Find A Tube, Bob Dobush

[electra225]

I decided to give this vendor a try. His prices and shipping seemed to be more than reasonable. I ordered three TV tubes and specified Sylvania brand tubes. He had a manual for the TV analyzer I wanted and also a slide for it that I needed to finish the RCA TV project. $38, including shipping seemed more than reasonable to me. They want almost that much on ebay for the manual alone. The holdup to a successful deal is his incredibly SLLLOOOOWWWW shipping. It has been two weeks since I ordered and I still don't have the goods. Maybe reasonable shipping is via pigeon or something. I haven't put this vendor on the "not recommended" list yet, but, if I have to mess with PayPal to unwind this deal, I am not going to be happy. His communication is top-notch. He replies quickly. I have been almost a month getting Bob to find the items I needed, figure out a price, then get me the goods. We should support the one-man operations that provide parts and services for our old electronics. Sometimes the vendors themselves don't make that easy. Stay tuned......

[TC Chris]

Patience is a virtue. When I first joined the original group, I needed a Collaro changer for my Provincial Serenade. One member arranged a buy from another one. Money was exchanged and I waited. And waited. Finally I made some noise. The arranger reported that the seller was having some personal issues, and eventually drove over and did the packing and shipping. I did feel bad about raising a ruckus when somebody was having a rough patch and I was grateful to the arranger for making things work.

Depending on where your vendor lives, the shipping part might cause delays. When I gave away a Philco TV a couple years back, the recipient sent me carefully-made shipping boxes and pads. Shipping had to be by a specific one (FedEx or UPS, can't remember which) and the depot was way over on the other side of town. It took me a while to get there.

Chris Campbell

[Conelrad]

A chap I've bought and sold tubes with is John, at vacuumtubesinc.com

He is very knowledgeable about tube makers, data, and origins.

He is an honest family man, ships fast as tubes are his livelyhood and not a sideline.

Some tube accessories are available as well.

Dennis

[William]

Dennis. Is this the sight:

https://vacuumtubesinc.com/

Bill

[Conelrad]

Yep.

DG

[electra225]

I still don't have my order. And I may have been a tad precipitous. Bob is inquiring of the post office where this stuff is. The PO says they put it in a package compartment. Probably gommed up in post office red tape at this point. It was allegedly delivered on the 13th. This whole deal may be an unfortunate turn of events that just so happened on the first deal with this vendor. I don't want to paint with too broad of a brush just yet.....

[electra225]

I'm on my way to visit our local post office. I believe my order is just across the street, in the parcel locker in our community mail box. Why the postman didn't just bring it up to the house, ring the doorbell, and leave it on our porch is unknown at this time. He has done that in the past. I need to either have them give me a key for the parcel locker or have the mailman open it and see if my package is there. Tracking indicates it was delivered to the parcel locker on the 13th. I'm wasting my time trying to dig thru the red tape, but I don't have a choice and I'm sure I'm closer to my package than Bob is. To quote Paul Harvey....."stand by for news"......

[electra225]

This vendor is going on my recommended vendor list. He was good to work with during this little fiasco. Long story very short, there was a mis-communication between me and the post office. Our mailman is an older gentleman, has been our regular mailman since we bought this place in 2012. The package arrived on the 13th just like the tracking said. One of the issues was that my order was sent in a re-purposed Walmart box, something I do all the time, since I can get used Walmart shipping boxes for free. When the mailman put the package in the parcel locker in our community mail box, the key he left wouldn't work. I left the mailman a note to that effect. He removed the package and put it behind the post on our porch. The neighbor knew the wife was out of town, hadn't seen me, so he figured I went with her. He removed the package from our porch and put it in his garage. He forgot about it. He was out taking his trash cans to the curb, when I started griping to him about the post office losing my package. Now I have my package and I got exactly what I paid for. Bob was patient and worked with me to try and resolve the issue. I can;t ask for better than that. IF you need doodads for electronics or test equipment, or almost anything else, email him or get on his site and ask. His prices are good and apparently, his shipping is fast. If he sent the package on the 9th and I got it on the 13th, that is pretty good. He is in Wellington, Ohio, so that is pretty fast. I'm happy. Finally.

[William]

Good news all around. Efficient Postal Service, helpful postal worker, and good neighbor, and of course Bob willing to help. It looks like we have two companies with good reputations that have goodies that we want or may need. Now, speaking for me, I just need to remember that.

Bill

[electra225]

I'll put a blurb about Bob in Suppliers.

[hermitcrab]

Post office problems are the story of my life... I can track the item right to our local office .. then it disappears ... last time, I ordered an amp clamp meter from Temu... and ordered a service manual from Ohio... both ordered the same day...the China originated Temu order beat the Ohio order by days ...but our PO carriers use their own vehicles and stuff falls down in-between seats etc. and they don't find it for days ...pretty bad when China can get something here quicker than an order 100 miles away..

[electra225]

No good deed goes unpunished. Everybody was trying to do what they thought was best. Nothing worked out right.