Why is ordering from CPC/Farnell such hard work?

[Skipweasel]

Proops, to you.

[Andy Dingley]

I was there last September. It's probably the last remaining of that sort of shop, still just as they used to be.

[tony sayer]

And them;)...

The good old days really were .. just how many teenagers these days would save up for weeks, get the postal orders and then spend ages working on the latest things from Camm's comic .. and never get the bu^^ers to work;!...

[The Other Mike]

When they first opened a shop near me many years ago I could find my way round no problem, then they 'reorganised', nothing was where it used to be, nothing was adjacent to other similar stock lines. Now, on the rare occasion I visit them, I have a quick look and if it's not immediately obvious I play dumb and go straight to the counter and let them show me where the bits I want to buy are.

Many places are much cheaper, and driving to a shop often tips the balance in favour of an online shop nearly always elsewhere as Maplin aren't cheap.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Placed orders with both Farnell and CPC in early hours (just after midnight) Tuesday morning, hoping for delivery today (Wednesday). Strangely, both are still marked as Processing today, which is rather unusal - normally they manage to get the goods out of the door the same day, even when you order at 6pm.

[Bob Eager]

I've found that is often just that they forgot to update the system...you may still get it today.

[Man at B&Q]

Getting the goods out of the door the same day is not the same as next day delivery, unless you pay for one of the premium delivery options. Under a certain weight it will be sent by Royal mail rather than courier.

MBQ

[Andrew Gabriel]

You are spot on - both turned up at lunchtime, even though it still says "Processing" on the website.

The 8' aerial mast raised a smile with the delivery driver.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Only time CPC seems to send via RM is a small item which has been on backorder. I've never had the main order anything other than UPS, regardless of size, and it virtually always comes next day. I have occasionally paid for next day delivery when that was essential.

Farnell also came UPS, but I don't use them often enough to have worked out what all their rules are.

[Man at B&Q]

I asked a sales droid recently when trying to track down a parcel that was stuck in the RM post Xmas/snow backlog. He said it's the weight that determines it, but didn't specifiy the cutoff. The clue is if there is no UPS tracking number available (assuming it gets updated).

MBQ

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember John Stumbles saying something like:

Their online catalogue really is shit.

[Windmill]

It must have been from the unkindly-described comic that I got the idea for saving a valve (a huge expense for a kid). Use the I.F. amplifier as the audio amplifier also.

It sort of worked, but had a tendency to oscillate !

[John Williamson]

Super regen, IIRC. They did have that nasty habit, and could really foul up other people's reception for quite a long way down the street.....