I spent like $9500 on welding crap in the Fall of 2018 at Baker's in Jackson. It was a circus complete with their online prices not matching their store prices... if I ordered it online they still wanted me to pick it up in the store, etc. It was a circus. They tried really hard, but I'm not sure success was in their toolbox. It took over a month for me to get my $2000 Alumapro because it kept wallowing between stores on the truck. The last time I went there they overcharged me for a work clamp and charged me double for a spool of aluminum wire (price on the shelf was per lb, price on the spool was for the whole spool, so they charged me twice the price on the spool as it was a 2lb spool).
The Tecumseh Baker's store is where I used to go before the Jackson store opened. I don't mind it, but I still preferred going "back home" upnorth to buy most of my stuff as Owosso isn't much further than Tecumseh. The store in Owosso I used to go to closed.
A few years ago I went to Lessor's to get new tanks and they wanted $100 more than Airgas plus their lease fees were more than Airgas. Basically I could buy a tank for $400 or lease one for $7.50/month plus fees for a tank I can buy from anyone else for $240. I bought some consumables there including a pack of ten tips for 30% more than MSRP ($23 for ten tips when Baker's had them for $12). I tried to get Lessor's to fill my tanks but they wanted even more than if I leased the tanks (basically were building the monthly lease fee into the cost of the fill of your own tank). It's actually cheaper for me to get CO2 filled ($3/lb) for my brewing crap from Adventures in Homebrewing than Lessor's. Lessor's in Burton is way better. I might be willing to give Lessor's in Scio Township another try if they are better than when they first opened down here. I've been going to Airgas in Jackson for tanks. Most of my tanks have Airgas stickers on them now.
Do you know if the Lessor's guys care about tanks being out of cert or who owns them? I've got a bunch of tanks from places that don't exist anymore that need a hydro cert/expired.
Lately I've been buying all my crap online and just getting my tanks filled at Airgas.
Would like to give my money to someone who might appreciate it more/support a local business. Not like deals are to be found on Miller stuff.
