If you had included a fab drawing showing that the holes were to be
plated, there would (should) have been no question. If the fab drawing
called for unplated, I could see how they could have a question because
of conflicting information on the fab drawing and the order form. These
places (I have no experience with this particular one) have a tough job
sometimes, trying to figure out what the customer wants.

Again, the easiest way to avoid confusion is to include a fab drawing
that shows EXACTLY how your boards are to made, including materials,
thicknesses, tolerances, routing details (bevels, etc.), dimensions and
any other thing they may have questions about. There is no such thing as
too much information.

Phillip


> -----Original Message-----
> From: pic microcontroller discussion list
> [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of Olin Lathrop
> Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2003 4:24 PM
> To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: [EE:] PCB Fax Express warning
>
>
> I sent 5 prototype boards to PCB Fab Express
> (http://www.pcbfabexpress.com) after someone here mentioned
> them.  I wasn't aware of them previously, but it looked like
> a good deal from their web site.
>
> Their FAQ and ordering process makes it very clear that they
> don't do unplated holes unless you pay $50 extra.  I did have
> some purely mechanical holes, but didn't care if they were
> plated, so I checked the button to not pay $50 extra to get
> unplated holes.
>
> I did the order and sent the data yesterday.  Just now
> (afternoon of 24
> December) I received an email telling me that my job
> contained unplated holes, that this was contrary to the
> parameters of the service I selected, and asking whether I
> want to pay the $50 extra to get unplated holes.  My job was
> on hold until I replied.  The tone of the message implied I
> had done something stupid and hadn't bothered to read their
> FAQ.  Good thing I happened to be here on christmas eve and
> checked my email.  Otherwise my job could have been held up
> for a long time.  I might not have found out it was on hold
> until about the time the boards should have shown up.
>
> Neadless to say, I was pretty pissed that they put my job on
> hold for an answer I had already explicitly given by clicking
> one of their buttons on the order page.  I called them and
> did get it straightened out pretty quickly.  They will make
> the board with all holes plated (as they should have known to
> do in the first place).
>
> I asked how I could have specified to plate all holes (other
> than clicking the button explicitly saying so).  They said I
> should have mentioned this in the comments box, although
> there was no hint that this was required.
>
> By the way, their excuse for all this nonsense was that they
> used to do it the other way, and customers would complain
> their holes got plated when they weren't expecting it.  This
> is a pretty lame excuse because the FAQ and odering page make
> the policy quite clear.  In fact, the ordering page forces
> you to select one of "Yes I'll pay $50 to get unplated
> holes", and "No, I don't want unplated holes".  It seems they
> have now taylored their process to idiots at the expense of
> everyone else who can actually read.
>
> I'll keep everyone posted on how this test run goes.
>
> So:
>
> ****  If your board has holes with no copper running to them
> and you don't care if they get plated, make sure to say so
> explicitly in the comments box, else your board will be held
> up until you reply.  ****
>
>
> *****************************************************************
> Embed Inc, embedded system specialists in Littleton Massachusetts
> (978) 742-9014, http://www.embedinc.com
>
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