You Little People Need Not Apply... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: r90s
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2012, 08:27:19 am
content: Metrictest is starting a new policy of no longer handling accessories for their lines. It seems on any new items, that orders of any new item, must have a value of at least $1,000 U.S. Their representative stated they will be updating their web site. Fortunately their are many sources in the U.S. for my choice of LCR meter, scopes, and power supplies.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2012, 03:07:26 pm
content: No worries, there are so many authorized dealers. If you are buying Agilent, there is no price difference if you bought direct from Agilent or a dealer. On Fluke, there are some folks who will discount off list price if you speak to them directly, not just buy through the e-catalog. Tip, if they have a 'chat line' in the sales section, you've found the right dealer.

author: robrenz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 05, 2012, 03:22:16 pm
content: Likeherehas had very good pricing when asking for a quote.

author: vvanders
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2012, 03:33:54 am
content: I'm not a huge fan of Tequipment.net, I quoted an Agilent DSOX-3014A with them and when I told them the quote was a tad high($500 more than other places and had no WaveGen/DVM promotion) they told me that I should buy a Tek scope and then proceeded to bash Agilent. Saying that the DSOX series isn't worth considering, that the WaveGen was barley functional(!). Just seemed very unprofessional considering I didn't even tell them my use cases.Sadly they had decent prices on other things but after that experience I'm not sure I'd get a quote from them again.

author: Bored@Work
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2012, 06:30:54 am
content: Quote from: r90s on December 05, 2012, 08:27:19 amI though this "little people need not apply" was a European disease, commonly running in distributors who refuse to sell to individuals in some European countries. My usual experience with US companies is they sell everything to everyone (exception below) as long as it is legal. While European companies sometimes rather like to sit on their "precious" inventory until it gets dust and mold grows all over it before they consider selling it to the plebs or directly move it to a landfill.Quote from: vvanders on December 06, 2012, 03:33:54 amWe discussed them before, it was in the context of how they treat foreign buyers (everyone a conman until proven otherwise).

author: Precisiontools
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2012, 07:01:58 am
content: Quote from: robrenz on December 05, 2012, 03:22:16 pmExcept with Fluke. Was after a 355 clamp meter but they wouldnt ship outside the 'States. Is nearly double the price here.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2012, 02:42:19 pm
content: ... AFAIK they are not an authorized Agilent dealer. As for other experiences with them, see B@W quote about buyers problems outside the USA.Quote from: vvanders on December 06, 2012, 03:33:54 am

author: robrenz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2012, 02:56:25 pm
content: Wow! I thought I made a innocent suggestion.

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 06, 2012, 04:25:57 pm
content: For me, Tequipment is a preferred vendor! But I have heard they are strict about sales outside the USA, and they are not authorized for only a very few brands, alas, Agilent being one of them. But the good news, Agilent sells direct from its website, if you so choose. If you can't get a deal away from list from any distributor and the maker has its own storefront, buying from a distributor makes little sense.There is a discussion on hp-equipment forum of a user from the UK who bought a factory reconditioned network analyzer for ?? ~$20,000. After much discussion between Agilent's used department and him, he decided to return the unit after over 7-8 months of testing. However, the pound exchange rate had changed, and he had lost over $1000 plus the transcaction fees. Agilent not only refunded him all his money, plus added his lossesandgave him a bonus of $500 extra for his trouble; I guess at minimum it was a fee for the user discovering the device's many faults. Its well documented in the yahoogroup archives. Thus, without a price break, I would go direct to Agilent, and pay through the nose but expect exceptional support for the life of the gear.Quote from: robrenz on December 06, 2012, 02:56:25 pm

author: poptones
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 08, 2012, 04:00:58 am
content: My usual experience with US companies is they sell everything to everyone (exception below) as long as it is legal. While European companies sometimes rather like to sit on their "precious" inventory until it gets dust and mold grows all over it before they consider selling it to the plebs or directly move it to a landfill.My latest experience justifies the euro attitude. I have a variety of kits priced 30.00 and up. I thought it might be nice to price a lower end kit more people could afford, so I put together a 250 piece kit that sells for less than ten bucks.The buyers of the ten dollar kit are such a pain in the ass I no longer offer it. They expect far too much, are far too demanding and far too unforgiving. In short, they tend to be cheapskate assholes and I don't want their business.