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| Check your parts if you order from Core Electronics |
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| 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:
--- Quote from: HwAoRrDk on September 05, 2023, 03:31:39 pm ---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. --- End quote --- 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 |
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