Fastenal reviews

3.4

62% would recommend to a friend

(5,828 total reviews)

Daniel Florness

76% approve of CEO

57% positive business outlook

Fastenal has an employee rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 5,828 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 Transportation & Logistics industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

6K reviews
2.0
Dec 6, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

-They fly you to Minnesota for a week. -You get to learn about all sorts of fasteners -Meet interesting people -If you have large accounts you are set, with little work needed -You get to drive a sweet pick up truck all day (if OSP) -Invest in the stock, it WILL rise. -You WILL learn conflict resolution and gain other experience you can use on a resume since you will be doing so many things.

Cons

-Terrible payment structure, it is growth oriented, so if you are not growing your commission is going down. -if you are an OSP (outside sales person) be prepared to do the work of 4 people (sales, ordering, delivering, accounts payable/receivable, debt collector, vending machine troubleshooter and repairer, sourcing), but being paid the amount of one -Management doesn't really care unless you are representing large businesses. -Prices are extremely high (unless you buy a lot) so much so that medium to small size business' will go somewhere else. -Everybody is fighting each other for sales, they promote a team atmosphere but they really mean "it is YOUR problem... why are you not a team player?" -Really push selling their 'new' solutions ie. Vending machines, they get upset if you don't, but if you do provide zero support for problems that WILL happen. -'Change prices based on market!' is good until the price is below a 50% margin, then you will have to sell items at a higher cost to other people to keep your margin at a demanded 50% -Cost in the POS system is laughably wrong, so much so that i call vendors for real pricing, just to find out that the system inflates the cost so they make a better margin on their books, but not on your score sheet. Since YOUR margin is based off the system -Training is all over the place and they spend more time on HOW to sell than teaching you WHAT you are selling, which makes it difficult if you are asked any questions. -"Growth through Customer Service" is their motto, yet provide zero customer service training. Which makes sense, since i saw absolutely zero customer service from co-workers and managers. Most of the complaints i received were customer service complaints oh and pricing. -The shareholders love this company because it sells 'mostly' cheap products from China for unreal prices for amazing margins, on the backs of over-worked (unless you have large clients then just ignore the rest), low paid front end employees with a very high turn over rate.

3.0
Aug 26, 2013

great staff, good pay, lots of opportunity

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Flexible shifts, base salary plus com.

Cons

Mass confusion experienced by every employee from top to bottom

2.0
Jun 19, 2013
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

lots of freedom, vending solutions and vendor managed inventory can be a fulfilling sell, if you want to relocate or wait for your GM to quit you can advance pretty easy

Cons

Where do I start! Probably the worst paying outside sales job ever (try living on 36,000 in the city), Fastenal has very high prices unless you're selling to a larger company. Nothing is more infuriating then having walk-in customers who need 5 bolts for their bike, if you are in a branch that isn't making 50,000+ you get stuck as a Sales trainee making a measly 36k @ 44 hours a week ($17/hr).

Viewing 5731 - 5733 of 5,828 Reviews

Glassdoor has 6,174 Fastenal reviews submitted anonymously by Fastenal employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Fastenal is right for you.