"Placed my order online using their website. Received automated confirmation quickly. After waiting two weeks, I emailed them about my order. I was informed there were some backorders parts they were expecting to arrive soon. I received more emails a few days later stating my order was complete and had shipped. Package arrived in three days. I feel the order was filled quickly and honestly, especially given futurlec's super pricing. Delivery time was excellent. I recommend them for anyone on a budget (who isnt these days) ... especially if your project is not on a tight schedule. "
"This is an Australian company that seems not to care about customers. They have lied to me on every order I have placed with them. They take thier sweet time in sending your order and this order they charged me 2$ more than my invoice then the next day charged an additional $3.58 to my account. All I can say is that if I done business like Futurlec does, I wouldn't have any customers to sell to."
"My experiances with Futurelec were mixed.
The Good - I did like the prices, and they had specific stock I wanted, and in flexible quantities. I was able to order 2 LM1881N's without problem. Additionaly they sold packs of resitors, capacitors, and semiconductors, all for a reasonanble price.
The Bad - The in or out stock on the website does not represent actual stock conditions. The entire time one of my parts was out of stock, the web site showed it as in stock. It took almost 30 days to recive my order. Additionaly, for having a New York office, and sending the order from New York, this is an international purchase, and international charges apply, but are not stated on the invoice. (It does state on their web site that there are charges excluded from the invoice such customs, tax, etc.)
Conclusion - I am happy to have my products, but the time involved is too much for my taste."
"4/15/05: Wish I had read the other ratings on Futurlec before I palced my order. Ordered 4/2. They took my money 4/4. Order status showed "Entered" on 4/9, so I sent an email. Sales Manager Alan said the order was ready but waiting on one-backordered item and asked if I wanted a partial shipment, and I confirmed "YES". It's now 4/15, the order status still shows "Entered," there's been no response to subsequent emails for status or shipment date... who knows?
4/25/05: No product; no replies to emails. I think I've been scammed. Sent one more email.
4/26/05: Reply email received confirming order. Order was shipped FEDEX International from Thailand. Package received 4/28/05 with all ordered items but the back-ordered $36 book.
--> Overall: Futurlec came through in about 30 days from order to receipt (except for the $36 book). I don't know how much the emails helped. The delivery duration makes me hesitant about future orders. I bought their loaded $59 ADu832 development board, and it looks pretty good (although I haven't fired it up yet!)
5/15 - went to fire it up: they sent 128k rams instead of the 512K rams they took my money for. And the book that still hasn't been delivered from back-order? I bought a copy from Amazon and they delivered it the next day. So all in all - it looks like I saved a few bucks, but I didn't. I got screwed on the rams and probably never will see the book they took my money for. I'm writing it off as a loss and lesson well-learned. NEVER AGAIN with Futurelec.
8/15/05 - The book finally arrived! My order is now complete, after only four (4) months. (Except for the 512K RAMS - they only sent me 128K RAMs.)"
"I ordered some audio processing chips. In my order, I specified a shipping address different from my credit card billing address. The chips arrived at my billing address and the address on the package was completely mangled - it was a haphazard combination of my shipping and billing addresses. I only received this order in any reasonable amount of time at all by some miracle performed by the US Postal Service.
Furthermore, my credit card number did not clear initially and a service email from an employee of Futurlec requested I re-send my card number via email. (It later cleared with the three-digit security code)
From these experiences, it is my conclusion that Futurlec is neither safe or reliable. Their prices are not worth the incompetence - my order was a potential disaster which I was spared from only by sheer luck."
"Excellent service received faster than some sellers that were geographically closer. I would defintely buy form this seller again"
"I purchased a laundry list of components from futurlec, the main portion of which being a PIC18F development board and accessories to go with it.
2 days after placing the order i emailed their sales department to ask when the components would ship as I wanted to have them in my hands by the 16th-20th before the christmas rush.
on the 12th futurlec changed the status of my order to 'has shipped' and the waiting game began. The package finally arrived on the 29th of december but WAS MISSING THE DEVELOPMENT BOARD! the invoice even had 'short shipped' written on it in pen!
I emailed futurlec asking for an explanation of why i wasn't notified that they were out of stock. An apologetic fellow responded claiming that the missed pieces would be shipped out the next day. On january 18th an envelope arrived containing 4 LED's but still not the development board itself.
At this point i was getting pretty tired of the run around but i decided to take things one step further: I contacted the magazine i had found out about futurlec in, and mailed their advertising editor with my grievances!
Suddenly futurlec seemed to care that i was missing parts and being mistreated, a sales 'manager' was on my case faster than i could say 'scrambling to save face'.
To their discredit however, communication remained poor, and the package did not arrive until FEBRUARY 10th... OVER TWO MONTHS AFTER MY ORIGINAL ORDER AND REQUIRING 3 SHIPMENTS.
I highly doubt it will have all the parts it is supposed to when it does arrive, but i will let you know if things change.
My advice remains to stay the hell away from futurlec."
"Very unhappy with their PCB service. Ordered boards on 9/17 received them on 10/7 - not too terrible, but they were wrong. When notified, new boards were promised - as of 12/7/2004, we still don't have them and now no response to emails. Be very cautous with this company - they refuse to give a phone number, the address in NY must be a mail drop - yellow pages yields no listing for them. The boards are apparently being made somewhere in Far East, and surprise, surprise - your credit card will clear in Australia!"
"We placed a small order with them for IC components, also to see how we can depend on the company (delivery, etc).
We received a shipment in about (1) month time.
When we inspected the shipment though, we found the correct Invoice, but all that was packaged was a bag of PLASTIC BLOCKS.
It has now been (3) MONTHS of email back and forth (SLOW in response there too). Mostly Futurlec emailing "we are going to resend the correct parts" -many times.
But, we have NOT RECEIVED ANYTHING else from Futurlec, to corect this order.
If we CAN'T DEPEND on a Small Order from them, why should we (or anyone) make any large purchases from them.
We have to file for Mail-fraud now, from their lack of fulfilling the order.
ADVICE: Stay AWAY from Futurlec, unless you wish to receive STUFFED-BAGFS and a RUN-AROUND from them."
"I was impressed with Futurlec's wide selection. They had been reccomended to me by a online friend. I am most dissapointed that my package has not yet recieved. I see this is a common problem with these guys though. My suiggestion to them would be SETUP WAREHOUSES IN THOSE COUNTRIES YOU SHIP TO MOST OFTEN. AND THUS AVOID THIS BS CUSTOMS PROBLEM!
I may order from them again someday, assuming I dont need my parts in a timely fashion."
"Placed order on March 1st, I cancelled order on the 3rd, received a reply that the order was cancelled on the 4th. Received email on the 18th that the order was shipped. Replied that I canceled the order and if they send a postage paid return label I'll ship it back. Got another email on the 19th thanking me for the order again and saying it was shipped. Replied again that I will seek legal counsel if the matter isn't straightened out, (buddy works at one of the top 50 law firm in the states) to which I received a 2nd reply from letter I sent on the 19th stating my account as been credited, which I'll check on tomorrow. I will never recommend this company to anyone and will make sure this story is told to every site I can find."
"I placed an order on December 28, 2003. I got email on the 30th saying it was shipped and I should receive in 7-10 days. It's 1/15/2004 and I still haven't received shipment. I emailed them (no number is available) and they gave the excuse that they can't get it through customs. They still have not shipped my order, but my card was charged on 1/5."
"I placed an order on Sept. 16, 2003, I've checked my order status on their website and no change since the original order confirmation. My credit card was charged Oct. 15, 2003 and repeated request about my order status have been ignored. I have still not received my order or any information about it."
"I ordered some flashrom chips on August 14th. The next day I checke my email and got an email from them saying my order has shipped. I got 3-6 day standard delivery for 3.50. After about 6 weeks my order finally came. I emailed them several times but all I got were excuses that my order didnt go throught customs.
I'll never order from this site again."
"HOBBY STEREO BUILDER.
MADE ORIGINAL ORDER 8/2/03.
AFTER NOTIFYING FURLEC THAT I HAD NOT RECEIVED THE ORDER THEY CHANGED THE ORDER DATE TO 8/13/03 AND SAID IT WAS SHIPPED ON 8/15/03. It is now 9/3/03. I have been charged for the order and still have not received it."