Winnelson

We used Winnelson when we built our home (twice because of a tornado) and found them great to work with and well priced. While they are probably more used to working directly with builders/​plumbers, if you have any sense of people skills and humor — I found them very responsive and informative. I’ll trade knowledge any day of the week over Happy Johnny at a big box store who doesn’t know his product and function.

I had one dealing with Winnelson and found the customer service to be very satisfactory. It’s clear these guys are used to dealing with contractors, plumbers, and the like. They aren’t salesmen and their communication skills could probably use a brush up. But they know their stuff and I found Winnelson’s prices to be fair. I was pleased.

I recently was in need of a new water heater. Instead of starting at Lowe’s or The Home Depot, I decided to check out Winnelson, partly because I wanted to support local business and partly because the front of the business states that they sell water heaters and that they’re open to the public.
So I give Winnelson a call. A gentleman answers the phone.
«Winnelson.» he says so quickly that I have no idea who I’ve called.
«I’m sorry. Who is this?» I ask.
«Winn-​El-​Son.» he says like he’s talking to a moron. I may be a lot of things, but one thing I am not, folks, is a moron.
«Hi. I was calling to see what your price is for a 40 gallon electric water heater.»
«(some price).» he said. I can’t remember exactly.
«Okay. And what brand is that?»
«(some brand).» he said. Again, speaking so quickly, I couldn’t understand at all.
«I’m sorry?»
«(some brand).» Again he said it like he was speaking to a person who knew no English.
At that point the price, availability, or the idea of supporting local business were non-​factors. These guys must have a very loyal customer base, because if they are as rude and condescending to other people as they were with me that day, I can’t imagine that they attract a ton of new customers.