Hi all,
I know to an extent all of you must have used one of these suppliers in the past. How do you rate the two in terms of customer service, price, and product availability. I am a former employee of WWG and have always been curious of the customer's side of the story. Please give any feedback you can.
Thank you,
FJMS
I have never heard of Fastenal. WW Granger? A pretty good source for odd items. Customer service, that would depend on which store you go to. Price? Go there as a last resort.
Boy, you got that right... Grainger sells at Suggest List. There is also a company called MSC, but I've never heard of Fastenal.
Sorry,
Greg G.
I have zero experience with Fastenal, so it sure will be hard to compare.
We spend over $50,000-100,000 a year with Grainger. Name brands available / Dayton quality-ok / price, inventory, and distribution network will be hard to beat. The shear number of trades/tools/supplies is staggering.
I contacted 3 local commercial hardware suppliers for some 1/2 mortise hinges. No one had stock and needed 3 weeks plus to deliver. I never thought of Graingers, but flipped it open for something else and ended up on the hinge page. They had them in stock for less than the commercial suppliers.
I don't know where you are headed with this. I have an assortment of local suppliers with whom I prefer to do business. Grainger's is one of them. Home Depot is not.
(top posted for your convenience) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) snipped-for-privacy@7cox.net
A lot of stuff can be found at WWG that I as an individual can't find elsewhere. My big beef is individuals can't order from them. I remember my dad having to go to the local hardware store to have them order items from WWG. He would go to WWG, find the item, drive to the hardware store, and then go back to WWG to pick it up.
I used to own a business so I had opened an account online years ago. The online account still worked a year ago so I ordered something and went to pick iu up. The guy at the store gave me a big hassle because my business accoutn had been deleted due to inactivity. Why the heck did my online account still work if the business account it was tied to was gone?
Brian Elfert
Ditto the suggestion for SMC Direct, by from them frequently. Service is good. Their catalog is worth its weight in gold as a reference for industrial supplies. Free, 8.5 x 11 x almost 4-inches thick, about
5000 pages. The prices are very good, fast shipping, easy returns.
Grainger's is consistently excellent in service, delivery and quality. There is no risk as they will accept anything for return. I have been using them for almost 30 years. They are not the cheapest but they are great. Try McMaster Carr. They again are not the cheapest, but have excellent service and quality. .max
Uhh... Dude. ;-) SMC is a computer vendor, MSC is the hardware vendor.
Greg G.
Hey Brian,
You will get flack from the people at the counter if you are not a business as the Corp policy is B2B only. Thats not the end of the world though. If your employer has an account, you can pay cash or credit card using that account. They will make a "one time accomadation sale", but if they catch you doing that twice you will get some grief.
As far as why your account was not work> fram snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com writes:
I believe you can show them any business card and then make purchases. max
I'm certain my employer has an account as we are literally across the street from the WWG branch.
I don't understand why online accounts aren't removed if the business account is removed.
They took care of me at the counter and I haven't needed anything since. I do have an account application they gave me. My business has been closed for a while, but I still have the tax ID.
Brian Elfert
On 13 Nov 2005 17:16:13 -0800, fram snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com scribbled:
You poor Murricans. I can go to my local Acklands-Grainger (the Canadian subsidiary of Grainger) store in Whitehorse and they will sell me no problem as long as I pay with credit card, debit card, or cash. They probably also would take a cheque. Lots of neat stuff, not cheap but generally high quality. I've bought a Starret rule, big deep-throated clamps, and a bunch of small hardware there.
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