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Coast Aluminum
Ok, I am quick to complain sometimes... actually I try not to complain publicly until the same problem has happened more than a couple times, or a problem is not resolved after atleast a few attempts. I don't always have that much restraint, but...
Xometry and Midwest (I saw an Xometry ad here the other day) have managed to piss me off. Lead time, price, taxes, follow through, etc etc etc... Doesn't matter.
I've been buying almost all of my aluminum and some stainless from Coast Aluminum for a while now. I am a very small shop. My orders range from a $500-2000 and I order from them on average slightly less than once a month. This makes me a pretty small customer. I know other shops here in my home town who buy ten times that much from them easily. I know because they are the guys who told me about Coast. Their prices are consistently the best on aluminum and pretty competitive on stainless. They only sell full bar length pieces or plate size pieces so they might not be useful for the occasional part time hobbyist. They deliver to my shop door. They charge a small fee ($10) for each order to process it, and a $50 flat fee delivery charge. They waive those fees on my larger orders. For as little as 2 pieces I often pay less (including the delivery and processing charge) than buying from either of the local metal yards I am sometimes forced to buy from. For a half dozen pieces I save a lot. They also give me a price per pound discount on larger orders. They tell me if something is out of stock and will ship on a later truck. Their driver calls me consistently to let me know about when they will be arriving. Mostly impersonal but friendly professional and excellent follow through.
Yesterday I was finishing up an order on the phone (I usually email my quote request and then call to finalize) and the sales person I was dealing with had some concern about one size of round bar stock I need. Its an in between not as common size, but its still cheaper than the next size up piece of stock. They were concerned about getting me the size I needed in a timely fashion due to carrier issues so they offered me the next size stock at a substantial discount to make sure I could get my job done on time. It still cost a little more than size I had wanted, but not enough to matter. I felt like an important customer instead of a small customer.
Maybe I just got lucky and got a good sales rep. No. That is not true. My previous sales rep was good too. When his kid was in the hospital dying he took the time to call me back promptly and make sure another sales rep would take care of me. I can't even imagine that he wanted to be bothered with his job then. I've had a couple different drivers too. Excellent top notch professional courteous and helpful. Not like many of the drivers for LTL common carriers at all. Real pros. I could be wrong, but I think its top down. It has to be. I have not had a less than excellent experience with anybody at Coast.
Xometry and Midwest (I saw an Xometry ad here the other day) have managed to piss me off. Lead time, price, taxes, follow through, etc etc etc... Doesn't matter.
I've been buying almost all of my aluminum and some stainless from Coast Aluminum for a while now. I am a very small shop. My orders range from a $500-2000 and I order from them on average slightly less than once a month. This makes me a pretty small customer. I know other shops here in my home town who buy ten times that much from them easily. I know because they are the guys who told me about Coast. Their prices are consistently the best on aluminum and pretty competitive on stainless. They only sell full bar length pieces or plate size pieces so they might not be useful for the occasional part time hobbyist. They deliver to my shop door. They charge a small fee ($10) for each order to process it, and a $50 flat fee delivery charge. They waive those fees on my larger orders. For as little as 2 pieces I often pay less (including the delivery and processing charge) than buying from either of the local metal yards I am sometimes forced to buy from. For a half dozen pieces I save a lot. They also give me a price per pound discount on larger orders. They tell me if something is out of stock and will ship on a later truck. Their driver calls me consistently to let me know about when they will be arriving. Mostly impersonal but friendly professional and excellent follow through.
Yesterday I was finishing up an order on the phone (I usually email my quote request and then call to finalize) and the sales person I was dealing with had some concern about one size of round bar stock I need. Its an in between not as common size, but its still cheaper than the next size up piece of stock. They were concerned about getting me the size I needed in a timely fashion due to carrier issues so they offered me the next size stock at a substantial discount to make sure I could get my job done on time. It still cost a little more than size I had wanted, but not enough to matter. I felt like an important customer instead of a small customer.
Maybe I just got lucky and got a good sales rep. No. That is not true. My previous sales rep was good too. When his kid was in the hospital dying he took the time to call me back promptly and make sure another sales rep would take care of me. I can't even imagine that he wanted to be bothered with his job then. I've had a couple different drivers too. Excellent top notch professional courteous and helpful. Not like many of the drivers for LTL common carriers at all. Real pros. I could be wrong, but I think its top down. It has to be. I have not had a less than excellent experience with anybody at Coast.
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