Experiences with Sandy Electronics?

Spekkie · October 2014

On September 22nd I ordered replacement microdrive felt pads. They have not arrived yet and Sandy Electronics has not yet responded to my inquiry.

Anyone here with similar or more positive experiences? Do I need to be (even) more patient?

Paul

1024MAK · October 2014

Dave posted this on QL Forum:

Dave wrote:

I haven't shipped out any pads in just over two weeks - I am unhappy with the quality of this batch. I mentioned earlier that I had ordered more felt. It has arrived and I am still not satisfied with it. While it would work, it does not meet the quality of the first and second batches. It is much more coarse, and I do not want people to suffer problems because of wear.

I have contacted my rep at 3M and explained the situation. They are sending me some small samples of two or three other stock materials that they say are "compatible" but, of course, they are much more expensive.

In the meantime, I am putting a hold on any more felt pad orders until I can get a supply of felt that is suitable.

I'll keep you posted.

Mark

Spekkie · October 2014

Thanks Mark!

Spirantho · October 2014

Poor Dave.. he's sent me three packages now of several hundred microdrive sponges each. Every one of them has got lost in the US.

What I want to do is to get them in to me (in the UK) in bulk, and then I can spread them around Europe as the Royal Mail is far, far more reliable.

rwap · October 2014

Some of the USPS service is shocking - Dave sent me some stuff last year, and when I chased him up 6 weeks later, he went into the post office to find the package was still there waiting to be collected !!

When it arrived I checked the datestamps, and it was clearly datestamped 6 weeks earlier

Spirantho · October 2014

I reckon they must have about 2,000 sponges with my name on them then....

DEATH · October 2014

Shipping from the US is hellishly expensive - in this case though, it might be an idea to pay for UPS or some other courier to send them.

There was an Ebay listing for something I wanted - weighed maybe 100g. Something like 28 quid they wanted for the postage (50 USD) - couldn't believe it! Item was only 10 USD :(

Spirantho · October 2014

USPS is not as expensive as you think, sometimes. I've seen ridiculous prices on eBay quite often, but that's not always honest prices.
I have a DHL account so I want to use that... it'll be expensive but there's no point sending them into the void....

maskenlos · October 2014

Hi,

I have read at the QLForum that the pads are now again available in good old quality.
Anyone from the German Spectrum followers interested to order together? I will defiantly order some of them to recover my Cartridges.

Rgs,

Stephan

Spirantho · October 2014

If Dave can courier yours to me as well, it'll be cheaper, faster and more likely to arrive! I can send them from the UK which will be far less expensive. Just waiting for him to get back to me....

Spekkie · October 2014

Spirantho wrote: »

If Dave can courier yours to me as well, it'll be cheaper, faster and more likely to arrive! I can send them from the UK which will be far less expensive. Just waiting for him to get back to me....

I have been waiting for a response for about a month. I appreciate the fact that there are issues with suppliers and the postal services but, as a consumer, I am unhappy with the fact that my credit card was debited, the goods were not delivered and there is no response to questions. :sad: :mad:

Paul

rwap · October 2014

I can't comment for Dave's customer service - that is up to him to comment.

However, I see on the QL Forum that he is expecting to bring all orders up to date by tomorrow - the bad news is that one batch of felt supplied by 3M was not suitable - when he went back to them, he has been given two sheets, which they say is the last of it (as it has not been made since 2006).

Looks as though felt pads will soon be in short supply again...

Spirantho · October 2014

I think the problem is that he's not replying to emails. I've got no less than 4 customers' microdrives here waiting for re-sponging and I have no idea what's going on - except for the fact that it's starting to make my business look bad, as some of these cartridges have been with me most of a year now and there's nothing I can do.

At some point I'm going to have to just send everyone's microdrives back to them with an apology, which is going to cost me around ?50 to do.

I don't want this to turn into a Dave-bashing thread, though. He's been put in a very hard position by his USPS post office - but I really hope that he gets on top of his emails at least. I do, however, want people to know that he IS in a tricky situation and he's not a con-man or anything. Once he's sorted out the sponge supply and (hopefully) starts sending them en masse by courier to me for distribution to Europe everybody should be happy - not least Dave himself!

Spekkie · November 2014

They have arrived! Yesterday, after more than 6 weeks, I finally received my felt pads.

Trouble is, I had given up on them and found an alternative felty-sticky material to use for my cartridge restauration.

So I now have 25 spare pads. :p

Since they are obviously hard to get, I guess I'd best store them for a future opportunity....

Paul

Spirantho · November 2014

Make sure you test your alternatives thoroughly... Dave does a lot of tests to make sure his are good for a long time.

That said, I just sacrifice C90s for their felts at the moment while waiting. :)

What is your alternative, pray tell? :)

Spekkie · November 2014

Spirantho wrote: »

Make sure you test your alternatives thoroughly... Dave does a lot of tests to make sure his are good for a long time.

That said, I just sacrifice C90s for their felts at the moment while waiting. :)

What is your alternative, pray tell? :)

I feel a bit like I am claiming you can build a spacecraft using toilet paper, but so far so good. I would not use the method for large scale cartridge restoration.

I do not claim this is an alternative that is even close to the excellent product Dave offers (offered?).

Enough with the disclaimers, the result:

The material:

The stuff I use I believe came with an SD card reader for the Acorn BBC. I just have it lying around, part of the little bits of junk scattered around the house.

The fixed cartridges run smoothly and I have not had any issues. Formatted capacity is mostly >95K.

The sticker material on this stuff is not sticky enough so I used two component polyester glue to make sure it never lets go. :D

The hardest part of fixing the cartridges I think is removing the remnants of the old felt pad. I use a sharp hobby knife but it is impossible to put some force into it because the copper support is fragile and easily bent. Even my trusted aggressive plastic-dissolving sticker remover failed. Any tips are appreciated.

Paul

MatGubbins · September 2015

Today I checked my 5 microdrive carts, the felt pads have disintigrated, I didn't put them in the drive, just lightly tapped the felt pad with a cocktail stick and the pad broke into bits.
They have been stored in the same room since 1990, I last used them around 2000 to check that they were working.
I know that the data on them is worthless - backups of Laser Squad moonbase senario saved with a Multiface and Reblestar (Firebird) 1&2 Player games.
Oh well.

Experiences with Sandy Electronics?

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