McMaster Carr is a fairly well known industrial vendor.
They have a reputation for having everything. They don't. They have a
LOT and often I look there when I can't find things elsewhere quickly.
They have it more often than not.
They have a reputation for being expensive. It's deserved on some
product areas. That's the cost of having so many things available
quickly from one vendor. However often they are not the most expensive
vendor for items, and sometimes they even have best price.
They have a reputation for good customer service. I've only heard one
or two stories that made me go "huh?" That's pretty impressive
considering their size and scope of product. Personally I have
experienced exemplary customer service. When other people like the
carrier cause problems McMaster has made sure I had the parts, tools, or materials I needed and said, "we'll worry about the finances later,"
often eating some of those extra costs to fix somebody else's mistake themselves.
During our recent supply chain interruptions I finally had one of my
first out of stock issues on a common item. Something I buy from them
by the hundreds. They didn't just back order it or string me along like
so many vendors. They sent me a personal email within minutes letting
me know it was out of stock, and I was able to order from another vendor
to keep my own inventory up where it needs to be.
One of the biggest legitimate complaints I have heard about McMaster is
you don't know what the shipping charges are going to be. You create
your account, put your credit card on file (or open a net terms
account), order your parts, and wait to find out how much the shipping
will be when they ship it if you order online. I prefer to order
on-line. It gives me the option of searching multiple options and
selecting the best one for my application. Today I was ordering some
stock, and I had to remember to switch the taxable setting. I noticed something else, but it didn't register until later. The website showed
a calculated shipping charge before check out. It was a few minutes
later when I received the tracking notifications that it dawned on me.
I don't know when it changed, but today when I checked out it showed me
the shipping charge before I submitted the order.
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