighted the correct one. Proto and production. Solid customer service. They even helped me re route 2 inbound packages when I unexpectedly went out of town.

I use Mouser as well, no problem with them either.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[TheSteve]

Worst problem with Digikey was them shipping 25 Atmel CPU's when it was supposed to be 200. They overnight aired us the missing parts. They have also sent extra or incorrect parts a few times - but what they send always seems to be better then what the original part was. I also received a "free" box cutter in an order a few weeks ago.

[Melt-O-Tronic]

I've never had an issue with Digi-Key.  But I've only been buying from them for about 35 years.  Probably have to give it more time.

Oh wait.  I did get an accidental parts substitution a couple years ago.  They had the correct parts to me in less than 48 hours and told me to keep the wrong ones.  So that would work out to 10 problems every 350 years.   

[mtdoc]

Yep - never had anything but excellent service from them. Wrong part shipped once and they quickly shipped replacement and I could keep the mistake.

Recently ordered a part that was backordered - when the expected date got pushed back I called to change to an alternative and they shipped it free of charge (our fault we changed the expected date they said).

They're sometimes slightly more expensive than Mouser but at least for the small orders I do here in the states, their fast USPS shipping is much less than Mousers shipping so total price is always less.

[rx8pilot]

Yep - never had anything but excellent service from them. Wrong part shipped once and they quickly shipped replacement and I could keep the mistake.

Recently ordered a part that was backordered - when the expected date got pushed back I called to change to an alternative and they shipped it free of charge (our fault we changed the expected date they said).

They're sometimes slightly more expensive than Mouser but at least for the small orders I do here in the states, their fast USPS shipping is much less than Mousers shipping so total price is always less.

I had the same thing happen for some SI7145 P-FETs. Backorder pushed a couple of times from the manufacturer. Each time it triggered a call to see what I would like to do.

[Addicted2AnalogTek]

I've never actually had a problem with any of my orders - and they did actually go out of their way to add something to an order for me (which ended up lonely in it's own free priority shipping box)..   When it comes to parts for modern projects and such, they're great on my end.  I just find that Mouser tends to have more of the parts I end up needing for my vintage gear restorations - especially comp resistors and odd value 30D style and tantalum capacitors. 

I should have been a little more descriptive about that in my last post.. reading over it, I realize that I made it sound like they just aren't worth a deer pellet...

[Corporate666]

I've been spending probably $50k with Digikey every year for at LEAST 12 years now, and I bet most years it's a lot more than that.

In that time they have screwed up only twice.  Both were mislabeled bins and both times they overnighted me the right parts - once with Saturday delivery.

Honestly, the OP is being silly (I realize it's a ~4 year old post).  He identifies as a hobbyist and wants Digikey to tell him the part to use, and then is upset at them for not giving it to him for free (it's not even clear if Digikey or the manufacturer was who denied him).  They are in business to make money.  They aren't making money on some guy who orders ten 8 cent capacitors for his blinking light project and calls in for a technical discussion on which parts to use.  And the tech guy isn't the one who controls who gets samples so blaming him for not knowing is unfair like blaming the shipping guy for not knowing you needed lead free parts for your EU-friendly project.

I only ever used Digikey's tech service once.  I had a power supply that kept having issues and and FAE (for another chip company) said Digikey were good if I was getting nowhere with the PSU controller chip manufacturer.  Digikey was happy to help and my experience is they go above and beyond.  They will talk to noobs about what LED's to use or what kind of wire to use for your trailer wiring project. 

But at the end of the day they are a distributor.  All the add-on services are really just their for convenience and expecting them to guide you in your design is like expecting the guy at the vegetable stand to guide you in making a casserole. 

[Muxr]

I mainly use Mouser, because I like the layout of their site better. Also they seem to be more geared towards the low quantity buyers. They will often have the availability of small parts where DigiKey may require you to get a 1000 etc.

With that said, I use Digikey when Mouser doesn't have a given part. Connectors for example. Digikey just seems to have a vastly larger selection of connectors.

I have had zero problems with either, and I've been ordering for awhile. Sometimes once or twice a week. Basically if I am looking for a part it usually goes something like: Mouser, Digikey, octopart, aliexpress, ebay... etc I try to avoid aliexpress and ebay as much as possible, but sometimes you have no choice. Like recently I was looking for a relay for a pool controller which let the magic smoke out. And I found the exact OEM part on eBay.

[mtdoc]

I mainly use Mouser, because I like the layout of their site better. Also they seem to be more geared towards the low quantity buyers. They will often have the availability of small parts where DigiKey may require you to get a 1000 etc.

Perhaps it's my typical hobbyist part needs but I've rarely had issue with Digikey not having what I need in a quantity of 1. Though usually I buy 10 anyways...

What really pushes me to Digikey though for small quantities is the difference in shipping. As long as my order is less than 8 oz. in wt (as it usually is) - Digikey's quick,fast 1st class USPS shipping is so much cheaper than the lowest cost shipping from Mouser that total price almost comes out lower at Digikey.

[Muxr]

I mainly use Mouser, because I like the layout of their site better. Also they seem to be more geared towards the low quantity buyers. They will often have the availability of small parts where DigiKey may require you to get a 1000 etc.

Perhaps it's my typical hobbyist part needs but I've rarely had issue with Digikey not having what I need in a quantity of 1. Though usually I buy 10 anyways...

What really pushes me to Digikey though for small quantities is the difference in shipping. As long as my order is less than 8 oz. in wt (as it usually is) - Digikey's quick,fast 1st class USPS shipping is so much cheaper than the lowest cost shipping from Mouser that total price almost comes out lower at Digikey.

Maybe it's the parts I am after. As far as shipping, I find them comparable. I use the Economy or the least expensive shipping on both. Digikey doesn't give you the cost of shipping until you place the order which is also a bit annoying.

Mouser accepts Paypal which can be useful. Also I find Mouser is often a bit cheaper, although not always. But I don't really find a big difference between them, they are both good. If Mouser wasn't around I'd probably use Digikey and be happy with it. Like I said I order quite a bit from Digikey as well.

[rdl]

I didn't know until recently that Digi Key would ship First Class. On the other hand, the last time I checked they charged sales tax on every order, where Mouser only charges it for a few destination states. I'm not in one of those, so the lack of sales tax probably more than makes up for the few dollars more that Priority costs. I'm sure the government will eventually fix that sales tax thing though.

[mtdoc]

Digikey doesn't give you the cost of shipping until you place the order which is also a bit annoying.

Yes, it will. Just click on "estimate" next to shipping under the subtotal line. It will ask your zip code then give you the shipping cost.  Look under "USPS 1st class mail"  Less than 8 oz = $2.60  Less than 1 lb = $3.65. (see below) Choose USPS 1st class mail on the check out page.

I don't think I've ever had an order over 1lb.  The least expensive Mouser shipping on small orders usually comes in around $8 for me I believe.

[Dago]

I also have an extremely good experience with Digi-key. Absolutely the best parametric search and good customer service. I have gotten wrong parts twice, other time got new ones for free without having to return the old ones and second time they were like 20 cents worth of resistors that I didn't bother complaining about (really odd case though, package marking was correct and even the individual resistor package marking was correct but the resistance was definitely wrong).

Like people said Digi-key has no way to know if the manufacturer will give you a free sample or not... Some will give for everyone who asks and some will not even bother answering unless you order a million pieces. But it is just not about the quantity of that specific part you're willing to order, it is PR value for the manufacturer, future order possibilities etc. Like if a person from Samsung asks for a sample from a manufacturer and says its for his Christmas lights and he intends to order none you can be almost sure they're going to ship him whatever he wants because Samsung is potential huge customer.

[plazma]

I mainly order from Digikey. I collect parts and order when I'm over the free shipping limit. I once got a surprise package from Digikey. It had D-SUB connectors inside. They had shipped the wrong sex  in the previous package. I did not even notice it since I did not use the part yet.

[Muxr]

Digikey doesn't give you the cost of shipping until you place the order which is also a bit annoying.

Yes, it will. Just click on "estimate" next to shipping under the subtotal line. It will ask your zip code then give you the shipping cost.  Look under "USPS 1st class mail"  Less than 8 oz = $2.60  Less than 1 lb = $3.65. (see below) Choose USPS 1st class mail on the check out page.

I don't think I've ever had an order over 1lb.  The least expensive Mouser shipping on small orders usually comes in around $8 for me I believe.

I just noticed that (so draconian though). I just checked some of the charges for my past orders. You're right Digikey's shipping is cheaper. My Mouser orders are usually $4.99 or $7.99 in shipping costs. However Digi-key charges me sales tax, so Mouser always ends up being cheaper when you factor in taxes unless the order is $20 or less, usually my orders are on average about $100 (I wait a week until I have enough samples to place an order), so Mouser works out better for me in the end.

Also as I mentioned parts tend to be a few cents cheaper from Mouser (at least the ones I've been ordering), but will keep the shipping discrepancy in mind for if I have to order heavier stuff, might be worth a comparison.

[rdl]

Mouser does have that  $4.99 "economy" shipping, but I won't use it. It only saves $2 and adds 4 to 7 days shipping time compared to Priority Mail, which I get in 2 days or less depending on when I place the order.

[Muxr]

Mouser does have that  $4.99 "economy" shipping, but I won't use it. It only saves $2 and adds 4 to 7 days shipping time compared to Priority Mail, which I get in 2 days or less depending on when I place the order.

The speed isn't that important to me. This is usually because I wait much longer on the PCBs those parts will go on.

[dmg]

Digikey for me:
-About 50+ orders from 2007
-6 screwups that I remember,  most concentrated during a time period in  2013 when according to them they had just hired new people. So far all were obvious errors (i.e. order capacitors, get $10 flatflex cables) and they resolved them in 48 hours (to spain).
-They arrange the invoice in such a way that even whith free shipping I have to pay VAT for shipping (21% of 18€ for each order) Mouser does it properly so they always come cheaper, we have shifted to them.
-However digikey is still unavoidable due to selection of passives and better RF catalog.

[TassiloH]

I can't complain about Digikey, during the last 10 years they have provided very good service (maybe 2 orders/year on average):
- I like that I can order late on Friday (due to the timeshift actually until 2am on Sat) and get the stuff on Monday via free intl. shipping
- Good service. Once they emailed that they found a component on their packing floor that might have been part of my order and asked me if my order was complete.
- Packaging was always adequate: Everything well protected without generating a giant pile of waste.
Very few issues, all easily resolved:
- Once received wrong capacitors. SMD 0805 15pf or so. Caps not labeled, of course, label on bag said 15pF. Had the right color for the dielectric. Took me a couple of hours to figure out why the xtal osc of my microcontroller wouldn't work. The last thing I tried was to measure the caps, to find they were 1nF . Ok, shit happens. They shipped out the replacement right away, but wanted me to ship the wrong ones back (10 pieces, so like 30 cents value max).  Whatever, they sent the UPS label, so their money.
- Once ordered some 19" rack enclosure parts. I wanted that specific enclosure and couldn't find it in Germany. The digikey.de website did not have the enclosure part, but digikey.com had it. In general, you get the free intl. shipping on both websites, but the terms and conditions say there are exceptions based on size and weight. So I used their support chat to ask if the 19" box was covered by the free shipping policy, and the reply was: yes, it is covered. But after placing the order, customer support contacted me and told me due to the weight of the rack enclosures, there would be a shipping surcharge of around 50$ or so. 50$ would have been quite reasonable for the weight, but anyway I referred to the info given in the support chat and the shipping surcharge was waived. 

Btw., from my days in the US I remember that Newark had ridiculuous packaging. I once ordered like 150 different SMD parts, 10 to 30 pieces each, and received two giant (well, something like 30x20x10 inches) boxes. Each part # was in a plastic bag, and each plastic bag was in its own, padded, white envelope (about DIN A5 / half letter size). After unpacking (which took hours), I had like a pizza box full of components in plastic bags, and two giant boxes of torn padded envelopes. Would have been so much easier to put the labels onto the plastic bags and stuff 10 or 20 of them into one padded envelope.
Do they still do that?

[duc851]

Extremely complicated web-site.... they live in the past century... they asked me to send them a personal ID copy by FAX !!!!
Where I live there is NO fax for the past 2 decades !!
Their web system seems to be from the 80's decade.
On their web-site you have to have for a 12 dollar purchase:
Username
Password
Web ID
Access ID
Customer Number
Sales Order ID
Purchase Order Number
They don't send you an Invoice once the on-line transaction is done....
They labeled the items I wanted to purchase, FOR EXPORT, and I had to fill-up a questionnaire to explain the Exporting !!!!! Although the shipping address was Plantation, Florida !!!
3 days after I purchase on-line, they sent me a letter asking for a copy of mi ID by FAX !!!!!
A total nightmare.

[floobydust]

Digi-key had the wrong part in a reel, just populated a 100 boards and gotta do rework 
I've never seen or heard of this before. Unbelievable.

[Monkeh]

Extremely complicated web-site.... they live in the past century... they asked me to send them a personal ID copy by FAX !!!!

This isn't uncommon for international orders. Cope.

Their web system seems to be from the 80's decade.

It's simple and it works - it's far better than the vast majority of 'modern' websites.

On their web-site you have to have for a 12 dollar purchase:
Username
Password
Web ID
Access ID
Customer Number
Sales Order ID
Purchase Order Number

Welcome to dealing with big business. You want fast and dumb, go to eBay.

They don't send you an Invoice once the on-line transaction is done....
They labeled the items I wanted to purchase, FOR EXPORT, and I had to fill-up a questionnaire to explain the Exporting !!!!! Although the shipping address was Plantation, Florida !!!
3 days after I purchase on-line, they sent me a letter asking for a copy of mi ID by FAX !!!!!
A total nightmare.

Yes, and I get much the same treatment, I have an international account and asked for shipping to the US once - they don't like credit card fraud.

Digi-key had the wrong part in a reel, just populated a 100 boards and gotta do rework 
I've never seen or heard of this before. Unbelievable.

This happens with re-reeled stuff. What you get for not verifying.

[joeqsmith]

Digi-key had the wrong part in a reel, just populated a 100 boards and gotta do rework 
I've never seen or heard of this before. Unbelievable.

Hand placed?  Surprised the P&P didn't catch it.

I had an account with Digi-key for many years.  Only one order was ever messed up.  Basically I think the part fell out of the bag when they packed it.  They sent a replacement right away.   Service was great.  All that changed when someone inside Digi-key decided I was a corporation and changed my account without asking me or notifying me.  This basically caused me to no longer be able to view my orders.   A very long call to their service department did not solve it.  They refused to revert the account.  Basically, I would have had this structure with a main account number and sub accounts for each employee (me).  They thought they could tie the accounts together so the main account could view the orders made on the sub account.  It was a mess and more trouble than it was worth so I had them close the account.  They got a little upset, but I doubt as upset as I was with them.   Someone there should have lost their job if this is how they are spending their time.     

[floobydust]

It was automated assembly, the offending part had the same package.
I don't think the SMT marking codes are used in machine-vision placement or in ISO-9001 quality systems as part of the first-article.
CM's always trust the reel labels.

Digikey has been fantastic, so this mistake I'll live with. Out of 1,000 orders 1 has trouble meh it's OK. Just a bummer it made it to the proto build.

[mikemxyzzy]

Hah! After reading all of this I submitted an order to Digi-Key over the weekend. When UPS showed up with the package just now I thought the box was smaller than what I expected based on what I ordered. Upon opening the box I looked at the paperwork and it is someone else's order! Doh! I called customer support and they are looking into it. The funny thing is that I received an order for someone in South Korea and they think the labels were swapped so my order is going to South Korea. Digi-Key thinks they can intercept the Korea-bound package and get it to me. We'll see.

I have ordered from Digi-Key and Mouser both over the years and this is the first problem I have had.

[mikemxyzzy]

Hah! After reading all of this I submitted an order to Digi-Key over the weekend. When UPS showed up with the package just now I thought the box was smaller than what I expected based on what I ordered. Upon opening the box I looked at the paperwork and it is someone else's order! Doh! I called customer support and they are looking into it. The funny thing is that I received an order for someone in South Korea and they think the labels were swapped so my order is going to South Korea. Digi-Key thinks they can intercept the Korea-bound package and get it to me. We'll see.

I have ordered from Digi-Key and Mouser both over the years and this is the first problem I have had.

To give Digikey their due, they are re-entering my order and are shipping it to me overnight. That is the best outcome and does not require me to wait for them to find my original order or ship back the order they accidentally sent to me.

[janoc]

Here in France Digikey is pretty much a royal pain in the backside. Despite having the Digikey.fr in French and euros, they ship from the US, so we get hit with customs and the customs handling fees from UPS (the flat fee for clearing the customs UPS charges) for every order - the handling fee alone is like 20 bucks. The last time my boss yelled at their customer rep. why have we been charged that when we have ordered from the French website, the bill and everything is in euro and addressed to their French subsidiary. Finally they have reimbursed us for it with apologies for a "mistake", but it this has always been like this for me whenever I have tried to order from them from France. So much for "mistakes".

They also tend to have random issues with European credit cards, usually being unable to handle the additional verification steps (such as the Verified by VISA system). They have once "helpfully" offered me to process my card over the phone for a $25 fee ... Another craziness are the export forms - I have been asked to fill several pages of ITAR forms for 3 pieces of 18F series PICs (no fancy parts). Both cases (the credit card and the PICs) ended up with me buying the items from another distributor with no such fuss and telling the Digikey rep where they can shove their paperwork.

So I am avoiding them whenever I can, it is just pain.

On the other hand, I had no problems whatsoever with them when I have lived in Denmark. So it probably depends a lot on the country. And, of course, for Americans there are no issues whatsoever, since they have their business pretty much built for the American market.

[darrellg]

Here in France Digikey is pretty much a royal pain in the backside. Despite having the Digikey.fr in French and euros, they ship from the US, so we get hit with customs and the customs handling fees from UPS (the flat fee for clearing the customs UPS charges) for every order - the handling fee alone is like 20 bucks.

It says right on their website at https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/international?region=europe that everything ships from their one and only warehouse in the US. Why was that a surprise?

[langwadt]

Here in France Digikey is pretty much a royal pain in the backside. Despite having the Digikey.fr in French and euros, they ship from the US, so we get hit with customs and the customs handling fees from UPS (the flat fee for clearing the customs UPS charges) for every order - the handling fee alone is like 20 bucks. The last time my boss yelled at their customer rep. why have we been charged that when we have ordered from the French website, the bill and everything is in euro and addressed to their French subsidiary. Finally they have reimbursed us for it with apologies for a "mistake", but it this has always been like this for me whenever I have tried to order from them from France. So much for "mistakes".

They also tend to have random issues with European credit cards, usually being unable to handle the additional verification steps (such as the Verified by VISA system). They have once "helpfully" offered me to process my card over the phone for a $25 fee ... Another craziness are the export forms - I have been asked to fill several pages of ITAR forms for 3 pieces of 18F series PICs (no fancy parts). Both cases (the credit card and the PICs) ended up with me buying the items from another distributor with no such fuss and telling the Digikey rep where they can shove their paperwork.

So I am avoiding them whenever I can, it is just pain.

On the other hand, I had no problems whatsoever with them when I have lived in Denmark. So it probably depends a lot on the country. And, of course, for Americans there are no issues whatsoever, since they have their business pretty much built for the American market.

afaik there are no customs on most electronics components, and as a company you get the vat back. I don't remember ever having any problems
with Digikey.

The ITAR nonsense is not really their fault, they are just covering their ass and following the law

[janoc]

Here in France Digikey is pretty much a royal pain in the backside. Despite having the Digikey.fr in French and euros, they ship from the US, so we get hit with customs and the customs handling fees from UPS (the flat fee for clearing the customs UPS charges) for every order - the handling fee alone is like 20 bucks.

It says right on their website at https://www.digikey.com/en/resources/international?region=europe that everything ships from their one and only warehouse in the US. Why was that a surprise?

The surprise was being hit with VAT, customs and the customs handling fees (which UPS charges), not that they ship from the US. E.g. Mouser does that for some things too but they take care of it themselves.

[janoc]

afaik there are no customs on most electronics components, and as a company you get the vat back. I don't remember ever having any problems
with Digikey.

Customs - at least here in France you get hit as a minimum with the customs processing fee from UPS, regardless whether there are any customs due on the shipped items. They actually charge for submitting the customs paperwork, because Digikey, unlike e.g. Mouser or Farnell or any Chinese seller on AliExpress couldn't be bothered with doing the declaration themselves. They have outsourced the entire mess to UPS which charges the recipient, not the sender (!) about 20 euro for doing it.

VAT is also an unexpected PITA, because even though they have a French subsidiary/partner here, they don't collect VAT and aren't registered in the French VAT system. It is again UPS which will collect it on import. So it is a major pain for the accountant to deal with, because there are two different unrelated bills to deal with. And the bureaucracy for claiming the VAT back is such that I think my boss gave up on it last time - it just wasn't worth the effort, because the time to do all the paperwork would have cost more than the VAT we have lost.

The ITAR nonsense is not really their fault, they are just covering their ass and following the law

I know, but it handicaps them severely vs. e.g. Farnell, RS or Mouser which often sell the same components here and don't ask for nonsense like that. It is not like I was going to build an ICBM with those PICs ... The three above also work with (are registered in) the VAT system, have no issues with credit cards and there are no stupid customs filing fees.

For me Digikey is the last resort when one of the above doesn't have the component I need in stock.

[langwadt]

It was automated assembly, the offending part had the same package.
I don't think the SMT marking codes are used in machine-vision placement or in ISO-9001 quality systems as part of the first-article.
CM's always trust the reel labels.

afaiu one of the assembly places we use the pnp machine verifies value and polarity for passives electrically

[dr.diesel]

Hundreds of orders through DK, never once an issue.  Well aside from a busted shielded inductor once, but meh....

I also find their website much easier to nav than the other major players.