Any Mac Dealers here?

[Beerman]

Looking to get in touch with a Mac dealer that's a regular member of this board. I've seen a SO dealer or two, but not Mac.

If there's a Mac dealer out there (again, a REGULAR member), send me a PM if you wouldn't mind. I have a few questions and possible business proposition.


Beerman

 

[mdoolittle]

AAHHHHH looking for the rare and elusive MAC Tools dealer. GOOD LUCK!

 

[mrshaun]

someone has jokes in the afternoon...

our mac guy is the self proclaimed #1 mac dealer in the world and does not even have MAC written on his truck anymore and his flyers come from toolweb. He will be bankrupt soon. he will be the 7th in this area in 9 years. 4 cornwell guys down and only 1 matco and the newer guy is working his way out of business.
Our mac guy quit dealing with hispanics so he lost a 1/4 of his business. Yo Hablo espanol.

 

[fatboy99]

I didnt know Mac was still in busness

 

[autoace]

My Cornwell dealer, finally admitted.......................he should have been a Snap-on dealer, ..................I agree he should have been, he is a great dealer, having a good Snap-on dealer would have been a good thing, for a change.

 

[Hiball]

We just lost our Local Snap on Dealer, I seen in the local job adds that Snap on was looking for a Franchise in my area. I contacted a buddy of mine who works at the local Ford Dealership and he confirmed that he quit.

 

[G U E C O]

MAC... Hello where are you? I have a whole drawer of broken tools that need to be warrantied. Its been 3-4 years since you came to my shop.

 

[TheGrooveking]

The last Mac dealer I found I had to call Mac and they gave me the name and number of the guy. We played phone tag for a week and then I finally had to drive 15 miles to meet up with him at one of his other stops. The guy had no boxes on his truck, only had two ratchets and most of his shelves were almost empty. What pissed me off is I found out that he had been within a 1/2 mile of my work not even an hour earlier (WTF), yet he had me drive all over to meet him, when he knew where I was. I have some older (bought them in the early 90's) ratchets that I use regularly but if the average Mac dealer is like this guy, their business must be shinrking faster than a cheap suit in a hot dryer.

TheGrooveking

 

[taylorboi]

i feel you on finding a mac dealer i was looking for about 6 months and all of a sudden ive seen 3 here in hawaii just gotta wait and see if one comes along

 

[Vinko]

someone has jokes in the afternoon...

our mac guy is the self proclaimed #1 mac dealer in the world and does not even have MAC written on his truck anymore and his flyers come from toolweb. He will be bankrupt soon. he will be the 7th in this area in 9 years. 4 cornwell guys down and only 1 matco and the newer guy is working his way out of business.
Our mac guy quit dealing with hispanics so he lost a 1/4 of his business. Yo Hablo espanol.

Huge percentage of the business (well over half, perhaps close to 75%) around here is now Hispanic (or more specifically, recent immigrants from Mexico and Central America. Maybe some South Americans too). Some Korean too. In the Hispanic percentage, I'm not counting the fully assimilated Mexican-Americans who may've been here for several generations now and are all native English speakers.

 

[mrholeshot]

I've thought about starting a harbor Freight truck

 

[mrshaun]

yeah he would not have fun. He has problems and you can tell that when you see his truck pull up with his lack of signage and the purple ghost flames that have been painted down the side.

 

[mikevango]

There are two mac dealers in my town.

 

[arkangel06]

I've thought about starting a harbor Freight truck

Mac HF whats the difference????

 

[Romanova]

I don't think I've ever seen a MAC truck in Houston, and I am driving all of the time. Seen plenty of SO, a few Matco, even a CW truck... never a MAC though. Oh well, I'm happy with Snappy...

 

[mrshaun]

Mac HF whats the difference????

WOW something we can agree on.... it may snap here in texas today....

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

Mac HF whats the difference????

That is easy, HF would correctly MARK their tools as imported, even though they were trying to make you think it was made in Pittsburgh. Stanree has been proven to lie about it.

 

[selohssa]

Sometimes it takes my MAC guy a week to come after I call him. The district manager (one of my old Snap-On dealers) has given him **** about not coming around. He will be punctual for a month or so and then get back to the way he was. We buy a ton of tools at the shop from both MAC and Snap-On and service is the key. I like MAC tools (not their wrenches), but they need to get things sorted out soon.

It is not like Snap-On runs things perfectly. I just got a new Snap-On balancer two years ago and had nothing but problems with it right from day one. They just replaced it for me with a brand new Hoffman unit last week. Even when the guy was showing me the features of this new one, it was acting up. He tried to tell me that this is normal and that I shouldn't worry. I got a new Hoffman tire changer a couple of months ago and when the woman showed up from Snap-On to show me how it worked, she had never used one before and needed me to explain how a tire machine works.

For those of you that have a good dealer, support them and make sure that they know that you are happy with their service. If you have a bad dealer, talk to the district rep and explain that you are not satisfied and that you will not be buying any tools from them until they get things sorted out.

 

[mrshaun]

thats what it takes to get things done sometimes. Call the next man up the line and then he gets it straight. But since snap on is a franchise it is difficult for someone to tell some guys what to do and how to do their job. We know what to do, but actually doing it takes effort. I was at a shop at 630 this morning to deliver a toolbox just like the guy asked. If I would have been late he would have gotten in trouble for not being at his spot working.

 

[billymade]

A Mac dealer showed up in my area recently; I went on his truck... nice guy but there is hardly any stock inside, what so ever. I asked to order a couple of things; the next week he apologizes and says he just bought his wife an expensive car. I don't think this guy is gonna make it; he won't order stuff for people... maybe he is in the hole/hold with Mac and can't get more stock... who knows... I checked with him again last week... still NOTHING... says he's sorry... go figure!

 

[mrshaun]

this mac guy is about 6 weeks away from ordering anything for anyone. but the guy in waco is fully stocked and guys drive an hour to see him instead of the local guy

 

[supertooljunkie]

I tried to warranty a 3/8, 13mm, universal socket for months around the northeast Atlanta area. Finally caught a Mac dealer in Conyers GA. He didn't have the socket, he had very little on his truck, but gave me the name and number of the dealer in my area. After weeks of calling him, I never did get a return call.
My company sent me to NE Pennsylvania for the winter to work. As I was leaving for work one morning, I saw a Mac dealer pull into the car dealership across the street. He warrantied my socket. You could tell he really didn't want to as I was not a regular customer. He didn't have much stock either, and the socket I got was overseas made.
Kinda ***** to have to go 800 mile from home to get a socket warrantied, and received a foreign made product for US made

 

[Teken]

One thing I don't follow is how some of you state they have nothing on board. Every dealer I have ever met and conversed with has always told me they must maintain a core level of base tools to continue to be a dealer / franchise.

Some of the vendors get a APR (auto parts replenishment) for each weeks usage. I am having a hard time following how some of these guys do this if that is part of the gig?

Insight . . .

 

[supertooljunkie]

I haven't had a regular MAC dealer in nearly thirty years. He always had a fully stocked truck. Most was for larger trucks as he dealt with the freight company shops. The last time I was on a fully stocked, at least as compared to my Snappy dealer, was nearly ten years ago.
The direction lever fell off a 3/8" ratchet. I saw a dealer and stopped. He replaced it for a couple of bucks.
I guess I have been spoiled by my Snappy dealer. While he now now no longer my regular dealer, out of the business, he has always had what I needed on the truck. If not he would have it within a week. I have his number and can still call him and get anything I need. Usually from his stock.

 

[mrshaun]

Yeah I do keep a basic inventory, but since most of my customer base is military aviation I cater to them quite a bit.
I have a lot of SAE tools and carry a fair amount of Metric stuff.
I carry a wide variety of air tools and other stuff also. I hate having to tell someone NEXT WEEK I hate that as much as I will double up next week.

 

[chadster1]

One thing I don't follow is how some of you state they have nothing on board. Every dealer I have ever met and conversed with has always told me they must maintain a core level of base tools to continue to be a dealer / franchise.

Some of the vendors get a APR (auto parts replenishment) for each weeks usage. I am having a hard time following how some of these guys do this if that is part of the gig?

Insight . . .

Dealers are supposed to maintain a minimum level of inventory. I dont remember what that minimum level is since I keep a lot of tools on my truck. Each route is different so I will have a different inventory mix than Shaun will. My opinion is that the dealers with a fairly empty truck are the ones who are having financial problems and cannot afford to pay their tool bill. I know Snap-on will place a dealer on credit hold if he does not pay his bill on a weekly basis. I am sure that the other tool companies are the same way.

 

[Teken]

Thanks for the feed-back . . . I gather some of it is regional also given the economic down turn in many markets.

 

[iandh]

A Mac dealer showed up in my area recently; I went on his truck... nice guy but there is hardly any stock inside, what so ever. I asked to order a couple of things; the next week he apologizes and says he just bought his wife an expensive car. I don't think this guy is gonna make it; he won't order stuff for people... maybe he is in the hold with Mac and can't get more stock... who knows... I checked with him again last week... still NOTHING... says he's sorry... go figure!

Some people are just plain self destructive. What a doofus.

 

[moronmountain]

Why don't you just order what you need online from Mac?

 

[fatfillup]

I haven't had a Mac dealer in a few years. We had one that was great, gav e good service but h moved to Fla. Next couple didn;t make it and there were long blank spots inbetween.

Now just to the northeast of me is a great mac dealer whose customers love him and they support him well. Its all about service and having some inventory. Any one who will go the extra mile will normally make it in business.

 

[Vinko]

Dealers are supposed to maintain a minimum level of inventory. I dont remember what that minimum level is since I keep a lot of tools on my truck. Each route is different so I will have a different inventory mix than Shaun will. My opinion is that the dealers with a fairly empty truck are the ones who are having financial problems and cannot afford to pay their tool bill. I know Snap-on will place a dealer on credit hold if he does not pay his bill on a weekly basis. I am sure that the other tool companies are the same way.

Credit hold seems a fact of life for some dealers, but there's that window to slam in 30-50K of orders right before hand. My dealer told me that in order to make it, he can't have some of these guys paying $20 per anymore. It's got to be about $40 just to break even.

 

[Vinko]

Why don't you just order what you need online from Mac?

I'm constantly amazed at why guys aren't sending their broken stuff in if they don't have a dealer. Maybe not wanting to pay postage or write a short note?

As to ordering on-line, unless you're a fan of the tools, if you're ordering on-line, you might as well go Armstrong or Proto or the German stuff for less money, unless, like me, you're an (occasional) sucker for SO bling.

 

[impulse922]

As to ordering on-line, unless you're a fan of the tools, if you're ordering on-line, you might as well go Armstrong or Proto or the German stuff for less money, unless, like me, you're an (occasional) sucker for SO bling.

so that explains the method to my madness

 

[billymade]

This was the first time I was dealing with him; thought I would get some stuff warranted, order some things and establish a working relationship with him. The item I was wanting is just a rubber cover for a impact wrench; on Mac's website shipping is $10 or more.... thats more then the cover itself! Thats one thing that is great about snapon.com.... FREE shipping!

 

[mepilotunot]

Keeping a packed truck and always adding inventory is very important to me and the customer. I add stuff to every order I place. Even the small stuff. Some stuff I thought I would never sell fly off the truck. I have 2 Snappy, 2 Mac and 2 independents in my territory and I Cornwell is doing just fine. I bend over backwards for the little things and I think that goes a long way.

 

[Vinko]

Keeping a packed truck and always adding inventory is very important to me and the customer. I add stuff to every order I place. Even the small stuff. Some stuff I thought I would never sell fly off the truck. I have 2 Snappy, 2 Mac and 2 independents in my territory and I Cornwell is doing just fine. I bend over backwards for the little things and I think that goes a long way.

re: small stuff and the "little things".

I think you're probably right though I've got no empirical evidence to back it up. I certainly like guys who go out of there way for this type of thing. I stock a lot of small parts, and am happy to spend a lot of time with guys who need just one part. Try to get it out using USPS (rather than UPS) to save them a few bucks, etc , etc. My favorite customers are the "little" guys who just need something simple.

 

[doctorschmullus]

In australia there is only one type of tool brand that comes around to work snap on, and he is always ordering, I like to get a tool straight away instead of waiting, snap on dealers get more inventory

 

[Merkava_4]

Keeping a packed truck and always adding inventory is very important to me and the customer. I add stuff to every order I place. Even the small stuff. Some stuff I thought I would never sell fly off the truck. I have 2 Snappy, 2 Mac and 2 independents in my territory and I Cornwell is doing just fine. I bend over backwards for the little things and I think that goes a long way.

Cornwell tools are fantastic!! I love Cornwell tools.