A
Andy
Hello all,
I have been having an absolutely shocking run with BEC's pcbs lately.
It got to the point a few weeks back that I went there to have a
"meeting" with them about all of the issues. Here is a copy of the
email I sent to them about it:
*************
Hello,
You have the amounts on the invoice incorrect AGAIN - One of these jobs
(********) is single sided, not double sided. We would also like to
have
them delivered by courier to our premises.
I certainly hope the component overlay is correct this time around - I
have attached a .jpg for you to check it against. Pay particular
attention to the corners of the pcb where component overlay detail went
mysteriously "missing" the last time BEC manufactured this job.
The component overlay went horribly wrong on one of our other jobs
(#*****) recently also. One of your engineers (*****) was made aware of
this however we were not offered any reduced rate and, yet again, paid
full price for a sub-standard job. On another job (*****), holes were
completely missed even though they were multi-layer - again we paid
full
price and were not offered any price reduction. Recently the quality of
the BEC pcbs has been slowly declining with missing or incorrect detail
in overlays, bad registration with solder masks and holes drilled off
centre, solder not cleared from holes properly and so the list goes on.
We have been dealing with BEC exclusively as a "cash customer" for 7
years and I am disappointed to see the quality and service decrease to
this level.
I would like someone from BEC customer service to contact me personally
and discuss these issues and resolve them, if possible. At this time, I
can see no other solution other than to take our work to another pcb
manufacturer, as the current quality and service we are receiving from
BEC is terrible.
*************
Of course, no one contacted me. I had to call them to arrange a
meeting.
During "the meeting", Fransisco wandered over and told me the problem
was the new computer system (windows XP) and they were having problems
opening protel Autotrax files correctly. I showed him a sample of the
faulty boards and he really could not have cared less. He told me that
if I upgraded from Autotrax to a windows version of Protel, we wouldn't
be having all of these problems. I told him he should not accept
Autotrax files if he could not be bothered to manufacture them
correctly, as per the file.
I was told the problems would be sorted out now that they were aware of
what was going on. This turned out to be BS. I received my latest job
from BEC yesterday afternoon and guess what - they are stuffed up! The
automatic component identifiers have been left switched on and
consequently, the overlay is a mess!
I have sent BEC an email this morning however I really dont expect much
of a reply. I think it is time for me to start looking elsewhere for a
pcb fabricator who can deal with Autotrax files without "issues". Any
suggestions are most welcome.
I hope I am doing someone a favour by sharing my experiences. This
rigmarole has cost me customer confidence and could have potentially
cost me work. I feel BEC needs to start acting more professionally and
to sharpen up on their customer service.
Andy
I have been having an absolutely shocking run with BEC's pcbs lately.
It got to the point a few weeks back that I went there to have a
"meeting" with them about all of the issues. Here is a copy of the
email I sent to them about it:
*************
Hello,
You have the amounts on the invoice incorrect AGAIN - One of these jobs
(********) is single sided, not double sided. We would also like to
have
them delivered by courier to our premises.
I certainly hope the component overlay is correct this time around - I
have attached a .jpg for you to check it against. Pay particular
attention to the corners of the pcb where component overlay detail went
mysteriously "missing" the last time BEC manufactured this job.
The component overlay went horribly wrong on one of our other jobs
(#*****) recently also. One of your engineers (*****) was made aware of
this however we were not offered any reduced rate and, yet again, paid
full price for a sub-standard job. On another job (*****), holes were
completely missed even though they were multi-layer - again we paid
full
price and were not offered any price reduction. Recently the quality of
the BEC pcbs has been slowly declining with missing or incorrect detail
in overlays, bad registration with solder masks and holes drilled off
centre, solder not cleared from holes properly and so the list goes on.
We have been dealing with BEC exclusively as a "cash customer" for 7
years and I am disappointed to see the quality and service decrease to
this level.
I would like someone from BEC customer service to contact me personally
and discuss these issues and resolve them, if possible. At this time, I
can see no other solution other than to take our work to another pcb
manufacturer, as the current quality and service we are receiving from
BEC is terrible.
*************
Of course, no one contacted me. I had to call them to arrange a
meeting.
During "the meeting", Fransisco wandered over and told me the problem
was the new computer system (windows XP) and they were having problems
opening protel Autotrax files correctly. I showed him a sample of the
faulty boards and he really could not have cared less. He told me that
if I upgraded from Autotrax to a windows version of Protel, we wouldn't
be having all of these problems. I told him he should not accept
Autotrax files if he could not be bothered to manufacture them
correctly, as per the file.
I was told the problems would be sorted out now that they were aware of
what was going on. This turned out to be BS. I received my latest job
from BEC yesterday afternoon and guess what - they are stuffed up! The
automatic component identifiers have been left switched on and
consequently, the overlay is a mess!
I have sent BEC an email this morning however I really dont expect much
of a reply. I think it is time for me to start looking elsewhere for a
pcb fabricator who can deal with Autotrax files without "issues". Any
suggestions are most welcome.
I hope I am doing someone a favour by sharing my experiences. This
rigmarole has cost me customer confidence and could have potentially
cost me work. I feel BEC needs to start acting more professionally and
to sharpen up on their customer service.
Andy
