I have become increasingly picky about where I shop for tools and equipment, whether because some retailers are delivering poorer customer experiences, or I’ve become more averse to having my time wasted by avoidable problems.
I ordered a Haimer gauge from Zoro, and they shipped it in a thin plastic mailer bag.
Haimer gauges are pricey precision setup tools. They’re calibrated from the factory, and deviation right out of the box is an indicator of very rough handling, possibly to the point of damage.
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That’s not the kind of tool you package in a thin plastic mailer. Presumably because of that, the gauge was knocked out of calibration.
I spoke to Zoro customer service rep, and requested that they ship a replacement in a box.
The next one also arrived knocked out of calibration, presumably due to also being shipped in a thin plastic bag mailer.
I could recalibrate them, but if the jostling and handling shock was severe enough to throw the calibration way out of spec, could I trust the gauges to not be damaged?
I ordered another from MSC, at higher pricing. It shipped in a box and arrived with its perfect calibration intact. This is how it’s supposed to look right out of the box.
I ordered a specific digital indicator, and Zoro sent me an older model with a different SKU. That was another return. I didn’t trust that the replacement would be for the correct model, and so I reordered from MSC, also at higher pricing.
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I ordered some hand tools from Zoro, and this is how they shipped them – with high-adhesive stickers covering the tools.
The tools were all just thrown a box with no padding material.
When ordering from other suppliers, loose open stock tools are often placed in bags, with packing stickers placed on the bags, also usually with padding to prevent things from knocking around.
Zoro’s packers placed high-adhesive stickers right on the tools themselves.
It took an inordinate amount of time for me to remove the stickers from the tools, and not just the ones shown here. I ordered a wrench, ratchets, extensions, and one or two other loose hand tools, and most were given the same treatment.
I ordered a bottle of anti-seize, and besides having an old production date, Zoro placed a high-adhesive sticker over the safety information and warnings.
I will still shop at Zoro, but not as much, and only for very specific tools, supplies, or equipment.
They regularly offer 10% coupons, and 15% discounts on occasion, which is the main appeal. Lower prices are the only reason I keep going back to Zoro.
Luckily, Zoro usually has great customer service, but that doesn’t make up for the headaches they’ve given me over the past year.
This isn’t just about Zoro, they just gave me many memorable frustrations this year. Other retailers have wasted my time as well.
I try to be reasonable. Some problems are unavoidable, others are forgivable. But when nearly every order necessitates a long email chain or call to customer service, I have to ask whether monetary savings are worth the wasted time.
I have been increasingly shopping at other suppliers, and with each headache-free shopping experience, pricing differences seem to matter less and less.
Lower pricing is still a priority for me, but it’s not always worth it.
It used to be that I would go out of my way to save a few dollars. Now, when ordering tools, parts, supplies, or other such things, I’m finding that I’m willing to spend a few more dollars to reduce the chances of time-wasting frustrations.
Part of me wonders if I’m overreacting, but I just like for things to work.
I’ve become accustomed to buying tools that will do their job with minimal frustrations or disappointments. This sometimes means spending more for certain brands.
Still, I have spent so long shopping for the best deals on the same products that the idea of spending more for a better or less frustrating customer experience seems strange to me, and even unnatural.
The notion of spending a little more money for less trouble drove some of my recent purchasing decisions, and will likely do the same in 2024.
At what point do you spend more for the same products?
EC
Amen.
Saulac
I envision an Amazon service where you pay a monthly fee for an actual product catalog/grating system, similar to McMaster Carr or Grainger. But then I don’t think that would happen. Amazon makes more money with the current shitty catalog /rating.
eddie sky
Amazon… I only buy when I research a p/n and find it there with the price and delivery being the factor (I no longer am Prime member but can wait a week or less for free delivery).
Postal rates going up and expect the pass-along-to-consumer ouch.
One thing though, I find Amazon prices are some “stores” that are actually websites and you can find a better deal, like a coupon code, from their site. And if amount is enough, free shipping. With Amazon, unfortunately, I might get a gift card from work or someone. While not ungrateful, I will apply that to the decision. And many a tool was bought using some Amazon gift card toward the total. But I don’t see deals all the time. I’m out on a hunt for a Festool and forget any sales on those. But this 2023 Xmas, I got $200 Amazon card and will buy my first one. I would prefer from someone like Rockler or Woodcraft but perhaps for accessories… we shall see in a few weeks what and how the condition is when delivered.
We sometimes get what we pay for. And then some.
John E
They must really not like you at Zoro. I’ve placed dozens of orders with then over the years and never had a single glitch, so far. Amazon, on the other hand, I avoid like the plague these days. I’ll buy on eBay before Amazon. As far as what bothers me, I usually save my griping for bigger issues.
Stuart
I’ve had a bunch of issues, and they usually sort things out quickly.
This year, there were avoidable issues with nearly every order.
Mike
The thing about Amazon is are you buying from Amazon, some unknown third party seller, or perhaps from the manufacturer that operates an Amazon store? You can usually expect to get good quality delivery from the manufacturer, pretty fair if you’re getting it from Amazon, and stay away from the third party sellers unless you’ve had a good experience with them.
Kurt
A lot depends on the type of item. I think Stuart makes an excellent point about precision instruments, but not everything has to be handled with kid gloves.
That said Amazon have sent me a lot of things in those plastic bags. Sometimes that’s OK, sometimes not.
Even when a company ships in boxes, it doesn’t help when the delivery person just throws the package on the front step. On the up side, I got a half of a quart of free fiberglass resin (what was left in the can). Thankfully Amazon is pretty good about making good problems of various kinds.
Siler Sean
This, 100%. On Amazon I always look at the seller and the seller’s rating. Some people are running a side hustle just buying crap from Harbor Freight and then selling it on Amazon. If the item can’t offer Prime delivery, that’s a flag as well.
mikedt
Not sure if actually true, but I’ve read that all of product X is in a bin regardless of who the actual seller is. So if you’re buying something that has a lot of fakes floating around even if you buy it off the manufacturer via Amazon you could still end up with a fake.
It does seem like something that would greatly upset the real manufacturers so you’d hope this is urban legend.
ITCD
I have heard this, and have also heard tell that for a fee they can have a dedicated bin/slot/space for just their product(s). I have also heard tell that Amazon products are kept separately from 3P products.
But I suppose it does make sense from their perspective. Warehouse space is a finite resource. If you have 50 sellers all selling the exact same rubber duck toy and each has only supplied 1-2 dozen rubber ducks to the fulfillment center, why spread them across 50 bins or totes or pallet slots instead of condensing them?
AllenN
This is an excellent article and I’m glad to read that I’m not the only one who has started to consider the same things. I’ve had decent luck with Zoro but I’ve also received rusty pliers that were not even similar to the model pictured. I figured this is a symptom of large companies that have employees who likely done any skin in the game when it comes to packaging and retaining customers. Or maybe they need more training?
Mike
“Rusty pliers?” Were they used? Returns? There’s no excuse for sending out crap like that. Even B-stock doesn’t include rust.
Scott K
This is totally reasonable. I don’t think I would have put the effort required into removing stickers from tools, though. That just demonstrated a lack of thoughtfulness and I’d probably ask for a replacement.
Our Bosch fridge came with a damaged door. They very quickly sent a replacement, but it was only packaged in cardboard sheets folded around the door with plastic strips holding it together. Two more arrived damaged and after each I spent a lot of time trying to explain that it needed to be boxed and padded. At some point, someone will recognize that shipping products well the first time has to pay off…
Stuart
I didn’t return the hand tools; I still wanted them and there was little chance replacements would have been any different. The tools were functional, with the stickers only being very annoying.
Nate
Good on you Suart. Super annoying, but they were functional and could be cleaned. I would not have liked it, but would have kept the tools. We live in such a throw-away society where energy, waste packaging and delivery overhead are driving up prices and using a lot of our natural resources. Like you, I 100% would have returned a poorly packaged Haimer gauge. That’s on Zoro for not caring for the merchandise and the customer.
Chris
You’re only getting 15% discounts? I get a 20% coupon emailed to me at least once a week.
As far as Zoro service, I’ve bought some stuff from them and been pretty happy with them. Other than seemingly slow shipping times.
I ordered an Irwin tap set and received 3 different emails confirming the order with different order numbers but was only charged for one. I wasn’t taking any chances and got ahold of customer service to clarify that I was only paying for and only receiving one set. They took care of it pretty quickly and easily.
I guess I’d be pretty cautious of buying precision items from them. Not that I’m in the market for high precision tooling at the moment. Given that I could actually use a discount code I’d be willing to take the risk though.
Happy New year Stuart!
Randy
I only get 10% cards in the mail every few months 🙁
Two shipments from zoro got stuck in receiving limbo at my last company because of misspellings on the shipping label. It’s bonkers that someone is manually transcribing names and addresses in the 2020s.
Stuart
Long-gone are the days of frequent 20% coupons for me. I received a one-day-only code earlier this month, and one in October.
If I’m on the site, eventually they’ll give me a “wait! here’s a 15% discount” code.
Other than that, it’s 10% emails and physical mailer cards these days.
Blocky
The first time I shopped at Zoro, I ordered two pliers. The order took longer than expected, more than a month, but I saved a little and thought not much of it. Then two months later, more than three months after my order, they called me directly to say that they had accidentally under billed my card by ~$20. (provided full order details as confirmation) and wouldn’t I authorize a new payment. I answered honestly that I was at work and would have to verify on my own time with my bank whether the funds had indeed gone over but only in part. I stayed on the phone my entire lunch to sort their error and have declined to engage with Zoro since.
PW
That’s bizarre to me. Hell there’s no way it even makes economic sense for them to spend the employee time they did chasing that. Perhaps there was some kind of systemic under billing issue and they were working through a list of orders with a much higher average amount?
Regardless I would avoid a retailer after that. I don’t want to be pestered months after the transaction because *they* undercharged.
I might even understand if it was a mom n pop shop, but Grainger? Write it off!
TomD
Zoro is a weird subsidiary of Grainger; I much prefer ordering from Grainger directly if I need something from them.
Arthur
The list of companies I willingly do business with is shrinking, and not by a little. Absolutely crappy packaging is near the top of the list, as is the shipper they choose, and yes, I’m referring to USPS, Employer of Choice for the Sick, Lame and Lazy. USPS is getting more online sales shipping because they’re the cheapest, and “you get what you pay for” has never been more true.
In fairness I’ve had trouble with FedEx and UPS (oddly, more problems with FedEx than UPS, which is not what I would expect) but it’s USPS that cannot update tracking information, delivers to the wrong address or just loses the package.
I’ve had more problems with businesses – of all types, from online retailer to banking – in the past 2-3 years than prior to that (and “Covid-19″ and ‘supply chain issues” have become the default excuse). I never used to get “used and returned” items from Amazon, now it’s becoming common; “damaged in transit” is also becoming more common due to the plastic bag packaging issue you experienced with Zoro, and when I contact the company for resolution I wind up trying to converse with someone in a 3rd world call center who barely speaks English or get forced into a brainless ‘AI Chat” session.
I have a sign on my office wall: “Time is Non-Refundable” as a reminder to all who enter that Time has a direct cost and, unlike money, Time cannot be replaced.
I would think someone in these businesses would notice the added cost and loss of customer respect – and loss of sales – that comes from shipping their items in very poor packaging; saving $1-2 on packaging is false economy when it costs you money to replace a $550 gauge like the Haimer edge finder you ordered from Zoro – just the employee time processing the “replace and re-ship” ate up the packaging savings from 100 orders.
Alas, there don’t seem to be any grownups in management of most companies these days.
A word of warning to businesses – if you don’t respect my time, and my money, you will not get any more of either.
Albert
I actually prefer USPS. In my experience, they are more gentle with packages and I usually receive boxes that are not smashed up and don’t have holes in the side. Fedex has been the worst, followed by Amazon and then UPS.
PW
Every experiment I’m aware of has shown USPS has the gentlest package handling.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/reviews/a6284/which-shipping-company-is-kindest-to-your-packages/
Individual experience can vary by area. It seems everyone has a courier they hate for some reason…
TomD
Around here, UPS, FedEx, and USPS are all equally good, perhaps with FedEx being a bit higher (they’ll put items near my garage and try to hide them, not that it’s needed).
What I avoid like the plague is anything that is shipped by “company drivers” like Amazon deliveries. Those are just jokes.
Scott K
I agree. USPS is generally reliable for us- the only issue I can think of in the last couple of years is when items are sent with their extremely cheap services which results in an unreliable ETA. UPS is the best and FedEx tends to be the worst- frequent delays, occasional damage, and more than one delivery to the incorrect address. Amazon varies due to the number of different drivers- ETA tends to be accurate, though.
mike
DHL takes the crown on worst shipper for me.
I once had a package that started out maybe 25 miles from me, they sent it to 4 states over 2 weeks, before it made its way back, to the same distribution center it started at, and still took a few days to get to me.
MM
I have noticed an uptick in problems with USPS for at least the last year, perhaps two. I haven’t had any problems with damage, but I have had issues with:
1) drivers leaving packages in the ditch on the side of the road instead of taking them to the porch if the item cannot fit in the mailbox. Luckily each time this happened I found the package before it was stolen or rained on, but it’s been pure dumb luck.
2) a delay of some sort which is then followed by an obviously BS excuse on the tracking status. I’ve had them lie and say that they couldn’t deliver the package because of an animal, severe weather, a tree downed on the road, flooding, and so on, when none of those things were true–neither I nor my immediate neighbors have dogs, there never was any sort of inclement weather at those times let alone “severe”, no trees ever fell on the road. Instead of admitting “we’re running late” they invent some nonsense as to why the package couldn’t be delivered.
3) Mail for random 3rd parties with an entirely different address ending up in my mailbox. Does that mean some of my mail ends up in other people’s boxes?
And for some odd reason my usual driver never brings the letters with her whenever she brings a package to the door. One would think if you’re already going to the door with a package why not bring the mail too? But no, she leaves that in the box.
#2 really irks me. I understand delays happen, that’s fine. I’d much rather you tell me “we’re running late, sorry” than give me some obvious crap like “we tried to deliver the package but we couldn’t because there was a flood blocking the driveway”.
Hon Cho
“And for some odd reason my usual driver never brings the letters with her whenever she brings a package to the door. One would think if you’re already going to the door with a package why not bring the mail too? But no, she leaves that in the box.”
Talking with my carrier, packages are often sent out on their own, separate from the trays of mail. My carrier is a good guy and he retires in a few days after 42 years of service. People calling postal carriers sick, lame and lazy (Not you MM) are just unaware of how tough the work is.
MM
Packages are often sent out by separate drivers, but that is not the situation I was talking about. Clearly those people couldn’t be expected to bring mail they don’t even have with them. I’m talking about when the normal daily carrier brings both letters and packages. I know what is happening because I have this conversation at least once a week after the courier has delivered one or more packages to me. I say “thank you very much” and ask if there’s any mail. They reply “yes, I just put it in the mailbox” and they often describe what it was….but they didn’t think to bring it with them, down the half-mile driveway, with the package they were already taking…
My previous carrier was like the one you are describing, he really busted his rear for what I am sure was a mostly thankless job. I always try and make a point of leaving gifts for the mail carrier come the holidays. But I have noticed a marked decrease in the quality of service in the last year or two. I don’t blame the rank-and-file worker for that, but I do blame management.
TomD
There’s probably a technical legality requiring that “mail must be delivered to the mailbox” whereas parcels are not considered “mail” for federal legal purposes. Similar to how all mailboxes are “property” of the USPS and if anyone else puts something in it, it’s a federal crime.
MM
@TomD
I can’t speak to any laws on the situation, but whenever the usual driver is off and there is a temp instead they bring both packages and mail to the door. So did the previous driver before this particular one took over the route, and so has ever other USPS delivery driver I’ve ever dealt with over the years. Either the policy has recently changed and the temp drivers don’t follow it, or this new driver isn’t thinking too clearly. I certainly can’t call them lazy as they do make the trip to my door to bring the package…it’s just puzzling why they don’t bring the mail along with them when they do. Regardless, this is a minor inconvenience at best, it’s not really a big deal.
But the outright lying about why packages were not delivered when expected is completely unacceptable. I don’t know what causes that–perhaps the electronic scanner thing that the couriers use doesn’t give them an option to say “sorry, I ran late” if they can’t make the delivery that day so they have no choice but to pick some nonsense reason from a list? Maybe it’s some level of the post office management trying to make them look good to huge customers like Amazon? I remember from conversations with my previous driver that USPS would bend over and do things for Amazon they wouldn’t do for other clients because they really needed the contract with Amazon. There was a time when that driver said he was expected to make a second trip back out after his normal route was completed to deliver whatever Amazon packages had arrived at the post office since morning when he first left–but just Amazon packages, if other packages arrived they would wait until the next morning. Perhaps part of that desire to please Amazon has now been perverted into “lie to the customer and Amazon when we can’t deliver on time to hide our own incompetence”? Maybe it’s overworked employees who aren’t given the opportunity to give honest updates. Maybe it’s management trying to pad numbers for Amazon and so on.
ToolGuyDan
There’s a reason even the most battle-hardened criminals don’t mess with USPS, and it’s because they do NOT screw around, at least at the top level. Postmaster General was a cabinet-level position in George Washington’s administration, because a functional mail service was considered that critical to the country’s survival.
What you’re seeing with those tracking updates is almost certainly a perversion of the truth brought about in pursuit of a service-level goal. This makes it doubly troubling; not only is it false, but it makes it more difficult to improve service levels overall by masking what problems carriers are actually facing. Submit a complaint at https://www.uspsoig.gov/hotline , and then stand back and watch the fireworks.
MM
So, an interesting new development has occurred regarding my experience with USPS. Yesterday I was supposed to receive two packages, one from Amazon and the other Ebay; they were out for delivery but never showed even by late evening. Normally this is when I would expect to see one of the usual nonsense tracking status updates. However, this time there was none of that, just an “alert” status and the message We now anticipate delivery of your package the next business day. We apologize for the delay.
Nice to see no obviously invented excuses. Perhaps they are turning over a new leaf for the new year?
Nate
I live in the National Capital Region. I get incredible service from USPS here. I usually joke with friends and family that “all roads lead to Washington” becuase I consistently get anything in 2 to 3 days if it’s sent by USPS (even non-priority). Our local offices are very good and the lines move fast. There’s a high percentage of naturalized US citizens working in ours, and the offices are just incredibly efficient. So, no complaints from me on USPS service here. They are the best of any of the major services I’ve dealt with locally. I realize that “your mileage may vary” depending on where you live. I used to live in Colorado Springs, and there was one USPS office that I refused to visit based upon the amount of time it took to get anything done there; the employees were “less than motivated” to put it kindly.
Kris Petrie
I’m at the point of tool shopping where it’s either buy with cash because it’s unnecessary or I need tool X for this particular job before this date so I can’t have delays or issues trying to save a couple bucks.
Matt
I quit buying car parts from Amazon or EBay. They might be cheaper, but you really don’t know what you are getting. Lots of fakes.
Actually that’s true for quite a lot of things from Amazon. Don’t personally use Zoro. But yes, while price is one of the top factors, I’ve always kind of done a cost vs benefit on stuff. Shipping time, customer service, etc. all matters depending on the product.
Another example is Crutchfield. Not always the cheapest. But they ship super fast, have excellent customer service, and even answer install questions. I’ve called with questions about a car head unit I installed 15 years ago and they both had answers and iirc sent replacement wiring parts. I don’t even look elsewhere for car audio anymore.
Badger12345
+1 for Crutchfield. The overall experience is just superior compared to Amazon and other discount sites. They are a place I trust with quality products that I know are genuine. I also find their product reviews quite useful.
MM
Crutchfield is great and has been delivering solid customer service for a long, long time. I remember buying parts from them as far back as the 1990s. And while their prices aren’t always the best they are usually excellent. There’s also no worries about fake product like there can be dealing with sketchy vendors on Ebay and elsewhere. Their fitment database and free instructions are all very good as well. In my opinion Crutchfield is a rare example of a dealer who has both top-notch service and very attractive prices.
Nate
This. Crutchfield has been great to me. I also really like “etrailer” for anything towing or car hauling related. Great little company out of Wentzville, Missouri that works really hard supporting customers., in my experience. I installed a hitch on my car and went with their brand, it’s held up nicely and had great powder coating.
CA
I’ve purchased a lot from Zoro over the past year, but mainly consumable items. Shipping times definitely are all over the place but I have enjoyed the discounts.
Good to know to stay away from precision items there.
Andy
Manufacturers and retailers need to actually THINK about what they are doing.
Stuart, you nailed it.
Not a tool but here’s an excellent example. A few weeks ago I had to replace the anode rod on my water heater. I check it annually and it was to the point of needing replaced. So, off to Menards I went, as that’s where I bought the water heater and they sell the replacement rods. Come to find out they are just laying on the shelf bare, no packaging, and a high-adhesive sticker slapped on the side of it with the barcode and product information.
I’m thinking (something the manufacturer failed at) WTF?!?!? This thing literally goes inside the water I drink and cook and bathe with! It took me a while to get that sticker completely and cleanly off, and then I deliberately scrubbed the anode rod with soap and water before installing it.
C’mon people! Have half a brain cell!
Hon Cho
It’s generally not recommended to internally consume water from your water heater as it may have been sitting at a low enough temperature for bacterial contamination. Though I would also remove any stickers or labels before installing something in a water heater tank.
Plus, have you ever seen how clean the pipes they install in the municipal water distribution systems are NOT?
Albert
I’ve ordered from Zoro many times and all my items were well packed in a cleverly designed cardbox box with extra folds that offered more protection than the usual brown box.
I’ve had many problems with Home Depot and Harbor Freight shipping items in the original packaging without an evelope or shipping box of any kind.
My biggest problem is with Amazon, especially with their thin poly envelopes. I no longer order anything fragile from them.
Mike
I needed a bare hard drive in December. I ordered from B&H Photo instead of Amazon because I knew the drive would be in its original box, with its original support inside, and boxed inside another box. With Amazon, the vendor usually removes the drive from the box and throws it into a shipping bag.
MM
That’s most likely the difference between retail packaging and wholesale packaging. I used to build a lot of computers and bought directly from some of the big wholesalers in Houston, I would always buy the wholesale drives because they came without the extra packaging, cables, manuals, etc and were less expensive. The vendors weren’t throwing the extra packaging away, it was never there to begin with as they got the drives in large bulk packs instead of individually boxed for retail sale. Instead of one drive in an oversized colorful box with various other stuff inside they would have dozens of bare drives, each in an anti-static pack, stacked tight in a generic cardboard box. The commercial drive is definitely more of a shipping risk if you don’t pick them up in person or if the vendor isn’t careful about packing. I found that most of the dedicated computer stores were good about that though, after all they didn’t want to deal with returns. It’s the huge corporate monsters like Amazon I’d worry about mishandling that kind of thing. Amazon won’t have the owner screaming to the shipping department that they better wrap HDDs well because they’re tired of paying out refunds the way a dedicated computer/photo shop will.
MFC
Pet peeves:
Stickers that bond to products and waste my time (building materials or otherwise).
Fedex losing my packages (1 out of 3) when they pass through Mesquite, TX.
Dealing with customer service reps that don’t speak good enough English to resolve an issue effectively. I ask for the Spanish departments (I am bilingual) and get better service with certain companies.
People everywhere doing a worse job at everything.
Just yesterday I had to buy 20 gallons of mis-tinted paint because an HD employee told me they could tint ceiling paint. Then had the audacity to blame me to their manager even though they were the one to suggest doing it. I didn’t fight it because I can use the paint as a primer.
Then, I was asking the in-store kitchen designer to help me find some Hampton Bay cabinets that a client had already purchased, and she couldn’t use her website or ordering system at all. She had me sit in her chair and navigate through her system to find what I was looking for.
She had a badge on her desk that said “10 Years of being a HD superstar”.
James
2 things:
For me the worst case of stickers on materials is PVC or ABS piping. I usually buy from a supply house but sometimes I’ll just need a couple of bits and it takes me 7 minutes to remove the sticker before the 30 seconds it takes to glue my joint. I don’t need or want every piece individually packaged because our planet is burning, but can you please put the sticker on the outside of the fittings?!
I speak French and so I ask for French when possible when calling customer service (second language in Canada so many companies have this option). Even though it’s my second language, things tend to get resolved quicker than when speaking to outsourced English speakers a world away who are working in the middle of the night in their time zone and are tired and in some cases probably poorly trained.
MFC
Yeah, stickers on pipe, on tile, on stain grade boards, etc. Anything that will require an adhesive to be applied, is visible, or needs a stain applied to it, should have the type of stickers that aren’t made from cheap adhesive or paper. Nothing like removing a difficult sticker off the back of literally five hundred plus 50x100cm tiles.
Also, glad to hear that I’m not the only one to use my second language to deal with issues. I have to talk with Amazon reps pretty often via email and I try very hard to make my sentence as unambiguous and short as possible so that there’s no possible way it could be mis-translated, but they still don’t answer my question 9 out of 10 times correctly.
Ryan
I have only had 1 problem with Zoro but customer service was excellent. It seems though most of what i have bought lately had longer shipper times in multiple packages. This leads me to believe that they were drop shipped and packaging is out of Zoro’s control.
I ordered some Christmas lights from Home Depot this year with same day paid shipping. They left the 6 boxes of lights outside the gate(which is better than throwing over and breaking them) without being in a proper box so everyone walking by knows what is there for the taking. Big yellow stickers on each box.
Dave
That’s why I get all my high end. products at temu.
🙄
Ct451
Get some label-off spray or liquid. It saves a lot of time on removing labels and on talking to inept people. I don’t know how many times I have tried explaining to customer service that sticking labels on the back side of each piece of high-grit sandpaper ruins them but they don’t seem to get it.
James
Must look for this. Don’t have any.
Shawn Yuan
Go w either Goo Gone, usually the safest, or 3M Adhesive Remover, the most expensive but most effective. I’ve had bad luck w Goo-Off on some materials given its acetone content.
MM
That’s been my experience too. Goo-Gone is the safest but also the least effective. 3M adhesive remover from the auto parts store is awesome. It is very effective and it is surprisingly safe for most surfaces–I guess this makes sense since it is intended for use on auto paint. Downsides are that it is a flammable solvent with the associated smell and it isn’t cheap. Though, if you’re dealing with easy-to-clean-tools like a combination wrench you don’t have to worry about playing nice, acetone or similar will take off the adhesive very fast, it’s cheaper than 3M, and it won’t harm metal.
Stuart
Chemical adhesive removal products range from conditionally effective to more effective but highly toxic.
With how these stickers are constructed, there are no shortcuts to removal; even chemical removal products require prep and elbow grease before they can do their thing.
Jason
I have the best luck with denatured alcohol on most stickers, or just the heat gun.
Stuart
Tried both, didn’t work; I had to scrape and scrub.
Michael V
I have found it isn’t the product Goof Off/Goo Gone, but in the prep. Saturate the entire label and wait a couple of minutes. Label usually will peel off like a Post-IT note. Both very toxic solutions, so I recommend gloves and good ventilation.
Aaron SD
Can also try plain oil as I think that is the main working ingredient. Soaking definitely needed.
Stuart
@Aaron,
Weirdly, oil does work for some adhesives. I bought a new height gauge, and there was a sticker on the bottom I couldn’t easily remove. I used light machine oil, and it cleared it right off with minimal effort.
Joellikestools
Along the lines of oil I have had a little success with wd40 and peanut butter.
Jason
Some of these adhesive labels are just formulated by evil engineers to never come off. I really hate the ones with tiny cuts to make them rip.
Charles
I like zoro but I haven’t ordered anything fragile from them.
Jim Felt
I’ve used Zoro successfully for decades. But never for anything I’d consider particularly “fragile”. So far it’s worked out just dandy. Plus I try to wait for one of their 20% discount offers.
Todd+shaffer
I went to Walmart this morning. Grabbed a few things at a lower price. Walked up and the lines were crazy. I left the cart drove to Publix. Grabbed a few things easy and done. I will pay more to save my time and sanity
Tony
If at all possible, I like to see what I want to order in person first. But that’s becoming increasingly difficult to do.
I’ve never used Zoro. I try to avoid Amazon if at all possible due to the obvious reasons (poor packaging, drifting delivery dates, substandard or non-existent customer service, etc). I’ve had much better success with ordering online from Home Depot lately. They have provided super fast shipping and they don’t change the delivery dates on me frequently like Amazon does. Also, Amazon can’t seem to actually deliver packages to my house even though the street number for my address is embossed on the front of my house in brick as well as clearly displayed on my mailbox which is only a few feet from the front of my house. Instead, the Amazon driver dumps my package on a random neighbor’s doorstep. Maybe the Amazon delivery guy’s blaring music is distracting his own concentration?
JR Ramos
Mostly since the pandemic began, I have ordered more and more products online, and that’s about when I started ordering much more frequently from Zoro. I’ve had excellent experiences with them. After probably 40-ish orders I finally had an error last summer where a needle file arrived as a completely different model. Resolved on the telephone, same exact incorrect item shipped (no need to return the first…or the second) and during the two phone calls it was determined that they had a warehousing mishap. It was a slight hassle but thankfully nothing critical for me, and I can completely understand how those things happen in such a vast product network (it’s the same with car parts these days, and electronic components frequently).
I look at Zoro as a great Walmart basically…very similar. I get the 20% coupons incessantly. Is that 20% a good deal? Sometimes not since their pricing is often higher or much higher than competitors, but sometimes if their pricing is the same or even less, those coupons are a real steal. I was able to score some Starrett products at thieves’ prices a few times. I cross check Zoro with Grainger as their pricing is often not the same, and of course other outlets. Packaging and shipping has always been great, fast and almost always in boxes (save for those needle files which were in the plastic envelopes but managed to not poke through…). Grainger is generally a ripoff but of course they have access to so many items and sometimes I don’t have much choice (and our one local Grainger has a lot on the shelves, though many items still take a day or three to be ordered in). I really appreciate that Zoro offers low-cost shipping options, as opposed to somewhere like McMaster-Carr.
Also with the start of the pandemic, I started to branch out much more with small outfits and for the most part have had great experiences. Some are online just to pad the sales and aren’t that great to work with, some are actually gems that make it feel like you’re going into a brick and mortar supply where you know them and they know you and aren’t out to rip you off. Neither type is anything like using Zoro or Amazon where it’s just a robotic order. Travers and MSC are so similar and yet quite different in the customer service experience, but not the robotic type.
Everyone should shop where it makes them feel satisfied but these days with only a couple small exceptions, I wouldn’t throw out any babies with any bathwater. I like to support the really good ones and don’t mind paying a bit more but I also have a bottom line to keep track of and if a vendor won’t work on pricing, and their pricing is higher with much higher shipping, it just doesn’t make financial sense to take that hit repeatedly where it can be 40-50 percent higher cost, landed. Those are operations that cater to companies and make sales available to individuals I guess…pass it on. I can’t absorb that.
Two outfits I will use more are Abolox in Florida and All Industrial in California…excellent pricing and experiences with both so far. Penn Tool is still a wonderful outfit but they sure have shifted and it’s hard to justify their prices now, online anyway. Zoro will still see me frequently, though.
Overall it just makes me a little depressed not to be able to buy so many things in person anymore. I live in a metro with 1.7 million people or something like that, and the demise of so many brick and mortar tool stores and supply houses has been drastic over the last decade. Where they still exist, they have to order many things anyway, if they have access at all. It leaves me with consumer retail like HD, Lowe’s, HF, Northern Tool, and a couple farm supply store chains, and Grainger, and too often none of them have what I want or need. Availability actually seems less than it did 30 years ago despite so many more sources and products on the market.
Hon Cho
Everything and more is available online for delivery but we have lost many local industrial/commercial outlets staffed with knowledgeable folks and stock of ready to purchase items. The online system generally is adequate and has some advantages for probably 99% of needs. However, when you need something NOW it matters not that it’s available overnight from a supplier who may or may not package it in a manner that it is usable when it finally arrives.
CA
When I saw the title it brought back nightmares of college when we had to use the present value/future value of money tables. Did any of you actually ever use those in real life?
Albert
This applies to way more than just tools. I’m really into music and this goes for physical media too. I’ll spend money on a record or compact disc and many times it’ll be thrown into the same box with other heavier items. Once I complained that a cardboard case for a box set was ripped up and customer service asked if the discs played fine. Yes, but if I just cared about the music and not the entire package/experience, I’d download the music. I paid for it to arrive to me not broken. The only saving grace with amazon I’d that returns are fairly painless.
Dominic S
I used to be a “do whatever you have to do to get the thing at the cheapest price” be it buying used, subpar suppliers, making it yourself, etc. But as I’ve matured I’ve learned that if you can solve a problem with money within your means, usually it’s worth it because it frees up your time to do other things.
As a parent this has never been more clear. Usually I don’t have time to return things to the store or fight with customer service so I need to get the right item the first time.