Why do you think...

[Detroit Diesel Man]

..that Snap-On always gets the bad rap here..from their boxes to wrenches to everything else they always seem to be the blunt of all the jokes or criticised for their pricing and service ...Personally I have a Snap-On box at work with Mostly SO/Mac Tools in it..but yes I do have a few SK/GP/CP Craftsman,IR,etc etc..but when the quality counts I always turn to My S.O. Tools....I use them daily at work for 10+ hrs/day ..I guess I dont understand the constant bashing it seems that creeps up on the board...just looking for opinions...

DDM

 

[Danglerb]

Its Ford/Chevy banter, except that a general group like this one has a dozen different small "camps", amateurs vs pros, snaps vs sears vs HF, old guys vs new guys.

SO doesn't get a bad rap, we just cheerfully point out its flaws because we like it.

 

[jimvannoy]

I have tools from them all. Snap On, Mac, Matco, Craftsman, Stanley, SK, HF, Williams, etc. I have used them all and like them all.

 

[Franz©]

I can only answer you based on 45 years ± of knowing both SnapOn and mac dealers personally.
Both companys price their product not on value, but rather on the basis of what the buyer can potentially earn with the product.

Both companys recruit dealers on false promises, chew them up and spit them out regularly. Today, a new dealer's territory won't be large enough to sustain his business needs. A route that well supported a dealer in 1970 is now 5 routes. While the original dealer was allowed to sell off territory, dealers today will never be able to.

Both companys will kill off a dealer who handles his own tradeups rather than running those deals thru the system. That wasn't the case in time past. This brings the company higher profit since tradeins are no longer available to secondary buyers.

Both companys have stuck more and more warranty cost onto the individual dealer, so warranty now suffers.

The entire sales phylosophy of both isn't truly built on the quality of the tool, but rather on customer convenience. The customer knows the truck will be there on a given day, and financing will be available. It's pretty much a rope you in and keep you in method.

The current management style of both companys is following the MBA 80/20 concept, and quality isn't part of that game. Both are outsourcing more and more of their product line, and again quality is suffering for it. MAC is now owned by the same parent company that destroyed Stanley, and that same course of action is being followed at MAC. There is also a trend to market "New" designs that offer the manuffacturer lower costs and higher profits, while offering the end user no advantage.

SnapOn has now entered direct retail, via ePay and their Company Store on line, giving the dealer an extra added screwing, and I don't cottin to that kind of business.

 

[Canadian Charlie]

I have nothing against Snap On, wish I could afford to buy more NEW tools. Most of mine I bought used off of eBay and I will buy more.

The thing I hate about them are thier Blue Point line like the brake vacuum tester I bought when I could have gotton a Mighty Vac one (same product)

Sockets, ratchets wrenches, screwdrivers are a great investment. Can't say the same for a high price set of allen keys

 

[mulepackin]

Are the rest of you thinking what I'm thinking.......... (lets see now, how do you import that popcorn smilie?)

 

[kythri]

I'm sure I'm considered at the extreme end of the anti-Snap-On spectrum, but I really don't think that they have a "bad rap" on this website.

For my needs, and my perception of quality, Snap-On is not worth the added expense.

We've been through it on a number of threads, but I, like many others, don't feel that Snap-On has any significantly better quality than our preference in tools (mine being Craftsman).

If I could buy Snap-On for the same price as Craftsman, would I? Tough call - I like my Craftsman stuff. There's plenty of alternatives to Craftsman, for right around the same price, and I could have bought those, but I chose this.

There's a couple of things out there that Snap-On has, that few others have (12pt Impacts, for example) that I'll probably end up buying a bit of.

Other things that Snap-On does bothers me greatly - we all know that various tool vendors source a product from other manufacturers - such as marking up those 3rd-party products simply because of the Snap-On name.

Snap-On markets their tools as a premium line, and the price reflects that. They've built their enterprise along those lines, and the idea that expensive tools = high-end quality tools. When they jack the price up 400% on a 3rd-party manufactured tool, they're diluting their marketing, and calling everything into question, at least in my eyes.

 

[Uncle Buck]

munch.....munch........munch........

 

[jimvannoy]

Pass the salt....

 

[Spookrider]

Running out of seeds, salt, and butter. Waiting for train car of PopCorn seeds.

 

[-lecroix-]

The customer knows the truck will be there on a given day, and financing will be available. It's pretty much a rope you in and keep you in method.

Ding Ding Ding !!!

One of the most brilliant business model in the world ... sell a captive market VERY EXPENSIVE items and then finance them at VERY HIGH interest rates. Throw in a marketing ploy based on feel good-ism of "You're the best so buy the best/most expensive" and that, my friends, equates to truck loads of money ... pun intended.

P.S. Just so ya know, I do own some Snap On stuff and I don't consider it to be any better quality than my Mac, Matco, Cornwell or Craftsman Professional.

 

[ColdDuckTime]

So far as I can tell, the tool world (both power and hand) is pretty much devoid of any kind of published testing, including destructive. I wish I could figure out a way to make money at it...cooking up ways to actually compare a wrench or cordless drill in a repeatable fashion would be really interesting.

At the same time you could compare old vs. new and answer some of those questions.

The whole thing is similar to the musical instrument world in terms of argument, at least a socket set has a measurable 'goodness' compared to comparing brands of flute.

 

[jimvannoy]

So far as I can tell, the tool world (both power and hand) is pretty much devoid of any kind of published testing, including destructive. I wish I could figure out a way to make money at it...cooking up ways to actually compare a wrench or cordless drill in a repeatable fashion would be really interesting.

At the same time you could compare old vs. new and answer some of those questions.

The whole thing is similar to the musical instrument world in terms of argument, at least a socket set has a measurable 'goodness' compared to comparing brands of flute.

Not to mention you could get all the tool companies to send you free tools to test....

 

[MarkH]

[QUOTEI can only answer you based on 45 years ± of knowing both SnapOn and mac dealers personally.][/QUOTE]

I think that had most of the answers of what is causing the death of the companies as we knew and loved them.

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

I don't pay snap on interest - truck credit - I hear the company credit is over 20% now
it's just built into the price
Wives of Former Snap-on Tool Dealers Claim Company Fraud Causes Losses
-'Snap-on Wives Club' formed-

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Jan. 13 -- In what is believed to be first action of its kind, lawsuits were filed today against Snap-on Tools, Inc. on behalf of wives of former New Jersey and New York Snap-on franchised tool dealers, alleging they were harmed by the company's "false, fraudulent and misleading representations" that not only led to the collapse of their husbands' franchises, but also resulted in the loss of the wives' own money and family savings.

The four plaintiffs commenced the legal actions in the New Jersey Superior Court in New Brunswick, claiming that they were the victims of franchise fraud. A similar lawsuit was filed in Texas by four wives on December 30, 2003 against Snap-on's Dallas branch.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that spouses who are not directly involved in a franchise have sued a franchisor," said Susan P. Kezios, President of the American Franchisee Association. "All too often, Snap-on franchisees and others have big post-sale problems that started in the pre-sale process. These franchisees believed in the American dream of entrepreneurship, and ended up being victimized."

Snap-on manufactures automotive repair tools such as wrenches and screwdrivers. They are purchased by dealers, from Snap-on, and are resold to mechanics, door-to-door.

 

[v8garage]

Simply put Snap On quality is as good or better than anything on the market but they are just too d--- high. I have a lot of Snap-On tools but most of them came from garage sales and fleamarkets. I found a coffee can 1/2 full of sockets at a tractor show. I started digging through them and when I had about 5 Snap On sockets in my hand I asked the guy how much the sockets were and he said $5.00 for the can of sockets. I threw the sockets back in the can and paid the man.

 

[Danglerb]

The whole thing is similar to the musical instrument world in terms of argument, at least a socket set has a measurable 'goodness' compared to comparing brands of flute.

So are you a Haynes or Powell person?

My impression is that experienced musicians assess quality very quickly, but quality in a musical instrument can have more than one dimension. A flute needs to not only suit the player, but also the venue.

I don't think its a great leap away for a mechanic to do the same. The trouble is that sharing tools isn't incouraged, and just maybe there isn't a great deal of difference between good grade tools?

 

[eschoendorff]

So are you a Haynes or Powell person?

My impression is that experienced musicians assess quality very quickly, but quality in a musical instrument can have more than one dimension. A flute needs to not only suit the player, but also the venue.

I don't think its a great leap away for a mechanic to do the same. The trouble is that sharing tools isn't incouraged, and just maybe there isn't a great deal of difference between good grade tools?

Ah.... a fellow musician. Nice touch.