Peter, On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 09:48:56 -0700, Peter Anderson wrote: > Thanks for the plug! That's OK, but as it's English, you probably won't be able to find a socket to fit it! :-) > 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. Well I wasn't aware of the huge difference in cost between "Express" and "Priority", and I really can't see what you're paying for, because it was no quicker than the Global Priority stuff that I've had from you and others. And the parcel from Digi-Key *wasn't* insured! > 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. I don't think ours goes via Frankfurt - I'm pretty sure it comes straight into Heathrow. That's what trackable parcels in the past have done, anyway. > 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. Yes, I normally do, but what do you do when you need something, as in this case, that has only one source, and they don't offer Global Priority? I'm complaining to Digi-Key about this, because I certainly won't be dealing with them again on this basis, and I can't see many other Brits giving them any business either, if they know about the costs involved. Cheers, Howard Winter St.Albans, England > 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? 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