Frustrated by McMaster-Carr

[Guy Davidson]

We've gotten results similar to most people here - we placed the order, got what was available immediatly, and got the rest soon afterwards. I hope it was just a mistake on their behalf, and not something that repeats.

-Guy

[Justin M.]

We've been more than satisfied with McMaster-Carr.

1. They're NJ warehouse is about 45 minutes from my school, which means we usually get ground-shipped orders the next day anyway.

2. They take purchase orders, which is the only way we can pay for things (we'll be getting a team paypal account + debit card next year)

3. They ship to us before recieving payment.

So we just call in the order, get the stuff the next day (I'll call it in at like 11am), then send them our money.

[Andrew Blair]

We've had very good service recently, shipped within one and three days. Unfortunately, we've been having a problem ordering lately, but I believe that's with the school's server, rather than McMaster. Overall, very good.

[ChuckDickerson]

That's a real bummer Madison but we have had no problems at all with McMaster this year or any other for that matter. I have been placing orders with them left and right since kickoff and every one has shown up as scheduled in two days via UPS ground. I have placed at least 10 or 12 orders since kickoff. Our orders all ship from the Atlanta warehouse.

I have often wondered what McMaster thinks of all the extra odd orders this time of year and why they aren't a major sponsor of FIRST in the first place. Do they even know about FIRST and what all these orders are for this time of year?

[Josh Murphy]

We have ordered quite a bit from there pre season and maybe 5 or 6 different orders since kickoff and it all arrives when it is supposed to, we are satisfied with thier service.

[Mr.G]

We have had no issues either.

Sorry about your problems.

[sanddrag]

We usually get stuff in a day or two with no problems. One time however, I ordered keyed shaft at like 6 in the morning, went to pick it up at their warehouse at 12 noon (was supposed to be ready at like 11am) and got "oh, gee, looks like they never pulled the order. It didn't get coded in for will call pickup. I'll put it in again. Come back in an hour and a half" Like I just sit around all day with nothing to do (yeah right). All it was, was like one piece of keyshaft. I almost wanted to say "it's just one thing, can I go back there and get it myself?" Anyway, that was kind of irritating. Also, sometimes they'll ship orders in like 3 parts, which can be kind of confusing, but they all have always arrived in a timely manner. One time I called asking about some wheels, and right away got connected to an engineer guy who seemed like he really knew his stuff, so that was good.

[BrianBSL]

Originally Posted by Cory

We placed an order on I think Monday after kickoff, and we received it 3 days later, which was surprising, considering it was by ground, and came from Norfolk, VA.

This is because, similar to Dell and Amazon, McMaster does enough volume that it is cheaper for them to do the long haul shipping with a real freight carrier, and the let UPS handle the final delivery. So, McMaster ships it via freight carrier to UPS's regional hub, and then UPS delivers it to you in 1 day. If you check the UPS tracking on your McMaster packages, they will often show pickup 1 day prior to delivery at your regional hub (Chelmsford, MA for most of New England). Its quite a neat system, and lets them lower their shipping costs, especially on some of the oversized pieces of material they ship.

This is the same reason that "2nd Day" packages from Dell and Amazon often come via UPS Ground, as UPS ground is guaranteed delivery time, so they send it via their own carrier to the UPS regional hub, which is guaranteed 1-day to you. This is also how McMaster is able to do same day delivery via UPS to some locations - as they don't use traditional UPS services.

We've never really had a problem with them, placing the order via the web. Its 1-day from NJ, and they warn you when its coming from Chicago so it will be 2 days.

[Fred Sayre]

Thanks for the comments everyone. It seems that for some reason maybe we got the bad luck of two random mistakes on the part of McMaster-Carr.

Our feelings about them mirrored this whole thread before this build season, and is why we were so willing to trust them for speedy delivery this year.

We might use them again this season, but if Madison has any say we might be looking into alternatives

[ajlapp]

i'll echo all the other comments heard here so far.......

we've never had one issue with a mcmaster order, ever. the parts arrive in one day by ground without exception and they're rarely out of stock.

we buy exclusively form them unless we can buy the item locally at a similar cost.

[dmellich]

Never had a problem.

[Gdeaver]

2 things with McMaster. Most of their business is open account. Credit card orders can be problematic. If it doesn't show can be shipped today, you may
want to e-mail and confirm availability and a ship date. If you do about more than a 1000$ with them per year, you will always get the latest catalog. If I order by 7 PM, it's at my door around 10:30 next morning. Impressive. Wish my other vendors were as dependable

[Hieb]

I'll have to chime in as well--hopefully this an experience at 1 distribution center and can be corrected quickly. Personally I've had nothing but good experiences. In fact, while I've come to expect prompt delivery they surprised me today. My school release funds to me yesterday morning, I placed my order around noon, and based on past experiences expected it to arrive tomorrow. Instead, it was sitting on the delivery dock this afternoon in time for us to start working with our new parts.