Mouser sneaky damaged goods - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2019, 03:04:14 am
content: So here's a first.I get a package from Mouser. The box looks a bit like an accordion. Inside are tubes of IC's that are bent into an S-shape. Obviously damaged by the carrier, right?1. The box has been taped with several short sections of fiberglass tape, sideways, not lengthwise, as if it has been "repaired" by the carrier.... But the box doesn't have any of the usual brown tape along the seams, and there are no tape residue marks.2. The ESD bag is still sealed. And it's not long enough to have ever contained the IC tubes when there were straight. The glove don't fit, lol.

author: rx8pilot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2019, 04:08:17 pm
content: CSI-EESeason 1, Episode 1This is a pretty weird setup. My first guess is that an employee was trying to be helpful without understanding how bad this is for the company.Typet purly on my fone.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2019, 05:17:18 pm
content: Photo's ?A frend of mine ordered a lot of stuff from Mouser some time ago, and when it arrived a lot of resistors were all of the wrong value.He complained and Mouser promptly sent new resistors, with the same wrong value.It seems that in the Mouser warehouse a whole box of resistors got the wrong barcode or whatever, and I wonder to how many people those resistors were sent before it got corrected.Bit sloppy, but it's only one out of a gazillion products from Mouser.Mistakes get made, and somehow you gotta keep on living anyhow.

author: Stray Electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2019, 06:07:58 pm
content: FWIW, anytime that I get a damaged box, I start taking pictures before I even open the box and I take a picture at each step along the way. That way no one can dispute the damage. Having pictures makes quick work of getting a refund or replacement.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 20, 2019, 10:40:59 pm
content: I still haven't opened the ESD bag. To be fair it looks like the tubes could have barely fit, diagonally. But I have never seen Mouser bag IC tubes like this out of hundreds of orders. There's always an extra inch or 3 of room where they fold and tape the end of the bag.It's the lack of any evidence that the box had ever been taped in the normal way that makes it really, extra odd. It has just 5 of these skinny fiberglass tape "butterfly bandages" around the seams.These are leadless IC's, and I don't really expect there to be any damage, so I am not going to be contacting Mouser. I need these now, and that is that.The most likely thing I think is they just happened to be bagged super tight, then the box got damaged before it was taped, while at Mouser. Then someone looked inside and said "well, they're probably still fine." And then they taped the damaged box up, funny. Maybe it was right before pickup, after shipping confirmation had already been sent. And they rightly figured, better to send them out on time and fix it if the customer has a problem. Maybe they even had the time to take them out of the bag for a better look and re-label a new bag after the tubes had been "shortened"... explaining the OJ glove fit.If I don't see any IC fragments, I'll probably just use them all. If my app were more safety critical, I might discard the ones near the bends, at least, if not suffer a delay to get them all replaced. I think I'll try to sort those chips at the bends for a closer inspection and/or to save them for deep inventory/emergency reserve.

author: stj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 06:40:56 pm
content: hiring the wrong people, and/or not paying them enough to give a shit.the same thing happened to me about 2 years ago from Rapid Electronics,some joker bent half a dozen tubes of chipsockets to get them into a box one size down from the usual size.not as bad as mouser, one bend - about 30' just to get a few inches.pissed me off though, it damaged about 20 expensive turned-pin sockets.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 07:25:54 pm
content: Digikey still sends Cypress USB SOIC-56 chips just in static bags, not in a tube or any hard lining. Typically the pins around short edges of the IC package arrive bent. I spoke with them a few times but gave up and now buying those from a different place who ships them protected in tubes.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 07:54:49 pm
content: Actually the whole controversy sounds very stupid. As if mouser employee had a fiberglass tape laying around, specially for your package.QuoteProbably it was applied just in the middle, under fiberglass tape.QuoteAs if they had bent tubes, then put into shorter bag, then box was specially bent and taped with special fiberglass tapeI'll tell you a little secret, people who pack components into bags and people / automated machines who put bags into the boxes are not the same. They are on opposite ends of long automated conveyor. And box gets taped by machine. Just imagine how much special attention your package would need to receive for it to avoid all standard automated procedures.https://youtu.be/GxqJhkTEcXo

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 08:07:03 pm
content: QuoteBag not opened yet, no photos taken. But you already spread conspiracy theories on internet about length of the tubes not fitting in the bag.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 08:20:49 pm
content: Believe w/e you want, lol. If you want a picture, come over and take one. Bag still unopened. And I could give a rat's ass if you believe anything I say.I still love Mouser and will continue doing business with them. I care not about my relationship with wraper.QuoteThe machine that bags and boxes and/or tapes them is perhaps what damaged the box before it was sealed.Also, I'm skeptical that a machine folds over the bags and seals them, because the sticker is never aligned square on Mouser IC ESD bags. It's a yellow sticker that looks to be placed by hand. Digikey and most other places seal the bag with a heat sealer. Any rate, human intervention on an automated assembly line is not unheard of and actually expected. You have zero humans overseeing this, and my crushed box is jammed in a machine and still not shipped.... along with the 1000's of other orders that were supposed to have been processed in the interim.QuoteIt's not a controversy to me. It's just an unusual event.You sound stupid.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 08:37:43 pm
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 08:20:49 pmDon't care either. It just annoys me a bit when FUD is spread.QuoteI did not say that machine puts label on the bag. However from the video, packing list is placed into box, and box is sealed by machine. In any case, human or machine, component picking and placing into the box happens far far away on the opposite ends of conveyor. So suspecting that ordeal happened starting from picking components is a bit ridiculous.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 08:48:02 pm
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 08:20:49 pmAt any rate, they would need to bypass like a kilometer of conveyor and bypass many processes for your suspicions to be true. Who the hell would do that? Not to say someone who picks components cannot print a shipping label. You would need a whole organised crime group just for the sake of your bent box.QuoteTotally agree if it's about you.

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 08:52:27 pm
content: Quote from: Doctorandus_P on April 20, 2019, 05:17:18 pmI remember one guy I worked with, after it happen three times he ordered one more than they had is stock so it would berestocked with the correct part

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 08:57:37 pm
content: Unlike you, I have better things to do. But I'm gonna ignore that for 20 minutes to hear your superior theory.I'm sure you have some reasonable theory that doesn't include my going out and buying yellow stickers and mocking up a damaged box just to win an internet argument with Wraper, the infamously smartest guy on EEV forum.If the unbent tubes had been in there, straight, it would not even have fit, normally. I have never seen my Mouser IC's bagged like this in 15 years and thousands of orders. Unbent tube laid over the bag for reference, end lined up with the seam at the bottom of the bag.()QuoteHere's a closeup of the seam of the box. 5 of these things. I'm sure someone cut itty pieces of brown tape and then carefully covered them with the fiberglass bandaids. Perfectly sensible.()QuoteSeriously, what the heck does this even mean? You saying a machine packages all of Mouser's orders, and this machine fixes itself whenever it has a problem?*Additional information: When you squeeze the box end-to-end, there are 2 opposing creases approximately the same distance apart as the bends in the IC tubes. But you would have to take my word for it.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:11:43 pm
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 08:57:37 pmTube fits perfectly diagonally, even with some space left. And bag was folded by hand. Nothing wrong with that.QuoteIt would be way more useful if there was a photo of a whole box.And it's not a fiberglass tape.It's a plastic packing strap used to seal boxes, you need a special machine/tool to apply that. Very good for automation.Sometimes I get those on boxes from TME. Maybe they started to use them instead of a brown paper tape. Using both tape and straps simultaneously would be waste of time and material.Now it seems that box simply arrived bent during shipping process and nobody ever tampered with it.

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:13:25 pm
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 08:57:37 pmlooks like it would fit just fine diagonally

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:22:22 pm
content: QuoteI have already stated this. That doesn't change the fact I've never had a Mouser IC order crammed this way. There has always been a few of inches leftover of empty space.I don't have another Mouser order. This bag is direct from the manufacturer. This is how my Digikey orders usually look, too. There's a full 4 inches of extra space in the bag with the tubes lined up straight.()QuoteWait, wut!? Somehumantraversed kilometers of conveyor belts to hand fold my bag?QuoteAre you being serious? They're 5 inches long and only stick to the box with adhesive. You'd know this if you could read english.Quote[edited to remove an unsafe suggestion]The other half of the box looks more or less exactly the same, but it's a mirror image of this half. It has a label with information I'd rather not have to photoshop out, let alone w/e other personal or business info that might be on my bench if I zoom out that far. So perhaps you could use your imagination.

author: MarkF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:24:14 pm
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 08:57:37 pmThat is just the standard3M Filament Tape.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:28:11 pm
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 09:22:22 pmOK, They are not plastic straps. Missed them on the first photo. But this obviously was used instead of paper tape. I don't see anything fishy with that. It's not bandaiding the box.QuoteNot every bag gets sealed by heat sealer. There is no reason to leave the gap if you seal by sticker.

author: MarkF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:38:34 pm
content: Frankly, it looks like the box broke open during shipping and the shipper (not Mouser) taped the pieces together.Maybe not even the original box.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:38:40 pm
content: QuoteNone of my orders from Mouser are sealed by a heat sealer. They always use a sticker. They always leave extra space. About as much extra space as this order has WITH the tubes bent.QuoteWhat about the automatic boxing machine? And the "human" that would have to come from kilometers away. And who would just "happen to have this special fiberglass tape." And the "whole organized crime ring" that would have to be involved in order to....have simply inspected and rebagged an order that may have suffered machine damage.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:39:06 pm
content: What a controversy!!! Mouser packed $1500 worth of parts witout heat sealer and with no gap.. And WTF, they even folded it on 2 sides and used 3 stickers!QuoteThey heat seal quite often too.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:41:12 pm
content: That's not IC tubes. That, or partial packages of switches or large components are often bagged like that.When you have ordered full tubes of IC from Mouser, once, let alone 1000 times, let us know.Even without the bag issue, the tape is unusual to me. But w/e.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:42:28 pm
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 09:22:22 pmYeah they didn't pack it really well. Politely contact support and they will help you out. Sometimes shipping is incredibly busy and people cut corners, or companies don't hire enough staff to finish the required workload correctly. But I suspect its not worth the time and money to properly pack every box, and its cheaper to deal with the odd damaged package.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:45:09 pm
content: ^This is what I think. The box was damaged at mouser, before it had been taped. Some human took the time to inspect the contents and deemed them good enough. I further suspect that they opened the bag to take a better look and then rebagged with a new label. The damaged box got a custom tape job.But to Wraper this is a conspiracy.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:46:33 pm
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 09:38:40 pmActually it's quite likely that it was taped by machine by looks of it. Try measuring if length of those tapes do match.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:49:07 pm
content: ^Also, so freshly after the sticker was applied, it is possible that it came off cleanly, and they didn't even have to reprint a new label or use a new bag. A human just clean removed the sticker and put a new one on, in the usual manner.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:51:09 pm
content: QuoteFor gods sake please stop hurting my brain. My Mouser doesn't tape boxes this way. They use brown tape all along the seam. This box was custom taped, by hand, after the box was damaged.Even if the lengths of tape are exactly the same, it means they are cut by machine, my dear Watson.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 09:53:58 pm
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 09:51:09 pmI guess we'll need to wait until you order another full tube of IC's.QuoteIf it's simple tape dispenser, length won't match. Nobody will bandaid the box with full blown packing machine.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 10:08:50 pm
content: I have ordered thousands. I already know and have already shared that with you.There is principle called Occam's razor.You have 3 things which are unusual:1. The IC tube was bagged in a way that is possible but highly out of the norm.2. Mouser just happened to change the way they tape boxes for the first time in over a decade.3. The box and contents just happened to be damaged, which in itself is very rare.There is 1 thing which can explain them all: box suffered damage, then there was human interventionThis is the most likely solution, rather than the 3 things being a coincidence.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 10:13:19 pm
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 10:08:50 pmThe most likely solution is Mouser changed tape recently at least in part of their packing line, and it just happened that box got damaged in shipping. What is more probable, box simply got damaged in shipping, or someone gone extreme lengths to fiddle with your package on multiple stages of highly automated line?I know. It's Russia colluded with it. Don't dare to use those components, there might be spyware installed on them.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 10:22:08 pm
content: You're both being idiots. Get over yourselves and each other.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 10:26:25 pm
content: QuoteEven if you remove evidence #1, the answer is still human inspection/intervention. To anyone not named Wraper, that is obvious.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 10:26:31 pm
content: BTW, if someone wanted to ship you damaged tube, that tube could be cut in half, and sent in two-three pieces. I don't recall this from mouser but effing farnell (element14/newark) sent me around of 500 micro USB connectors in like 8 pieces of tape, long and short + few tens of them loose in separate bag, many with legs bent. I was like WTF, seemed like they wiped what was tossed on the floor and sent it to me.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 22, 2019, 10:34:55 pm
content: ^Of course that is not unusual to see. I've had QFN's scraped out of a bin and put into a tube by hand. I know cuz they were all put in sideways. And whenever you get the last of a lot, you get partial tubes even if you ordered a whole one.This package they were not trying to hide any damage.* I imagine they just wanted to put eyes on it to make sure it wasn't too bad and still make the scheduled shipping pickup.*In hindsight, perhaps the obvoiusly different tape job is procedural, to ensure this can be differentiated from carrier damage.

author: MarkF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2019, 03:40:55 am
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 20, 2019, 10:40:59 pmI have never had a problem with Mouser and will continue to use them.As far as I'm concerned-If you are not willing to contact Mouser and give them an opportunity to address the issue, it is not right to rant on and on behind their back!

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 23, 2019, 06:44:40 am
content: Aside from the wording of the topic, I have not said a bad word of Mouser. I used the word "sneaky" but upon processing, that is not the right word. It is obvious that Mouser is not trying to hide the damage.I am glad they sent this order out. I'm glad someone looked in the box (AFAIC) and sent it out, anyway. On time. I am going to be working with these half the night.And no, I do not plan to waste Mouser's customer service time and payroll over this! My favorite customer is the one that orders stuff and pays the invoice. I don't care to talk, I don't care if I get a Christmas card. Don't call me unless there's a problem, lol.Mouser is perfect, AFAIC. My favorite component distributor, bar none. I only use Digikey when Mouser doesn't have it. I've actually used Digikey's search engine to find parts then bought them at Mouser, lol (better parameters for connectors). Out of over a thousand orders, I have never been disappointed by Mouser, including this order. I posted this just because it was odd. I will hopefully not be ordering this component from Mouser again, anytime soon, but that's because I get it cheaper from the manufacturer, directly. They had a delay on this part and it was in stock at Mouser.I just finished transferring these chips to a couple of the empties I have a ton of. I examined the ones at the bend under the microscope and they look ok, externally. It wasted only a few minutes of my time, which I would spend at least twice this long explaining to someone on the phone what a terrible pain this caused me and can I please get free shipping on my next order?

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2019, 07:52:13 am
content: An LOL update.I ordered tubes of IC from Mouser, recently. Twice.Both boxes were taped with 5 little fiberglass butterfly bandages and no brown paper tape.Both bags of IC were folded over tightly with no excess space.So, yeah, it was just a coincidence that the first time I ever noticed this change, the box got bent.

author: ogden
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2019, 08:47:16 am
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 08:57:37 pmThat unbent "reference" tube is longer than one in the bag. If you can't connect the dots then I can tell you - tube was bent because box was compressed. Highly unlikely that Mouser did it. Their only fault - packaging that does not account for rough shipping and jumpy customers who are spreading bad press before even contacting support hotline.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 06, 2019, 11:25:06 am
content: Quote from: KL27x on April 22, 2019, 10:26:25 pmTurns out "non obvious" wraper was right.