Needed a tap , ordered a spiral tap from Amazon, from Guhring vendor

4gsr said:
So far, knock on wood, I haven't had any "no-shows" or surprises with my Amazon Prime. Now, I just ordered a last minute Christmas present that said it would be available Dec. 20th. Figured with two day shipping I would get it Friday. Got a email last night and said it would deliver Tuesday Dec. 26th! Wait a minute, that's not right, so I went in and changed it to 1 day shipping for $7.98. It changed it to Friday Dec 22nd. We'll see if they keep their promise.
BTW, woodchucker, if you still need a 12-28 tap, send me your address and I'll put one in the mail for you. I make no promise if you will get it in time or not,. You will get a tap!
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Thanks, let me see how the vendor Guhring handles this Monday.
 
I once ordered 6 control relays for my CNC machines from Amazon. As near as I could tell they were an Amazon stocked item. I received 5 relays and a stick. No sh*t. After much headache I finally received the 6th relay, but I had to send back the stick. LOL.

It was actually a cheap bamboo flute with the exact same part number and label as the relays.

While I realize that Amazon probably has the cheapest labor they can get in their warehouses you would think anybody who grew up watching Sesame Street would notice one of these things is not like the others.
 
Ken from ontario said:
If you have a Fastenal near where you live I suggest you give them a try, they do offer high end brands as well as the cheaper Chinese ones, the good thing is, you place the order by phone or email, and go pick up your item within 48 hours in most cases, the longest I have had to wait was one week for an OSG end mill to be sent from the manufacturer in the US.

https://www.fastenal.com/products/details/3141770?r=~|categoryl1:"601071 Cutting Tools 9and Metalworking"|~ ~|categoryl2:"601102 Threading and Tapping"|~ ~|categoryl3:"612644 Taps"|~ ~|categoryl4:"612649 Spiral Flute Taps"|~ ~|sattr01:^5pound12$|~
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My local Fastenal Store has a sign on the wall that says they will not accept cash. They also tend to be much more expensive on identical items than my other sources. They are also two miles further away than the local Copperstate Bolt Company which has a better selection of nuts and bolts. For those reasons I tend to try them for items last, and only if I need it right now.

Twice I waste half an hour giving one of their salesman a list of items I use regularly so they could quote me "special" pricing. Almost everything on the first quote was the same price as the retail price listed on their website. The few that weren't were higher. No kidding. The second time I never received the quote.

That being said they have a decent website with inventory management built in. You can often check on-line if they have what you need in their local store without wasting a trip if they don't. Its not always up to date, but its usually ok. Also, sometimes often they have the item you want, but in different pack sizes than they listed on their website.
 
Mostly Amazon has been good, a recent experience with an Amazon seller "OnPoint Wares" was a disaster. I ordered 2 sets of 2 bearings. One set they canceled after 2 days (wasting my time), the second "set of 2" arrived as only one single bearing. It was reported to Amazon and they refunded the entire amount on an Amazon gift card credited to my account which was fine with me.
 
CluelessNewB said:
It was reported to Amazon and they refunded the entire amount on an Amazon gift card credited to my account which was fine with me.
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Issuing a gift card refund on a cash purchase is BS. I would have never allowed that. I have never had a problem with Amazon, but the more I read about problems with Amazon here on H-M, the less likely I am to ever deal with them again. Mistakes happen, but they should be rare, and should be swiftly and apologetically taken care of, and a additional perk may also be in order to make up for the hassle. That is called customer service, which is not just the name of the department. If we continue to allow shenanigans like that to happen, it will only get worse. Only deal with responsible sellers...
 
I didn't realize you could pay Amazon with Cash - just teasing Bob.

They always offer a gift card or a refund the to credit card you paid with. For those of us that use them often, it is irrelevant.
 
I use Amazon fairly often and I do not expect an on-line etailer to work like a brick and mortar retailer. However Fastenal's refusal to accept cash at their brick and mortar store is class discriminatory. Its not a deal breaker for me, but its one of several reasons they are last on my resource list.

While I have decent credit today there was a time in my life when I had to do business with cash out of my pocket. Had every retailer been like Fastenal I'd never have been able to move beyond that.
 
P.S. Nobody has mentioned McMaster-Carr. They have really only one failing in my years of doing business with them on-line. They do not have any way of estimating freight charges upfront when purchasing by phone or on-line. Some folks may gripe about their prices, but often they aren't as far out of line as their reputation, and sometimes their price is quite competitive. The big positive is McMaster STOCKS stuff. They stock a LOT of stuff, process orders quickly, make few mistakes, and fix their mistakes as soon as you tell them. I shop around on stuff I don't need quickly, but if I need it now and the local stores don't have it I often just buy what I need from them.
 
Bob Korves said:
Issuing a gift card refund on a cash purchase...
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It was an online credit card purchase. For me it was just fine, we typically order something from Amazon at least once a week, for me it was an easy option. Had it been from some place where I don't shop often I might not have gone with that option. Amazon quickly did the right thing with just a few clicks and no argument, not even a phone call required.
 
McMaster-Carr has been my go-to supplier for a long time for the very reasons that Bob stated. Their customer service is second to none. I once purchased something online there but accidently selected to be billed instead of using my credit card. Within twenty minutes I received a phone call and five minutes later my open account was set up with them. It is the only time I used my open charge there, but it is nice to have if I need it.
 
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