Fastenal reviews

3.5

65% would recommend to a friend

(5,795 total reviews)

Daniel Florness

78% approve of CEO

58% positive business outlook

Fastenal has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 5,795 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Fastenal employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Transporte y logística industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

6K reviews
2.0
Jun 19, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Benefits were some of the best I have ever had at a company. The salary plus commission structure can allow for some people to make a descent salary but...

Cons

...Very long hours. Average workday is from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm (with other branches having extended hours). Upper management is very strict on sales numbers and will constantly micro manage you in hopes that you will hit your monthly goals. My district manager was very fond of sending the entire district progress reports on how each individual branch was doing and would make it a point to highlight the good and the bad. Product would either come in late or not at all and would force you to constantly apologize to customers. It is very hard to keep customers when you tell them that there order will arrive in the morning, but when they come to pick it up there is nothing there. It is very easy for them to go to other suppliers that stock much of the product that Fastenal has to order. The growth potential at this company is an absolute joke. I worked for the the company for three years and was initially told that branch manager positions open up very often. In the three years I worked there, I saw two positions open and roughly twenty salespeople apply for them. Don't expect a raise. If you want to take a customer to lunch, it comes out of your own pocket and is not reimbursed. The list goes on and on.

2.0
Apr 17, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you love dealing with customers, then this is the job for you. I literally learn something new every day. This may differ from branch to branch, but we have customers bring something weird in about every day. And we have to figure out what they need. If we don't have that product, we will call around town to see who does. It's ALL about customer service with Fastenal. If you don't mind being screwed around a bit on your pay and promises, then this is the job for you. Financially, Will Oberton has made some great decisions to keep this company alive. It really is a sound and strong company that is still opening new branch locations in this failing economy.

Cons

When it comes to upper management, they are just businesspeople that have been working for this company for years. They just think in a business sense, and not in a personal one. When you are hired on part-time, and are told that you will be going full-time within 6 months, and then after two years you are still part-time, some respect becomes lost. It's like from the district managers and above, they just forget about the real people of the business. We make their paychecks, and they just don't care about promises they make, or feelings they hurt. This company is a great, strong company, but we are definitely not a family. Families have respect for one another, and they can trust each other on their promises. Fastenal is just a company without a heart, and is not in touch with its employees.

3.0
Feb 23, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

As I went to work for the company about x years ago, I found Fastenal to be one of the most enjoyable and fulfilling positions I have ever had. They have a great benefit package for the full time employees. Insurance and leave. That sort of thing. Money was fair. Not really the greatest, but mostly livable. Advancement then was good. Mostly inside promotions and then outside hire to fill the vacancies left by them. That ws then.

Cons

During the first x years of employment, my branch was one ot the top producing branches in our district and region. We reached our "Sales Goal" every month for more than a year straight. Then the company got the bright idea to try and fix what was not broken. They got Money Hungry. This is when it all started to go down hill. Not only was it Fastenal, but the administration we had in the whitehouse at the time caused the "recession". Instead of taking a step back and looking at the new econimical situation, Fastenal just went ahead and raised all of the goals and expectations for the branches. Busness fell and so did numbers. Instead of lowering margin and selling more, they put a stop to discounts and made branches sell at full "wholesale" and give minimal discounts. Sales fell farther. Margin on what sales we did make were higher, but not near enough to make up the difference. So we were making 60% of $1000.00 ($600.00) instead of 48% of $2000.00 ($960.00) for the same period of time.....??? See anything wrong?

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