What's going on with Supplyhouse.com
Been buying from SH, almost from day one. Love them and will always love them. But they have taken a major major step in the wrong direction. Started with covid and not getting better. Just went online to order some Veiga fittings and some Taco 007. Today is Friday and they said it's not coming until next thursday. These are not exotic items. These are some of their biggest sellers. And this is just not a one-time thing. Been like this for a while. Once upon a Time, put could order just about anything by 6:00 p.m. and have it next day. Now, it's hit or miss with the next day. And a rather large percentage of their items do not show up on the promised delivery date. They are still the best show in town but sad sad sad sad sad. And for the record, I do not live in a remote part of the country. I am in good old NYC
Comments
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Christmas?
Come on, 90% of my presents could easily come from there………..
Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.
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I for one, will not shed a tear if the corporate SH goes out. I prefer keeping the local family run Plumbing Supply businesses alive that on-line shopping is helping to kill. Though you may pay a little more, local Plumbing Supply businesses usually stock what you need on demand or will have it within days, And, provide professional advice to average DIY types such as myself. Just sayin,
Regards,
RTW
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This is not nothing new problem. Been going on ever since covid.
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Made running the business so much easier, when you know that you could get just about everything you need next day. And when you knew that the delivery date was actually the delivery date. I was assuming for a while that was a UPS problem. But on closer examination, don't think that's the case. When my deliveries are late and I check with ups and they say they have not yet received the package, then it is on SH and not on UPS
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I love mom and pop stores, as much as the next guy. But supply house stock is infinitely better. And again, with next day delivery, keeping in stock was a breeze. So much more efficient that way.
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i have also experienced the same and now i don't really count on them getting everything in one shipment and can be sure that something will not show up when i need it . So even though i pay way more i just go to the local independent supply house and pass the lack of saving right onto the job no biggie . As things go i believe this is the new normal and i guess unless your sitting on a bunch of inventory of everything , people will have to wait and get used to paying more due to having to buy and hold inventory ,letting your money sit gaining zippo really not the smartest way to make your money work for ya being no one should let they money sit around and not be working for them all the time sitting on large stock piles of inventory is great for the big guys or ones wanting to be but im just a guy w a tool box and a truck trying to make a living fixing stuff nothing more . Tight times and tough competition between contractors for work just makes it tougher when everyone looks at the bottom line price and for me that's fine cant work where u aint making bacon plus i'm old ain't no competition left in me when i comes to work lower your price aint making u bacon just making you work harder and faster zero sense all should work like gentlemen not sweat shop factory workers . quality does not happen at break neck speeds garbage and mistakes and maybe a little profit happen if your lucky . Life is not all about production and how many you do its about being yourself and true too yourself . Remember one time around is all you get before the show ends .
peace and good luck clammy
R.A. Calmbacher L.L.C. HVAC
NJ Master HVAC Lic.
Mahwah, NJ
Specializing in steam and hydronic heating
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Living on the East End of the island IF parts were delivered next day it was late in the day so count as 2 days.
F W Webb, Blackmsn, Sid Harveys in riverhead most times.
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My guess is they have lost people due to a poor inner circle.
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I'm under the impression that they are expanding. Maybe they're splitting their resources now
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And it's not a holiday issue. I ordered some things today and they're supposed to be delivered tomorrow. I ordered some other things as mentioned above and there not coming until Thursday
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supply house.com started out of a small plumbing supply business in NY. The boys embraced the Amazon model and ran with it. They have expanded across the country with the goal of one day shipping to anywhere.
There must be a wrench in the works somewhere?
Bob "hot rod" Rohr
trainer for Caleffi NA
Living the hydronic dream
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Because of SupplyHouse most of my stuff was done using Ward USA made fittings as well as USA made nipples.
My local supply house only carries Chinese fittings and typically at the same cost as those Ward fittings at supplyhouse.com Supplyhouse also has a much much larger selection of fittings.
So, I would shed a tear.
Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.
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Agree that they have been slower as of late this was even before the holidays. I mainly use them for my oil stuff, because no one really stocks that in SE MI. They still are pretty decent for the one off parts you might need. Even local supply houses seem to take longer for parts. Unfortunately we can't sit on tons of inventory for spare parts. Had a Crown Boiler yesterday that I needed the control / spark module for. Won't get that until Monday. You just feel bad for the customers when your hands are tied with getting repairs parts.
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I've used SH for parts or tools I can't get quickly locally with no problem, The last order was before Thanksgiving (I had a knee replaced so I haven't really done much this month). I've never had problems with delivery, although I've had orders delivered in different boxes a day or two apart because they came from different warehouses. I still prefer to use my local supply houses, but SupplyHouse.com is a valuable backup resource.
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Does SH run their own fulfillment centers?
A lot of online retailers use third party warehousing services, which were incredibly fast and cheap for years. I used them in my business before I sold it. For a long time I could warehouse and ship through them for cheaper than just the shipping costs I could get through UPS. After they got us hooked on the low prices and unable to fulfill on their own they started squeezing us with fees, shipments got slower, and it got hard to get compensated when items got lost.
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They moved warehouse to NJ from Farmingdale LI a few years ago. Fulfillment time on LI went way up after that
To learn more about this professional, click here to visit their ad in Find A Contractor.1 -
I suspect manpower issues like everyone else. Especially when you grow quickly in multiple states like they have.
Bob "hot rod" Rohr
trainer for Caleffi NA
Living the hydronic dream0 -
I have been using supplyhouse without any issues, orders have been filled and delivered on time. I would be dissapointed if they were not available as a resource for me. My mom and pop supply houses can not afford the selection they have. They have answered my questions when needed and returns have been smooth when necessary.
Just my humble experience and opinion.
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that inventory used to sit in the distributor's warehouse. now that have systems the let their corporate overlords see that it is sitting there and they aren't making money off it, combined with customers only concerned with price and investors only concerned with short term profit means the distributor no longer stocks things that someone might not need that often but when they need it, they need it now, so the distributor no longer has it in stick to ship to the supply house or maybe the factory even needs to make some when you try to order one.
it is making decisions solely on short term money and statistics and not by someone that understands the business and what things might not be very profitable but are things you need right now when you do need them.
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on a side note, i have ordered things from supplyhouse.com with crazy lead times of like months and got them in a week or so, i don't think the lead times are correct at all when they have to order something from a distributor. i live in michigan so I don't expect things the next day but am surprised when i get most of an order the next day. they are spending a lot on shipping to get the lead times down by shipping as much as they can as soon as they can.
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covid and working from home and few customers gave everyone time to implement terrible ideas they'd had for years but were too busy to implement.
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We use them all the time. If they have a long lead time on anything, their competitors do too. Over all, their prices are better and lead times excellent.
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Their website has been a mess for at least a year now and takes forever to get anything done, but they have just about everything I need and although it has always taken 3-6 business days to get anything, that's still faster than any of my local suppliers and almost always at a better price. I get boilers from my local suppliers, but everything else besides hard pipe, MAPP gas, etc comes from online vendors. Cost is a big part of what keeps me in business, but the convenience factor of ordering 300 different items for a dozen jobs at 2am when I can't sleep rather than spending 2 hours on the phone during business hours when I'm supposed to be working is worth everything to me. Just basic stuff like copper fittings or radiant manifolds or circulators might take 2 weeks to get from a local supplier, and they're often wrong when I finally do get them so I just gave up on that altogether unless I'm in a serious pinch and they happen to have whatever it may be on hand.
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Here's my theory: they outsource fulfilment, and the company they use serves many other businesses. Because of the holidays the cost of rush shipment goes way up in December for all shippers. Because of the nature of the plumbing business SH sales volume goes down in December, and SH is willing to accept a lower tier of service in exchange for better shipping rates.
The test will be what happens in January.
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The wrench in the works is the same problem that Wal-Mart has. Total inability to track the sales of the product combined with the lead time to procure additional product so the inventory is not depleted. Once you get too large, it's a daunting task and most of them fail.
I've frequently found that Wal-Mart will be out of a standard product for six weeks………….or more. The lack of capability is astounding.
Watch Supplyhouse devolve into similar.
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armchair logistics is fun!
NJ Steam Homeowner.
Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el
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"Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics." - Gen. Robert H. Barrow, USMC, Commandant of the Marine Corps
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Your profession is logistics?
Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.
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I agree that they are still the best show in town. By a very big margin. But they are not what they used to be. And that is a crying shame.
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Lets hope it's just growing pains
Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.
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Amen!
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these are coming from california after about 2 weeks for some reason:
https://www.supplyhouse.com/Piers-CH-GE112-1-1-2-Electro-Galvanized-Conduit-Clampstill not sure what their network of warehouses is.
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They have s good story to tell
https://www.supplyhouse.com/our-company
Bob "hot rod" Rohr
trainer for Caleffi NA
Living the hydronic dream0 -
I'm finding the same thing with them. I've had several customers inform me stuff they ordered last few weeks won't be in till the end of January!! Ridiculous. Supplyhouse.com is much better than Grainger's Ordering as far as using commonly-used trade names for items.
SH.com needs to improve their search bar: common items like black nipples should appear consecutively one after the other, but are scattered among totally different items...Time Consuming.
Their relocating to NJ is not a surprise given NYS Hostility to business. They are still the best show in town. Mad Dog
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SH.com needs to improve their search bar: common items like black nipples should appear consecutively one after the other, but are scattered among totally different items...Time Consuming.
Exactly right. The website does not appear to be designed at all. They just add things randomly and, apparently, hope that the search can find them. Otherwise, you can spend an hour on there to find three or four items.
Contrast that site with McMaster-Carr. Now here is a perfectly designed site. You can generally find anything in less than 30 seconds. I'd hazard a guess that McM has 10X the number of products that SH has.
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Interesting. I have almost never had trouble finding things on SH. One of the reasons that I love SH
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They also don't seem to have larger size pipe, valves & fittings. Mad Dog
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From the insight I have from being involved in some of there monthly contractor meetings there dealing with same as every other wholesaler is. The fulfillment is all done in house, they do same day delivers themselves in NJ and in other states that they have distribution. They do rely on UPS for all of there non same day deliveries which has been great. They move a lot inventory especially the smaller items. Equipment is slow moving because of price point which I’m told will change if they can move more. I know personally know of 3 contractors where able to get roof top units via through them for much cheaper and quicker then small and larger wholesalers. I was told that supplyhouse.com just played the middle man in those really big purchased and helped with the logistics. This all happened during Covid. When I’ve been and continue to be involved in these contractor meetings they do take the feedback and suggestions seriously because I’ve personally scene some responses to change very quickly. In the past 2 month I’ve had about a dozen deliveries completely screwed up from the larger wholesaler here in NJ. Some where scheduled out as early as 2 weeks prior to delivery. The amount of man hours lost on having to run out to pick up the correct materials is ridiculous and the response I get from the those wholesalers is oh we’re sorry. But I will say by far the best wholesaler out there and he will literally stand on his head for his clients is Henry’s Supply in Hawthorne NJ. One does pay more for products but the service is by far the best.
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Hi, You pay for it, but I've had only good experience with McMaster-Carr and their shipping time.
Yours, Larry
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I have some first hand stories of wholesalers buying from SH. Better pricing and faster delivery than a stocking order from the manufacturers😉
Bob "hot rod" Rohr
trainer for Caleffi NA
Living the hydronic dream0
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