On Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:43:18 -0500, mm
wrote:

On Sun, 3 Jan 2010 20:30:03 -0800, "Jon Danniken"
wrote:

mm wrote:

There used to be a web retailer, Metal Express....

I didn't reply to your initial message because I didn't know you were
looking for bar stock, but you might bookmark this site for future
reference:

http://www.onlinemetals.com/

Jon (unaffiliated with onlinemetals.com)

McMaster's woudln't tell me what the shipping charge would be until I
gave them a name, phone number, email address, and what's worse, a
credit card number!! I really don't like that.

I wrote them complaining abou this, and also telling them about the
flaw in their webpage.

(I did more testing on the webpage in IE8, and entering a url for the
particular product I wanted to buy, which had never dealt with
McMasters before, ended up giving me the menu for all aluminum
products. Very strange. I told them about this too.)

Well, to follow up, I wrote them at 11:42 my time, which is 8:43 their
time, and I already got an answer at 1:09 my time, less than 90
minutes later. And one that was plainly written by a human, though he
may well have copied parts, and that's fine, from a form letter or
two:

Hi Mike,

The problem you referenced from point 1 is an issue we're aware of and
working to resolve. There are currently 2 options that will cause the
correct information to load correctly after clicking on the link your
friend provided.

Option 1) After clicking on the link, enter a quantity and click ADD
TO ORDER. Once the description information loads down the left panel,
click on the "Catalog Page" link. Once the catalog page loads in the
main frame, you can click on any of the other links (i.e. Product
Specifications, More About Aluminum and Aluminum Alloys, etc.) and the
information should load like normal in the main frame.

Option 2) Create a profile by going to the CURRENT ORDER page,
selecting the "I am new to this website" option and completing all of
the requested fields. Once a profile is established and you have
placed your first online order with us, the site will load all
information for any part without the need of entering in a quantity.

With regards point 2, our site actually does not estimate shipping
charges. Orders usually cost between $7 and $15 to ship. The receipt
we send you will show the package weight and shipping charges.

We appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us and
we appreciate your input.

[man's name]
McMaster-Carr


Wow. WRT my point 1) I'm a programmer myself, and I can't help
thinking I could solve their problem in two days, and certainly no
more than a week. Option 2 is a big clue that might make it much
less than two days.

As to my point 2, very interesting and I'm a little confused. It
isn't really a receipt until you've paid them. Maybe they mean an
invoice, or maybe they mean you charge it your open account or give
them a credit card number and agree to pay whatever shipping turns out
to cost. That's the way corporations usually work. I wish I weren't
so cheap, but otoh, I'm giving it away after I fix it.

I'm guessing it would be their normal minimum, 7 dollars, for
something very light and thin, but 6 feet long. (I gave him my
zipcode and the specific part, hoping he'd tell me, but he didn't.)