A Masterclass in Missed Deadlines and…
A Masterclass in Missed Deadlines and Endless Excuses If you are looking for a fabrication partner that respects timelines, look elsewhere. My experience with PCBWay has been a three-month-long descent into "lead-time limbo," characterized by reactive communication and a complete disregard for promised delivery dates. The Timeline of Failure February 6th: Order initiated. April 22nd: The original delivery date. Instead of a shipping notification, I received a message stating "Engineering Questions" (EQs) were just now being organized. May 5th: After weeks of delay, I was promised delivery by May 9th or 10th. May 11th: I am still chasing them. Now, they are claiming a new lead time of May 13th, yet they haven't even sent the "confirmation pictures" promised days ago. Procrastination as a Process PCBWay doesn't seem to look at your files until the day the boards are supposed to ship. On my original delivery date (April 22nd), they suddenly "discovered" engineering questions. Why were these not addressed in February or March? Holding onto an order for over two months only to find issues on the day of shipping is the definition of incompetence. Every time a deadline is missed, the support team (Chloe) simply pushes it back by 3–4 days. "We need 3 days to finish after parts arrive... delivery May 10th." May 11th arrives: "Sorry, new lead time is May 13th." It is a perpetual cycle of "just a few more days" that effectively holds your project hostage. Poor Communication I have had to initiate almost every single interaction. Unless I prompt them for a status update, the order sits in silence. I was told on May 11th that I would receive pictures of the assembled boards "today." Hours later, still nothing. Avoid PCBWay for urgent or professional projects. They are perfectly capable of taking your money in February, but they seem incapable of delivering a finished product by May. Their "estimated lead times" are fictional, and their project management is non-existent. Current Status: Over 3 weeks past the original deadline, and I am still being ghosted on tracking numbers. Proceed with caution—or better yet, proceed with a different vendor.