Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work.

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Default Credit - Roton - Screw It

Ok... Sometimes you just gotta wonder. Yeah I'm sure I'll get some
judgmental superiority replies, but I thought some folks might need a
reminder about how the world sometimes doesn't make sense.

Last night I went on-line and ordered some lead screws from Roton to repair
a little CNC machine I have been playing with. I checked my credit card
balance to make sure there was enough available credit to make the
purchase... and there was with a plenty of spare. I was annoyed that Roton
does not have a freight calculator in their website, but I didn't think any
more of it. I just figured if they raped me on "handling" I just wouldn't
buy anything else from them.

Well, they don't process the payment on the card in real time. Nor do they
just process it later after adding on the freight charges. Instead their
system puts a hold on the credit card effectively reducing your available
credit for the amount of the materials ordered. Then they process it
manually later when they calculate they freight charges.

I got a call this morning letting me know that my card had been declined.
Since I had checked the balance prior to the order I was very surprised. My
balance had not changed, but my available credit had been reduced by the
amount of the lead screws. Their own system had caused the problem that
lead to my card being declined.

So.... In summary. If purchasing on-line from Roton (or probably other
vendors who do not process order charges in real time or add freight charges
later) you need to have MORE THAN TWICE the available credit as the amount
of the materials you want to buy.

Sigh. I just cancelled the order. They seemed peeved at me. Oh, well.



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Default Credit - Roton - Screw It

On 9/27/2010 11:26 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
Ok... Sometimes you just gotta wonder. Yeah I'm sure I'll get some
judgmental superiority replies, but I thought some folks might need a
reminder about how the world sometimes doesn't make sense.

Last night I went on-line and ordered some lead screws from Roton to
repair a little CNC machine I have been playing with. I checked my
credit card balance to make sure there was enough available credit to
make the purchase... and there was with a plenty of spare. I was annoyed
that Roton does not have a freight calculator in their website, but I
didn't think any more of it. I just figured if they raped me on
"handling" I just wouldn't buy anything else from them.

Well, they don't process the payment on the card in real time. Nor do
they just process it later after adding on the freight charges. Instead
their system puts a hold on the credit card effectively reducing your
available credit for the amount of the materials ordered. Then they
process it manually later when they calculate they freight charges.

I got a call this morning letting me know that my card had been
declined. Since I had checked the balance prior to the order I was very
surprised. My balance had not changed, but my available credit had been
reduced by the amount of the lead screws. Their own system had caused
the problem that lead to my card being declined.

So.... In summary. If purchasing on-line from Roton (or probably other
vendors who do not process order charges in real time or add freight
charges later) you need to have MORE THAN TWICE the available credit as
the amount of the materials you want to buy.

Sigh. I just cancelled the order. They seemed peeved at me. Oh, well.


That's just amazing. A few years from now when some sharp company has
stolen their business with better service, they will wonder what happened.


--
I can see November from my front porch
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Default Credit - Roton - Screw It

On Sep 27, 10:26*am, "Bob La Londe" wrote:
Ok... *Sometimes you just gotta wonder. *Yeah I'm sure I'll get some
judgmental superiority replies, but I thought some folks might need a
reminder about how the world sometimes doesn't make sense.

Last night I went on-line and ordered some lead screws from Roton to repair
a little CNC machine I have been playing with. *I checked my credit card
balance to make sure there was enough available credit to make the
purchase... and there was with a plenty of spare. *I was annoyed that Roton
does not have a freight calculator in their website, but I didn't think any
more of it. *I just figured if they raped me on "handling" I just wouldn't
buy anything else from them.

Well, they don't process the payment on the card in real time. *Nor do they
just process it later after adding on the freight charges. *Instead their
system puts a hold on the credit card effectively reducing your available
credit for the amount of the materials ordered. *Then they process it
manually later when they calculate they freight charges.

I got a call this morning letting me know that my card had been declined.
Since I had checked the balance prior to the order I was very surprised. *My
balance had not changed, but my available credit had been reduced by the
amount of the lead screws. *Their own system had caused the problem that
lead to my card being declined.

So.... *In summary. *If purchasing on-line from Roton (or probably other
vendors who do not process order charges in real time or add freight charges
later) you need to have MORE THAN TWICE the available credit as the amount
of the materials you want to buy.

Sigh. *I just cancelled the order. *They seemed peeved at me. *Oh, well.


This is typical of a webified manual process. Probably if you'd
phoned in the order, they could have told you what the freight was
going to be, added it all up and run it through their POS terminal
with no problems. They probably couldn't justify a 24/7 web charge
card service at the time they put their web site together, what they
don't realize is what a poor implementation costs them. You're not
likely to do business with them in the future, right? They'd also
need something to keep track of current stocking levels, this is not
rocket science, but not something the owner's nephew in high school is
likely to know how to do, databases NOT being something they usually
cover in Web Sites 101. And maybe they don't have any sort of
automated inventory control, some small businesses still work off
pieces of paper.

Stan
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Default Credit - Roton - Screw It

I think that it is not a big deal either way

On 2010-09-27, wrote:
On Sep 27, 10:26?am, "Bob La Londe" wrote:
Ok... ?Sometimes you just gotta wonder. ?Yeah I'm sure I'll get some
judgmental superiority replies, but I thought some folks might need a
reminder about how the world sometimes doesn't make sense.

Last night I went on-line and ordered some lead screws from Roton to repair
a little CNC machine I have been playing with. ?I checked my credit card
balance to make sure there was enough available credit to make the
purchase... and there was with a plenty of spare. ?I was annoyed that Roton
does not have a freight calculator in their website, but I didn't think any
more of it. ?I just figured if they raped me on "handling" I just wouldn't
buy anything else from them.

Well, they don't process the payment on the card in real time. ?Nor do they
just process it later after adding on the freight charges. ?Instead their
system puts a hold on the credit card effectively reducing your available
credit for the amount of the materials ordered. ?Then they process it
manually later when they calculate they freight charges.

I got a call this morning letting me know that my card had been declined.
Since I had checked the balance prior to the order I was very surprised. ?My
balance had not changed, but my available credit had been reduced by the
amount of the lead screws. ?Their own system had caused the problem that
lead to my card being declined.

So.... ?In summary. ?If purchasing on-line from Roton (or probably other
vendors who do not process order charges in real time or add freight charges
later) you need to have MORE THAN TWICE the available credit as the amount
of the materials you want to buy.

Sigh. ?I just cancelled the order. ?They seemed peeved at me. ?Oh, well.


This is typical of a webified manual process. Probably if you'd
phoned in the order, they could have told you what the freight was
going to be, added it all up and run it through their POS terminal
with no problems. They probably couldn't justify a 24/7 web charge
card service at the time they put their web site together, what they
don't realize is what a poor implementation costs them. You're not
likely to do business with them in the future, right? They'd also
need something to keep track of current stocking levels, this is not
rocket science, but not something the owner's nephew in high school is
likely to know how to do, databases NOT being something they usually
cover in Web Sites 101. And maybe they don't have any sort of
automated inventory control, some small businesses still work off
pieces of paper.

Stan

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On 09/27/2010 09:26 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
Ok... Sometimes you just gotta wonder. Yeah I'm sure I'll get some

(saga snipped)
the amount of the materials you want to buy.

Sigh. I just cancelled the order. They seemed peeved at me. Oh, well.


I bet the owner goes and drinks beer with his friends and tells them all
how cool free trade is, too.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html


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On 09/27/2010 09:26 AM, Bob La Londe wrote:
Ok... Sometimes you just gotta wonder. Yeah I'm sure I'll get some
judgmental superiority replies, but I thought some folks might need a
reminder about how the world sometimes doesn't make sense.

Last night I went on-line and ordered some lead screws from Roton to
repair a little CNC machine I have been playing with. I checked my
credit card balance to make sure there was enough available credit to
make the purchase... and there was with a plenty of spare. I was annoyed
that Roton does not have a freight calculator in their website, but I
didn't think any more of it. I just figured if they raped me on
"handling" I just wouldn't buy anything else from them.

Well, they don't process the payment on the card in real time. Nor do
they just process it later after adding on the freight charges. Instead
their system puts a hold on the credit card effectively reducing your
available credit for the amount of the materials ordered. Then they
process it manually later when they calculate they freight charges.

I got a call this morning letting me know that my card had been
declined. Since I had checked the balance prior to the order I was very
surprised. My balance had not changed, but my available credit had been
reduced by the amount of the lead screws. Their own system had caused
the problem that lead to my card being declined.

So.... In summary. If purchasing on-line from Roton (or probably other
vendors who do not process order charges in real time or add freight
charges later) you need to have MORE THAN TWICE the available credit as
the amount of the materials you want to buy.

Sigh. I just cancelled the order. They seemed peeved at me. Oh, well.



I firmly believe that when a vendor signals to you that they don't
really want your business, that you should listen.

It's the only nice thing to do.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
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"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Ok... Sometimes you just gotta wonder. Yeah I'm sure I'll get some
judgmental superiority replies, but I thought some folks might need a
reminder about how the world sometimes doesn't make sense.

Last night I went on-line and ordered some lead screws from Roton to
repair a little CNC machine I have been playing with. I checked my credit
card balance to make sure there was enough available credit to make the
purchase... and there was with a plenty of spare. I was annoyed that
Roton does not have a freight calculator in their website, but I didn't
think any more of it. I just figured if they raped me on "handling" I
just wouldn't buy anything else from them.

Well, they don't process the payment on the card in real time. Nor do
they just process it later after adding on the freight charges. Instead
their system puts a hold on the credit card effectively reducing your
available credit for the amount of the materials ordered. Then they
process it manually later when they calculate they freight charges.

I got a call this morning letting me know that my card had been declined.
Since I had checked the balance prior to the order I was very surprised.
My balance had not changed, but my available credit had been reduced by
the amount of the lead screws. Their own system had caused the problem
that lead to my card being declined.

So.... In summary. If purchasing on-line from Roton (or probably other
vendors who do not process order charges in real time or add freight
charges later) you need to have MORE THAN TWICE the available credit as
the amount of the materials you want to buy.

Sigh. I just cancelled the order. They seemed peeved at me. Oh, well.


I just got one of those new VISA cards that gives you a free flight the
first time you use it. Well, it got here, and they put a $13,500 limit on
it. Maybe you should look at them. At least you'd have enough credit for
ONE purchase from ROTON. What the heck kind of screws did you order,
anyway? ;-)
Steve

Heart surgery pending?
Read up and prepare.
Learn how to care for a friend.
http://cabgbypasssurgery.com



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"Bob La Londe" wrote:

Ok... Sometimes you just gotta wonder. Yeah I'm sure I'll get some
judgmental superiority replies, but I thought some folks might need a
reminder about how the world sometimes doesn't make sense.

Last night I went on-line and ordered some lead screws from Roton to repair
a little CNC machine I have been playing with. I checked my credit card
balance to make sure there was enough available credit to make the
purchase... and there was with a plenty of spare. I was annoyed that Roton
does not have a freight calculator in their website, but I didn't think any
more of it. I just figured if they raped me on "handling" I just wouldn't
buy anything else from them.



"Plenty to spare" means you are living near your limit. "Barely used" is the place to be.

Wes
--
"Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect
government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home
in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller
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"Wes" wrote in message
...
"Bob La Londe" wrote:

Ok... Sometimes you just gotta wonder. Yeah I'm sure I'll get some
judgmental superiority replies, but I thought some folks might need a
reminder about how the world sometimes doesn't make sense.

Last night I went on-line and ordered some lead screws from Roton to
repair
a little CNC machine I have been playing with. I checked my credit card
balance to make sure there was enough available credit to make the
purchase... and there was with a plenty of spare. I was annoyed that
Roton
does not have a freight calculator in their website, but I didn't think
any
more of it. I just figured if they raped me on "handling" I just wouldn't
buy anything else from them.



"Plenty to spare" means you are living near your limit. "Barely used" is
the place to be.



Actually no. I have one card I only use for on-line purchases with a low
limit. I pay it off every month. Sometimes two or three times a month if I
need the available balance up for something. I only use this card for misc
on-line purchase because even if it gets abused or stolen they won't get
much even if the CC co doesn't honor their protection promises. But I did
predicted a response like this in my original post.

Please no applause. This was really not all that hard to prognosticate.

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"Tim Wescott" wrote in message
...

[...]


I firmly believe that when a vendor signals to you that they don't really
want your business, that you should listen.

It's the only nice thing to do.


Is it just me or is there more of this sort of thing about since 2007?

I just had a ding dong with KBC tools. First they screwed up an order. It
took 6 phone calls to put it right. Then they sold me a faulty item which I
returned according to their instructions. It took a month and 6 more phone
calls to get the money back. The muppet fielding the first five phone calls
was lying through his teeth apparently not just to me but also to his
manager. At one stage I was going to buy a machine from them but I just
could not get an answer about the warranty.

Yep, I think the message I got was pretty clear...

--
Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC



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In article ,
says...

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Ok... Sometimes you just gotta wonder. Yeah I'm sure I'll get some
judgmental superiority replies, but I thought some folks might need a
reminder about how the world sometimes doesn't make sense.

Last night I went on-line and ordered some lead screws from Roton to
repair a little CNC machine I have been playing with. I checked my credit
card balance to make sure there was enough available credit to make the
purchase... and there was with a plenty of spare. I was annoyed that
Roton does not have a freight calculator in their website, but I didn't
think any more of it. I just figured if they raped me on "handling" I
just wouldn't buy anything else from them.

Well, they don't process the payment on the card in real time. Nor do
they just process it later after adding on the freight charges. Instead
their system puts a hold on the credit card effectively reducing your
available credit for the amount of the materials ordered. Then they
process it manually later when they calculate they freight charges.

I got a call this morning letting me know that my card had been declined.
Since I had checked the balance prior to the order I was very surprised.
My balance had not changed, but my available credit had been reduced by
the amount of the lead screws. Their own system had caused the problem
that lead to my card being declined.

So.... In summary. If purchasing on-line from Roton (or probably other
vendors who do not process order charges in real time or add freight
charges later) you need to have MORE THAN TWICE the available credit as
the amount of the materials you want to buy.

Sigh. I just cancelled the order. They seemed peeved at me. Oh, well.


I just got one of those new VISA cards that gives you a free flight the
first time you use it. Well, it got here, and they put a $13,500 limit on
it. Maybe you should look at them. At least you'd have enough credit for
ONE purchase from ROTON. What the heck kind of screws did you order,
anyway? ;-)


"Lead" screws, typically a length of Acme threaded rod, possibly with
some kind of drive adapter machined onto it somewhere.


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On 09/27/2010 04:54 PM, wrote:

This is typical of a webified manual process. Probably if you'd
phoned in the order, they could have told you what the freight was
going to be, added it all up and run it through their POS terminal
with no problems. They probably couldn't justify a 24/7 web charge
card service at the time they put their web site together, what they
don't realize is what a poor implementation costs them.


Geez, this ISN'T that hard!

I am a one-man business. I do everything from IT to collecting garbage,
machining, design, soldering, shipping, testing.

I got an open-source commerce program called OScMax, and customized it
without buying their expensive add-on packages. I set up accounts with
USPS and FedEx, and got them approved for automated (script) access. I
opened a merchant account with one of the many outfits in that business,
and set up script access to them, too. OScMax pretty much
automates all of the credit card processing stuff for the major outfits,
you just type in the user ID and passwords, etc.

It is all automatic, the user puts items in their shopping cart, clicks
"checkout", they see prices and delivery times and select one, and then
get switched over the the payment gateway site to enter their credit
card info into the secure processor's system. I get emails for the
credit card entry and then at the end of the day for the daily batch.

I pay $39 a month for the card processor, plus the typical fee based on
transaction amount.

Any decent web guy should be able to set this up in a couple days the
FIRST time, and probably in a couple hours the next time.

All I have to do is select the items, figure out the weight and pack
them, OScMax even prints out shipping labels.

Jon
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On 09/27/2010 07:44 PM, Michael Koblic wrote:

"Tim Wescott" wrote in message
...

[...]


I firmly believe that when a vendor signals to you that they don't
really want your business, that you should listen.

It's the only nice thing to do.


Is it just me or is there more of this sort of thing about since 2007?

I just had a ding dong with KBC tools. First they screwed up an order.
It took 6 phone calls to put it right.

I've just started into this with Digi-Key, my largest supplier of
electronic parts. I had a hermetically-sealed bag of, supposedly, 25
parts. When I opened it, there were only 10 pieces. This is the second
time this has happened.

Now, I got another bunch of parts, the bag was labeled right, but the
actual parts inside had a slightly different number. So, I ordered the
LM2575S-5.0, I got the LM2576-ADJ instead. I didn't notice, and
soldered 24 of these onto boards before discovering they didn't work. I
reported this error to them, and they said they'd cover it, and didn't
need the parts back, as they were no longer re-sellable after
desoldering. Then, I got an emailed invoice from them, charging me for
the replacement parts, and ALSO charging me for the wrong parts!
So, I had ALREADY paid for the wrong parts, and they are charging me for
them AGAIN? I emailed them asking for an explanation of this.

Digi-Key USED to be so GOOD about accuracy and making sure everything
was perfect.

Jon
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Jon Elson wrote:

On 09/27/2010 07:44 PM, Michael Koblic wrote:

"Tim Wescott" wrote in message
...

[...]


I firmly believe that when a vendor signals to you that they don't
really want your business, that you should listen.

It's the only nice thing to do.


Is it just me or is there more of this sort of thing about since 2007?

I just had a ding dong with KBC tools. First they screwed up an order.
It took 6 phone calls to put it right.

I've just started into this with Digi-Key, my largest supplier of
electronic parts. I had a hermetically-sealed bag of, supposedly, 25
parts. When I opened it, there were only 10 pieces. This is the second
time this has happened.

Now, I got another bunch of parts, the bag was labeled right, but the
actual parts inside had a slightly different number. So, I ordered the
LM2575S-5.0, I got the LM2576-ADJ instead. I didn't notice, and
soldered 24 of these onto boards before discovering they didn't work. I
reported this error to them, and they said they'd cover it, and didn't
need the parts back, as they were no longer re-sellable after
desoldering. Then, I got an emailed invoice from them, charging me for
the replacement parts, and ALSO charging me for the wrong parts!
So, I had ALREADY paid for the wrong parts, and they are charging me for
them AGAIN? I emailed them asking for an explanation of this.

Digi-Key USED to be so GOOD about accuracy and making sure everything
was perfect.



Well, they are based in 'Thief' River Falls, aren't they?


--
Politicians should only get paid if the budget is balanced, and there is
enough left over to pay them.
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"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
...

Jon Elson wrote:

On 09/27/2010 07:44 PM, Michael Koblic wrote:

"Tim Wescott" wrote in message
...

[...]


I firmly believe that when a vendor signals to you that they don't
really want your business, that you should listen.

It's the only nice thing to do.

Is it just me or is there more of this sort of thing about since 2007?

I just had a ding dong with KBC tools. First they screwed up an order.
It took 6 phone calls to put it right.

I've just started into this with Digi-Key, my largest supplier of
electronic parts. I had a hermetically-sealed bag of, supposedly, 25
parts. When I opened it, there were only 10 pieces. This is the second
time this has happened.

Now, I got another bunch of parts, the bag was labeled right, but the
actual parts inside had a slightly different number. So, I ordered the
LM2575S-5.0, I got the LM2576-ADJ instead. I didn't notice, and
soldered 24 of these onto boards before discovering they didn't work. I
reported this error to them, and they said they'd cover it, and didn't
need the parts back, as they were no longer re-sellable after
desoldering. Then, I got an emailed invoice from them, charging me for
the replacement parts, and ALSO charging me for the wrong parts!
So, I had ALREADY paid for the wrong parts, and they are charging me for
them AGAIN? I emailed them asking for an explanation of this.

Digi-Key USED to be so GOOD about accuracy and making sure everything
was perfect.



I ordered some resistors from them over a month ago to change the current
setting on the steppers attached to the G540 controller (slight loss of
power to reduce stepper temperature), but never received them. I guess I
get to see what MCM has in stock. Sigh. I already checked Rat Shack... or
as they should be called... the cell phone store.





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On 09/29/2010 01:34 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Bob La Londe wrote:

I ordered some resistors from them over a month ago to change the current
setting on the steppers attached to the G540 controller (slight loss of
power to reduce stepper temperature), but never received them. I guess I
get to see what MCM has in stock. Sigh. I already checked Rat Shack... or
as they should be called... the cell phone store.



Some people brag about Mouser.


I use them all, have open accounts at Newark, Allied, Mouser and
Digi-Key. but, due to the excellent web site and the wide range of
stuff that was always in stock, I tended to go to Digi-key first. now,
the competitors are trying to provide all the same features as the
Digi-Key site, and trying to beat them on price, too. Just had an item
I needed and the major outlets all had a SIX MONTH lead time, so I'd get
the parts in MARCH! Yikes! So, I found an outlet online that I'd never
heard of, but they had a dozen of the part in stock.

As for machine stuff, I mostly use KBC, they have a stocking location in
town, in case I ever need something absolutely right now. So, I try to
support them.

Jon
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Jon Elson wrote:
On 09/29/2010 01:34 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Bob La Londe wrote:

I ordered some resistors from them over a month ago to change the
current
setting on the steppers attached to the G540 controller (slight loss of
power to reduce stepper temperature), but never received them. I guess I
get to see what MCM has in stock. Sigh. I already checked Rat
Shack... or
as they should be called... the cell phone store.



Some people brag about Mouser.


I use them all, have open accounts at Newark, Allied, Mouser and
Digi-Key. but, due to the excellent web site and the wide range of stuff
that was always in stock, I tended to go to Digi-key first. now, the
competitors are trying to provide all the same features as the Digi-Key
site, and trying to beat them on price, too. Just had an item I needed
and the major outlets all had a SIX MONTH lead time, so I'd get the
parts in MARCH! Yikes! So, I found an outlet online that I'd never heard
of, but they had a dozen of the part in stock.

As for machine stuff, I mostly use KBC, they have a stocking location in
town, in case I ever need something absolutely right now. So, I try to
support them.


Mouser seems to be getting better and Digikey
worse. I use both. Even though the Mouser
part search tool is more crufty than Digikey's
it does allow me to sort by price.


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Jim Stewart wrote:

Jon Elson wrote:
On 09/29/2010 01:34 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Bob La Londe wrote:

I ordered some resistors from them over a month ago to change the
current
setting on the steppers attached to the G540 controller (slight loss of
power to reduce stepper temperature), but never received them. I guess I
get to see what MCM has in stock. Sigh. I already checked Rat
Shack... or
as they should be called... the cell phone store.



Some people brag about Mouser.


I use them all, have open accounts at Newark, Allied, Mouser and
Digi-Key. but, due to the excellent web site and the wide range of stuff
that was always in stock, I tended to go to Digi-key first. now, the
competitors are trying to provide all the same features as the Digi-Key
site, and trying to beat them on price, too. Just had an item I needed
and the major outlets all had a SIX MONTH lead time, so I'd get the
parts in MARCH! Yikes! So, I found an outlet online that I'd never heard
of, but they had a dozen of the part in stock.

As for machine stuff, I mostly use KBC, they have a stocking location in
town, in case I ever need something absolutely right now. So, I try to
support them.


Mouser seems to be getting better and Digikey
worse. I use both. Even though the Mouser
part search tool is more crufty than Digikey's
it does allow me to sort by price.



You have to have an account with Digikey and be logged in for that
function.




--
Politicians should only get paid if the budget is balanced, and there is
enough left over to pay them.
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Jon Elson wrote:

On 09/29/2010 01:34 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Bob La Londe wrote:

I ordered some resistors from them over a month ago to change the current
setting on the steppers attached to the G540 controller (slight loss of
power to reduce stepper temperature), but never received them. I guess I
get to see what MCM has in stock. Sigh. I already checked Rat Shack... or
as they should be called... the cell phone store.



Some people brag about Mouser.


I use them all, have open accounts at Newark, Allied, Mouser and
Digi-Key. but, due to the excellent web site and the wide range of
stuff that was always in stock, I tended to go to Digi-key first. now,
the competitors are trying to provide all the same features as the
Digi-Key site, and trying to beat them on price, too. Just had an item
I needed and the major outlets all had a SIX MONTH lead time, so I'd get
the parts in MARCH! Yikes! So, I found an outlet online that I'd never
heard of, but they had a dozen of the part in stock.

As for machine stuff, I mostly use KBC, they have a stocking location in
town, in case I ever need something absolutely right now. So, I try to
support them.



I've been looking for some Panasonic FM series low ESR caps. Digikey
showed a 25 week leadtime. I don't need them next year.


--
Politicians should only get paid if the budget is balanced, and there is
enough left over to pay them.
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On 09/29/2010 05:24 PM, Jim Stewart wrote:

Mouser seems to be getting better and Digikey
worse. I use both. Even though the Mouser
part search tool is more crufty than Digikey's
it does allow me to sort by price.


REALLY! I just got ANOTHER Digi-Key package with a shortage,
label says 20 pcs. but only 10 in bag. This is getting to be a REAL
problem with them.

Jon


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On 09/29/2010 09:23 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:


I've been looking for some Panasonic FM series low ESR caps. Digikey
showed a 25 week leadtime. I don't need them next year.



Yeah, i just placed an order for a Hall-effect current sensor. I
usually run into a lead time on those, but got 25+ weeks from all the
distributors. Fortunately, there was an outfit that had a few and was
searchable on the Google.

This is the new way, and those of us in the US are going to have to
get used to it. Never design a board until the parts are in your hands,
never order more boards than you have parts for, etc. I have had many
commodity parts like voltage regulators become obsolete, now I am
pretty paranoid about second-sourcing of everything.

Jon
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Jon Elson wrote:
On 09/29/2010 09:23 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:


I've been looking for some Panasonic FM series low ESR caps. Digikey
showed a 25 week leadtime. I don't need them next year.



Yeah, i just placed an order for a Hall-effect current sensor. I
usually run into a lead time on those, but got 25+ weeks from all the
distributors. Fortunately, there was an outfit that had a few and was
searchable on the Google.

This is the new way, and those of us in the US are going to have to
get used to it. Never design a board until the parts are in your hands,
never order more boards than you have parts for, etc. I have had many
commodity parts like voltage regulators become obsolete, now I am
pretty paranoid about second-sourcing of everything.

Jon


I did some Mil-Spec PC board design back in the '80s.

What you said about having parts in hand was carved in stone back then.


--

Richard Lamb


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Jon Elson wrote:

On 09/29/2010 09:23 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:


I've been looking for some Panasonic FM series low ESR caps. Digikey
showed a 25 week leadtime. I don't need them next year.



Yeah, i just placed an order for a Hall-effect current sensor. I
usually run into a lead time on those, but got 25+ weeks from all the
distributors. Fortunately, there was an outfit that had a few and was
searchable on the Google.

This is the new way, and those of us in the US are going to have to
get used to it. Never design a board until the parts are in your hands,
never order more boards than you have parts for, etc. I have had many
commodity parts like voltage regulators become obsolete, now I am
pretty paranoid about second-sourcing of everything.



Unfortunately, these are repair parts. I have eight identical LCD
monitors with bad electrolytics in the power supply.


--
Politicians should only get paid if the budget is balanced, and there is
enough left over to pay them.
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On Oct 1, 3:51*pm, Jon Elson wrote:
On 09/29/2010 09:23 PM, Michael A. Terrell wrote:



* * I've been looking for some Panasonic FM series low ESR caps. Digikey
showed a 25 week leadtime. *I don't need them next year.


Yeah, i just placed an order for a Hall-effect current sensor. *I
usually run into a lead time on those, but got 25+ weeks from all the
distributors. *Fortunately, there was an outfit that had a few and was
searchable on the Google.

This is the new way, and those of us in the US are going to have to
get used to it. *Never design a board until the parts are in your hands,
never order more boards than you have parts for, etc. *I have had many
commodity parts like voltage regulators become obsolete, now I am
pretty paranoid about second-sourcing of everything.

Jon


This is really nothing new. We had problems like this in the early
1980s when many 74LS series logic parts were on allocation from
distributors. We ended up buying production quantities, ten pieces per
order, from hobby supppliers.

Another time, in the mid 1980s (I think) you couldn't buy, for love or
money, a 7805 regulator. That's like the grocery store being out of
salt.

And doesn't it suck when a part goes from "in stock" to unobtainium
after you've tested the prototype boards and the production boards are
on order?

Blame it all on "Just In Time." Nobody wants to keep anything in
stock. And this has been, like I said, going on for a long time.
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"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Ok... Sometimes you just gotta wonder. Yeah I'm sure I'll get some
judgmental superiority replies, but I thought some folks might need a
reminder about how the world sometimes doesn't make sense.

Last night I went on-line and ordered some lead screws from Roton to
repair a little CNC machine I have been playing with. I checked my credit
card balance to make sure there was enough available credit to make the
purchase... and there was with a plenty of spare. I was annoyed that
Roton does not have a freight calculator in their website, but I didn't
think any more of it. I just figured if they raped me on "handling" I
just wouldn't buy anything else from them.

Well, they don't process the payment on the card in real time. Nor do
they just process it later after adding on the freight charges. Instead
their system puts a hold on the credit card effectively reducing your
available credit for the amount of the materials ordered. Then they
process it manually later when they calculate they freight charges.

I got a call this morning letting me know that my card had been declined.
Since I had checked the balance prior to the order I was very surprised.
My balance had not changed, but my available credit had been reduced by
the amount of the lead screws. Their own system had caused the problem
that lead to my card being declined.

So.... In summary. If purchasing on-line from Roton (or probably other
vendors who do not process order charges in real time or add freight
charges later) you need to have MORE THAN TWICE the available credit as
the amount of the materials you want to buy.

Sigh. I just cancelled the order. They seemed peeved at me. Oh, well.


As a side note. In the size I wanted McMaster turned out to have a better
price per foot for the precision lead screws I needed. I got my
anti-backlash nuts for them from Dumpster CNC.

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