Grainger

They were almost a month later than the ETA, and when they finally delivered the item, they refused to bring it upstairs. It had to be returned for re-​delivery. It would have been really nice if they had informed us that we needed to arrange to have «white glove» delivery service through their 3^rd party shipper, which apparently is not part of the Purchase Order that we paid with.
I buy a lot of furniture through my job, and I have never had a vendor just so bad at communicating these things, and the customer service rep was condescending and rude when I called to discuss our options. Made me never want to buy with them again.

If you want customer service and don’t want to deal with the big box stores, this location in IDEAL. Their pedestrian entrance is not on Brannan like you would think but in the rear of the store where there is free parking off of Boardman Place between 7^th and 8^th (I didn’t know this until I had to park many blocks away).

Great place for all your industrial supply needs. The location in SOMA SF is immaculate, well organized, and has a very helpful staff. While they didn’t have the item I needed in stock (understandable, since it probably wasn’t a high-​demand product), they ordered it for me and had it available for me to pick up at the store the following morning. Recommended for the hard-​to-​find industrial supply items that you probably don’t need on a regular basis unless you’re in the construction/​contracting business.

These guys are so helpful and nice. I went in twice over the last 4 months and happened to get Mark behind the counter. Excellent customer service! never in a rush, helpful, took time to enquirer what exactly I was looking far and made sure I got the right thing.
I didn’t know what I was looking for exactly and he made sure i got it!
Called over the phone and I got Ester and she was just as nice and professional.
Would like to head hunt them for my business!

Need a tapered gear assembly and a heated jacket? Well they got both, and usually in stock. The prices aren’t the cheapest, but they got it all and in stock which can be a problem when working in SF. I also love the fact that they still have a print catalog. I consider it pretty much a fabricators porno rag. Sometimes when I’m alone I like to read through them and imagine I had a credit limit that was more than $ 1500. Then I would be able to purchase all the components needed to make my own Soft serve machine. The crew could give hoot about what you are making so know what you want because they don’t care. I also was offered free red-​vines last time I was there and I partook.

I shopped there because I needed a mechanical counter and a foot pedal variable speed control for my shop. Both of these items are hard to find, so I ended up going to Grainger because they were one of the only places that had them. I talked to a service representative at their San Francisco location and his attitude was that of someone who wanted to get me in and out of the store as quickly as possible. He had the foot pedal in stock and the mechanical counter he would have to order. Both items turned out to be not what I needed and if he had just listened to my explanation then we could have avoided all the trouble. I did end up getting a foot pedal through them, but it turns out they don’t have the counter that I need. So after a week and a half my shop is still not up and running. Everyone else I have talked to there has been very helpful and friendly, but because of the initial conversation I had with the service representative who didn’t take the time to get me what I need, this has been a two-​star experience.

Grainger is a place that can get you almost anything. All those random parts you need to finish fixing your car, building something for burning man or just working on the house. The only issue with it is that you have to own a company to shop there.
A little spendy but worth the convince.