Roman, I never knew about the squishing rollers etc. That explains why my favourite electronics supplier always ships my = one-offs in a padded bag and charges me 1.50 post and packing. Something = that up till now, has really bugged me. The more 'reputable' companies should perhaps mention why they insist on = padded bags so that uninformed people like me don't get annoyed with = them, IMHO. Thanks for the info. Joe -----Original Message----- From: Roman Black [mailto:fastvid@EZY.NET.AU] Sent: 03 August 2002 09:01 To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU Subject: Re: [OT]: Argh! (feel free to ignore) Russell McMahon wrote: > If they charge what they said they were going to charge for postage = and sent > what one ordered then there can be little complaint. When they don't = send > what was ordered (assuming one checked first that it was in stock) = then > complaint about the cost is entirely justified - always IMHO of = course. > > Bent pins are inexcusable and suggest a general lack of concern which = could > suggest other bad practice such as lack of proper antistatic handling. = Maybe > they are trying to discourage his future business :-) One thing to remember with all devices mailed is there are two basic mail handling systems; * Parcel mail is for ANYTHING over 6mm (1/4") thick. * Letter mail is for letters only, must be under 6mm The letter mail gets fed into sorting/routing machines, you may have seen them on TV etc, where they are fed at high speeds through rubber rollers, machine reads the postal (zip) codes and routes the letters directly. Parcel mail is (generally) sorted by hand. NEVER send chips etc in something that can fit through a 6mm slot and may be mistaken for letter mail. It will get squished at high speed by 50 big rubber rollers. :o) Using a padded bag should be fine. Now when a professional mail order supply firm makes basic mistakes like that, THEY KNOW they are sending parts out through the squisher, and that resistors etc will probably make it... Executive decisions being what they are, probably any order under $3 that looks skinny gets to play "dodge the squisher". -Roman -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body