Service?

[keithr]

I had occasion to visit the new Coffs Harbour Jaycar store, it is a nice
shop well stocked and laid out probably comparable to the Gore Hill
store. All I wanted was a 9 pin "D" connector and a MAX232. The
connector was no problem, I just rocked up to the bin, but all the
semiconductors were in bins behind the counter. A polite middle aged
male "Assistant" came up and asked if he could help me. "Yes, I'd like a
MAX232 please" I said. I knew straight away that this was a problem from
the blank look in his eyes, "A MAX232?" he said, "Yes" I replied, "A
MAX232 integrated circuit please". By this time the other 3 middle aged
well dressed "Assistants" had backed way to the other end of the counter
and were trying to look busy. My "Assistant" started leafing through the
catalog without much success, so I grabbed another copy, and, even
without my reading glasses, found the item in about 30 seconds and
showed it to him. "Oh you want a ZK8824" he said as if I should have
asked for that in the first place "And whats this other thing you have
here?"

I suppose that if I had wanted a farting ashtray there would have been
no problem.

As I left the store, I looked back at the "Assistants" who had gathered
behind the counter all looking the same, middle aged, slightly
overweight, and wearing the same clobber, dark suit trousers, white
shirt and a dark tie, and realised what they reminded me of - used car
salesmen. Then the penny dropped, a big caravan sales yard at the other
end of town closed recently, I'll bet that they have just recycled a
bunch of caravan salesmen.

 

[David L. Jones]

keithr wrote:

I had occasion to visit the new Coffs Harbour Jaycar store, it is a
nice shop well stocked and laid out probably comparable to the Gore
Hill store. All I wanted was a 9 pin "D" connector and a MAX232. The
connector was no problem, I just rocked up to the bin, but all the
semiconductors were in bins behind the counter. A polite middle aged
male "Assistant" came up and asked if he could help me. "Yes, I'd
like a MAX232 please" I said. I knew straight away that this was a
problem from the blank look in his eyes, "A MAX232?" he said, "Yes" I
replied, "A MAX232 integrated circuit please". By this time the other
3 middle aged well dressed "Assistants" had backed way to the other
end of the counter and were trying to look busy. My "Assistant"
started leafing through the catalog without much success, so I
grabbed another copy, and, even without my reading glasses, found the
item in about 30 seconds and showed it to him. "Oh you want a ZK8824"
he said as if I should have asked for that in the first place "And
whats this other thing you have here?"

I've found that rather unusual for all the Jaycars I have visted. They
usually at least know what the basic components are and where to find them
in the catalog instantly.

People like to talk about the "good'ol'days" when service staff at the likes
of DSE and Jaycar knew their stuff, but some of the most clueless I've ever
met were in the very early 80's. They always slip through the cracks.

Dave.

--
---------------------------------------------
Check out my Electronics Engineering Video Blog & Podcast:
http://www.eevblog.com

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2010-01-12, keithr <keithr@nowhere.com.au> wrote:

I had occasion to visit the new Coffs Harbour Jaycar store, it is a nice
shop well stocked and laid out probably comparable to the Gore Hill
store. All I wanted was a 9 pin "D" connector and a MAX232. The
connector was no problem, I just rocked up to the bin, but all the
semiconductors were in bins behind the counter. A polite middle aged
male "Assistant" came up and asked if he could help me. "Yes, I'd like a
MAX232 please" I said. I knew straight away that this was a problem from
the blank look in his eyes, "A MAX232?" he said, "Yes" I replied, "A
MAX232 integrated circuit please". By this time the other 3 middle aged
well dressed "Assistants" had backed way to the other end of the counter
and were trying to look busy. My "Assistant" started leafing through the
catalog without much success, so I grabbed another copy, and, even
without my reading glasses, found the item in about 30 seconds and
showed it to him. "Oh you want a ZK8824" he said as if I should have
asked for that in the first place "And whats this other thing you have
here?"

the thing about "ZK8824" is that it's different to "ZK8822"
and both parts are MAX232 chips.

AFAICT Everywhere uses in-house numbers to identify parts.


--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

 

[keithr]

Jasen Betts wrote:

On 2010-01-12, keithr <keithr@nowhere.com.au> wrote:
I had occasion to visit the new Coffs Harbour Jaycar store, it is a nice
shop well stocked and laid out probably comparable to the Gore Hill
store. All I wanted was a 9 pin "D" connector and a MAX232. The
connector was no problem, I just rocked up to the bin, but all the
semiconductors were in bins behind the counter. A polite middle aged
male "Assistant" came up and asked if he could help me. "Yes, I'd like a
MAX232 please" I said. I knew straight away that this was a problem from
the blank look in his eyes, "A MAX232?" he said, "Yes" I replied, "A
MAX232 integrated circuit please". By this time the other 3 middle aged
well dressed "Assistants" had backed way to the other end of the counter
and were trying to look busy. My "Assistant" started leafing through the
catalog without much success, so I grabbed another copy, and, even
without my reading glasses, found the item in about 30 seconds and
showed it to him. "Oh you want a ZK8824" he said as if I should have
asked for that in the first place "And whats this other thing you have
here?"

the thing about "ZK8824" is that it's different to "ZK8822"
and both parts are MAX232 chips.

the ZK8822 is surface mount

AFAICT Everywhere uses in-house numbers to identify parts.


--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

True, but I do expect the shop workers to at least know the common stuff
like that chip.

 

[keithr]

David L. Jones wrote:

keithr wrote:
I had occasion to visit the new Coffs Harbour Jaycar store, it is a
nice shop well stocked and laid out probably comparable to the Gore
Hill store. All I wanted was a 9 pin "D" connector and a MAX232. The
connector was no problem, I just rocked up to the bin, but all the
semiconductors were in bins behind the counter. A polite middle aged
male "Assistant" came up and asked if he could help me. "Yes, I'd
like a MAX232 please" I said. I knew straight away that this was a
problem from the blank look in his eyes, "A MAX232?" he said, "Yes" I
replied, "A MAX232 integrated circuit please". By this time the other
3 middle aged well dressed "Assistants" had backed way to the other
end of the counter and were trying to look busy. My "Assistant"
started leafing through the catalog without much success, so I
grabbed another copy, and, even without my reading glasses, found the
item in about 30 seconds and showed it to him. "Oh you want a ZK8824"
he said as if I should have asked for that in the first place "And
whats this other thing you have here?"

I've found that rather unusual for all the Jaycars I have visted. They
usually at least know what the basic components are and where to find them
in the catalog instantly.

I'd agree, most Jaycars that I have visited have been staffed by
reasonably knowledgeable people, there was one other assistant there,
but he was trying to sell a wind generator maybe he was the resident
expert. Possibly things will get better, the shop has only been open a
month, but I suspect they hired on sales experience rather than
electronics knowledge.

People like to talk about the "good'ol'days" when service staff at the likes
of DSE and Jaycar knew their stuff, but some of the most clueless I've ever
met were in the very early 80's. They always slip through the cracks.

In the "Good ol'days" I rarely went to Dick Smith et al, there were
enough local dealers who knew their stuff and sold at better prices than
DSE or the others. Unfortunately, they have gradually disappeared over
the years.

 

[ian field]

"keithr" <keithr@nowhere.com.au> wrote in message
news:4b4bf6d5$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...

I had occasion to visit the new Coffs Harbour Jaycar store, it is a nice
shop well stocked and laid out probably comparable to the Gore Hill store.
All I wanted was a 9 pin "D" connector and a MAX232. The connector was no
problem, I just rocked up to the bin, but all the semiconductors were in
bins behind the counter. A polite middle aged male "Assistant" came up and
asked if he could help me. "Yes, I'd like a MAX232 please" I said. I knew
straight away that this was a problem from the blank look in his eyes, "A
MAX232?" he said, "Yes" I replied, "A MAX232 integrated circuit please". By
this time the other 3 middle aged well dressed "Assistants" had backed way
to the other end of the counter and were trying to look busy. My
"Assistant" started leafing through the catalog without much success, so I
grabbed another copy, and, even without my reading glasses, found the item
in about 30 seconds and showed it to him. "Oh you want a ZK8824" he said as
if I should have asked for that in the first place "And whats this other
thing you have here?"

I suppose that if I had wanted a farting ashtray there would have been no
problem.

As I left the store, I looked back at the "Assistants" who had gathered
behind the counter all looking the same, middle aged, slightly overweight,
and wearing the same clobber, dark suit trousers, white shirt and a dark
tie, and realised what they reminded me of - used car salesmen. Then the
penny dropped, a big caravan sales yard at the other end of town closed
recently, I'll bet that they have just recycled a bunch of caravan
salesmen.

Currently I'm in the UK trying to order a kit from Jaycar, they won't tell
me how much because "the exchange rate keeps fluctuating". Finally they told
me how much the kit is in AU$, which I entered into an online currency
calculator and found that it comes to nearly twice the price given in their
advert in EPE (although that looked too good to be true anyway!). Now I'm
trying to get them to tell me how much P&P will come to.

 

[Tom]

ian field wrote:

Currently I'm in the UK trying to order a kit from Jaycar, they won't tell
me how much because "the exchange rate keeps fluctuating". Finally they told
me how much the kit is in AU$, which I entered into an online currency
calculator and found that it comes to nearly twice the price given in their
advert in EPE (although that looked too good to be true anyway!). Now I'm
trying to get them to tell me how much P&P will come to.

You can check their AU$ prices on their website, no need to wait for them.. Tell us what kit you want and I'll tell you postage price according to Australia Post.

Tom

 

[Jasen Betts]

On 2010-01-13, ian field <gangprobing.alien@ntlworld.com> wrote:

"keithr" <keithr@nowhere.com.au> wrote in message
news:4b4bf6d5$1@dnews.tpgi.com.au...
I had occasion to visit the new Coffs Harbour Jaycar store, it is a nice
shop well stocked and laid out probably comparable to the Gore Hill store.
All I wanted was a 9 pin "D" connector and a MAX232. The connector was no
problem, I just rocked up to the bin, but all the semiconductors were in
bins behind the counter. A polite middle aged male "Assistant" came up and
asked if he could help me. "Yes, I'd like a MAX232 please" I said. I knew
straight away that this was a problem from the blank look in his eyes, "A
MAX232?" he said, "Yes" I replied, "A MAX232 integrated circuit please". By
this time the other 3 middle aged well dressed "Assistants" had backed way
to the other end of the counter and were trying to look busy. My
"Assistant" started leafing through the catalog without much success, so I
grabbed another copy, and, even without my reading glasses, found the item
in about 30 seconds and showed it to him. "Oh you want a ZK8824" he said as
if I should have asked for that in the first place "And whats this other
thing you have here?"

I suppose that if I had wanted a farting ashtray there would have been no
problem.

As I left the store, I looked back at the "Assistants" who had gathered
behind the counter all looking the same, middle aged, slightly overweight,
and wearing the same clobber, dark suit trousers, white shirt and a dark
tie, and realised what they reminded me of - used car salesmen. Then the
penny dropped, a big caravan sales yard at the other end of town closed
recently, I'll bet that they have just recycled a bunch of caravan
salesmen.

Currently I'm in the UK trying to order a kit from Jaycar, they won't tell
me how much because "the exchange rate keeps fluctuating". Finally they told
me how much the kit is in AU$, which I entered into an online currency
calculator and found that it comes to nearly twice the price given in their
advert in EPE (although that looked too good to be true anyway!). Now I'm
trying to get them to tell me how much P&P will come to.

postage seems to go off the sale price:

(cut&paster from website)
POSTAGE UK PRICE (2-4 Weeks) - UK
Up to ÂŁ49.99 = ÂŁ5.00
ÂŁ50.00 - ÂŁ100.99 = ÂŁ10.00
ÂŁ101.00 - ÂŁ200.99 = ÂŁ20.00
ÂŁ201.00 - ÂŁ500.99 = ÂŁ30.00
ÂŁ501.00+ = ÂŁ40.00

order on-line it'll tell you all that stuff.
start at www.jaycar.com and click the "GBP" link


--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: news@netfront.net ---

 

[ian field]

"Tom" <tom@no.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:himmuu$gts$1@news.eternal-september.org...

ian field wrote:

Currently I'm in the UK trying to order a kit from Jaycar, they won't
tell me how much because "the exchange rate keeps fluctuating". Finally
they told me how much the kit is in AU$, which I entered into an online
currency calculator and found that it comes to nearly twice the price
given in their advert in EPE (although that looked too good to be true
anyway!). Now I'm trying to get them to tell me how much P&P will come
to.

You can check their AU$ prices on their website, no need to wait for
them.. Tell us what kit you want and I'll tell you postage price according
to Australia Post.

Tom

At the moment there may be some confusion over which kit!

In Jaycar's advert in EPE; Kit KC-5459 EPE CD audio playback kit is offered
at Ł19 + P&P (which looks too good to be true!). By email reply from Jaycar
I've been offered the kit at AU$64.95, which works out around Ł37 + P&P -
nearly double the price advertised in EPE.

At the moment, I've asked for clarification on what parts are in the kit and
am awaiting the reply.

 

[Tom]

ian field wrote:

At the moment there may be some confusion over which kit!

In Jaycar's advert in EPE; Kit KC-5459 EPE CD audio playback kit is offered
at Ł19 + P&P (which looks too good to be true!). By email reply from Jaycar
I've been offered the kit at AU$64.95, which works out around Ł37 + P&P -
nearly double the price advertised in EPE.

At the moment, I've asked for clarification on what parts are in the kit and
am awaiting the reply.

I remember that one, it was published here in 2007. The last time Jaycar listed it was 2008 catalog and it was $64.95 then. I guess someone converted it to pounds and the UK ad never changed while the pound dived a bit. That aside they don't list this kit in 2009 catalog nor have it on their website, I suspect they have none in stock. The schematic and firmware are available, there is no PCB but if you want to roll your own... it's not that complicated.

Tom

 

[ian field]

"Tom" <tom@no.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:hipiuh$uda$1@news.eternal-september.org...

ian field wrote:

At the moment there may be some confusion over which kit!

In Jaycar's advert in EPE; Kit KC-5459 EPE CD audio playback kit is
offered at Ł19 + P&P (which looks too good to be true!). By email reply
from Jaycar I've been offered the kit at AU$64.95, which works out around
Ł37 + P&P - nearly double the price advertised in EPE.

At the moment, I've asked for clarification on what parts are in the kit
and am awaiting the reply.

I remember that one, it was published here in 2007. The last time Jaycar
listed it was 2008 catalog and it was $64.95 then. I guess someone
converted it to pounds and the UK ad never changed while the pound dived a
bit. That aside they don't list this kit in 2009 catalog nor have it on
their website, I suspect they have none in stock. The schematic and
firmware are available, there is no PCB but if you want to roll your
own... it's not that complicated.

Tom

I've just picked up the latest issue of EPE today and jaycar are still
advertising at Ł19 + P&P.

The project was published in EPE over the 2 previous issues.

 

[ian field]

"Tom" <tom@no.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:hipiuh$uda$1@news.eternal-september.org...

ian field wrote:

At the moment there may be some confusion over which kit!

In Jaycar's advert in EPE; Kit KC-5459 EPE CD audio playback kit is
offered at Ł19 + P&P (which looks too good to be true!). By email reply
from Jaycar I've been offered the kit at AU$64.95, which works out around
Ł37 + P&P - nearly double the price advertised in EPE.

At the moment, I've asked for clarification on what parts are in the kit
and am awaiting the reply.

I remember that one, it was published here in 2007. The last time Jaycar
listed it was 2008 catalog and it was $64.95 then. I guess someone
converted it to pounds and the UK ad never changed while the pound dived a
bit. That aside they don't list this kit in 2009 catalog nor have it on
their website, I suspect they have none in stock. The schematic and
firmware are available, there is no PCB but if you want to roll your
own... it's not that complicated.

Tom

In the 2 previous Jaycar adverts in EPE, the CD audio playback kit had a
star 'sticker' saying "New to EPE", so its clearly not a left over advert
that someone forgot to remove after the project was published in Aus a year
or so ago.

 

[Tom]

ian field wrote:

"Tom" <tom@no.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:hipiuh$uda$1@news.eternal-september.org...
ian field wrote:

At the moment there may be some confusion over which kit!

In Jaycar's advert in EPE; Kit KC-5459 EPE CD audio playback kit is
offered at Ł19 + P&P (which looks too good to be true!). By email reply
from Jaycar I've been offered the kit at AU$64.95, which works out around
Ł37 + P&P - nearly double the price advertised in EPE.

At the moment, I've asked for clarification on what parts are in the kit
and am awaiting the reply.
I remember that one, it was published here in 2007. The last time Jaycar
listed it was 2008 catalog and it was $64.95 then. I guess someone
converted it to pounds and the UK ad never changed while the pound dived a
bit. That aside they don't list this kit in 2009 catalog nor have it on
their website, I suspect they have none in stock. The schematic and
firmware are available, there is no PCB but if you want to roll your
own... it's not that complicated.

Tom

In the 2 previous Jaycar adverts in EPE, the CD audio playback kit had a
star 'sticker' saying "New to EPE", so its clearly not a left over advert
that someone forgot to remove after the project was published in Aus a year
or so ago.


Looks like they've found/made up some stock but haven't advertised it yet here in Australia. I'll ask them in the shop if I pass by.

Tom

 

[ian field]

"Tom" <tom@no.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:hj1d3m$aa7$1@news.eternal-september.org...

ian field wrote:
"Tom" <tom@no.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:hipiuh$uda$1@news.eternal-september.org...
ian field wrote:

At the moment there may be some confusion over which kit!

In Jaycar's advert in EPE; Kit KC-5459 EPE CD audio playback kit is
offered at Ł19 + P&P (which looks too good to be true!). By email reply
from Jaycar I've been offered the kit at AU$64.95, which works out
around Ł37 + P&P - nearly double the price advertised in EPE.

At the moment, I've asked for clarification on what parts are in the
kit and am awaiting the reply.
I remember that one, it was published here in 2007. The last time Jaycar
listed it was 2008 catalog and it was $64.95 then. I guess someone
converted it to pounds and the UK ad never changed while the pound dived
a bit. That aside they don't list this kit in 2009 catalog nor have it
on their website, I suspect they have none in stock. The schematic and
firmware are available, there is no PCB but if you want to roll your
own... it's not that complicated.

Tom

In the 2 previous Jaycar adverts in EPE, the CD audio playback kit had a
star 'sticker' saying "New to EPE", so its clearly not a left over advert
that someone forgot to remove after the project was published in Aus a
year or so ago.
Looks like they've found/made up some stock but haven't advertised it yet
here in Australia. I'll ask them in the shop if I pass by.

Tom

Thanks.

This was probably originally published in Silicon Chip magazine, as that
seems to be where EPE get most of their projects these days, and AFAICT it
was originally published about a year or so ago - so the original batch of
kits is long gone.

The project was published in 2 issues of EPE (Dec09 & Jan 10), in those 2
issues the advert is emblazoned with "new to EPE" so it clearly isn't a left
over old advert - I can only assume that the ad department forgot to mention
it to the kit department.