On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 09:48:56 -0700, you wrote: >Thanks for the plug! > >Recognize that not all of this is Digikey. Digi can't >afford to take chances and only Air Parcel Post and >Express mail can be insured and they are about the >same price. But how necessary is insurance/tracking for small orders..?=20 I've found USPS Global Priority to be 100% reliable.=20 >My understanding is that all Express Mail bound for >most EU countries is sent to Frankfurt (I believe >managed by the British Post Office) and then farmed >out to local delivery companies. The whole process >leads to outrageous brokerage fees. > >The moral is, when ordering from the US, try to find a >dealer who will ship via Global Priority or Air >Letter. Otherwise, the package will be routed to a >quasi public or private firm and lead to this kind of >problem. > >Peter H Anderson http://www.phanderson.com > >--- Mike Harrison wrote: >> On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:47:56 +0100, you wrote: >> >> >I bought John Peatman's 18F452 book, with its PCB >> for the QwikFlash device. As far as I can find, >> Digi-Key >> >are the only people doing a kit of parts, and as >> there are a couple of odd ones (the little LCD and >> the rotary >> >encoder, for example) I decided to buy the kit. >> > >> >The Digi-Key price is $56.94 which didn't seem to >> bad - they add $6 handling fee for foreign orders, >> but for >> >shipping they only offered Global Express (I >> usually ask for Global Priority, which would have >> been about $6 >> >to $9) and it doesn't tell you on the web site what >> it's going to cost - it was $28.75, which I only >> >discovered after the order was placed. >> > >> >Then when it arrived in Britain it attracted >> VAT/Duty on the item cost plus shipping of #9.42 >> (say $14) and >> >the real pain: Parcelforce charged #13.50 ($21) >> for collecting the #9.42! Global Priority usually >> arrives >> >via Royal Mail, who charge a flat #4 for collecting >> the customs charges. >> > >> >So after all I've ended up paying about $127 for >> something that started out just under $57... >> > >> >Do any other Brits buy from Digi-Key, and do you >> end up being fleeced like this? >> > >> >I've bought things from the US dozens of times, >> from eBay and web sites like Glitchbuster, Peter >> Anderson and >> >so on, and it's never come even close to this sort >> of cost - this is a premium of 123%, compared to 30% >> for >> >the last thing I bought from a web site where I had >> to pay VAT. >> > >> >Incidentally, Global Express doesn't seem to be any >> faster than Global Priority (and the names don't >> imply any >> >advantage either way, to my mind), and neither has >> insurance or tracking, so why would the shipping >> cost be >> >more than three times as much? The transit time in >> this case was about 6 days, which is at the upper >> limit >> >that Global Priority manages. >> > >> >Finally, does anyone know how you can tell whether >> Parcelforce or Royal Mail will be used for the >> delivery, >> >based on which US shipping service is chosen? >> >> Parcel force ( >7 quid handling fee) is used for >> stuff sent USPS Parcel post, Normal post (3.75 fee) >> for stuff sent airmail letter or Global Priority. I >> believe tracking/insurance is only available for >> Parcel post. >> >> >Seeing the number of US messages saying that they >> like Digi-key I assume that locally they are good, >> but one >> >thing's for sure: I shan't be buying from them >> again! >> > >> >- Howard Winter >> > St.Albans, England >> >> Digi-Key have recently launched a campaign to >> attract UK orders, but seem to be making a big mess >> of it: >> http://uk.digikey.com >> They have a UK catalogue (Which I eventually got 2 >> copies of, after a farce of requesting one on >> their 'free catalogue' form and then had them asking >> for payment for it....) which has prices in >> pounds, inclusive of duty and brokerage fees (but >> presumably not VAT - they don't say) The flat-rate >> delivery charge is #12, but there is a #10 handling >> charge for orders below #75. >> >> From what you say above it looks like the left & >> right hands don;t know what they are doing as you >> seemed to have been charged differently.... >> >> I think they just don't understand that we are used >> to the sort of service offered by RS and >> Farnell, and they can't hope to compete with the >> above charges. >> >> Now if they would take small orders, and drop them >> in a $5 or $9 Global Priority flat-rate envelope, >> then that would be something worth having, but at >> the moment the only thing I use Digikey for is to >> check approximate prices and availability on parts >> when designing in. >> >> I'd suggest you contact them to explain how poor >> their service appears from the UK buyer's point of >> view. >> >> -- >> http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't >> AutoReply us! >> email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList >> DIGEST in the body > > >__________________________________ >Do you Yahoo!? >Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software >http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body