Arrow Electronics

The distributors. I have not come across a more useless bunch of wankers in the distribution business.

Me: Hi, do you have this part xxxx? Them: Do you have an account? Me: No, but if you have the part we will open an account to purchase. Them: You need an account. Me: I just need to know whether you stock the item. Them: You need an account.

repeat ad nauseam.

This is the second time in 15 years I've dealt with them. The first time I swore I'd never do it again (actually did not manage it the first time either, for similar reasons). I have learned my lesson.

How such a bunch of total fuckwits ever manage to sell anything is beyond me.

--
Dirk

http://www.onetribe.me.uk - The UK\'s only occult talk show
Presented by Dirk Bruere and Marc Power on ResonanceFM 104.4 
http://www.resonancefm.com
Reply to
Dirk Bruere at NeoPax
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Try 1st Millennium, 0125 2518 580 ask for Steve,they just sourced a load of long lead time Atmel parts, 3 days delivery. Martin

Reply to
TT_Man

Thanks. The best distributor I have come across in my 30yrs in the business has been the UK arm of Future Electronics.

--
Dirk

http://www.onetribe.me.uk - The UK\'s only occult talk show
Presented by Dirk Bruere and Marc Power on ResonanceFM 104.4 
http://www.resonancefm.com
Reply to
Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

Interesting. I used to use them in Edmonton, AB .They were excellent too.

Reply to
TT_Man

Why call? P&A is available instantly on their web site, no registration required. And you get more info anyhow, like different temp grades and package choices, stuff that would be hard to learn on the phone.

We buy a lot from Arrow, and they're OK for us.

John

Reply to
John Larkin

Phone them up every day and ask for spam!

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Reply to
Homer J Simpson

That a Fine line here. At least to me. See this is where I really believe the original poster's comments are completely valid!!

It seems a lot of Companies these days just chase the low-hanging fruit. They just don't want to work too hard for anything!!

"Just check our website" it the modern day mantra. Sure, a lot of times, web content is really helpful stuff. But for those times you need a real person, or don't have time to sift through a poorly designed Web interface to find some hidden tucked away gem -- good luck!!

Point #2 - This quickly morphs into a phenomenon I call: "Robotic Rhetoric". Employees of low-hanging fruit companies are completely brainwashed free of all true Customer Service tendancies. They have a script, and they stick to it. (Any deviation if from it risks innovation, or dare I say... dedicated customer service!) Gasp!

You can always spot these guys a mile away. And in the off chance you can't, I suggest you try losing your luggage with US Airways.

BTW: We use Arrow here too; no troubles to report.

-mpm

Reply to
mpm

Hell, who does?

Just go here

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and type a part number, 2N7002 for instance. Works fine, a whole lot easier than a phone call.

If you do want to buy, get yourself assigned a sales rep. This isn't Mouser, so they probably don't want the hobbyist business.

No sane person checks baggage with Useless Airways.

John

Reply to
John Larkin

Same here, no problems whatsoever. Usually you check the arrownac.com first, than ask for a quote (which is usually better than the site says).

SioL

Reply to
SioL

We have a local computer retailer like that run by Hong Kong Chinese.

"Not in stock. Check on website. NEXT!"

Reply to
Homer J Simpson

Me (on the phone to 6 different makers of voice coil linear actuators)

Hello, I work at the university of Akron, I need a stock linear motor to move a 5 gram load one cm in N milliseconds time.

REP or Marketing guy (never could get to a engineer) Will you be building the driver?, We dont usually supply drivers"

Me, yes I can build the driver.

Them : do you have experience building drivers for inductive loads?

Me, yes I have used high speed closed loop galvanometer scanners for laser positioning for years, and just built a cap based linear sensor with 1 nm resolution.

Them, Ok, sounds like you can build a driver/

Them, how do you know your idea will work?

Me, we have a prototype built on a speaker voice coil, but they dont hold up under the strain.

How many will you need?

Me, 5 to 10 to prototype with and then the company we are doing the research for will build gazzillions.

Them, we'll call our main office and have a engineer review your specifications, and we will ge back to you tomarrow.

ME (setting by phone for days) never hears a ring

what the heck am I doing wrong?

I get this with just about every vendor that has a web site , only to call them to find out all the listed products are vaporware and that marketing people seem to be in charge, cant even get a direct line to a engineer,Oh and thats if the phone number has a rare human on it, most sales organizations hide behind a voicemail system and claim they will call you back asap, we never hear from them! EVEN IF I FIB AND SAY I'M WITH XYZ CORP AND WANT A 100,000 pieces!. HOW DO YOU MAKE A PROFIT IF YOU DONT MAKE A SALE ? I cant order parts unless someone tells me a part number and terms!!!! ITS MADDENING.

Steve Roberts (still looking for a fast voice coil!)

Reply to
osr

Don't know why people react that way, but try contacting a local rep, if they have one. The reps are often a lot more energetic at getting you info and quotes than the factory is.

John

Reply to
John Larkin

Same here for 3 LVDT makers. Me. What's the energising frequency for your ABC device? Them. Don't know. Me. How can you design, manufacture, offer for sale yet not know essential details?. Them. You buy the LVDT processing unit, it supplies the frequency. Me. Don't want a damned black box, you're not advertising black boxes, you're advertising nice LVDTs, I want a nice LVDT. Them. People no longer make custom black boxes, they buy them from us along with the LVDTs. Me. Bye

It's called 'lock-in'. The modern way to make money y'know. (no, I didn't buy) john

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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
Reply to
john jardine

I don't use them very often but I've never had any problems with Arrow UK.

Leon

Reply to
Leon

Nor, apparently, that of startups. Which is why any future bulk buys will go to Future:-)

Dirk

formatting link
- The UK's only occult talk show Presented by Dirk Bruere and Marc Power on ResonanceFM 104.4
formatting link

Reply to
Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

Once you have an account. Try getting some info without one.

--
Dirk

http://www.onetribe.me.uk - The UK\'s only occult talk show
Presented by Dirk Bruere and Marc Power on ResonanceFM 104.4 
http://www.resonancefm.com
Reply to
Dirk Bruere at NeoPax

Me, I'd have wished them a good day and called a competitor after their experience question. Just imagine, a car sales guy asking whether you have experience driving a car. Or the cashier at a hardware store wanting to know how well you can handle a rotary hammer.

Arrow was always good to me, and so were the other large ones. With smaller distributors it's a mixed bag. Some I found quite worthless. No calls back and so on. Or they were stuck in crusted medieval sales concepts such as regionalism. With smaller ones it often goes like this:

Them: How many per year? Me: About 150,000, but only my client knows for sure. Them: Can you tell me your client's name? Me: Nope. Them: Will production be in Sacramento? Me: No, either China or Malaysia. Them: Gasp...

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

I get lots of valuable info from them. Some of it hot off the griddle before the public knows. Plus invitations when the local rep thinks it could interest me. It's great, and in the end has brought them lots of biz through my clients (but almost never in this region).

And no, I do not have an account.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Just had that with a laser diode box.

Us: Can we have a schematic? Them: Nope. Us: But we need to know the timing for our PID margins. Them: It's confidential, we cannot release any details. Us: Ok then, well design it out. Good day.

When they come back all whining it'll be too late because I've finished that part of the design and it works fine. Their module is out for good. The client had to pay for my time but now they have a much cheaper solution that is also ready for production.

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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

Surely you are joking.

In four decades, I have NEVER gotten ANYTHING useful out of an Arizona Manufacturer's rep.

They are the vilest of the vile.

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Many thanks,

Don Lancaster                          voice phone: (928)428-4073
Synergetics   3860 West First Street   Box 809 Thatcher, AZ 85552
rss: http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu.xml   email: don@tinaja.com

Please visit my GURU\'s LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com
Reply to
Don Lancaster

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