McMaster-Carr, +1!

rabler

rabler

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Just a shout out giving credit where credit is due. I've bought a fair amount of stuff online from McMaster Carr over the years. Easy website to browse, find stuff, order it. Not always the cheapest but good quality stuff.

If anyone follows Keith Rucker (vintagemachinery.org) on youtube you may have seen his recent work on his Monarch 612. I have one of those, slightly smaller swing than Keith's. It has not seen much use, I'm trying to finish the crane to use in doing some minor repairs on it. I was motivated by one of his recent videos to order some oil to change the headstock hydraulic oil. My existing bucket of Mobil DTE Heavy Medium had maybe a gallon left of a five gallon pail so I ordered another 5 gallons from McMaster. It arrived Tuesday via UPS. Normally these ship with just a label slapped on the side of a 5 gallon bucket. This one had been re-wrapped in cellophane and put in a box and re-wrapped with new labels applied, and some oil in the bottom of the box :)
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I set the 5 gallon pail in another 5 gallon pail for damage control Wednesday morning and cleaned up the oil that had dripped on the porch. Looked at that second pail today to see about a quart leaked out into that second pail. Now I'm not ready to tackle the oil change on the lathe just yet, was just getting supplies lined up. I sighed, expecting a hassle, bit the bullet and called McMaster given that we're talking about $200 of oil.

The gal that answered the phone, no hold, no computer menu, just asked for my order number, and said they ship a new one out. "Feel free to use the remaining oil in the damaged container if it's any use" was her comment. No questions, no hassle, no transfers and holds on the phone. Less than 60 seconds on the phone. Wow, that was super polite and easy. I may have been able to save $5 or $10 shopping elsewhere. Maybe. But for having real customer service, I'm sold on them.
 
Similar ZERO hassle story:

I had mistakenly placed two separate orders, to my Washington State address, for some filter media. It's about 2 feet square by 4 inches thick. About $50, IIRC. It would have cost too much for me to UPS one back, and I was expecting a trip to the Los Angeles area at some point, so I set it aside (with the packing list). More than a year later, when I finally went to McMaster in person, I sheepishly asked if I could return it. After all that time, I would not have been surprised or disappointed if the answer was NO. The clerk didn't miss a beat or roll his eyes. He processed the return and, in conversation, told me that McMaster has no time limit policy on returns. Retelling the story, I'm still impressed by the service courtesy.
 
The oil in the first pail could be poured into another pail or jugs and used for the original purpose. No need to get another new pail. mcmaster carr was very good to deal with.
 
Now you know what the higher prices enable.
My biggest regret in life is working as an engineer for almost 10 years before discovering McMaster Carr. The ensuing 30 years was much better because of McMaster.
 
I've had the same experience...

They are a very good company to order from... I'll pay a little more money to be able to deal with a company with excellent customer service...

-Bear
 
I'm able to drive by their Atlanta location (actually, it's in Douglasville), and pick up an order placed the night before. Once, I mistakenly ordered a bunch of nuts for 3/8" and 1/2" bolts, but I ordered for the size of wrench that they used (9/16" and 3/4"). I simply reordered the correct sizes and dropped off the wrong sizes at the counter. Within a couple of days, I receive a full refund on them.
 
McMaster does charge a bit more than one "could" find a product for, because they carry quality stuff, regardless of whether or not the brand changes over time. They have a HUGE investment in inventory that will stay on the shelf for some time. for years. They have to charge a premium for that. And they want you back. That's a tricky tight rope to walk on. They've built a business model that can't handle mistakes, they can't handle returns in the way "modern" internet vendor business models do with low cost, high margin items. When something goes wrong (Very, very rare)... McMaster on it. Bam. Done. I like that about them. Because of that business model, while I can't afford to buy "everything" from them, I buy a lot of stuff from them that I don't have to. I even like their shipping arrangement. A lot of people gripe about it, and fair enough. Most places these days bury shipping costs into the retail margins. McMaster charges actual cost for shipping. I like that. Then I know what I'm paying for, and can make an informed decision on cost/benfit matters. In 30 years I've had one (one....) issue with an order. Item did not arrive. Shipping issue. And it was solved in under a minute with one phone call. All in all it's a great place to do business with. Not cheap, but it's business done the way business should be done.
 
SLK001 said:
I'm able to drive by their Atlanta location (actually, it's in Douglasville),
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I use to hang out with a group that met in Douglasville once a month, now I can't remember the name of that bar, curse you! ;)
 
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