Farnell UK Reviews 1,037

Great product and reasonable pricing. Very quick delivery

Original info about dispatch was wrong. Nearly £10 overhead for item £14 that was not going to be in stock for a month, despite "Delivery method: Same Day Dispatch."! The web tracking was not that informative/easy to use. Disappointing performance by Farnell, compared with previously, where it was good.

Farnell used to be good. That was until they got bought out. Now their inventory is pitiful, and what they do have listed as "in stock" is often not really in stock but shipped from the manufacturer weeks later. The website is slow, parametric searches frequently return completely incorrect items, and when you do manage to find something to order things keep not getting shipped out in time so arrive late.

Straight forward online ordering system.
Easy to use system
Emails sent with updates.
Delivered very quickly

Very clear communication, vast selection of products.

I ordered it, it came promptly, it was what I had ordered.

Bought a 3d printer 7 months ago and it's now not working correctly, customer service said it was none returnable, the paperwork I have does not mention this and looked on their website cannot see anything they sell saying anything about that either, I thought it would have 12 months warranty.

Wrong item, delays, terrible communication. Frankly, I don't want to talk about it but feel the need to warn others. Never again. This morning's email: "this shipment ...may be delayed for a period between 48hours and 10 days." Jeez.

Terrible experience with customer service. I have been trying to get in contact with the Farnell team for 2 weeks now regarding an order that still hasn't shipped, even though it was ordered 5 weeks ago and all parts where supposedly in stock according to their website. I've tried calling them without success. They transfer you into a Spanish call center (i am calling from Germany) and tell you on the automated caller information that they can only take calls in English. (Not a problem for me, but very bad service imo. Some callers from Germany may not be very good at speaking English). I also tried to contact them via E-Mail (twice), their online support form (once) and the life chat, all without success.
Farnell used to have a good service before they where bought by Avnet. But with that kind of support we will have to stop using them. Thankfully there are many good alternatives (e.g. RS)

I ordered a mixed bag of low value bits at 17:32, they were dispatched at 18:10 and delivered at 09:50 the next morning. Excellent!

Absolute rip off.

I bought three Amphenol dust caps for a little over £18.00 (before VAT) and these greedy so n so's add a £9.95 (before VAT) handling charge to it.

I'll be using someone else or do without in future, absolutely disgusting.

Sory to say this but never Farnell again!
Their bad habit of continuously spliting packages, makes impossible to track everything you purchase on the web.
I got for the 3-rd time my orders delayed. Next day delivery becomes 10 days later. The last order of 1000£ was split in 3 parts of 3£, 240£ and 750£. Tha 2 smaller packages arrived (never at home, you have to pick it in the gas station office), the main one stayed in some post office without any notification at all from any party. I was lucky they returned and refunded but who pays for my two week time lost on their posting labyrinths?
Losing time on finding all their reference numbers in their strange website, im going mad to redo the list with another vendor, but at last i will start a new history with a new more responsible seller.
Never again!

I have tried to place an order for a part in stock.
Forgot password and I have asked twice for a reset.

No response checked sdpam just in case.

Rang helpline 3 times and told each time to ring back as lines are busy

Tried Live Chat total waste of time.
How do Farnell think they can compete with RS, if my experience is indicative of their on line responses

Jeff Redmayne

I needed a big 3D printer and found one on Farnell but it turns out the build volume provided on the product page is incorrect and the build volume is less than half the size given. I contacted them asking to return the package before I even opened it. They said they have a 21-day return policy but on this occasion, they will not accept a return. Shocking! I would not advise buying from them with this kind of service. I have pasted the reply below:
"Please accept my apologies for the confusion for the size of the print.

Farnell is pleased to offer all customers the right to return any goods received within 21 calendar days of delivery of goods. Goods must be returned undamaged and in their original packaging.

Whilst respecting company policy, we do always carefully review each request on its own merit, liaising with key departments to ensure that our decision is fair. On this occasion, we regret to advise that we are unable to accept the return of 1 x 3934267.

We trust that you understand our decision and assure you of our best attention at all times."

Shocking experience.
Ordered an EV Charging cable from the website, paid by Amex, charge appeared on my account.
Later that day I received an email saying I could not pay by card as I was not an existing customer and requesting payment by bank transfer!
Checked with Amex they said it was completely unprecedented..
Avoid!

A dysfunctional business. I've been buying from them for many years but I don't remember them being this awful. They completely messed up the shipping of the latest, possibly last, order: some of the stuff took 3 days to be delivered and most of the items were in different deliveries than their website was saying. In the case of one item, their system confirmed by email that "stock has been allocated" but then the same item appeared as "backordered" because out of stock in the website. After nearly 2 weeks without any development I wrote them an email asking for an update or replacement. They did not bother replying. When I had a online chat with customer service they told me that the item is no longer stocked but Farnell didn't bother notifying me. Farnell substantially just took my money knowing that the stuff will never be shipped. By the way the very same "backordered" item, now with a slightly different part number, is available in quantity at CPC.