SparkFun Forums

[Speff]

I like how pissed off some of you are. That's hilarious.

"I'll never shop here again!"

jesus christ.

Ummm. I think it's more that people saw this a month ago, got excited, put it on their calendars etc., then the day comes, people went into work late and sacrificed time they could have spent otherwise to arrive at a hugely disappointing conclusion.
That's why people are aggravated and disappointed

Agreed. A pre-registration would have solved much of the problem, I think, and rewarded loyal customers. I wonder what percentage of the sales will actually go towards MAKING things, and what percentage will end up being re-sold online.

Count one person here that will be using it for hobbyist projects

[otto]

Please start a business to compete with SparkFun!! They are taking advantage of good natured DIY'ers with their high profit margins and poor customer service, there is plenty of room for competition.

Maybe I'll compile a cross-reference list of all non-exclusive Sparkfun products to DigiKey and Mouser part numbers and post it...

Let me get this right. You're now actively looking to hurt sparkfun because you weren't lucky during their free giveaway promotion? Are you serious? What a bunch of spoiled, entitled, babies. Do the world a favor and get lost.

[CTID17]

disappointed customers angry at the retailer???? ha ha what loser morons, all the cool guys know fanboyism is where its at

(btw im not disappointed or angry or going to shop somewhere else)

Get over it. Angry about what? I sat here for the same 2 hours trying to get in and I'm not butthurt about anything.

congratulations, however some people (again not me) find it disappointing and frustrating to not get into a sale theyve been anticipating. understanding this is understanding basic human responses to stimuli, hope you're capable of that

You are only disappointed because you set yourself up. i've been waiting for this give a way, from late November- early December. But i always knew i got very little chance of getting it. Now i am just waiting for them to get back online, and i will send in my order. I should of done it weeks ago, but the thought of getting 100 dollars off kept me from doing so. It looks like i am going to wait another few weeks for them to recover.

[phalanx]

wonder if an admin should lock this thread now as its turning into an flame war rather than an discussion about the free day

I'm considering it...

-Bill

[KofS]

You are only disappointed because you set yourself up. i've been waiting for this give a way, from late November- early December. But i always knew i got very little chance of getting it. Now i am just waiting for them to get back online, and i will send in my order. I should of done it weeks ago, but the thought of getting 100 dollars off kept me from doing so.

im not disappointed just defending people who are from people who are astonished at normal human behavior. hope this helps

[kibble]

Seriously, those people that think they "deserve" better are getting annoying.

Oh well, I guess it's back to working on my regular projects.

[Asimo]

Ah...the site is back.

I have never bought anything from sparkfun, but being an engineer I love reading the news and looking at new products. Have had stuff in my cart for months, never bought anything as electronics hobby stuff is a bit of a luxary.

I got to the last page of the checkout but ut crashed there....Hats off to sparkfun for giving everyone a fair chance.

Ps. Stop whinging everyone, all this was expected....some got lucky...some didnt.

[Mr. Engineer]

I still can't get in

[hardija]

Please start a business to compete with SparkFun!! They are taking advantage of good natured DIY'ers with their high profit margins and poor customer service, there is plenty of room for competition.

dunno about their service but their markups are often pretty large....

Yea, compare the prices of the reflow stations at SparkFun to the prices of similar stations on the most popular auction site and you'll see almost a 100% price difference. Even with the $100 discount, it would come out to a similar price as if I just went ahead and bought it at the auction site.

The real appeal of SparkFun to me is the cool little breakout boards. They put SMD components on breadboard friendly boards so I can play without spending tons of time, effort and money on custom PCBs. The rest of the stuff can be had other places, often cheaper, if you shop around. But, you add them to your SF order out of convenience.

[thebra]

Please start a business to compete with SparkFun!! They are taking advantage of good natured DIY'ers with their high profit margins and poor customer service, there is plenty of room for competition.

Maybe I'll compile a cross-reference list of all non-exclusive Sparkfun products to DigiKey and Mouser part numbers and post it...

Let me get this right. You're now actively looking to hurt sparkfun because you weren't lucky during their free giveaway promotion? Are you serious? What a bunch of spoiled, entitled, babies. Do the world a favor and get lost.

There is no question that Digikey / Mouser can offer lower costs, as they are much larger. But Sparkfun is less technical and therefore it is easier to reach the less technical person, a.k.a. they can charge more.

[Chaosmann]

First the redirect from the shop to paypal doesn't work, then after 1h of refreshing redirecting to paypal at 56k. After finishing paypal I should redirect to sparkfun but the server dont accept the request.

This was the worst advertising I've ever seen!

[sirscott71]

wonder if an admin should lock this thread now as its turning into an flame war rather than an discussion about the free day

I'm considering it...

-Bill

why? because sparkfun doesn't want to hear negative opinions of their customers?

[mcsarge]

The issue is not that we did not get an order, the issue is that, though we were here and ready, the site was not. I sat and resubmitted pages over and over again. It was frustrating and not only did I not get an order, I wasted much time. I would have rather had the site run fast and accurately and give all the money away in 3 or 30 minutes than have to sit and re-fresh.

Next time, if there is one, I would respectfully suggest that the the dudes at Sparkfun give out $100 chits, then allow them to be redeemed on the site later. That would save many people time and not force their servers to their knees. Also, I would give a slight preference to people who have actually _ordered_ from Sparkfun in the past.

Just my 2 cents and it was a pretty cool thing to do anyway (give away $100,000)

Matt

[brusmith]

What a way to get bad publicity, 2 hours of nothing but F5. If you can't keep a website up how should we expect to even get what we order? Its not like you are a pioneer, even WOOT has better response times.

[jaimegmr]

What a way to get bad publicity, 2 hours of nothing but F5. If you can't keep a website up how should we expect to even get what we order? Its not like you are a pioneer, even WOOT has better response times.

<s> Yea, because IT and Customer Service are one and the same. </s>