First the good stuff - everyone I've ever spoken to at Specialty Metals has been super nice, friendly, and helpful. Even when I didn't know the precise terms for things, they figured out what I was asking for and found it. The aluminum extrusion products I purchased were spot on and very high quality. Their facility in Kent is clean, organized, easy to find and get out of in a truck.
But it seems like every time I'd call asking about my order, we had to play the "I'll have to call you back - I'm not finding you in the system" game. It got frustrating - especially on pickup day, when they simply could not find my pre-paid order and had to call me back a half hour later.
Also, if you get a quote, ask that it be in WRITING. When I first called I was given one price which seemed about right. After calling a few other places to compare, I called SM back and they said there was no record of any previous quote to be found! "Do you know who you talked to?" Why would I have known that? And without a quote in the system, what are they going to know anyway?
And on this second call, the material was now $75 (30%) more than the first quote. Sure - the metals markets go up and down - I get that. But not an increase of 30% in a day! Maybe the first person read the wrong column or the second person - but I had no choice - I needed the material so just paid it. There was no point in arguing - I had no written quote.
Lastly, they said it would take 2-3 days and they'd call me... after 8 days went by I called, and once they were finally able to "find me in the system" they confirmed "Oh yeah, that came in last week". But they never did call.
Overall, I do still recommend them and I would use them again. They're the best such company in the area that I've found. I've just learned to ask for everything in WRITING, and to allow extra time until they can "find me in the system" once again.
Would have been 5 stars otherwise if not for these annoying issues read more