Tool Man ride along

[lost_virginian]

I am looking at buying a Cornwell Tool franchise and part of the deal is that you ride with an another tool man before you go to training in Ohio. What an eye opener, I read many posts of the tool man ripping off the techs. I found that not to be the case in my ride along. The Techs in the shops we visited, ranged from crusty old buggers, to tattooed and pierced (eyes ears and nose seemed the most popular) young dudes. They all respected the tool man and he tried to match each on up with what they need with either a new tool or a used one. (Makita 18volt impacts are a huge seller) I got home and checked amazon ond other tool sites and the Makitas are actually less off the truck than online. Overall it was a rewarding day, I got to see the business from the truck side rather than the tech side. I did see the Independant tool dealer (SK) would stop and sell while we were at a shop, the others. (Snap On, Matco and MAC) all respect one another somewhat and will not stop while the others are there.

[48548]

That sounds really cool, and I am glad that people respected everyone's choices of tools, and not try to sell while another truck was there. That is classy.

[tatra]

well as a buyer i would like to see the competition show up.........i don't care about their bottom line anymore than they care about mine..........i could see the owner of the shop getting pissed if they are hourly and not shopping on break time..............

[mkdive]

A ride along would be interesting. Why are you looking into Cornwell franchise over the other brands out of curiosity?

[paramudduck]

A bike shop I went by the other day had Mac, Snap on and Matco in a line in front of it. I told my wife if I'd been driving the right vehicle I could have ruined all their days with warranty work.

[daveblank]

Ride-alongs are great. We require 2(with different distributors) before you sign your franchise agreement. This gives the potential buyer a good indication of what to expect. I enjoy letting them ride with me.

[lost_virginian]

MKdive I chose Cornwell because there is a SnapOn and Matco tool man in my area already, no MAC or Cornwell. When I was a tech I broke more MAC tools than a few, they replaced them and are good or at least they were good about that. I have Cornwell tools that my Dad had in the 40's and 50's that I still use today. I used thier impact tools and sockets and was happy with them. They are also still using American Steel and labor in Ohio to make thier hardline.

[voidifused]

I remember the last dealer we had down here that sold SK tools, i was on the snap on truck on day with some buddys from the shop and he comes rolling in, pulls up along side the snap on guys truck. Few mins later he comes and gets in the truck, i had that "crawl under a table feeling" and our dealer asks him how he is, the SK dealer reply's "wow this is much nice then my tuck" :bounce:
Our snap on guy was in like "Hey.....thanks.." then he had like this little break down about how he couldn't sell the line and how he didn't think he was cut out for it cause he couldn't out right sell people junk. Was kinda funny really, some time after that his truck burnt to the ground and he never went back into it...such a coincidence eh? and since then the Mac tools guy went out of business as well so all we have is snap on..oh well.

[Art From De Leon]

The Matco dealer that I use (infrequently) has nothing but good to say about the Snap On dealer, and Tony feels the same way. If I had known about Cornwell when I first started buying tools, I probably would have a lot more of them than I do. When I started the MAC dealer was a pr1ck, and the Snap On dealers weren't, so I went where my money was welcome, and, as I like complete sets, 95+ percent of my tools are Snap On, but, as I have said, I have NO problem taking Matco tools overseas to use at work, as there is exactly ZERO chance of getting them mixed up with the rig mechanic's. If you go about badmouthing the competition, how do you explain when the product you are selling fails? But Cornwell, and Matco, and to a certain extent, MAC will never have the aura or 'prestige' that Snap On has.
Good Luck on your new career choice.

[lasteagle83]

Don't know about respecting each other's space at a shop; more than likely, especially at dealerships, there's only a limited amount of parking room. So, the svc mgr will let one truck in at a time for space concerns, and also to keep from having all his techs disappear onto the crack wagons....

[Merkava_4]

A ride along would be interesting. Why are you looking into Cornwell franchise over the other brands out of curiosity?

They don't make there own pliers and screwdrivers, but their core tools made up of wrenches, sockets, extensions, and ratchets are VERY nice; they're some of the most comfortable tools to hold in your hand too.