Alliance Gas Products / Mavry Welding Supply

Awesome friendly staff great prices on helium tanks and dry ice. Courteous and friendly… socially responsible, supports local charities and staff supports Stand Up For Cancer

I want this to be the most HELPFUL review.
Problems people encounter:
— Weird/​confusing phone tree.
— Slow service.
My perspective:
Yes, the phone tree is not user friendly for people not in the business, so to speak. When you dial and get the voice prompts, instantly press «0» for operator, then tell whomever answers you want the front desk.
Concerning the slow service, manufacturing is in a major state of decline, particularly here in the Bay Area. Money has shifted towards big business/​national contractors and away from the individual/​do-​it-​yourselfer/​shop owners. This means we small people have to wait, sometimes. Business is conducted on a larger scale, and there isn’t the money available to cater to us wee folks with lots of personnel in retail stores. So, it helps to keep this in mind when you go up to the counter and the salespeople are busy with long phone calls and the line of customers is moving slowly.
If you can find better service, elsewhere, then do comment about such.
For myself, I haven’t been to ANY other places, but I find the counter people, Matt and Chris, to be very personable and helpful. The prices I’ve received here have been significantly lower than elsewhere. A porta-​torch tanks fill for me was about $ 35, total, whereas I was quoted almost twice that amount from Airgas in San Leandro. The consumables prices (RG45 and flux coated bronze brazing rod) were very good and better than what I found on Ebay.
So, I encourage you to support this local business and be aware that if you go into the store, have some patience and be prepared to spend some time.
Yes, I would give five stars if they had more counter personnel, but that would defy the current market state.

They’ll send your tanks to the Berkeley shop to refill if you insist (it’ll take a couple of days), or you can just drive down the road to Berkeley.

This is my go-​to place for oxygen tank refills. They never jip me off, are always reliable, and even refilled my tank for free once since I only needed to top it off.

Need dry ice?
This spot has pellets and rice! Plus, you can get whatever amount you want.
Truly, dry ice is the only reason I come here. My work needs it for shipments. Thanks to the folks here who give great customer service!
At times it is hard to get to because a lot of big rigs are passing through the area, and the streets are on the narrow end. Parking in the lot can be tough too. Nevertheless, they always have what I need.

Much cheaper than Airgas. I exchanged my Argon/​CO2 tank got a new blade for my chopsaw, a pair if goggles, a grinding wheel and some new welding sleeves for less than I would have paid just to exchange my tank at Airgas. Definitely recommend these guys.

Very friendly and quick service. I came here to fill my Co2 tanks for my home brew. They don’t fill them on the spot, they exchange them for full ones. I had a brand new tank and they looked for an equivalent to give me back, rather than a beat up one in exchange. The price was a mere $ 17 for a 5# tank refill.
I went back a second time to buy a back up tank, just in case I had a Co2 emergency over a weekend and needed a second tank. I could have done a deposit or purchased it outright. I decided to purchase and they threw in the second refill at a discount.

Good place for quick propane REFILL, if you’re not looking to exchange. Cheap prices. And because they sell a lot to welders & industrials, they react to price changes in the market quicker. So when propane drops .45 a gallon, you can come here to reap the benefits!

I will never, ever, go to airgas again. These guys are nicer, and the prices are better.

I’m new to welding, and Alliance was recommended to me as a good place for a friend and I to buy some MIG and TIG gloves. Even though we were clearly neophytes and were not going to spend a lot of money (four pairs of gloves came to less than $ 40) the guy there spent a lot of time with us telling us about the different gloves and which ones would best fit our needs. In addition to the gloves they had a great selection of other safety gear, hoods, welders, electrodes, filler rod, MIG wire, flux core wire, tips, nozzles, guns, and all the other stuff you’d expect to find at a welding supply.

Good prices for propane, great service. I’m not a welder, (though I’d like to start when I’ve got some time and training) but I asked a friend who volunteers at the Crucible where to get some cheap propane. I’ve got a project that requires some big propane heaters and I needed a few tanks filled. Nice prices — $ 2.70/gal.
It’s also fun to see the industrial side of Oakland. You get an appreciation for the work that keeps the local and national economy humming along. ..