Because of where I am, I'm dealing primarily with the NJ branch. I
recently purchased a pop-off valve that arrived damaged. They sent me
out a replacement right away, but charged my account twice for it. They
seems to think they shipped two replacements by mistake also, and keep
sending me past-due invoices for the 2nd phantom valve. It's 3 months
now and they have still not credited my account for the return either.

I also had a recent problem with a custom order too. I read in their
online catalog that they will make custom springs. It took me hours to
draft my spring in CAD and I sent it to them. Two days later I get back
an email from their LA branch that says "No bid." That's the complete
reply. I replied to this asking them to elaborate and explain what the
problem is. The reply I get: "We decline to offer on this spring".
Huh?? I sent them a very simple and not-at-all-unusual closed and
ground compression spring design from a standard size music wire. I
emailed again asking what it was about my drawing that made them
decline. No reply. In the end, I placed my order with Century Spring. I
will not be bothering with McMaster again for anything that's not in
their catalog.

I have one more complaint too--they don't put manufacturers names or
model numbers in their catalog. I wanted to get an exact replacement
part once, and I had to have my inquiry forwarded to 3 people before I
got them to cough up the manufacturer model # for a part in their
catalog. Why this basic (and often critical) information is not in the
catalog or available to the phone sales people is beyond me.