I submitted a design on Feb 29th. It’s now been 36 business days and no sign of any boards yet. The FAQ said 19 business days max. My email last week got no answer.
MX
Day 38. No reply to email or forum.
MX:
Day 38. No reply to email or forum.
What does your status page relay? Has it been panelized yet?
James L
Status is “panel inbound”. It’s been that way for quite a while.
Just got email from Erik saying they’ve been swamped.
I’d suggest some sort of warning before an order is placed saying that they won’t be able to deliver on time due to being overloaded.
MX
MX:
Just got email from Erik saying they’ve been swamped.
Figures, I have been waiting 15+ for it to change from panelized… was sort of in a hurry this time too 
but hey, what can you do.
MX:
I’d suggest some sort of warning before an order is placed saying that they won’t be able to deliver on time due to being overloaded.
+1
Shortly after getting Erik’s email, the status changed to “Shipped”. Makes me wonder if it was sitting at sparkfun all this time waiting for someone to get to it.
If I get it tomorrow, that will be 40 business days, or 56 calendar days.
MX
Received the boards. Turnaround was 41 business days, or 58 calendar days.
Boards look really good though.
MX
Maybe there was an in office pool for how long it would take you to ask questions! :lol:
Any idea what the current turnaround time is? Based on what I’ve been seeing in these forums it looks like 40-90 days due to a backlog?
I just submitted my first board so I’m a bit excited. Fortunately I have other aspects of my project to work on, plus a few other projects, so hopefully that will keep me occupied while waiting for my boards.
There’s a rule of thumb: “A watched BatchPCB never ships.”
Seriously, there seems to be a correlation between the length of the process, and how badly you want to get the boards.
I submitted my last design on 30 Apr and received boards 15 days later.
macegr:
There’s a rule of thumb: “A watched BatchPCB never ships.”Seriously, there seems to be a correlation between the length of the process, and how badly you want to get the boards.
In that case I’m very thankful for the list of other projects I have going on 
It’s a bit disappointing to see that they charge your credit card right away even though it will take several weeks or even a few months for the finished product to ship.
Day 9 and “waiting panelization”. I try not to watch, but it’s hard.
Greetings Jerome,
JT42:
It’s a bit disappointing to see that they charge your credit card right away even though it will take several weeks or even a few months for the finished product to ship.
What do you suggest? Should SFE take the risk that
a customer will not pay up when the custom work is done?
JT42:
Day 9 and “waiting panelization”. I try not to watch, but it’s hard.
What are you watching for? The SOW
for BatchPCB is twenty business days. Often a little less.
Why not read the [BatchPCB FAQ while you are waiting?
Comments Welcome!](OSH Park ~)
bigglez:
What do you suggest? Should SFE take the risk thata customer will not pay up when the custom work is done?
It’s no added risk. When a business can’t immediately ship a product or deliver a service they will typically place an Authorization Hold on the card for the amount of the product or service, assuring themselves that the card is valid and the funds will be available without the customer being charged. Then, once the product or service is delivered, the transaction is settled and the final charge shows up on the customer’s card. If someone checks their credit card account and sees that the available credit is less than the difference of the total credit minus the balance, it is due to authorization holds.
bigglez:
JT42:
Day 9 and “waiting panelization”. I try not to watch, but it’s hard.What are you watching for? The SOW
for BatchPCB is twenty business days. Often a little less.
That was intended to be a humorous response to macegr’s post about a watched board never being shipped, but I can see how it wouldn’t come across like that. My apologies.
bigglez:
Why not read the [BatchPCB FAQ while you are waiting?[/quote]I have, a couple of times. It’s well written and very informative on many things, but doesn’t list the specifics that a user will see when he/she logs in and goes to the Order Tracking/Account History page – specifically the “Order Status” field. The example time-line in the FAQ only describes the general process – it doesn’t list the specific states that the user will see such as “waiting panelization”, “panelized”, “panel inbound”, “shipped” and whatever other states there may be.
Ironically, before writing that last paragraph I logged back in to make sure I had the correct page and field names, and I noticed that the status for mine just changed to “Panelized.” I’m going to guess (based on other messages here) that the next status change will be to “panel inbound”, probably in about seven days if things go well?](OSH Park ~)
JT42:
It’s no added risk. When a business can’t immediately ship a product or deliver a service they will typically place an Authorization Hold on the card for the amount of the product or service, assuring themselves that the card is valid and the funds will be available without the customer being charged. Then, once the product or service is delivered, the transaction is settled and the final charge shows up on the customer’s card. If someone checks their credit card account and sees that the available credit is less than the difference of the total credit minus the balance, it is due to authorization holds.
I fail to see the issue here, unless you are insinuating that SparkFun is less than an ethical. If they put a hold on your card and you cancel the order, they release the hold. If they charge your card and you cancel the order, they refund your money. Either way, same end result. Unless, again, you’re insinuating something.
Greetings Mark,
MarkS:
JT42:
It’s no added risk. When a business can’t immediately ship a product or deliver a service they will typically place an Authorization Hold on the card for the amount of the product or service, assuring themselves that the card is valid and the funds will be available without the customer being charged.…
MarkS:
I fail to see the issue here, unless you are insinuating that SparkFun is less than an ethical.
I think that Jerome is confusing doing business with SFE
(BatchPCB) and shopping at the Piggly-Wiggly or
Sainsbury’s.
This service is offered to hobbyists who may also be
purchasing parts from SFE. The service is fairly priced
and performs at a satisfactory level for the hobbyist. As
most of us don’t have other options to get low volume
high quality PCBs fabbed in one-off quantity.
I don’t speak for SFE or BatchPCB but I can clearly
see they are trying hard to make this work.
Comments Welcome!
I thought with all the criticism I take this opportunity to share something positive.
I have been dealing with BATCH-PCB since FEB 2007, and have had 7 transactions with them in total so far. The orders have always been as-I-want-it, and only on one occasion did the shipping take a bit longer, but that wasn’t BATCH-PCB’s fault. No reason to be anything but happy.
My last order was in the beginning of May (2008), and it arrived 16 days (that is weekdays, not business days) after I had submitted the order. I also received more boards than I ordered and paid for.
YOU GUYS ROCK!!!
I am slowly starting to increase the size of my orders, and although I might eventually find a faster deal somewhere else, I hope that my larger orders (>>5) will allow BATCH-PCB to make some profit so they continue this fabulous service.
J