Whats Up With Smallbear

[Schappy]

Ive never had a problem with Small Bear until recently.

My last few orders have taken forever to ship and there were mistakes.

Anyone else having a problem?

[jacobyjd]

  Have you contacted them about the issue yet?

[panterafanatic]

Have you contacted them about the issue yet?

Exactly, Steve's only messed up one order of mine, and he was quick to correct it. An email to him solved my issue, and I'll gladly order from them again.

[nbabmf]

I've never had any problems with them.

[Ed G.]

They're only humans. I'm sure Steve will make it right. I think the honorable thing to do, though, would have been to contact Steve first before posting it in this forum. It's not like any of us can fix it for you.

[ppatchmods]

i've never gotten the wrong parts. only good experiences. whose to say he hasn't contacted him?

[Processaurus]

Don't buy stuff from them if you need it immediately and plan on slandering them publicly if you don't get it on your timetable.  I don't.  Dive into Mouser or Digikey and thoroughly research every single part to make sure you're getting the right thing.  They are automated and you always get exactly what you order in a couple days.  You have to be really careful with what you order though, you might easily end up with SMT parts or giant 1/2 watt resistors.  They have a minimum order of $25.  They also don't carry obsolete 1960's parts, like small bear.

[trjones1]

Even Mouser isn't perfect.  They've messed up some items for me before.  Pretty much every place I've ordered from more than once has had at least one screw up (Futurlec has had many ).  It's never taken more than a single email to any of them to correct things. 

Smallbear is one of the true gems of the DIY community (along with this board).

[philbinator1]

I've got two orders from small bear recently...both arrived in around 2 1/2 weeks (which considering i'm in NZ is
pretty good) and everything was there, and neatly packed.  I have had some very small issues with some companies,
but i always email them directly.  and if they aren't good about it, i'll email back them informing them I won't be buying
from them again, simple. 

sometimes if my orders do get mixed up by accident (by whatever company) i go to my local electronics diy if i
can afford it, get lower grade parts until the good stuff comes, then when it does just keep the cheap stuff for
spares.   

[boogietube]

Small Bear Rocks. Two weeks ago I was sent a wah pot without the washers. Steve responded to my e-mail within 24 hours, and he sent me a whole new pot - not just the washers that were missing. That was the only incident I've ever had in 4 years of ordering, and it was resolved perfectly.

[punkin]

Totally cool for me...I had questions about a battery enclosure...he sent me manufacturer engineering drawings. I placed an order the next day...4 days later everything was on my door step. They b aok in my book.

[george]

Don't buy stuff from them if you need it immediately and plan on slandering them publicly if you don't get it on your timetable.  I don't.  Dive into Mouser or Digikey and thoroughly research every single part to make sure you're getting the right thing.  They are automated and you always get exactly what you order in a couple days.  You have to be really careful with what you order though, you might easily end up with SMT parts or giant 1/2 watt resistors.  They have a minimum order of $25.  They also don't carry obsolete 1960's parts, like small bear.

+1!!!

[head_spaz]

Don't buy stuff from them if you need it immediately and plan on slandering them publicly if you don't get it on your timetable.  I don't.  Dive into Mouser or Digikey and thoroughly research every single part to make sure you're getting the right thing.  They are automated and you always get exactly what you order in a couple days.  You have to be really careful with what you order though, you might easily end up with SMT parts or giant 1/2 watt resistors.  They have a minimum order of $25.  They also don't carry obsolete 1960's parts, like small bear.

Mouser does NOT have a minimum order amount on stocked items.
Digikey does. (Which is why I switched to mouser.)

[The Tone God]

Digikey does. (Which is why I switched to mouser.)

No they don't. They haven't had a min for around a year now. Its just flat shipping and shipping is free if your order is over $200.

If you have a problem with a supplier contact them directly. We don't not provide customer support for other suppliers.

Andrew

[head_spaz]

Ive never had a problem with Small Bear until recently.
My last few orders have taken forever to ship and there were mistakes.
Anyone else having a problem?

If you're needing a heart surgeon... or an airline pilot... I wouldn't recommend Small Bear.
But they're ok for non life threatening hobby parts, if you don't mind waiting and fixing other people's mistakes.
Get used to it... competence is a thing of the past. And if you complain about it... everyone will blame you for Steve's mistakes!  

[Auke Haarsma]

Smallbear Rocks in my experience.

I recently messed up an order completely... all by myself. Didn't require any to mess it up. I have send like 4 different emails, each email changing something to my order (quantity, items, ship to address etc). I even cancelled to order via Paypal and reordered it again.

Now the good part:
I got replies to my emails quickly, SB managed to understand me (10 points for SB!) and shipped to order quickly with all the parts that I really wanted to order.

Once I received the wrong value for a couple of pots. They send me replacement pots right away and I could keep the 'incorrect' pots. That's awesome.

Good stuff!

[MissionBrown]

I had an issue with them not sending my complete order,
Steve just told me to remind him the next time I make an order and he'll include what was left out.
Haven't ordered anything of late as I still haven't finished the projects I ordered parts for last time.

Time wise they're pretty good, a couple of weeks after dispatch I got 'em in Australia.

The amount of times I f-up at work makes me pretty forgiving. Just the other week I messed up a hundred grand account. Oops!