McMaster shipping prices + labelling on fan isolators

jack_aubrey · Post by **jack_aubrey** » Wed May 14, 2003 12:00 pm

Received a 20-pk of the 5801K6 isolators from McMaster today. Interestingly the ziplock bag is labelled "E-A-R SPECIALTY COMPOSITES F-345 FAN MOUNT", not "5801K6" - maybe most of their business on these comes from E-A-R.

People ordering directly from McMaster should be aware of that they don't cite shipping prices on their website or during the ordering process. I ended up paying $7.75 UPS shipping for a $19.42 order (one pack of K6 and one of K8). They were very quick, though.

Katana Man · Post by **Katana Man** » Wed May 14, 2003 12:56 pm

Yeah, I talked to a manager about showing shipping prices. Even AFTER your credit card goes through, it shows "shipping charges to be applied". You won't know the shipping charge until you receive the product or see your credit card statement.

Post by **Rusty075** » Wed May 14, 2003 1:52 pm

Just wanted to point out that what McMaster does with their shipping prices is in violation of the Merchant Agreement they have with their credit card companies.

When you hit "OK" on the submit order page it is legally the same as when you sign a CC slip in a store. They are not allowed to add undisclosed charges to it.

I fought McMaster on the shipping charges for an order once. After a threat from my CC company they resended the charges. I've noticed that since then they have added the "shipping charges to be applied" text to their order process. But according to the Visa account rep I deal with through my job that text is meaningless.

gbass01 · Post by **gbass01** » Wed May 14, 2003 4:56 pm

What are the differences b/w K6 and K8 isolators? Not just dimentions, but which size will you use for which application?

SometimesWarrior · Post by **SometimesWarrior** » Wed May 14, 2003 6:18 pm

Rusty075 wrote:Just wanted to point out that what McMaster does with their shipping prices is in violation of the Merchant Agreement they have with their credit card companies.

When you hit "OK" on the submit order page it is legally the same as when you sign a CC slip in a store. They are not allowed to add undisclosed charges to it.

With a quick call to the credit card company... "Free shipping for all McMaster orders."

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu May 15, 2003 3:51 am

It's nice to live in "Silicon Valley South" (the San Gabriel Valley). I'm close to many, many importetrs and dealers, many of them do will-call and the ones that don't are ususlly pretty receptive to a little sweet-talking on my part. I can't even guess how much shipping I've saved over the years.

For McMaster I just order using will-call and just drive down and pick up my order with no shipping charge. If something on will-call is back-ordered they ship it to me later for free!

jack_aubrey · Post by **jack_aubrey** » Thu May 15, 2003 11:55 am

gbass01 wrote:What are the differences b/w K6 and K8 isolators? Not just dimentions, but which size will you use for which application?

Judging from the SPCR posts, the smaller ones are for 80/92mm fan mount holes and the larger for 120mm. I got some of each to be on the safe side

Mezi · Post by **Mezi** » Thu May 15, 2003 1:54 pm

I guess one reason why they don't show shipping charges is that they are shipping worldwide and do not limit the international shipping with coutry list.
Very nice of them from my point of view. Not much US dealers are willing to ship anywhere in the world and accept international credit cards.
I ended up with 9$ order and 19$ shipping to Estonia and i'm not complaining. At least i was able to get what i couldn't get elsewhere.

Post by **Rusty075** » Thu May 15, 2003 8:48 pm

That's still no reason for why their site can't take the addresses given and spit out a shipping charge, or at least an estimate. It's an automated process, and other shippers do it.

I have 2 theories as to why they don't:
1. Their webmaster can't figure out how to get the shipping calculator to work

Or they don't want to pay for the service.
2. They intentionally keep the shipping off the site to make their prices look lower than they really are.

Now don't get me wrong, I love McMaster. I've been buying things from them for years and they carry lots of items that you simply can't find anywhere else. The dishonesty about the credit charges is bad, but the fact that I can call them at 4pm and have a UPS delivery guy at my door at 9 the next morning with my part is much better

Mezi · Post by **Mezi** » Fri May 16, 2003 12:53 am

I guess it's easier to implement automated shipping calculator in the shopping cart with a limited country-list. So i'm afraid if you are complaining too much they may do that kind of calculator and easily forget Estonia and some other small places.

I hope when they do so, thay at least leave "Other" field under the country list.

happykingcow · Post by **happykingcow** » Fri May 16, 2003 8:26 am

i am not complaining i paid 3.40 for shipping.

Athlon Powers · Post by **Athlon Powers** » Tue May 20, 2003 7:03 pm

It bugs me that they dont state shipping charges. Are you saying if I call up the credit card company and threaten them I can get free shipping?

What's a good threat?

:D

MrMajestic · Post by **MrMajestic** » Tue May 20, 2003 8:22 pm

Mezi wrote:I guess one reason why they don't show shipping charges is that they are shipping worldwide and do not limit the international shipping with coutry list.
Very nice of them from my point of view. Not much US dealers are willing to ship anywhere in the world and accept international credit cards.
I ended up with 9$ order and 19$ shipping to Estonia and i'm not complaining. At least i was able to get what i couldn't get elsewhere.

What did you order that cost 19$ in shipping? Im guessing that the shippingcost would be about the same to Sweden, thats why Im curious.

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Tue May 20, 2003 10:29 pm

I've found McMaster-Carr to be very reasonable with their shipping costs... maybe I'm just lucky?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed May 21, 2003 5:27 am

Hello:

I ordered both the isolators (2 packs, so 40 total) and the shipping was ~$4, and on 5 sheets of the fiberglass/foam cost ~$7.50. Totally in line for what UPS Ground costs, though I would also like to know what it will be up front .

stsmytherie · Post by **stsmytherie** » Wed May 21, 2003 4:55 pm

Agreed that they should disclose shipping costs prior to closing the transaction. However, I found their shipping costs to be fair -- though I didn't find out what it was until the package arrived.

jack_aubrey · Post by **jack_aubrey** » Wed May 21, 2003 7:00 pm

stsmytherie wrote:Agreed that they should disclose shipping costs prior to closing the transaction. However, I found their shipping costs to be fair -- though I didn't find out what it was until the package arrived.

Yeah. My original post in the thread wasn't saying they were charging unfair shipping prices, just expressing discomfort with not knowing the prices.

McMaster shipping prices + labelling on fan isolators

McMaster shipping prices + labelling on fan isolators

my shipping costs