I'm going to start by asking: does anyone know of any reputable PCB=20
manufacturers?

I need a couple of prototype boards made up -- dual layer, 10/6 design=20
rules (10mil track, 6mil gap), Eurocard size PCB (160x100mm). Thus far=20
the quotes I've obtained are somewhere between 'nuts' (=A3178 for two=20
boards) and 'utterly insane' (=A3412 for two boards), or there are strings=
=20
attached (max 50 drilled holes per square decimeter, "drill hole in your=20
aperture file is NOT the finished hole size" and so on). All I'm after=20
is 1.6mm FR4, PTH, soldermask on both sides and maybe a component print=20
on the top if it's not too expensive. And if I'm being absolutely=20
honest, the soldermask is only really necessary on the top side; all the=20
solder-side stuff is 0.1in pin headers and connectors.


Here's my little tale of woe, which kinda explains why I'm asking...

I figured I'd give the "Elektor PCB Service" a go -- they accepted the=20
Gerbers pretty quickly (about three hours), then sent me a proforma=20
invoice. I paid said invoice about 10 minutes after it posted, went=20
through the whole payment procedure (SecureCode, "your receipt number is=20
...." and so on), was bounced back to EPCBS and got this error message:

   An error occurred with payment..!

The proforma invoice is now showing as 'generated today, unpaid, -30=20
days left to pay' (yes, it says MINUS thirty days), and my available=20
balance (thank $DEITY for online banking) is showing a drop of about =A390=
=20
vs my "real" account balance. Talk about coincidences... 8^P

Attempts to contact them seem utterly futile -- they ignore emails (mail=20
to webmaster@ bounces, email to the address given by the payment=20
provider seems to get ignored) and claim you have to use the "Ask a=20
Question" button to get any assistance. Problem is, there ISN'T an Ask A=20
Question button...!

At this point it's starting to look like my only option is to wait for=20
the transaction to post, then ring the bank and file a chargeback=20
request. Fun.


So.... can anyone name a reputable PCB manufacturer? UK based would be=20
nice, but at this point I'll settle for "reputable" and "not as=20
expensive as PCB-POOL". "Faster, cheaper, better, pick two" :)

Thanks,
--=20
Phil.
piclist@philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/

--=20
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