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For the tool truck guys

CHI_Tool&Die

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Jul 20, 2021
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Chicago, IL
Have any of the members here buying off the tool trucks ever had a driver charge you more than what the online price is for non-promo items? I never noticed before, but my Matco dude has been coming in about 5-10% more than what Matco charges online for items. No other driver I have bought from has done the same. It’s usually like $10 or so for the difference but it feels kinda weird, you know?
 
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Pinne

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Oct 8, 2024
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Unless somehow indicated otherwise the website prices are the publicly available list prices. Perhaps your driver has an outdated price list or there is some miscommunication between the prices he's given and Matco's website folks. Hopefully it's something innocent like that and he takes care of it.

My Snap-on driver charges normal list/website pricing. Once in a while I'll walk off the truck with some sort of freebie - be it a tee, a cleaning product, or even a foam tray. His truck is also very well stocked and he's got great back stock in his warehouse so it's convenient to work with him. I'm not sure if it was OP posting about this, but someone mentioned their Matco guy showing up in a pickup truck with only the stuff people had ordered - that is not convenient and I am not sure what the incentive to work with a dealer like that would be.
 
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CHI_Tool&Die

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Chicago, IL
Unless somehow indicated otherwise the website prices are the publicly available list prices. Perhaps your driver has an outdated price list or there is some miscommunication between the prices he's given and Matco's website folks. Hopefully it's something innocent like that and he takes care of it.

My Snap-on driver charges normal list/website pricing. Once in a while I'll walk off the truck with some sort of freebie - be it a tee, a cleaning product, or even a foam tray. His truck is also very well stocked and he's got great back stock in his warehouse so it's convenient to work with him. I'm not sure if it was OP posting about this, but someone mentioned their Matco guy showing up in a pickup truck with only the stuff people had ordered - that is not convenient and I am not sure what the incentive to work with a dealer like that would be.
That’s my Matco guy! I order through him solely because he comes to shop and I do like Matco’s ratchets and other tools. With my hours changing yet again, it’s hard for me to get to the Snap-on truck whereas the Matco guy will come to the shop to drop stuff off. Otherwise, I’d probably just be buying off the Snap-on guy since he is the best of the bunch.

I’ll ask him today if he swings by. I looked over my receipts and it’s totally every item that was ordered and not on any promotion. And it’s all between 5-8% higher than what I’m finding on Matco’s website.
 

DAWrench

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Jan 7, 2023
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Central AR
Dont know about Matco but with Snapon the online price after you add the crazy shipping prices you are still coming out ahead with your driver.
 

L.Cheapo

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Oct 23, 2014
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No, never. In fact, I rarely ever pay retail for anything, unless its under $50.

I've bought a LOT from him over the years, and I always pay in cash, in full, up front. He saves the CC fees, can spend it immediately, and knows he'll never have to chase me for money. That has value to both he and I.

It also helps that I DON'T work in a shop. Why? Because he can give me a smoking deal on something and not have to worry about six guys demanding the same price next week when they find out about it.

If I had to pay retail (or more) I'd just order online and save myself the trip.
 

K13

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Oct 24, 2007
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St. Albert, AB Canada
That’s my Matco guy! I order through him solely because he comes to shop and I do like Matco’s ratchets and other tools. With my hours changing yet again, it’s hard for me to get to the Snap-on truck whereas the Matco guy will come to the shop to drop stuff off. Otherwise, I’d probably just be buying off the Snap-on guy since he is the best of the bunch.
I am guessing this is your answer. If he is making special trips to drop stuff off for you he is probably charging you extra for his time.
 

Steve_P

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Sep 15, 2010
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I am guessing this is your answer. If he is making special trips to drop stuff off for you he is probably charging you extra for his time.

Umm, but that is the entire point of paying stupid $ for tools from a tool truck- the personal service. And then the free financing and warranty. If he's paying in full, and paying more than list, and his guy doesn't have any stock for a typical warranty, WTF is the point???

If he doesn't have a legit truck, stocked with tools, there's no way I'd deal with him.

And, IIRC, Matco is spend $75 for free shipping.
 
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CHI_Tool&Die

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Umm, but that is the entire point of paying stupid $ for tools from a tool truck- the personal service. And then the free financing and warranty. If he's paying in full, and paying more than list, and his guy doesn't have any stock for a typical warranty, WTF is the point???

If he doesn't have a legit truck, stocked with tools, there's no way I'd deal with him.

And, IIRC, Matco is spend $75 for free shipping.
Well, I guess I don’t have to wonder any more. The Matco guy just told me he isn’t taking orders and will be stepping away from the business. The stuff he dropped off today is the last of it. That totally ***** for me. It’s just Snappy now since the MAC guy isn’t very nice. I’ll have to figure out a way to work my schedule with his. Damn what a bummer way to start the week.
 

LWB

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*****. You may be happier with the Snap on though. We have both Snap on and Mac and both are great to deal with.
 
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CHI_Tool&Die

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*****. You may be happier with the Snap on though. We have both Snap on and Mac and both are great to deal with.
Yeah I do like the Snap-on guy a lot but I’ve been a big fan of the Matco ratchets. I’d love to be more into MAC but the rep on our route doesn’t speak English very well so it’s really difficult trying to communicate with him.
 

K13

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St. Albert, AB Canada
Umm, but that is the entire point of paying stupid $ for tools from a tool truck- the personal service. And then the free financing and warranty. If he's paying in full, and paying more than list, and his guy doesn't have any stock for a typical warranty, WTF is the point???

If he doesn't have a legit truck, stocked with tools, there's no way I'd deal with him.

And, IIRC, Matco is spend $75 for free shipping.
It sounded more like the OP isn't around during normal run hours (hence not being around to see the Snap On guy) but this guy was willing to make specialized trips to drop off tools for the OP.
 

bonneyman

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Desert SW
Yeah I do like the Snap-on guy a lot but I’ve been a big fan of the Matco ratchets. I’d love to be more into MAC but the rep on our route doesn’t speak English very well so it’s really difficult trying to communicate with him.
If it were me, I'd find the cash and by some of the Matco ratchets you like and get them in hand. Maybe a couple of rebuild kits, too. Just so you have the special tools you really like.
You might have to bite shipping but given the current environment I'd be having some of that stuff in reserve.
 

Pinne

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Well, I guess I don’t have to wonder any more. The Matco guy just told me he isn’t taking orders and will be stepping away from the business. The stuff he dropped off today is the last of it. That totally ***** for me. It’s just Snappy now since the MAC guy isn’t very nice. I’ll have to figure out a way to work my schedule with his. Damn what a bummer way to start the week.
Kind of a bummer, but why pay extra if he wasn't even running a truck? Free shipping from Matco is $75 as mentioned upthread. Hard to spend less than $75 from any of the tool truck brands really.
 
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CHI_Tool&Die

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It sounded more like the OP isn't around during normal run hours (hence not being around to see the Snap On guy) but this guy was willing to make specialized trips to drop off tools for the OP.
Yes, it’s a weird situation. My shop is on a Snap-on route but that guy retired and has never been replaced. So I’ve been using the Snappy man one route over. It works when we can actually synch our schedules which is a bit of a challenge. I was on overnights and then moved over to whatever you wanna call a shift that has me rolling in around 3-3:30am. Kinda like a super early first shift I guess? Now they are asking me to stay later but with the same start so I’d be back to working like 11/12hr days. The Snap-on guy is only around in the early afternoons so I’d have to leave work early to meet him. The perk to the Matco guy was that he was willing to swing by even though I wasn’t on his route either. It’s way more convenient having a truck come to you instead of the other way around.
If it were me, I'd find the cash and by some of the Matco ratchets you like and get them in hand. Maybe a couple of rebuild kits, too. Just so you have the special tools you really like.
You might have to bite shipping but given the current environment I'd be having some of that stuff in reserve.
Yeah, now that I’ve had some time to analyze the whole situation that might be the best option for me. I do like and prefer to use Matco ratchets, pry bars, and etc. over some of the other brands. Hopefully I can get Matco corporate to honor the regional flyer sale promos.
Kind of a bummer, but why pay extra if he wasn't even running a truck? Free shipping from Matco is $75 as mentioned upthread. Hard to spend less than $75 from any of the tool truck brands really.
Supposedly he was running a truck until it broke down last year and then he decided to do everything out of his pick-up. My Snap-on guy pretty much corroborated that story when he called the Matco guy “the weird older guy that hasn’t been running his broke *** truck in a bit”. I didn’t know how low the free shipping threshold was via Matco online. I’ll call and see if they will honor the regional flyer promotions and maybe that will be my route going forward.
 

plinker

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Feb 28, 2007
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Last couple of Matco flyers I had dont have prices listed actually. They must figure on the price changing by the time they're in circulation or something. They did have the flyer promo's online at times IIRC.
 

scooby074

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Oct 26, 2008
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Nova Scotia
Just you in your shop buying from SO? I wonder if you could call the SO customer service line and see if they can arrange for a corp. driver to come by? Or maybe give temp. permission for the other guy to cover your route until a permanent franchisee is found if hes interested?

Any time I lost a So driver, usually a corp driver covered until a new franchisee took over, but there has been occasions where they will allow an out of territory driver to service an area to keep the guys happy until they can get their **** figured out.

Worst thing you can do is abandon an area, Mac has done that to me several times, all that does is piss everybody off.
 

jpaw

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Dec 23, 2018
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Michigan
Just you in your shop buying from SO? I wonder if you could call the SO customer service line and see if they can arrange for a corp. driver to come by? Or maybe give temp. permission for the other guy to cover your route until a permanent franchisee is found if hes interested?

Any time I lost a So driver, usually a corp driver covered until a new franchisee took over, but there has been occasions where they will allow an out of territory driver to service an area to keep the guys happy until they can get their **** figured out.

Worst thing you can do is abandon an area, Mac has done that to me several times, all that does is piss everybody off.
Good luck getting snapon to allow another driver to encroach on a stop outside of their route.
One shop that I worked for was the last stop at the edge of a route. When we lost the driver for our route snapon told the driver who literally served the shop across the road that he was not to set foot in our shop. Now he would work with us but we had to walk over to his truck while he was at the other shop.
I have been without a snapon dealer for several periods of time throughout my career and have seen corp only a few times. At least with the other tool trucks they will make an effort to stop in even if you're not on their route as long as people are buying.
Not trying to bash snapon as my box and probably 50% of my tools are snapon. But I have had 3 very good dealers and a handful of not so good ones throughout my time.

For the service they provide and the money that they command for their products you should never have to go more than a month at most without seeing a face if you are a regular stop.
 
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CHI_Tool&Die

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Good luck getting snapon to allow another driver to encroach on a stop outside of their route.
One shop that I worked for was the last stop at the edge of a route. When we lost the driver for our route snapon told the driver who literally served the shop across the road that he was not to set foot in our shop. Now he would work with us but we had to walk over to his truck while he was at the other shop.
I have been without a snapon dealer for several periods of time throughout my career and have seen corp only a few times. At least with the other tool trucks they will make an effort to stop in even if you're not on their route as long as people are buying.
Not trying to bash snapon as my box and probably 50% of my tools are snapon. But I have had 3 very good dealers and a handful of not so good ones throughout my time.

For the service they provide and the money that they command for their products you should never have to go more than a month at most without seeing a face if you are a regular stop.
Yeah I noticed that the Snap-on drivers take route boundaries very seriously. It’s fine, Snappy is the only reliable truck. The Matco guy came to our shop but he was definitely not the kind of driver that would be considered consistent.

As far as everything else goes, I finally bumped into the Snap-on guy and explained what happened with Matco. He’s a cool dude and told me that he’d make himself available anytime and anywhere within his boundaries so long as I give him a heads up as to where to meet. So that is awesome and it’s great customer support. I can understand now why so many dudes live and die on the Snap-on hill.
 

L.Cheapo

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Yeah I noticed that the Snap-on drivers take route boundaries very seriously.
They do. They can lose their franchise over it.

My dealer told me if he is ever going to drive his truck into another franchisee's territory, say to move a toolbox from a tech's work to his house for him, he will call that franchisee before hand and let him know what's up. The way he's able to get me oddball out-of-production stuff from other dealers it appears they all get along pretty well.
 
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