I needed a fan for my lincoln welder. It’s under warranty but i’m always working during the service center’s business hours so i pulled the cover and took the part out and got the numbers and found that 3 places carry the direct replacement. Unfortunately my contact at Lincoln has a different number now so i no longer have a contact at Lincoln. Airgas(whom i have a business account with) locked me out of my account because my E key is jacked up and i tried my password too much, and it was a Saturday so nobody answered the phone.
so this welding supply dot com has it and the other place doesn’t look reputable. I ordered, got confirmation immediately with a “within 10 days” arrival time. Yesterday was day 10, no part, i emailed customer service and this morning i got a reply of “it’s shipping today” which means with the impending weekend, it’s not coming until at least Tuesday. 15 days minimum i would suspect. They were happy to charge my card immediately.
So if you need something in a reasonable time, don’t bother with them.
By shipping today it means they created a label, but have not tendered a package to usps, which means it’s shipping monday, so berkeley these clowns
It's interesting to see the differences between some companies. That's very poor.
On the other side of the spectrum, I needed a sheet of specific rubber to rebuild the canisters on my f500, mcmaster carr had it to me in less than 24 hours using ups ground and that was using the cheapest shopping option.
In reply to Apexcarver :
McMaster-Carr is amazing for shipping. They're not cheap for many/most things, but they know that their reputation lives and dies on customer service. They make the expense worth it. If you need three bronze left hand thread bolts, 3" long in 7/16-24 thread, and they have it in their catalog, you WILL get them sooner than you think is possible.
Mcmaster has a location 45 minutes away, much like summit racing, so basically if i order from them by 9 pm I am highly likely to have it in my hands in the morning.
My rubber came from new Jersey to southern Maryland though.
So many companies really die from bad logistics. Especially in this age of instant information gratification, I am willing to pay more to the company that responds to my order right away with a tracking number. Might have been able to keep customers in the dark waiting 20 years ago, it's death now.
Many of these companies drop ship without ever owning the inventory. So welding dot com would find a Miller catalogue and list and price every component, and when you place an order they will have Miller fill the order. But they often have no way of knowing the state of Miller's inventory so you are at the mercy of Miller at that point. But of course they have your money so you are stuck.
I have an online store who lists my products. But they only physically stock the biggest sellers. When they get an order for something they don't want to have gathering dust on their shelf, I have to fill the order for them.
