McMaster Carr is a fairly well known industrial vendor.
They have a reputation for having everything. They don't. They have a LOT and often I look there when I can't find things elsewhere quickly. They have it more often than not.
They have a reputation for being expensive. It's deserved on some product areas. That's the cost of having so many things available quickly from one vendor. However often they are not the most expensive vendor for items, and sometimes they even have best price.
They have a reputation for good customer service. I've only heard one or two stories that made me go "huh?" That's pretty impressive considering their size and scope of product. Personally I have experienced exemplary customer service. When other people like the carrier cause problems McMaster has made sure I had the parts, tools, or materials I needed and said, "we'll worry about the finances later," often eating some of those extra costs to fix somebody else's mistake themselves.
During our recent supply chain interruptions I finally had one of my first out of stock issues on a common item. Something I buy from them by the hundreds. They didn't just back order it or string me along like so many vendors. They sent me a personal email within minutes letting me know it was out of stock, and I was able to order from another vendor to keep my own inventory up where it needs to be.
One of the biggest legitimate complaints I have heard about McMaster is you don't know what the shipping charges are going to be. You create your account, put your credit card on file (or open a net terms account), order your parts, and wait to find out how much the shipping will be when they ship it if you order online. I prefer to order on-line. It gives me the option of searching multiple options and selecting the best one for my application. Today I was ordering some stock, and I had to remember to switch the taxable setting. I noticed something else, but it didn't register until later. The website showed a calculated shipping charge before check out. It was a few minutes later when I received the tracking notifications that it dawned on me.
I don't know when it changed, but today when I checked out it showed me the shipping charge before I submitted the order.