Check your parts if you order from Core Electronics

[David Aurora]

As much as I don't want to shit on a local store, I've got to call this one out as their customer support absolutely boiled my piss today. Mistakes happen, but how/if customer service corrects those mistakes is the key.

I ordered some FETs with express shipping from them for a repair job. Pretty small order, but it is what it is. I needed some parts urgently, they were listed on their site and they were theoretically the fastest source.

Parts arrived, I sat down to install them but when I pulled them out of the bag they were not the part number I ordered. Bugger. I double checked the order- the page definitely listed the ones I wanted and the stock number matched the receipt, so I hadn't stuffed up. Part is still up on the site right now with the part number I wanted listed and multiple photos of the part with the number visible, you can't miss it.

I searched for the part number I actually received on the Core website- nothing by that number. Hmm.

OK, maybe it's electrically equivalent and they did a clever switcheroo when stock ran out? I pulled up the datasheets- nope, the supplied part has lower ratings in multiple ways (voltage, power, etc).

At this point I was sus- if they don't list the part they actually sent on their site and they're not a direct replacement for the advertised part then something is strange here. Seems like they're substituting lower rated parts and it's on you to catch it before something goes wrong. Not good.

When I contacted them and asked for urgent replacement if they had the right parts or refund if they didn't, they didn't acknowledge or offer either option. The response (after they requested photo proof and checked their shelves only to find they stock the ones they sent rather than the ones they advertise) was that they'll contact their supplier (Sparkfun) to ask what's going on and they'll let me know the outcome, as if I would give the slightest shit about their supply chain when I'm sitting on an urgent job with the wrong parts in my hand. Seriously, that was the entire response- they'll let me know if/when their supplier explains the mix up, no responsibility taken or solution offered.

I pushed back and asked for a proper response (as in replacement or refund), and got excuses about how they're only human and it's all Sparkfun's fault. Again- I don't care, just give me the parts or the refund and I'll move on. Refund was finally acknowledged (they confirmed they don't have the parts they are advertising so that wasn't an option), but they won't send it until I pack up the 5 (yes, we were arguing about five!) bloody transistors, take my ass to the post office, Australia Post manages to get them back without losing them (a gamble in itself) and they've got "evidence" of the mistake sitting in front of them. I was of course happy to send them back (I had already said that to them), I just thought given the mistake and pain in the ass they caused they'd have the decency to correct the mistake first and let me post them back when I get a chance in my own time.

It'd be one thing if this was a change of mind order or something, refund on return would be gracious on their part in that case. But sending me the wrong parts, not even stocking the advertised parts I paid for and then giving me this kind of runaround over their mistake? Nah... that's not on. At the end of the day it was only 25 bucks or something so I've told them to stick it rather than waste my time packing and sending them, but still- I resent giving them beer money for incompetence.

So yeah, moral of the story- don't trust the part numbers on their website and double check your parts when you get them or you could be in for nasty surprises. Personally I'll just never shop there again, but YMMV.

/end rant

[luudee]

This is similar to my experience with Element_14 (ex Farnel I think).  Scamming lairs, lol
They will never get my business again, to many great alternatives.


But Mouser is horrible as well with their part listings. Last week, shopping for capacitors, for an application
where size matters, most height/width listings were wrong, lucky I "accidentally" checked the manufacturers'
data sheet. With Mouser, I think they just hired some lazy data entry people, their customer support has
always been spot on.


Like David says, mistakes happen, we are all human. How the mistakes are dealt with, distinguishes a shop
that I would use from a shop I would never use.


Cheers,
luudee

[David Aurora]

I've had a great run with Mouser so far, so fingers crossed I don't have the issues you've had!

Element 14 has gone to shit, but at least they're better than this if they send the wrong parts. Even sinking further down the chain to RS, the last order issue I can remember was receiving like 50 coin cell battery holders I didn't ask for randomly in an order. I called up and told them and they went "No worries, refunding now. Can you use them?" "Not really" "Yeah, it's probably not worth the postage to ship them back, do whatever you want with them". There was no "Well, they're yours until they're back in our hands, suck it!" nonsense like I copped today.

Like even if I think "OK, they're clueless tightasses and think a few transistors are worth being dicks over" I kind of shudder at the thought of buying from a place that's going to go to that effort to put a few loose components back on a shelf. I know I haven't done anything silly with these, but they don't, nor would anyone purchasing them a month from now.

[HwAoRrDk]

At least they didn't send you the wrong part again when told you'd received the wrong thing!

I had that with an ebay seller one time. Ordered one thing, received a slightly different thing. Told them, and they said keep the item, and we'll send the correct thing out ASAP. Couple of days later, received another instance of the wrong thing. Told them again. They were very apologetic, and said they will definitely send the right thing this time. "No more" I said, I can use what I already have (it wasn't exactly what I ordered, but close enough). They ignore me, and a week later, I finally get the right thing...

I had to applaud them for dedication to customer service, if not their attentiveness.

[langwadt]

At least they didn't send you the wrong part again when told you'd received the wrong thing!

I had that with an ebay seller one time. Ordered one thing, received a slightly different thing. Told them, and they said keep the item, and we'll send the correct thing out ASAP. Couple of days later, received another instance of the wrong thing. Told them again. They were very apologetic, and said they will definitely send the right thing this time. "No more" I said, I can use what I already have (it wasn't exactly what I ordered, but close enough). They ignore me, and a week later, I finally get the right thing...

I had to applaud them for dedication to customer service, if not their attentiveness.

a friend of mine tried that with RS, I think, they kept sending the wrong thing, every time he returned it they would send the same wrong thing. Eventually he made the guess it was a stocking error, ordered all they had in stock plus the number he needed so they would have to restock

and then he finally got the right parts

[thm_w]

How long would it take for you to get parts from Digikey instead?

Crazy that they order FETs from Sparkfun instead of just getting them directly from the manufacturer. But they only stock two types of NFET (30V 60A and 60V 30A) so maybe its not worth the trouble.

https://core-electronics.com.au/components/mosfets.html

[langwadt]

How long would it take for you to get parts from Digikey instead?

Crazy that they order FETs from Sparkfun instead of just getting them directly from the manufacturer. But they only stock two types of NFET (30V 60A and 60V 30A) so maybe its not worth the trouble.

https://core-electronics.com.au/components/mosfets.html

I guess by just selling sparkfun parts and kits they don't have to know what they are selling or write descriptions or guides etc.
just run a website with the sparkfun info and take orders and forward parts from sparkfun

[David Aurora]

How long would it take for you to get parts from Digikey instead?

Crazy that they order FETs from Sparkfun instead of just getting them directly from the manufacturer. But they only stock two types of NFET (30V 60A and 60V 30A) so maybe its not worth the trouble.

https://core-electronics.com.au/components/mosfets.html

In Australia anything coming from Digikey or Mouser (and a lot of stuff coming from the others) ships from overseas, so it's at least a few days. Usually that's fine, but when I saw they had local stock it seemed like a no brainer. I just didn't realise they were copy/pasting Sparkfun pages with no clue about what they actually stocked.

[aeberbach]

Thanks for the warning. I agree that was an absolutely bullshit response, you should have had a refund immediately and an offer to pay for postage and a very polite request if they wanted the parts back. Hope they read this.

[David Aurora]

Thanks for the warning. I agree that was an absolutely bullshit response, you should have had a refund immediately and an offer to pay for postage and a very polite request if they wanted the parts back. Hope they read this.

I should clarify to be fair- they did email a postage label somewhere in the email chain, the expectation wasn't on me to pay return postage

[BradC]

In Australia anything coming from Digikey or Mouser (and a lot of stuff coming from the others) ships from overseas, so it's at least a few days.

I got a "customer feedback" call from RS recently and they asked the usual questions. I pointed out since they had applied the shipping cost and were increasingly stocking less in country I was generally using Digikey over RS. Unless I need it yesterday and RS have stock in country, RS takes ~10 days, Digikey takes < 4. They're also cheaper and have a much larger range. The RS phone monkey didn't seem to get it, so I left it there.

I've only used core twice, and both times that was to buy locally stocked completed sparkfun boards. I got the impression they were little more than an expensive post box with local stock.

[thermistor-guy]

...
So yeah, moral of the story- don't trust the part numbers on their website and double check your parts when you get them or you could be in for nasty surprises. Personally I'll just never shop there again, but YMMV. ...

I have ordered rpi4 h/w from Core Electronics. Worked out well.

For components and eval. kits, I usually try Digi-Key first.

Just bought some old discontinued h/w (that I still use) from SOS Electronic in Slovakia (of all places):
  https://www.soselectronic.com/en/products

Delivery was fast, price was reasonable, emails kept me informed and had correct details.  A surprisingly smooth and pleasant
experience.

[David Aurora]

...
So yeah, moral of the story- don't trust the part numbers on their website and double check your parts when you get them or you could be in for nasty surprises. Personally I'll just never shop there again, but YMMV. ...

I have ordered rpi4 h/w from Core Electronics. Worked out well.

For components and eval. kits, I usually try Digi-Key first.

Just bought some old discontinued h/w (that I still use) from SOS Electronic in Slovakia (of all places):
  https://www.soselectronic.com/en/products

Delivery was fast, price was reasonable, emails kept me informed and had correct details.  A surprisingly smooth and pleasant
experience.

I had ordered a few things from Core before too without issue, so it was disappointing to see how they handle problems.

[thermistor-guy]

...
I had ordered a few things from Core before too without issue, so it was disappointing to see how they handle problems.

Understood. You entered a sales contract for a specific component and Core Electronics casually broke it.

Even for personal use, when I order components, I need them to have guaranteed characteristics. This is engineering,
not gambling.

That certainty is more important to me than price. So I avoid "junk food"-level suppliers like Jaycar and Altronics - there's no
telling what they will ship. Same goes for the RS Pro brand. Looks like Core Electronics qualifies for the "avoid" list.

[David Aurora]

...
I had ordered a few things from Core before too without issue, so it was disappointing to see how they handle problems.

Understood. You entered a sales contract for a specific component and Core Electronics casually broke it.

Even for personal use, when I order components, I need them to have guaranteed characteristics. This is engineering,
not gambling.

That certainty is more important to me than price. So I avoid "junk food"-level suppliers like Jaycar and Altronics - there's no
telling what they will ship. Same goes for the RS Pro brand. Looks like Core Electronics qualifies for the "avoid" list.

100%, nailed it.

I sort of already had these guys in the back of my mind as Jaycar Light. I'll buy a pack of heatshrink or a switch or odds and ends I need in a pinch from Jaycar/Altronics, but nothing mission critical. Hell, I wouldn't even use their fuses these days unless there was literally no other option available, and even then I'd replace it with a real one as soon as possible. I think in the past I bought a laser pointer and a cheap logic probe or something from Core and it was fine for that. I figured if they advertised a part I needed quickly that shouldn't be a massive drama, but yeah, apparently it was.

I actually got annoyed earlier about them so confidently pulling this shit so I asked my bank to do a chargeback after all. If/when I get the money back I'll stick their crap in a box and send it, but they already broke the trust and acted like dicks about it so they don't get anything unless I'm squared up first.

[VK3DRB]

You could have tried Rockby for those transistors. They are my first port of call for serious electronics components. www.rockby.com.au

Incidentally, the worst supplier ever was Element 14 (Newark/Farnell). I ordered five Honeywell airflow sensors from Element 14 at around $250 each. They arrived, and I wired up a sensor as per the enclosed datasheet in the box. I smelled smoke. I thought it must have been bad one, so I wired up another one. It smoked too. I could not work out why. I checked, rechecked everything. I tried a third, thinking I was just unlucky. Yep, it smoked.

It turns out that Honeywell had changed the assignment of the pinouts (+V, GND and OUT) on the sensors but had not changed the part number. What morons. To make matters worse, they had put the OLD datasheet in the box. What sub-morons! I had proof Honeywell had stuffed up. I contacted Element 14, and they said to contact Honeywell. I contacted Honeywell and they said I had to contact Element 14. This buck passing between these two dodgy companies went on for three months and I gave up in the end. Legally, Element 14 was in the wrong and absolutely broke Australian consumer law.

That was 13 years ago. As a result, Element 14 have lost a lot of business from me and the companies I worked with over the years. I also avoid anything made by Honeywell, as they demonstrated they have poor product engineering controls, and dreadful customer service.

[David Aurora]

Element 14 shits me, but I'd be blaming Honeywell for that situation!

Yeah none at Rockby. I avoid them like the plague due to their website though, they have some interesting stuff but I just never have the patience to navigate that mess

[SmallCog]

Your experience with Core is disappointing, I've ordered stuff from them on occasion without issue.

I'd assumed (possibly incorrectly) that they are a drop shipper. If they are that would explain them trying to heap blame on their supplier.

Never heard of Rockby, what an interesting website!

I've never had significant issues with RS/e14 but I also buy a lot from Wes and Altronics

[David Aurora]

Yeah, Rockby has some gems sometimes, but that website...   

Speaking of shit websites, Wes has some explaining to do. I literally never order from them simply because of how annoying their website is.

[SmallCog]

Wes certainly needs some getting used to.

I'm lucky in that I order a lot of the same stuff over.

[David_AVD]

Speaking of shit websites, Wes has some explaining to do. I literally never order from them simply because of how annoying their website is.

I use the WES site all the time. Most of the time I can find what I need, but a search for a transistor, IC or stylus can often take you to a massive scrolling listing instead of the exact match you gave it.