"have used Apopka store for years , every time we have been billed we had to send another Tax certificate. and when I have a credit it takes months to retrieve from them. every time they have gotten someone new to run the store they say they will fix that, they never do ! The last straw was when I walked in to pick up around $5.00 worth of screws they said my account was LOCKED ! somehow a $23.00 bill was six days late...last time I ever buy anything from FASTENALL ! "

"Just drove half an hour to realize you can no longer walk in and get the fasteners you need at fastenal. Took my business elsewhere."

"I used to not mind Fastenal, their sales guy was by routinely to stock us. He wasn’t pushy and got us what we needed. Since he left the place imploded. Now the store is permanently closed to the public. We aren’t a big customer but $500+ Per month must mean something. After being told that existing customers were still being serviced we were optimistic. But as time goes on we almost have to beg for deliveries now after 2-3 weeks and we can’t pick up because the store is closed. Gladly at this point we have found another supplier. Our last couple invoices Fastenal billed us for product we clearly never received. The company is a joke. "

"I went to Fastenal in Stillwater, MN but found that they went out of business there. I then went over to Hudson, WI Fastenal store as I was in need of some special hardware for a customer's boat. At the Hudson Fastenal I was greeted by a young man that had told me that Fastenal has decided to refer retail customers to there website and that they had decided to only do immediate retail business with commercial customers. I then told the young man that I had a collision repair business in Stillwater, MN and that I had used Fastenal in Stillwater for getting our hardware but now they were not there. After I had told the young man about me owning a business in Stillwater and that I was in need of some special screws his manager came up to the front desk and said he had never heard of my shop and that he could not help me out. He repediatley said that he had not heard of us and that I was not worth his time. I left the Hudson Fastenal furious, I had never been treated so badly by any Fastenal employee ever before. I will never use this company ever again and will make sure everyone knows about how Fastenal has decided to do business. THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER!!"

"Ordered 20 5/8x11 flat head cap screws with nuts and washers with a 1.25 od. Common stuff for a place that sells hardware. Gave the guy a sample of the exact items we wanted. He even measured them right in front of me. Then checked stock said he only had 10 of the cap screws but the other would be there the next day. Went to pick up all items the next day, guy comes out with 10 cap screws twice the length I needed and the washers had an od way bigger than what I asked for and what HE measured. Guy goes in to look for the right screws, comes back with 10 regular cap screws. I said these are wrong too and there is only 10. At this point I am very annoyed and tell the guy I can't use anything you've brought to the table and to take it all back and left. I will never ever go there again nor would I recommend anyone else go there. McMaster Carr has never got my orders wrong, only tried fastenal because they were close by. Sticking with what had always worked, McMaster Carr."

"I ordered about $100 worth of product. They had about 70% of what I needed in the store but said they would have to order the entire order from their warehouse and that I couldn't have what they had on their shelf. So I had to pay $45 in shipping to get this all from their warehouse, delivered to their store, and for me to pick up. The guy at the counter felt bad but told me that he had to charge me the $45 dollars if I wanted my order. He told me that it confuses him because Fastenal doesn't charge his store in any way for that shipping charge. He said it just makes it look like he made 100% profit on the shipping fee. What the ****? I will never use them again."

"I have been a customer of Fastenal for
Many years in my business. I called to order screws as I have done before and get a huge price increase. I’m told they will have the manager (brentwood ca store) look into it and call me back. 5 days later and no call. So I call them and they give me a “discount price” of $460. I told them I found them online for over $100 cheaper for exact same product and I even gave the company name (jet). He tells me they have to pay to have them shipped to them and I saw well they are shipping to me for free. He seemed offended I called him on it. Wonder what other items I have been paying to much for. Bad service and bad price. If I could give them less than 1 star I would. "

"In the billing dept. they will not apply a credit to your account unless you send the notice to the main office to do so. (so it stays as a credit in your account till the second coming)
Corporate will not take credit cards...stores will but cannot do a simple credit on account.
People in the store working for the most part are trying hard and do a good job.
"

"I asked for FMI which is Fastenal managed inventory. We were a rather small start up company at the time. I had to call several times for an appointment and the sales person would not call when they missed the first 4 as to reason why or rescheduling. When a sales rep. who happened to be a teenager came to look at what I wanted he was uninformed and explained how short handed they were at the store. I showed him where I wanted the bi.s and then took him to the computer myself to show him the bin types i wanted. He wrote down the nuts.bolts and washers on paper and left. I did not hear back from them!!! When I called the local branch I finally got the store manager and he explained to me they did not offer a program for companies spending less that 500 a month. hmmmm...ok...he offered to sell me the bins at a ridiculously high markup and all the fasteners at a ridiculously high mark up but i would need to send over some sort of e mail order and they would deliver it for 8 or 10 dollars. The local branch is less than 2 miles from my shop. Thankfully another shop owner told me about Kimbral Midwest and the sales rep. who is based out of Albany came on the date and time he set up with me. He secured my bins. Got the right inventory and set me up completely with a system to order when levels get low. There is no shipping either. I still have to use employees to read and fill the bins but the difference in price pays thier hour or so to do it. Fastenal used to be a great store. I think the constant turn over in managers and employees and maybe even failures to the whole Companay structure has made them greedy and unrealistic. They are moving away from the small companies and focus only on the big ones. Probley a big mistake in rural ares. Long story short...Grainger has an MI prograam cheaper. Kimbral Midwest has a MI cheaper..Kintec and Boring Smith have an MI cheaper and even Airgas has MI cheaper. Price shop them all. Fastenals inventory all comes from over seas to. My company now turns inventory weekly. We pay our current supplier upwards of 1200 to 1500 a month and still growing. Sticking a Fastenal in every small town is a great opportunity but only if you remember the small businesses."

"Their website is so flaky, I couldn't even make the order, yet my card still got charged. The service person said it was just a preauthorization charge, but she never even asked my name and didn't check on anything. So either this happens all the time, or she is useless and blowing smoke. Either way, that's no way to do business."

"Fastenal is in the business of providing fasteners, tools, and industrial products ranging from the common to the arcane. As a new customer, I needed to place a very small order. Nevertheless, after it was routed to my local store, the manager went out of his way like nobody I have ever dealt with to provide service. He did not have the parts in stock, but called me four times to let me know that he would look for them, to let me know he found them, and to have them shipped to my home for next day arrival. He was able to find a location in my state, so I could get them the next day by UPS ground, and not have to pay for overnight delivery.

The time spent to fill my order was worth more than the order itself, and if that's the quality that I can expect from Fastenal, I can unhesitatingly recommend them to any business that is looking for a top notch supplier, or to any individual in need of hard to find specialized parts.

I placed my order on the web, since the system said that my local store did not have what I needed in stock. I expected to get an email in a few days, letting me know that my order was ready. I did not expect a personal phone call for such a small order, or to be treated like a million dollar per year client, but that's how I felt."