On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 14:03:32 GMT, raden wrote:

In message , "Dave Plowman (News)"
writes
In article ,
raden wrote:
You forgot the paper bags that the individually plastic-bagged items
all came in. Each paper bag solemnly informs us that "These are the
components you ordered from RS".

Can't they get pills for an overactive bagging department?

I've just been on their website - I can't find their mission statement

hopefully this means that they are on the road to recovery

I can't find *anything* on that bl***y website. Thought it was just my
ancient browser but I've now got both IE 7 and the latest Firefox and it's
useless on those too.

Crap, isn't it

and I don't have any catalogues here at home

I really struggle to see how anyone could use the RS website without a
catalogue or a stock code to hand. The other week I was trying to
order a cooling fan but on this occasion without my usual printed
catalogue to guide me. Utilising the parameters on the right hand of
a page to narrow down the choice was utterly hopeless.

RS stock around 500 different axial fans

Being flexible on fan dimensions and drilling down on voltage you
might have a choice of the following fans to choose from.

1 x 230-240vAC
3 x 220-240vAC
4 x 230v
13 x 230vAC
2 x 230VAC
4 x 230v AC
3 x 240vAC
2 x 230
4x 230v(AC)

So loads of stock codes that could all realistically be used on UK
mains supplies but there is no possibility of opening all of them in
tabs or in new windows as javascript is used on all links so neither
right clicking nor shift clicking works.

Abandoning the voltage and narrowing down on airflow results in a
whole series of figures from 1 cubic metre per hour to 1000 cubic
metres per hours. Somewhere about 8 pages of items, 30 to a page, such
as a fan that delivers 209.9 cubic metres per hour and another that
does 210 - as if it makes even the slightest difference. WTF they
can't they group them into more sensible groups? Also they can't even
properly sort the parameters so 55 cubic metres per hour fans are
immediately adjacent to those doing 555 cubic metres per hour - with
that being followed by a fan that does 5.6 cubic metres per hour.

Also when in a section of a printed catalogue it is intuitive to widen
out a search to immediately adjacent items with similar but differing
characteristics, in the electronic version any hierarchy that ought to
be easy to implement is fundamentally missing. As a user with a
printed catalogue and plugging in the stock codes online I'd give them
an 8 or 9 out of 10. If I was a user with only an online catalogue
I'd not even award them 1 out of 10.




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