How's your local welding store??

I want to know how your local welding store is. Please state your area, but not necessarily the name of the store. This is why I ask. It seems that, as a guy that's been out of the welding "scene" for some time, going into a welding store, I felt like once I was sized up as an amateur looking to part with less than $50.00, and not a commercial whale forking out $2000.00 a month, I was not treated the way I felt that a customer should be. This has happened at every welding store in the area, with 1 exception, and unfortunately that 1 exception has an employee who is a sanctimonious, condescending little **ick that would rather be surfing ebay than helping a customer make a decision. I guess that what I could equate it to is going to a regular auto parts store, vs. walking into a racing shop. In my experience, The auto parts store is going to give you about the same level of service wether you're buying a $4.00 PCV valve, or a $600.00 set of brake rotors. The racing shop will politely tolerate your request for the PCV valve, and possibly refer you to the auto parts store to get it, perk up a little for the rotors, but still consider you a waste of time until you've established yourself as a customer by buying a $7500.00 crate motor. The biggest difference is that the auto parts store has a much larger base of competition, big box retailers nipping their heels on oil and filter prices, and the internet, dealerships, and independent shops on the upper end. Whereas the racing shop relies on customers spending much more per capita to pay the rent and light the lights. Our friends at the LWS seem to not realize the impact the internet is having on people similar to those found on this site, we are finding VALUE here. If you have had a positive or negative experience, please post it.

There is a family owned welding shop that actually has two or three locations, that is very friendly. They will sell tungsten by the piece if that's what you want, sell filler rod the same way. Pick out what you want, 6 of these, 12 of that, whatever, they weigh it , no hassle. Prices aren't bad either. When I needed to buy an argon tank, I stopped there to get a price then was going to compare to another national store (Airgas) that was nearby, well, I ran into the owner in the parking lot, real nice guy. He asked me my story and told me his. He kind of talked me into getting a 80 cu" bottle, explained how handy they are, and said any time I feel I need something bigger, he'd give me full purchase price towards the bigger tank.(which I wound up doing). Anyway, I feel very welcome there.

some what the same experiance - called around to price out tanks and refills. Called some of the big names and got some outragous prices. Called some big name local shops and got even worse pricing. Found an independent shop right by the house that was friendly and quite fair on the tank price and rental, plus they are open on Saturday.

Then for supply I shopped around on the web and found the best prices turned out to be another local shop. So I called in an order and the fella didnt seems to thrilled with my order, but hey its 150$. So later this week I am going to stop by to place that gave me a good price on argon to see how there prices are on filler rod, tungstons and consumables. I am hoping they have a price close to the other place so I dont have to go back. I know I am never going to spend as much as a weld shop, but hey that is no reason to jack me around.

Phx, Az is the area.

Vern Lewis Welding treats everyone very nice, but they are the most expensive place to shop. They also B.S. customers, so you never know if they are giving you the straight scoop or just saying whatever it takes to sell you something. I almost bought a Dynasty 350 tigrunner from them, but the regional manager blew the sale. $7K sale blown out the door because he tried to screw around on the pricing and jerk me around.
Phx Welding Supply is exactly like your bad experience.
Praxair stores have the nicest people, are flexible on pricing, and give everyone the same respect and service whether it is for a $2 cable lug or a $3500 welder.

Funny, most of my HVAC supply houses sound exactly like your bad experience. I spent over $140K at one and the counter people still treat customers like garbage. So I started buying from their biggest competitor this year. This is the third year in a row that bad counter help has driven me to change product lines and start buying from another supply house.

stopped by on my way home yesterday and 4043 was just about twice the price. 3/32 %2 lanthinated was 48$ for a 10pack but they would have to order them, they only had pure, zercoinated, and ceriated. So this place will just be my argon supplier, while grumpy will get my filler rod business

I use a smaller family owned shop that uses airgas for the tanks. Real friendly and helpful. I went in and told them up front I knew nothing and was learning as a hobbyist. They answered all my questions helped with mig tip selection, and even GAVE me a bunch of tig rod for Aluminum. Needless to say I get my gas and consumables from them now.

The town I live in has only 1 family owned welding supply shop. I have had pretty good luck there and they are always nice too. I usually get my gas cylinders filled there, but plan on buying my rods from there now also. They have given me a few samples of different welding rods that welded better than the Hobart rods I use. I also bought some er70s-6 1/16 tig filler rod for 4 dollars per pound which is pretty cheap compared to ordering it and paying shipping.

The only 2 LWS I have been in have both been great to deal with and I even told them right up front I was a mere hobbyist.

Would you believe the first was Praxair and the second AirGas.

To my disappointment the Very last independently owned Supply firm just sold out to Air Liquide this week. So now they only have 1 competitor, Air Gas. And Liquide has 5 stores that used to be Mom and Pop kind of places. There is no Praxair here for some reason.
I guess I’m going to have to breakdown and see the AirGas folks, as Liquide charges about 20% more, but it’s getting to the point they have a monopoly on Gas and charge accordingly.
Found out when calling for some C25, now I’m majorly bummed.

No local welding store near me. I have to travel 80 miles to Airgas but they seem friendly so far although the counter person denied any knowledge of lanthinated tungsten even though it is in their catalog.

Thurmond

my LWS told me the only people that use lanthinated use it for working on nuke's...and thats why they dont carry them

I am using lanthinated because I saw the testing of tungsten over at weldingtipsandtricks.com and they seemed to hold up better. I found a tri-blend tungsten at diamondground.com and they offered free samples so I ordered a couple of those but have not received them yet.

Thurmond

I have 3 welding supply stores in my area (Holland & Grand Rapids, MI). I personally deal with LWS in Holland exclusively, I have never felt like they are treating me any different that any customer that shops there. I have even had them spend good amounts of time trying to track down a new mig torch for my 16 year old Century welder that I didn't buy from them and they don't even sell the brand. The only time I have a bad experience is self inflicted when I spend TOO much money with them.

i have a airgas and a praxair in my area and a couple mom and pop shops. suprisingly the mom and pop shops had the worst customer service. airgas knocked $100 off my welding hood and $50 off the purchase of my 125 bottle. i told them i wasn't new to welding but getting my own setup since i was always borrowing my buddies and just a hobbist. everytime i've been in there they always take really good care of me and the 1 time they couldn't help me they sent me to a competitor because they knew he had it in stock. i've only been into the local praxair once and he spent an hour trying to help me find consumables for my pu205's plasma torch and ended up not being any help but he sure tried like hell. the mom and pop shops asked me what welder they were for then turned up their nose and told me to buy a real welder

oh and this is in the corpus christi, tx area

I stopped by my LWS and was floored by the prices, they are a local chain, Rockford Industrial Welding Supply. They wanted $200 for a new 125 bottle then almost $100 to fill it. Then I figured they would make me exchange if for a used one at the next fill so I would pay through the nose for nothing more than a used bottle in the end. I ended up getting an 80 (C25 mix) for the MIG, and a 125 (Ar) for the TIG for $75 each on Craigslist outside of Chicago.

There is a place up in Beloit WI that I want to check out when can sneak up there on the bike next week. They look Mom & Pop and have MUCH better prices than RIWS.

I have 2 LWS in my area, I primarily use the one that is closest to me. They are nice and they know I am a hobby welder. There prices are high so buy most of my stuff on line. If I need some filler rod they have a good selection an I can buy 1 pound at a time. I am not sure about the prices on gas refills but I think they are high as well. So my LWS is convenient friendly and expensive.

I went in and talked to my local guys at Machine & Welding Supply after work and told them I was just learning. Aaron an older guy behind the counter walked thru the shop showing me things to consider (or not, and why). Good inexpensive regulators, good cheap wire brushes (he said to go to Harbor Freight) cups etc. He explained why he thought certain products were good and why others weren't (returns, customer complaints, price). I pulled out my shopping list and he went thru it and told me what I didn't need initially from the list which I thought was pretty cool. He basically asked how close I was and asked If I had good filler rod storage, I said no. He told me I lived close so just buy a pound or two then come back and get fresh. Prices were pretty much in line with online cost if you count shipping. I really enjoyed dealing with Aaron and MWS and I wont hesitate to go back.

I went to a welders supply here in Charlotte NC Its a small family owned business, has been around from the 70's and The folks there treated me well. I was only upgrading to a larger argon bottle and told them I was just a hobbyist. the owner talked to me for 1/2 hour and answered all my questions about Helmets, and tig torches like I was spending $1000a month there for years. They even took $30 off what he told me the cost would be when I called for the larger Argon tank. I spoke with him about the Everlast line of machines and asked if he was interested in possibly becoming a dealer, He said he may be,(Oleg PM or call me) as Blue and Red wanted him to buy way more machines every month then he could move.

ram48,
I think I've been there. Are they just off 85 in the charlotte area? I can't remember which exit!?!

I went in to get a co2 bottle filled, they filled it and refused to charge me anything. He sold me my extension cord at the old copper prices, and then stabbed me good and hard on some tig rod. All in all about even, and I'm happy to be treated well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zoomie

ram48,
I think I've been there. Are they just off 85 in the charlotte area? I can't remember which exit!?!

---

Yes they are. they moved in the past year but only a few blocks away to 419 Enterprise drive off of 32nd street. Great people, I should be picking up my torch and stuff tomorrow, but I still need to finish building my tig cooler but its on hold waiting for the parts to come in from e bay vendors and other on line sources they should all be in my hands by the weekend.

I have been to the LWS stores in Frederickburg (AirGas & Arcet) & Richmond VA (GTS-Welco), Jacksonville, Fl (AirGas), and San Diego CA (AirGas). I would rank them according to customer service and selection.

AirGas (Fredericksburg & GTS-Welco) #1 for customer service
AirGas (San Diego) and GTS-Welco #1 for selection

Only bummer, GTS-Welco is 65 miles from home. AirGas Fredericksburg gets my business when I need something.

Sorry to dig up an old thread ... I travel a good deal for my job, so I've been waiting months for a week day when I could go visit some shops.

I just got back, and was less than impressed. The first shop I visited (an independent shop near Ft. Worth), I had already traded emails with regarding tank pricing and refills. I just had a few questions about lease vs. own, and the kid behind the counter seemed like he could care less; acted like I was bothering him.

Then I went to the Airgas around the corner. Prices were a little bit better, and the counter guy was more helpful. However, another customer was there trying to swap a 300cf for something smaller, and they were giving him almost no trade in value ... not something I want to hear when I'm getting ready to buy a tank. Neither of these places seemed to have much inventory, aside from the blue and red machines you practically have to step over to get in the door.

So, I'm still looking for an LWS where I actual *want* to spend my money. Any suggestions would be appreciated (DFW metro area); and a place open on Saturday would be a big plus ;) .

Cheers
Mike

I've got a smaller operation here I go to. I live in Leander (basically Austin), TX. It's actually one of the branch locations for a place out of Waco, TX, but I'm pretty sure it's locally owned. I've been pretty impressed with them so far. I get my gas and almost all of my supplies there. They have pretty darn good prices on filler too, especially steel. ER70S-6 in 3/32" is only $2.50 a lb from them. I was pretty impressed. I thought ARC-zone had the best prices around on that stuff. They are a bit higher on aluminum, so I guess it evens out in the end, plus I don't have to pay shipping from ordering it online. Only issue I've had from them is a contaminated bottle of Argon, which was actually their gas supplier's fault (the main place in Waco). They admitted it and fixed it no problem though.

I've never felt that I've been looked down on or not taken seriously there. In fact, they are more patient than I've seen a lot of people. Heck, just the other day, a lady walked in looking to buy "a welder". She had no info beyond that. Apparently she and her husband had some sort of business, and they used to contract it out. They had decided to weld stuff themselves. The guy behind the counter was genuinely trying to help her out by asking about application and her needs. He eventually had to send her on her way with a Miller brochure.

It is funny how each person finds different things. Not in Dallas, but here the big stores are a joke, smaller ones are good. AirGas here is new and I do not think they will last long no matter how deep the pockets are. Welder Services are the best (they earned their name). Lake is a close second (family owned local here only). Prax is close and just OK.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zmechanic

He eventually had to send her on her way with a Miller brochure.

---

That speaks well of the salesman, who could have said "Well of course you need the super duper Spiffo-matic model right here" and set her up with a big bad machine that was way more than she needed. I hope he said something like "You really need to consider this, this, and that, along with a certain amount of infrastructure to support the machine." And then I hope he said something like "Here's what you need to make a smart decision, please come see me when you decide to buy" because he deserves some consideration for imparting the knowledge.

When I built my alternator TIG setup, I knew nothing about TIG welding besides what I had read and the videos I had watched online. I have 2 small gas bottles that I used with my MIG welder, one as a main, and one I kept as a backup in case I ran out of gas on the weekend. I called around to different places asking about having my one bottle purged and refilled with pure argon. Every place I called said either that they wouldn't purge my bottle for me(they wanted me to buy a new bottle) or quoted me some ridiculous price for purging it. I knew of a place would do it for a fair price but I had recently moved a few towns over and it was kinda out of my way to go to them. I was on my way out of town and on my way to my old town when I spotted a small welding supply shop and decided to stop and talk to them. I told them right away that I had never TIG welded before in my life and that the welder I was going to learn on I had built myself out of spare parts and had no idea if it would even work. The shop owner looked stunned(and a little impressed) that I had built my own welder and he told me he was willing to help me with whatever I needed. I explained to him my bottle situation and he said he would purge, vacuum, and fill my tank for just the price of a refill.(+1) I then told him that I would be needing some 3/32" Thoriated tungsten. He said that somebody had been in earlier in the morning and bought all of their red tungsten in that size but he recommended the 2% Lanthanated tungsten and said he'd give it to me for the price of the Thoriated since it was a tiny bit cheaper.(+2) I told him I'd take the purge/refill, a pack of the tungsten, and a pound of 1/16" ER70-S2 filler. (Every other shop in town will only sell tungsten by the whole pack, and filler by the whole pound. I understand this fully and I was fine with this.) As the owner was ringing me up he said to me, "Since you're just starting out and trying to see if your machine works, why are you buying so many tungstens and so much filler?" I told him about my experience at other shops and that I just figured that was the only way they sold it. He said, "Oh, hell, I'll sell you whatever you need. I have a scale to weigh filler. Whatever amount you want. And I'll sell you tungsten by the stick."(+3) I told him I'd still take the pound of filler, the gas, but only 3 sticks of tungsten(I figured a newbie with a scratch-start setup, I'd be sharpening a lot of tungsten in the beginning.) He was ringing me up and it came to $37 dollars and some change. I handed him two, twenty dollar bills and he goes, "You know what, you seem like a smart kid that really wants to learn how to TIG weld, I'm gonna cut you a break since you're a first time customer here." He hit VOID on the register and rang me up for $30 dollars even and handed me a $10 back. Then he reached under the counter and handed me a small booklet on the TIG process. I thanked him for the deal, the information, and the help he had given me and told him that if my machine worked I would definitely be back as a life long customer. He told me, "Don't worry about it. Anything to help out a young man willing to learn a real industry trade." I went outside, collected my filled gas bottle and was on my way. These guys went above and beyond(compared to every other place I had been to) to help me out and get me exactly what I needed. They earned a life long customer that day and I've told many people about this experience and I'm sure they've gotten more customers from the people that I have told. Overall this was the best customer service I've ever received at a welding supply shop and they didn't talk down to me because I was a newbie. Instead they offered help and information to help me out in learning something new. Sorry for such a long post, but these guys really deserve credit for the great job they are doing. The name of the shop is "Dale Oxygen" in Indiana, Pa. Just in case anybody is in the area and needs a good welding supply store.

I think I found a decent place today in Ft. Worth. Of course it's a further drive, but it's an independent shop and the guy there was more than willing to answer all of my questions, even though I wasn't spending any money. I mentioned I had been over to Airgas yesterday, and the guy chuckled and said that "they won't even help you load a cylinder over there". Ironically, while I was at Airgas yesterday, a customer said exactly the same thing (with out the chuckle) as he tried to unload his 300cf tank ;) .

PM me if you are looking for a shop in FTW, and we can compare notes.

Cheers
Mike

I just moved to Fresno, CA, and haven't established myself with a welding vendor just yet.
But out in Colorado, i always went to General Air in Boulder, CO.
They always had great service, very knowledgeable staff, and would take the time to answer all my questions, and if they didn't know them off hand, they would actually do the leg-work right there in front of me to get my answers. I'm just a custom shop, and not a big production welding place, so i am by no means a big fish at a welding store, but i got great service all the same. I end up welding strange alloys and odd job processes in custom work, and they always helped me out.
I think the only time that i managed to stump the guy on getting me a part that i needed was when i was looking for the flux and goggle lenses to use when Oxy-Acetylene welding Aluminum.

Another reason I love my local welding store. I went in to buy some 1/8'' 6010 and 7018s. I was a little short on cash and couldn't afford a 10 pound can of each. instead, i walked out with a 10 pound can of the 6010s and probably 5 or so pounds of 7018s they gave me for free that had sitting out in a bin to sell by the pound. they were atom arcs and despite sitting out for probably a couple years, they welded quiet nicely for practice.

Check in with your local welding stores regarding any samples they may have. A lot of times they'll receive a 1 lb sample to give away or test, and usually it will be a box full of them. It was sometime last year I scored some rods to test, that were just enough to complete a project I had going. Not only did they weld good and finish my project, they made a believer out of me and have bought them since.

I went to get some 309 tig rod and couldnt find any. The local welding supply ended up digging out a few after searching for at least 10 minutes and ended up just giving them to me for free.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by A/C Guy

Phx, Az is the area.

Vern Lewis Welding treats everyone very nice, but they are the most expensive place to shop. They also B.S. customers, so you never know if they are giving you the straight scoop or just saying whatever it takes to sell you something. I almost bought a Dynasty 350 tigrunner from them, but the regional manager blew the sale. $7K sale blown out the door because he tried to screw around on the pricing and jerk me around.
Phx Welding Supply is exactly like your bad experience.
Praxair stores have the nicest people, are flexible on pricing, and give everyone the same respect and service whether it is for a $2 cable lug or a $3500 welder.

Funny, most of my HVAC supply houses sound exactly like your bad experience. I spent over $140K at one and the counter people still treat customers like garbage. So I started buying from their biggest competitor this year. This is the third year in a row that bad counter help has driven me to change product lines and start buying from another supply house.

---

I shop at the Vern Lewis in Avondale and have no problems with the service. As for prices they are about the same as Prax Air from my experience but with all welding store, your cost will depend on what account you use for purchasing. If you have a large company or are part of a large company you can typically get much better pricing than someone who just shows up to a shop to spend twenty five dollars. I purchased my Miller 252 at Vern Lewis and it was 2050 out the door with Tax, not a bad deal, best price I could find in town or on the net.