A Grainger Story

[LT7A]

I assume many of you are familiar with Grainger. If not, it's basically an industrial supply company. I wanted some Loctite purple for a carburetor and by the time I paid shipping to buy it online it was almost as much as the bottle at Grainger and one-tenth the amount. So I thought I'd run by, get it at Grainger and have enough for a while. Then I discovered that it was set to expire next month.

A week later I finally had time to go exchange it and called ahead. Even the local number goes to their national call center and I get a guy that says he needs to put me on hold while he figures out what to do. I'm starting to think I'm in for a hassle. I'm on hold for a long time. Like seven or eight minutes. He comes back on, apologizes for the wait and says he's just going to send me a new bottle. He doesn't care what I do with the old bottle, I can use it or toss it. He confirms my address and says it will be there Tuesday of next week. This saved me 35 or 40 minutes of driving, they're giving me a $17 bottle of Loctite, and they're paying for the shipping! I have nothing against anybody making purchases online, but sometimes it's worth patronizing the brick-and-mortar stores. Good job Grainger, I figured I could put out a positive word.

[100%Chevy]

If Graingers ain't got it,you don't need it!
Mike.

[hatzie]

Grainger is a good semi-local outfit if you happen to be in a major metro area where they have a store. Around 3 hours roundtrip for me. Great customer service.

If grainger doesn't have it McMaster Carr is another outfit on my goto list McMaster is mail order with an incredible selection of not so common fasteners. The search function on McMaster.com is excellent.

MSC Industrial and KBC tools used to have a lot more local locations before the recession that started in 2008. They're worth a look if they're in your area.

[truckster]

The Grainger catalog has just about anything you could want in the line of equipment and supplies.

[special-K]

I deal with wholesale places that sell what Grainger sells. Their prices are my only complaint. Contractor supply at retail prices. Good customer service goes a long way

[LT7A]

UPDATE: My replacement item arrived today! I called them at at 15:55 West Coast time and we were on the call for 15 minutes. Their stores close at 16:30 in the area. It came from their other local store. That means the order went out from their call center at 16:10 and in the 20 minutes before closing on a Friday, somebody pulled it, packed it, and shipped it. That's amazing.

And to be clear, personally, and where I work, I pay the lowest reasonable price. That means that we buy many things that Grainger carries from other sources. But there are some things that only Grainger stocks locally. I'm not willing to pay more just to order through Granger, but they will get my business when I can justify it.

[LT7A]

Hey Mod, I considered putting this in general discussion initially, but opted to put it on the square discussion board since that's where I know the most people. That way I figured the word would get out. There are many general topics like this that get discussed there. Is there a reason you felt this needed to be moved?

[SunSoaked]

Locktite has an expiration date? Lol

[FleetsidePaul]

I try to buy locally as much as possible. But where I live, availability is the major problem. The local stores just don't carry what I need. And don't seem too interested in getting it.
Their attitude seems to be "We don't have that. Bye bye." So then I get what I need off the internet. What the heck. I tried. One way I look at it is that I help keep the UPS and FedEx guys working. They seem to be more interested in whether or not I get my what I need than the local store.
Customer service seems to be a dying art. I always try the little guy first. I want to support local business. But if they're jerks and rude. The hell with them. I'll take my money somewhere else.
When I was in So. Cal. I remodeled my kitchen I went to a small local place, not a box store. The (snotty) woman in the place asked me what my budget was. I told her $25,000 and she laughed at me. She literally laughed at me. My wife and I were so furious that we went to the Lowes in the same shopping center. They were great and all the contractors that did the work were all local guys. And the bill came in at $22.5
Who's laughing now. I don't mind paying a little premium to keep a small business going. And I try. But if you're nasty and rude. The deal's off.

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by SunSoaked

Locktite has an expiration date? Lol

Yeah it does, and I was surprised too! I realize though that it cures anaerobically, which means outside the presence of oxygen. So when you buy this type of Loctite there's always air in the bottle. But I guess at some point it starts to not be enough. So if anybody needs Loctite purple, I got lots. 'Til next month anyway. And then a decent supply for about a year-and-a-half, haha.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by LT7A

UPDATE: And to be clear, personally, and where I work, I pay the lowest reasonable price. That means that we buy many things that Grainger carries from other sources. But there are some things that only Grainger stocks locally. I'm not willing to pay more just to order through Granger, but they will get my business when I can justify it.

That's me, too. I deal with Grainger some, local in store, if need be. It was when they first came around doing business with them thinking they were discounted like all the other industrial supply houses I had dealt with that disappointed me. I started off buying a lot from them until I realized the price differences at the other places, which were either local or regional. Grainger is came along to be the bank-backed nationwide outfit, then online

Originally Posted by LT7A

Yeah it does, and I was surprised too! I realize though that it cures anaerobically, which means outside the presence of oxygen. So when you buy this type of Loctite there's always air in the bottle. But I guess at some point it starts to not be enough. So if anybody needs Loctite purple, I got lots. 'Til next month anyway. And then a decent supply for about a year-and-a-half, haha.

That older stuff might go a good bit longer than the date, too. I have a feeling anyone who comes behind you taking any of your work apart will be finding some tough nuts to crack

On the thread being moved. One of us moved it because the content was general info owners of other years would also benefit from and mostly it is not year specific, and that is what determines where posts go. If people are only looking at the forum for their year they are going to miss out. If a member doesn't at least check General Discussion they are cutting themselves out on what this board has to offer. I read your post and responded before you posted about the thread being moved from 73-87. I had no idea it was intended for 73-87 by what I read. There is also a review board that it could have been moved to. I don't check that hardly at all, but I look here every time.

[LockDoc]

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I worked for Grainger part time for 5 years. Best place I ever worked. Also, if there is an opening "Anywhere" in the system and you work there and are due for a promotion, you will have first shot at it before they hire any outsiders. They also have an employee tool program. If a defective tool is returned they send it out and have it repaired. Employees can then buy the tool for half of the employee discount price. That is pretty cheap. I have a lot of major tools purchased from that program.

LockDoc

[truckster]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

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I worked for Grainger part time for 5 years. Best place I ever worked. Also, if there is an opening "Anywhere" in the system and you work there and are due for a promotion, you will have first shot at it before they hire any outsiders. They also have an employee tool program. If a defective tool is returned they send it out and have it repaired. Employees can then buy the tool for half of the employee discount price. That is pretty cheap. I have a lot of major tools purchased from that program.

LockDoc

That does sound like a sweet deal. I'm not sure I would ever take a paycheck home.

[mongocanfly]

Big fan of both grainger and McMaster carr....

[leddzepp]

Big fan of Grainger here too. They were the ONLY game in town that had a sewage ejector pump in stock and on the shelf. Not only that, it’s a Zoeller made in USA and should outlast my residency at the house.