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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 14:18:54 GMT
RS is great because if you have an account as I do, there is no minimum order. I needed a BNC connector, 0.85p. Well in the end I felt slightly guilty and ordered two (in case I screwed up the first one) so £1.70. They arrived next day via 1st class post. Not much profit in that! More than you would think!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 14:21:25 GMT
thebfg Just checked that on wiki and it was CW as I said earlier. I remember it happening. Tandy had some very handy locations which were ideal for putting CW right in front of consumers From wikipedia under "Tandy corp" " In 1999, the UK stores were acquired by Carphone Warehouse, as a part of an expansion strategy that saw the majority of the Tandy stores converted either to Carphone Warehouse or Tecno photographic stores."
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 15:14:30 GMT
RS is great because if you have an account as I do, there is no minimum order. I needed a BNC connector, 0.85p. Well in the end I felt slightly guilty and ordered two (in case I screwed up the first one) so £1.70. They arrived next day via 1st class post. Not much profit in that! Although RS (and i am speaking as a business customer) are loosing sight of what made them great, their delivery service is not as good as it used to be - an order could be placed as late as 10pm and the parts would be with you more often than not around 10am the next day without using their express service. Prices have gone up dramatically and the quality of some items - particularly fasteners has dropped significantly. Packing care can frequently be below what you would expect, I have had items damaged in transit through piss poor packing rather than mishandling by the delivery driver. I give the rep a hard time when they come visiting - nothing changes though. That said, the calibration service is first class and the girls on customer service are without exception a credit to RS. They are an important employer in Corby, but going on the conversations I've had with current and ex employees not an easy employer to work for. I use them more for convenience and laziness along with at bit of inertia that stops me using Farnell (who we also have an account with) more often. Eventually the straw will break the camels back and I will get out of an 18 year habit and start using Farnell more frequently.
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Post by thebfg on Feb 26, 2018 15:50:20 GMT
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Post by JohnV on Feb 26, 2018 16:38:20 GMT
RS is great because if you have an account as I do, there is no minimum order. I needed a BNC connector, 0.85p. Well in the end I felt slightly guilty and ordered two (in case I screwed up the first one) so £1.70. They arrived next day via 1st class post. Not much profit in that! and start using Farnell more frequently. The only problem I have with Farnell (I don't have an account but use a friends) is that I find their catalogue brain destroying (mark you RS is hard to work on line as well ).... I would still use the hard copy catalogue(s) if I had a big enough boat to store them I find things in that much easier than on line
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 16:39:03 GMT
Hmmm, on the face of it that doesn't look good!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 16:41:27 GMT
and start using Farnell more frequently. The only problem I have with Farnell (I don't have an account but use a friends) is that I find their catalogue brain destroying (mark you RS is hard to work on line as well ).... I would still use the hard copy catalogue(s) if I had a big enough boat to store them I find things in that much easier than on line Totally agree, although RS have long since abandoned supplying us with a hard copy of their catalogue - a pain to begin with as their website wasn't much cop but it has got better, thanks in no small part to all the constructive criticism they received
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Post by Mr Stabby on Feb 26, 2018 16:44:06 GMT
It beats me how Maplin have kept going as long as they have. Every time I've been to the one in Rugby, customers have been outnumbered by staff. Plus. they always seem to be out of stock of whatever it is I want so I end up going over the road to Argos.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 16:59:54 GMT
It beats me how Maplin have kept going as long as they have. Every time I've been to the one in Rugby, customers have been outnumbered by staff. Plus. they always seem to be out of stock of whatever it is I want so I end up going over the road to Argos. That was certainly the case last time I went in to Kettering Maplins two weeks ago, four members of staff loitering around the till area bored to oblivion and me picking up a £2.49 push button switch that I'd done a click and collect on (got 15p cash back too ) Not another soul in the shop, I've given up browsing as it is all mainly tat.
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Post by Mr Stabby on Feb 26, 2018 17:06:25 GMT
The other thing is that they used to employ almost exclusively nerdy and geeky males who, while they obviously had no social graces whatsoever, knew everything there was to know about electronic items. Latterly they seem to have made enormous efforts to embrace diversity and about half of their shop staff seem to be female, which is fine if you are looking for some in-depth knowledge about an iron or a hoover, but Maplins don't actually sell those.
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Post by Telemachus on Feb 26, 2018 18:10:30 GMT
RS is great because if you have an account as I do, there is no minimum order. I needed a BNC connector, 0.85p. Well in the end I felt slightly guilty and ordered two (in case I screwed up the first one) so £1.70. They arrived next day via 1st class post. Not much profit in that! Although RS (and i am speaking as a business customer) are loosing sight of what made them great, their delivery service is not as good as it used to be - an order could be placed as late as 10pm and the parts would be with you more often than not around 10am the next day without using their express service. Prices have gone up dramatically and the quality of some items - particularly fasteners has dropped significantly. Packing care can frequently be below what you would expect, I have had items damaged in transit through piss poor packing rather than mishandling by the delivery driver. I give the rep a hard time when they come visiting - nothing changes though. That said, the calibration service is first class and the girls on customer service are without exception a credit to RS. They are an important employer in Corby, but going on the conversations I've had with current and ex employees not an easy employer to work for. I use them more for convenience and laziness along with at bit of inertia that stops me using Farnell (who we also have an account with) more often. Eventually the straw will break the camels back and I will get out of an 18 year habit and start using Farnell more frequently. I also have an account with farnell but not a credit account (neither do I with RS) but in the case of Farnell it means a minimum order or hefty shipping costs. Fine if you have a reasonably big order though, and definitely better for “proper” electronics. i just checked, the same 2 BNC connectors with Farnell would be £1.60 PLUS £3.95 handling charge.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2018 18:21:39 GMT
Although RS (and i am speaking as a business customer) are loosing sight of what made them great, their delivery service is not as good as it used to be - an order could be placed as late as 10pm and the parts would be with you more often than not around 10am the next day without using their express service. Prices have gone up dramatically and the quality of some items - particularly fasteners has dropped significantly. Packing care can frequently be below what you would expect, I have had items damaged in transit through piss poor packing rather than mishandling by the delivery driver. I give the rep a hard time when they come visiting - nothing changes though. That said, the calibration service is first class and the girls on customer service are without exception a credit to RS. They are an important employer in Corby, but going on the conversations I've had with current and ex employees not an easy employer to work for. I use them more for convenience and laziness along with at bit of inertia that stops me using Farnell (who we also have an account with) more often. Eventually the straw will break the camels back and I will get out of an 18 year habit and start using Farnell more frequently. I also have an account with farnell but not a credit account (neither do I with RS) but in the case of Farnell it means a minimum order or hefty shipping costs. Fine if you have a reasonably big order though, and definitely better for “proper” electronics. i just checked, the same 2 BNC connectors with Farnell would be £1.60 PLUS £3.95 handling charge. There have been times we have spent well north of £1.5k a month at RS, they do rely heavily on loyalty and a resistance to change - especially when you have to learn to navigate an unfamiliar website and ordering process when all you want is a few clicks and the part you need in your sweaty mitts. Time and budget constraints are eventually going to change that for us, at present I'm too stretched time wise to worry about it too much, but eventually RS will sweat us too heavily and I'll have no choice. Farnell have a golden opportunity to mop customers like me up, trouble is they may be too short sighted to see that as well!
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Post by Mr Stabby on Feb 26, 2018 18:30:32 GMT
Funnily enough, I don't. Helpful service from the one in Braunston. The staff are friendly and helpful but their prices are extortionate. When I was there a few weeks ago, they wanted £11.50 for a BMC 1.5 oil filter, I bought half a dozen WIX oil filters (which are made in South Carolina) for £1.33 + VAT each from Midland Vehicle Components in Coventry last week.
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Post by smileypete on Feb 26, 2018 18:37:49 GMT
I also have an account with farnell but not a credit account (neither do I with RS) but in the case of Farnell it means a minimum order or hefty shipping costs. Fine if you have a reasonably big order though, and definitely better for “proper” electronics. i just checked, the same 2 BNC connectors with Farnell would be £1.60 PLUS £3.95 handling charge. Don't forget CPC, they do a subset of Farnell stuff with a fairly low free shipping minimum of £5 + VAT Prices are usually a little higher but the free shipping makes up for it. cpc.farnell.com/search/prl/results?st=bnc+plug&sort=P_PRICE
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2018 10:53:39 GMT
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