I HATE Fastenal :rant:

[littleponderosa]

Local Fastenal store is hit & miss. Depends on who is behind the counter, and what you want. Tools are usually not priced at the affordable level, unless you are in a rush and then who cares.
Fairly decent assortment of goods.
Bill

 

[OkRider]

Fastenal is expensive, closes promptly at five, and isn't open on weekends, $5 minimum. Having incompetent staff doesn't help either. McMaster Carr if I'm not in a hurry or ACE hardware if I am. Big plus to ACE for being open on weekends.

 

[Jason280]

I've been in the local Fastenal twice, and still haven't found anything to buy. Sure, its full of absolutely cool stuff, but the lack of prices on ANYTHING is more than a little annoying. Its aggravating to have to ask the sales guy what things cost, and its a bit of a turn off. Of course, I realize I am not the demographic they are after...

 

[JKennedy]

I work for a small industrial contracting company(welding,millwright) and we quit using fastenal a lonnnnnggg time ago they bend you over and tear you a new one without hesitation. We have a relationship with a company called Partsmaster and they're great. We get all fasteners and like items from them. In fact any company like grainger, motion, etc will rip you off. Always try to find a local place that you can build a REAL relationship with. Doing that will give you the ability to get what you need when you need it and often at a discount.

 

[justtools]

Hey Jason280 I think the girl in your avator works at my local Fastenal.

 

[justtools]

And price is no object.

 

[venturesomerite]

I have never be satisfied with any transaction I have ever had at fastenal. I've used them out of desperation, but generally speaking, I'd rather dig for ore, and forge it into a shitastic bolt and use that then go there.

 

[slip knot]

Not me. They won't sell me a single nut, washer, or bolt. They wanna sell me a 5 pound bag of each. No thanks.

Told them not to go to lunch until I came back. I bet they're all dead by now.

Same here, They wont sell a single item of anything here. grinding wheels, drill bits, safety glasses, everything is "box" quantities. I dont go there unless its with the company card.

 

[venturesomerite]

Same here, They wont sell a single item of anything here. grinding wheels, drill bits, safety glasses, everything is "box" quantities. I dont go there unless its with the company card.

I had that problem when I needed some stainless hardware for my exhaust. I needed 4 bolts, 8 washers and 4 nuts. I was desperate and guess who now has stainless **** in all sorts of applications that don't need it cause they have to buy a bag of 100 of each...

 

[LumpyMusic]

I would march right down there to that Fastenall store and tell them to remove the gun from your head that's forcing you to buy stuff there.


Sgt Lumpy

 

[rick carpenter]

When I needed a bulkhead fitting, Fastenal let me behind the counter to click the correct buttons on their ordering system. They didn't charge shipping to the store and the price for two was just a little more than for one elsewhere (which would have charged shipping). I had never been bought anything from them before.

 

[56FordGuy]

I deal with them a lot for work. The ones I've seen are selling "convenience packs" of hardware now if you don't need an entire container of something. I think they're packs of 5 or 10.

 

[Coach James]

I work for a small industrial contracting company(welding,millwright) and we quit using fastenal a lonnnnnggg time ago they bend you over and tear you a new one without hesitation. We have a relationship with a company called Partsmaster and they're great. We get all fasteners and like items from them. In fact any company like grainger, motion, etc will rip you off. Always try to find a local place that you can build a REAL relationship with. Doing that will give you the ability to get what you need when you need it and often at a discount.

In what way did they rip you off? I don't work for fastenal or Grainger, I'm just curious.

Coach

 

[Zeke]

I have never be satisfied with any transaction I have ever had at fastenal. I've used them out of desperation, but generally speaking, I'd rather dig for ore, and forge it into a shitastic bolt and use that then go there.

Funny

Hey Jason280 I think the girl in your avator works at my local Fastenal.

Also funny

In what way did they rip you off? I don't work for fastenal or Grainger, I'm just curious.

Coach

I think the consensus here answers that question. What surprises me is that there are 2700 stores, 10 of which are real close to fairly close to me. But, I live in huge metropolis. I even found the closest one and I didn't know they were there. Next to Grainger and I go there, so I'm gonna have to at least walk in and look at the trash bin.

 

[Finky198]

Yeah the one by us is aweful there service is lousy and they have an attitude about It and never seam to have stuff in-stock. Then they want me to pay to ship it to there store
( which cost more then the parts themselves.) In fact the last time I went there I needed a speacialty nylon washer and they refused to even order them for me. That was the last straw for me

 

[Coach James]

Funny


Also funny
I think the consensus here answers that question. What surprises me is that there are 2700 stores, 10 of which are real close to fairly close to me. But, I live in huge metropolis. I even found the closest one and I didn't know they were there. Next to Grainger and I go there, so I'm gonna have to at least walk in and look at the trash bin.

The consensus seems to be their prices are high and they usually sell only in bulk. Unless they promise one price then charge another or say they will sell in small lots then charge for bulk, I don't see anyone being ripped off.

Coach

 

[billyjp2]

I worked for fastenal for 2 years before moving on to a smaller, family owned industrial supply company. The only real discounts the stores are allowed to offer is for big customers with accounts on a national level. For my store, the local Six Flags amusement park was probably the biggest. They try to make up for the low profit margin caused by the big accounts with selling things to the public and small accounts at little to no discount. The do the same with shipping costs, as the big accounts don't pay for freight. Their sales commission is based more on profit margin than it is on sales dollars overall, so it pays to take it to the little guy.

If you have a good relationship with the sales people they can definitely give you a better deal.

The employee discounts are VERY good however...