Farnell element14 Reviews 10

On the outside it seems like a good company, order was placed on Oct 3rd, Shipped on 5th. Then it starts downwards, turns out they gave me wrong tracking number, after contacting their support I got the actual tracking. It was shipped via incompetent TNT who took a full month to get the package from Belgium to Ireland and damaged it in the process. Package never came to me and I was told it will be shipped back to Farnell as it's damaged.
I had to wait for Farnell support to confirm this by themselves with TNT, then I was told I have to wait for the package to be returned to Farnell to get my money back. It's been 2 full months and counting.
I would expect this kind of customer experience from aliexpress, but not from a company like them.
As a customer it's complete disgrace to have to contact them 10 times and to wait for refund this long. This was just a "smaller" test order that i placed, before ordering more stuff, but after this experience I won't be ordering anything else from them.

Shocking. 1 star is even too good for these. By far the worst service I have ever received across all industries. I will be cancelling all accounts and outatanding orders with this half asked company, I'd rather wait 3 months ordering stuff from China thank doing with Farnell again

Fast delivery and excellent customer service!

Over a year waiting on a refund. They sold me software that is no longer manufactured for €450. After about 6 weeks, I emailed them to ask how much longer it would be. The response I got back was, the software isn't manufactured anymore, sorry. They have sent me through 5 different departments and I've rang them twice, they just won't give me my money back.

Apparently the following review didn't meet their website guidelines!!

Fan itself is decent for what I paid for. Not as forceful as I’d have liked but that’s just personal preference. The delivery was the issue. Site says next day delivery if you order before 6pm. It was 2 weeks before it arrived. Site said it had shipped but tracking not available. UPS said label creates and nothing else. After Farnell asked me twice for a product review I emailed them looking forward a product update. 2 days later it was delivered and I never got a response. If you’re not in a rush for a fan and don’t expect any customer service then by all means order from here.

Coming from an Irish perspective. Very deceptive carry on. First nothing on their site has vat added. They hit you with that when you get to the check out. Hate that.

They don't have a trade counter in Ireland but on their website they have a 3d render of some massive warehouse.

I typed in Farnell into google and couldn't find anything apart from a little shop. They seem to be huge in the UK. So I'm guessing they have some stock in Ireland but get some stuff from the UK. So next day delivery on those items will not happen but they don't say that. Just my opinion I might be wrong.

My order was only around 200 euros but apparently they feel that this is to much for a first time customer. So they send you this crazy e-mail that is super confusing and makes no sense.
"""My comments are marked like this in the e-mail, not part of their e-mail"""

Thank you for the order you have placed with Farnell element14. Due to the type of product, we have been unable to process your order on reference number -------
As Farnell typically deals business to business, we are required to check first time credit/debit card orders to avoid potential fraudulent activity.

"""First of all they don't say anything about this when you use their site. They said next day delivery now you have to wait for some bank stuff that will take how long?"""

Our reasoning’s for this are as follows

- First time credit/debit card order
- High value (Over £150/150 Euros)
- We have no prior trade history with yourself
- The type of product you are purchasing

"""The thing they have stated above is what just about every online business deals with every day. Name an online store that won't take a transaction because it's a first time order. Crazy."""

"""Type of product you are purchasing. What does that even mean?"""

We have replaced the order on a separate reference with Proforma bank transfer being the payment method. This will be sent to you in a separate email. Once payment has been received from the bank the goods will be despatched (subject to stock).

Any funds you have paid with your card will be refunded and will be back in your account within 3 -5 working days depending on who you bank with.

Pretty deceptive mob. I ordered batteries and their documentation said same day despatch.
After a week (we are in the same city) I went to site to trace and found it marked backordered.
I rang to cancel and they initially told me I couldnt as it was dispatched from UK as it was unavailable in Aus.
When I insisted they gave in but reluctantly. We'll see if they actually refund or more dishonesty will be involved.
Don't order anything you need in a hurry from this mob as 'in stock' means somewhere in the world to get to you when suits them.

Made an order on Monday because they promised next-day shipping and Amazon was estimating Friday delivery. Paid with credit card, wentt rough VISA SMS auth and got my order cancelled shortly.

"As Farnell typically deals business to business, we are required to check first time credit/debit card orders to avoid potential fraudulent activity.

Our reasoning’s for this are as follows
- First time credit/debit card order
- High value (Over £150/150 Euros)
- We have no prior trade history with yourself
- The type of product you are purchasing

We have replaced the order on a separate reference with Proforma bank transfer being the payment method. This will be sent to you in a separate email. Once payment has been received from the bank the goods will be despatched (subject to stock)."

Went trough bank payment and the order was processed Thursday with estimated delivery Monday, would have been faster to use Amazon.

They have a real swizz going with their postage. They say:

'FREE Standard next working day delivery on all online orders. Excludes offline orders and Newark Direct Ship products. Next working day delivery cannot be guaranteed.'

which is very reasonable, so you think 'hey, free shipping!' but then slap on a €4.90 handling charge on a €2.06 battery.

That's just dishonest. Just call it postage and packaging and be clear.

I've used Farnell a couple of times and have been amazed at the service level. I just recently orded a selection of components. My order was placed late on Thusday afternoon and it was delivered to me in the post the very next morning. All items were well labelled and packaged. I will be back for more. Hats off to team Farnell.