Jameco managers take a pay cut to avoid staff reductions

Technology
Jameco managers take a pay cut to avoid staff reductions

Jameco
Michael writes in…

The latest Jameco catalog has a picture of a breadline during the Great Depression on the cover. Curious, I opened the front cover and read:

“…We at Jameco understand these times of economic uncertainty. When you struggle, we struggle. At a time of high unemployment, the Jameco management team has taken salary cuts to ensure the continued full employment of the trained professionals you have come to depend on for the past 35 years”…

If, like me, you are impressed by this, you might consider giving them as much business as possible.

Thoughts?

[Editor’s Full Disclosure: Jameco is one of MAKE’s advertisers]

20 thoughts on “Jameco managers take a pay cut to avoid staff reductions

  1. Garrett says:

    I noticed this in my catalog too.

    Jameco has been my go-to place for various types of parts. Their Valuepro lineup of connectors are great…best place to get D-sub and IDC ribbon connectors. They are also really fair about battery holders, enclosures, and copper clad. Good for through-hole resistors and capacitors, I always throw a few $1.50 100-packs of resistors in an order.

    They are also really handy for anyone in the bay area. I actually live less than 5 miles away, so I can choose the will-call shipping options and just walk in and pick up my parts an hour later. If you think of something at the last minute, you can find a part number in the catalog and browse clearance items in the lounge while they go get the part for you.

    Their online search is pretty confusing to me, so I’d recommend downloading the catalog PDF or getting a paper catalog and finding the part numbers to search for on their site.

  2. Rich says:

    I saw the same thing and was impressed. It’s rare to find a company that has any kind of decent leadership these days. I’m glad to see that there are a few left. Jameco’s stock went up in my opinion.

  3. XsavioR says:

    Wow

    See Ive got one question. Is jameco a good choice for small orders. I tried allied first years ago and they got me for like 100$ for 8 $ worth of parts, I guess theres a minimum order, then they sent the wrong parts and wanted me to pay 40 $ shipping (back to them , and back to me) to get the right parts. I can promise I will never buy any thing from allied again.

    My loyalty to my suppliers is pretty firm considering they have given me nothing but the best customer service. For those of you wondering my “suppliers” are Digikey and Microchip. I find Digikey to be worth their prices , But I am moved by seeing this.

  4. Gareth Branwyn says:

    Jameco has been my go-to source for years. Not really sure when/why I became a loyal customer, but I have been for a decade or more and have never had an issue with them.

    They DO advertise with us, but it was one of those cases where we REALLY wanted them to advertise with us because we liked them so much to begin with, as consumers. (They sponsor our Ask MAKE column and advertise in the magazine.)

  5. Tod E. Kurt says:

    I like Jameco a lot. I recommend them to newbies. They are a great resource if you’re starting out in electronics. I still use them for certain items where their house brand is cheaper than Digikey or Mouser.

    For some reason, either through the presentation of their stock, their Jameco house-brand, or their nice printed catalog, it’s easy to winnow down the at times vast and confusing array of electronic components down to a good choice for what you need.

    Get one of their catalogs, order stuff.

    (I have no stake in Jameco, just been using them for around 15 year)

  6. Don says:

    I don’t see that message in my catalog (November, #294) but I’ve been buying from Jameco since I was a kid (30+ yrs.). Back then I had to scrape together every penny I made to place an order; now it’s not so hard, but in the meantime I have come on many a hard time and they have always passed. In this economy most people are having a rough go of it and even those that are not are second guessing every purchase they make (including myself). I will continue to buy from Jameco and that message shows that they are a class act!

  7. gentry says:

    I love the fact that I can order stuff online in the afternoon and have it waiting for me at the front desk to pick up on my drive up 101 (before 5pm). Their online ordering system has gotten a little better, but yeah, get a paper or PDF catalog for easiest comparison shopping.

    Their house brand stuff (“Jameco Value-Pro”) is usually quite a good deal.

  8. tim says:

    …I just can’t get by that horrendous web interface. Every time they redesign the website I am hopeful that I can find what I need, but it just never happens. I used to get their print catalogs and I loved looking through them, but when it comes time to order parts it is Mouser and Digikey for me. Each of those web interfaces has it’s own problems, but they are significantly better.

    Also, I am on the east coast and it takes forever for the parts to get here with ground. Really nice thought and gesture though.

    1. Anonymous says:

      I agree with your points. I used to use Jameco, but almost completely ignore them when I received an order missing parts and with incorrect parts and couldn’t get them to fix their mistake. Worse, they would send canned replies to the emails – canned replies that had nothing to do with the problem. Apparently they didn’t want any more of my business. Perhaps they should rethink their customer service effort.

      Digikey is my first stop for parts in single quantity and in 10000 quantity. I usually have a big list of parts to get to fill out the minimum order ($25) for Digikey.

  9. SDC says:

    I will certainly keep buying from them, then I get to support a local business and a company that is doing their best not to give their employees the shaft.

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