which service is better?

[shermaine]

Hi guys, any idea which one is better in term of technical service or sales service for RS or farnell?
I'm looking for one which can have good service for long term buying of electronics items?
basically, when u guys buy item how to know if their service is good? what do you guys look for first?

 

[bananasiong]

Hi,
IMO I prefer farnell. Not because of the service but the availability of the product. In my country, it's obvious that farnell has more over RS.

 

[audioguru]

Are you in this world?
Maybe in the UK?

Then please update your profile so we know where you are talking about.

RS in North America used to be called Radio Shack. They sold "seconds" junk parts at extremely high prices. Then they sold many cell phones at full list price.
Radio Shack is gone from Canada. They are called Maplin in the UK.

 

[yngndrw]

Ah, I never knew that Radio Shack changed to Maplin, I always thought that RS was Radio Shack.

I buy most of my stuff from Farnell. (Well CPC, it's a part of Farnell.) To be honest, I think they will both be the same in terms of service, I'd just go with the closest.

PS: Finally, someone who calls Maplin by the real name. It really bugs me when people say "Maplins".

 

[mneary]

what do you guys look for first?

First, I look for the parts that I want. I also look for low shipping costs to my home, and a minimum order amount that I can easily meet. If they don't accept any of my credit cards, they're out. If they accept Paypal, even better.

I've never had a reason to trade at RS or Farnell.

 

[shermaine]

how abt the technical support? wat do u guys expect from the technical support in order to buy from them

 

[bananasiong]

Hi,
For the technical support, I'll look back for the manufacturer, but not the dealer.

 

[ericgibbs]

how abt the technical support? wat do u guys expect from the technical support in order to buy from them

hi,
I buy from Farnell, prices are not too bad, delivery is free for online orders over £20GBP, next day delivery.
They list the datasheets available, together with the products, easy to select and download.

Excellent product search and refine program.

 

[JimB]

Ah, I never knew that Radio Shack changed to Maplin, I always thought that RS was Radio Shack.

Sorry all wrong!

In the USA there is Radio Shack, they had a UK division trading under the name Tandy.
Tandy closed up many years ago and I believe morphed into Carphone Warehouse.

Maplin has (as far as I can remember) always been Maplin.

In the UK there was a company called Radio Spares, and they were suppliers of components mostly to the radio and TV repair trade.
In the early 1970s they changed their name to RS Components and are now a major supplier of electronic components (amongst other things).
In industry they are usually just refered to as RS.

So, UK RS and USA RS are two very different entities.

By the way, I get stuff from RS.
I used Farnell, but for me they went downhill a few years ago when they merged with some other company.

JimB

 

[ericgibbs]

hi Jim,
Thats the way I remember it also.

When Radio Spares first started their catalog was A6 size, about 10 pages.!

As you say they became known as RS some years ago, now you need a fork lift truck to move ALL their set of catalogs around.

 

[shermaine]

rs is rs components...so wat tech support u guys would expect to hv from them?

 

[3v0]

rs is rs components...so wat tech support u guys would expect to hv from them?

Not good.

Are you in this world?
Maybe in the UK?

Then please update your profile so we know where you are talking about.

You have been a member long enough to understand this.

 

[JimB]

rs is rs components...so wat tech support u guys would expect to hv from them?

rs av got dta shits fo all trhere prodcts on there websight. rswww.com

JimB

/badgrammar
/badsyntax
/spelling

 

[Boomslang]

Only used RS before, and veru happy with the service I recieved so far.... they even send me the full catalog book every year without having to ask for it.

 

[audioguru]

The Brits who describe the increased poor service from Maplin are describing RadioShack in Canada a few years ago before they disappeared.

Tandy used to run RadioShack stores in Canada. The Source from Circuit City (American) took over some of the RadioShack stores.

 

[yngndrw]

Sorry all wrong!

In the USA there is Radio Shack, they had a UK division trading under the name Tandy.
Tandy closed up many years ago and I believe morphed into Carphone Warehouse.

Maplin has (as far as I can remember) always been Maplin.

In the UK there was a company called Radio Spares, and they were suppliers of components mostly to the radio and TV repair trade.
In the early 1970s they changed their name to RS Components and are now a major supplier of electronic components (amongst other things).
In industry they are usually just refered to as RS.

So, UK RS and USA RS are two very different entities.

By the way, I get stuff from RS.
I used Farnell, but for me they went downhill a few years ago when they merged with some other company.

JimB

Ah, Tandy - I'd forgotten the name. I was confused abit because I thought Tandy was very unlike Maplin.

Regardless, in my first post I was talking about the UK version of Radio Spares, not US RadioShack AKA Tandy. Tandy was kind of shite, had a very poor range and equally poor prices.

While I havn't ordered anything from UK Radio Spares yet, I will do soon. They have a nice selection of mechanical components which is nice for some projects - Less people to buy from. Be warned that you can usually buy UK Radio Spares's stuff cheaper elsewhere, but you can't beat the massive range.

 

[JimB]

Be warned that you can usually buy UK Radio Spares's stuff cheaper elsewhere, but you can't beat the massive range.

The components from RS are quality stuff which do "exactly what it says on the tin", they have a wide range of specialised stuff which is usually on the shelf and can be delivered in 1 or 2 days.
For that you have to pay a premium.

If you want common stuff it is usually cheaper elsewhere.

JimB

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

The components from RS are quality stuff which do "exactly what it says on the tin", they have a wide range of specialised stuff which is usually on the shelf and can be delivered in 1 or 2 days.
For that you have to pay a premium.

Exactly, a LOT of prototyping is done using RS Components parts, but for production you go elsewhere.

As for delivery, it's almost always next day, I can't recall the last time it took two days?, but the UK post is generally excellent - although there are a few 'dodgy spots', mainly down south (like London!).