Does anyone like Grainger?

Guest · Aug 18, 2015

I hate them, I do not understand how they stay in business. At least in Southern California where I spent the first 50 years of my life and worked for them for a year back in the early 80's (I quit because the manager hounded me for spending too much time per customer helping them pick the right item) they have a respective stock of their over priced crap.

Here in Virginia (Springfield, Richmond store) even if you call with seven options, the response is "We can have it in two days."
McMaster overnights for the price of ground even here in the middle of nowhere in Central Virginia and their prices are way less and
the quality better than Grainger's. The thing I notice is where I live
Grainger ads are all over the radio to the point I want to smash it with a hammer when listening to sports talk while working. I learned about McMaster from a friend decades ago. They do not advertise much from what
I see.

So what do you think? Does advertising allow Grainger to live? Do they fool the uneducated customer that doesn't know any better? I cannot
see any reason to buy from them, they have poor stock, high prices, and slow delivery.

sandiapaul · Aug 18, 2015

"I cannot
see any reason to buy from them, they have poor stock, high prices, and slow delivery."

You left out another reason..perhaps one of the worst websites possible. For the occasional thing I need that Mcm does not have I actually use Grainger's paper catalog to find the item then enter the item number from that.

So no don't like them and rarely use them. Funny my email inbox gets something from them at least a few times a week, yet I NEVER get ad emails from Mcm, just an order and shipping confirmation.

sfriedberg · Aug 18, 2015

Understand Grainger's target market. Their ideal customer is a company large enough to have purchasing agents, but not large enough to have a seasoned, well-educated purchasing department. They try to keep their customers semi-captive by offering one-stop shopping for the lazy or over-burdened purchasing agent (or owner) for whom simplicity and a minimal number of vendors to juggle are high priorities.

Grainger doesn't want to deal with one-man shops, really. Don't know if it's still their practice, but 20 years ago they (locally) refused to deal with walk-in customers and expected a good-sized amount of business to open an account. And they probably only pick up the odds-and-ends business from 1,000-person companies.

I view them as a relic of 50+ year old business practices, and suspect their Zoro web presence is intended to launch them into this approximate century. But they've got to compete with Amazon and McMaster-Carr in that space.

MaxPrairie · Aug 18, 2015

Not sure of the politics but I do work for a company that only orders from grainger. When I asked why they dont use mcmaster they basically said they are not allowed to. I know grainger gives discounts to big companies but remain overpriced. If you dislike grainger youre going to hate fastenal.

Bobw · Aug 18, 2015

I used to run a kitchen in a bar.. Needed some 8 foot flourescent tubes and Grainger was literally right there. I walked over...
What a pain in the ass... They finally sold the damn things to me, but it would have been quicker to drive the 5 miles in crappy
traffic to get to Lowes...

I've dealt with them once since... Still wasn't impressed...

Can we lump them in with Fastenal and MSC????

As an aside, I got a "we miss you" type e-mail from MSC the other day... Its like your X trying to friend you on Facebook.
HHhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm NO!

Ries · Aug 18, 2015

I would agree that they largely only make sense to large, cumbersome companies. That said, they are a deal for me for big heavy things- If I want industrial steel shelving, I can usually get next day delivery, and the high grainger price is less than the 2 week lead time plus shipping on the discount stuff.
I order very specific things from grainger, and only about once a year.
I think the internet is killin em, though- used to be, they were THE place for oddball motor starters, or other electrical or motor stuff. Now, I can get stuff drop shipped from China thru Amazon, often Amazon Prime, for less.

Grumpy365 · Aug 18, 2015

Meh,.......
I got no problem with them.
My company gets a descent discount, I know the brands, there are enough locations in the greater Houston area they have some stock somewhere around. I can hold the part before taking it.

Even with the discount they are a little high, but not out if site, I find them convienient and easy and that's worth the cost.

Miguels244 · Aug 18, 2015

sfriedberg said:
I view them as a relic of 50+ year old business practices, and suspect their Zoro web presence is intended to launch them into this approximate century. But they've got to compete with Amazon and McMaster-Carr in that space.

I didn't know Zoro was Grainger.

ManualEd · Aug 18, 2015

The only reason to shop Acklands here is that they can get nearly anything in their catalogue in two days.

They really don't want our business. One box of gloves? A case of paint? They can't be bothered for things like that.
They're after the big companies with employees who don't question the price

The big company BCHydro price here is less than 50% of list that a normal business pays.
They don't even sell to anyone who isn't a business.

paul39 · Aug 18, 2015

They had, and maybe still have a paper catalog that is good for a reference so you can buy the item somewhere else.

A couple years ago a big MSC sign appeared on a building in town.

Hot dog! I stop in one day. Two guys at desks. White shirts, ties.

Can I buy stuff here?

No.

Do you have a show room?

No.

Can I order stuff and have it delivered here?

No.

Thanks.

Paul

sfriedberg · Aug 18, 2015

Bobw said:
Can we lump them in with Fastenal and MSC????

The case of Fastenal is so sad, because in 30 years ago you could walk into most local branches and the counter guys were helpful. I'm not sure that was ever true for Grainger.

Sometime around 1990, I walked into the Cottage Grove, WI, Fastenal and asked if they could get me some very short 10-32 socket head setscrews. I knew they weren't a standard size and I didn't want 1,000 of them. A reasonable time (days) later, I had 25 in my hand and a warm feeling in my heart. Fastenal the company simply isn't set up to do that any more. If it's not a stock item, they'll job it out to someone to make. And the intern at the counter probably has no idea how to ring that up. But they no longer have the capability to track down existing non-stock items. (Of course, the whole concept of regional stocking distribution has nearly collapsed.) And their prices are mediocre to poor on most things. I use them when I need a piece of Unistrut I can't get at my local Ace Hardware (which is really good) and that's about it.

So, relevant to the original subject of Grainger, yes, I think we can lump them all together.

Newman109 · Aug 18, 2015

I have no great love for Grainger and mostly use them when I need something in a hurry and can pick it up over the counter at their warehouse. They do have high prices, but occasionally you can find a deal there on some small item. I occasionally order from them online and recently bought two 100 mfd start capacitors and they were only $10 delivered by USPS. That's not bad.

On most of their other items, however, their prices are outrageous. As mentioned above, they are geared to large companies with purchasing departments and who have special pricing.

Generally, I would stay away from them.

Davis In SC · Aug 18, 2015

A few years ago, WWG closed the branch a few miles away.. Then started a huge blitz of sales calls.. Know-Nothing salesmen in cars covered with film graphics.. Trying to generate/keep sales for the branch 20+ miles away. BS about how they valued our business... So they desert our town, and expect us to drive half an hour to buy from them??? Not in my lifetime..

motojoel1 · Aug 18, 2015

I am not a fan of Grainger, but when traveling I will go to a branch when I need something and don't know the area well enough to find it elsewhere.
One customer of mine uses Grainger almost exclusively. I mentioned that McMaster works better for me and we compared prices on an item we needed. McMaster was cheaper, but the guy wouldn't order from them because they wouldn't give him a discount. Quote "at least Grainger wants my business, they give me a discount"

ewlsey · Aug 18, 2015

Grainger blows. I love how they advertise on the radio how they sell fans or plumbing supplies or whatever. But, they generally treat walk in customers like shit. They only want to sell to other dinosaur businesses like theirs.

I've never ever seen an add for McMaster Carr. That yellow catalog is like a secret entrance into the world of engineering. I first heard of McMaster when I went to college. I knew Grainger and I knew Fastenal. I hated them both.

Ohio Mike · Aug 18, 2015

motojoel1 said:
McMaster was cheaper, but the guy wouldn't order from them because they wouldn't give him a discount. Quote "at least Grainger wants my business, they give me a discount"

How can you even argue with that? :crazy:

Mental note, for customers next order mark it up 20% then apply "10% existing customer discount" to his invoice.

PeteM · Aug 18, 2015

ewlsey said:
Grainger blows . . .

Blows? Not even a good place to buy a fan.

Sucks? Not even a good place to buy an industrial vac.

Curious -- if any of our China-based members are reading -- where do their industrial companies buy supplies? Is it on line?

swatkins · Aug 18, 2015

There is only one thing keeping them in business....People spending other peoples money.

Company sets up an account and their employees go there to get the things they need on the account.. If that money was coming out of their pocket you can bet they would not be shopping there.

That being said I do pick up emergency items there. Not too often any more because of their new "call center." Now days you can't talk to the people at a branch, all your calls go to a stupid call center where someone sitting in a cubical reads what they have off of a computer screen. They are mostly clueless and depend on scrips to talk with you... They let you think they're in the branch you called but when pressed admit they are in a call center.

It's a 60 mile round trip for me and I want to know something is in the bin, not supposed to be there according to the computer, before I drive over there. Used to be a simple call to the store, they run to check and we are good to go...

Now you have to badger the call taker to contact the store, or "reach out to them" as they call it. :angry:

Then you wait until one of the clerks at the store notice the message on a computer terminal, IF they notice it all all, and then respond... Last month I waited for 2 hours to find out if they had something.. By they time they called me back I had already been to Houston, picked up what I needed at Bass Tool and was half way back to the shop!

RC Mech · Aug 18, 2015

sfriedberg said:
The case of Fastenal is so sad, because in 30 years ago you could walk into most local branches and the counter guys were helpful. I'm not sure that was ever true for Grainger.

I tried Acklands Grainger once for some foam to make electrical cabinet air filters out of. They said the prices were in US, leadtime was 4-6 weeks and then "If I were you, I wouldn't order them here".

Fastenal in Ontario gets even more interesting. In January 2015, their policy for accounts changed and they will no longer deal with anyone who does not have an account ie no walk-ins, no cash sales. This is due to our current useless-tw*t provincial government, who wanted to impose an "environmental fee" on all inventory bags that were sold to cash-sales (and charge Fastenal a fee for the privilege of compliance). No way to monitor this, obviously, and rather than bending over Fastenal just ceased non-account sales.

Modelman · Aug 18, 2015

Twenty five years ago, when I was setting up a lot of machinery, I used to buy quite a bit from Grainger. I liked McMaster better for hardware, but wanted to know what BRAND motor starter, switch, fixture I was buying, if for no other reason than to keep all the equipment the same, to reduce spare part inventory. Over the years, I've found better sources for most everything; these last couple years I've only bought one item from Grainger; they had Mobil Rarus 427 compressor oil in quarts, which was a lot more convenient than the gallons McMaster stocked. Now, since we put in a bigger compressor, I no longer need quarts. I still deal with them occasionally when I need spare parts for equipment that originally came from them, but it's less and less, and I don't miss them a bit.

Dennis

Does anyone like Grainger?

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