jdavis
Active member
I recently tried doing business with Matco. I wanted to share my experience, in case anyone is choosing between the premium tool brands.
On April 27th, I placed 2 orders for a total of 2 ratchets from Matco's website, for about $500. I didn't receive any confirmation emails. On the next business day, I received an email stating one of the items was on backorder. On May 1st I sent them an email asking if everything went through okay, and when they thought the other ratchet would ship. They responded, saying they needed my photo ID to continue with the order. I didn't mind the request for ID, but I found it irritating that it took 5 days to hear anything from them at all, and their response was just a request for ID. I told them no, that I'd just cancel the order, and I sent them screenshots of the substitute order from Snap-on, a company that's easy to work with.
I didn't hear anything more until May 15th, 18 days after the initial order, when they decided to go ahead and bill me and ship the ratchet. That same day, I emailed them about the issue, and demanded that they refund me once the ratchet was returned to them. They didn't respond until May 17th, when the ratchet was already on its way back to them. The response basically said that they'd refund me when they received the tool. They received the tool on May 20th. On May 22nd, I emailed them to figure out what the hold-up was on the refund. It still had not processed. They responded the next day by saying they had tried to refund me on May 17th (6 days prior to this moment), but that it was denied. They wanted me to call them to confirm the card number and expiration date. First, calling Matco means being on hold for a very long time (unless you select the "place an order" option in their phone jail...a little trick I've learned). Second, when I called my bank, they said the expiration date would not have been needed to do a refund, that a refund wouldn't get denied, and that no attempt had been made to refund me. Lastly, and most importantly, I wanted to know why they didn't bother to let me know that their "attempt" at a refund was denied. They responded the next day by saying the credit had been applied to my account (peculiar, since they previously couldn't figure out how to). So...I called my bank. They had not made an attempt to refund me at all. What they did do was attempt to draft my account for the second ratchet, and the attempt was denied, due to a bad expiration date (probably why they wanted me to call and clear that up). I responded, angrily, on May 24th, and resorted to insulting them, since relieving my frustration was the only thing I could hope to accomplish. They responded on May 28th and said, "You need to check with your bank once again. We forwarded the credited amount to your bank. It is now up to your bank for how long they take to apply this to your account.". In the email was a screenshot of their system where they had supposedly credited the money on May 24th. It was actually deposited the day of that email, on the 28th though. I don't know for certain if they were lying, but I have trouble believing the bank takes 4 days to even display a transaction as pending. With that said, at least I had my money back, 13 days after they billed me for an order in which they prompted a cancellation on, and without ever receiving my photo ID.
I thought my experience with Matco was over, but on June 17th, 2 months after this all started, I got an email stating that my order status had changed for the second ratchet. It said it was no longer backordered and that my order was processing. I emailed them within 30 minutes, saying, "DO NOT BILL ME, THIS ORDER IS CANCELED!!!". I fumed for about 5 minutes, knowing exactly what was coming. My only option was to cancel my card, which would create issues with automatic bill payments that I didn't care to reconcile. I responded again, hoping to send a loud message, so that maybe they wouldn't go through with it. I sent, "DELETE ME FROM YOUR *** **** SYSTEM!!! DO NOT BILL ME. DO NOT EMAIL ME. **** OFF!!!!!!!". Then, unsurprisingly, on June 20th, I received an email stating the order had been shipped. I sent them another email, demanding they give me my money back, and stating that I did not intend to wait around for them to receive their tool. They sent it in error, and they should have been willing to risk it. I got no response from them by the end of that day, so I called. I pretended to place an order by selecting "1" in the menu options. Unsurprisingly, I got someone on the phone quickly, who said I would have to wait until they received the tool to get the refund.
What if I didn't have enough money to pay bills, eat, or pay for medication? Is it okay for them to draft peoples' accounts so negligently, and then be unwilling to risk losing a ratchet? For the prices Matco charges, I would expect better customer service than that. I realize that many of their customers probably deal with the tool trucks, and never directly interact with Matco. With that said, the company behind those tools is the worst I've ever had to deal with. Snap-on's customer service was what you'd expect for $200+ for a ratchet.
Update (June 25th): While on the phone with their rep this afternoon, they were trying to refund me for the second tool Instead of a refund, there is now a hold on my account for another $224. Supposedly, they haven't drafted my account, but we'll see.
On April 27th, I placed 2 orders for a total of 2 ratchets from Matco's website, for about $500. I didn't receive any confirmation emails. On the next business day, I received an email stating one of the items was on backorder. On May 1st I sent them an email asking if everything went through okay, and when they thought the other ratchet would ship. They responded, saying they needed my photo ID to continue with the order. I didn't mind the request for ID, but I found it irritating that it took 5 days to hear anything from them at all, and their response was just a request for ID. I told them no, that I'd just cancel the order, and I sent them screenshots of the substitute order from Snap-on, a company that's easy to work with.
I didn't hear anything more until May 15th, 18 days after the initial order, when they decided to go ahead and bill me and ship the ratchet. That same day, I emailed them about the issue, and demanded that they refund me once the ratchet was returned to them. They didn't respond until May 17th, when the ratchet was already on its way back to them. The response basically said that they'd refund me when they received the tool. They received the tool on May 20th. On May 22nd, I emailed them to figure out what the hold-up was on the refund. It still had not processed. They responded the next day by saying they had tried to refund me on May 17th (6 days prior to this moment), but that it was denied. They wanted me to call them to confirm the card number and expiration date. First, calling Matco means being on hold for a very long time (unless you select the "place an order" option in their phone jail...a little trick I've learned). Second, when I called my bank, they said the expiration date would not have been needed to do a refund, that a refund wouldn't get denied, and that no attempt had been made to refund me. Lastly, and most importantly, I wanted to know why they didn't bother to let me know that their "attempt" at a refund was denied. They responded the next day by saying the credit had been applied to my account (peculiar, since they previously couldn't figure out how to). So...I called my bank. They had not made an attempt to refund me at all. What they did do was attempt to draft my account for the second ratchet, and the attempt was denied, due to a bad expiration date (probably why they wanted me to call and clear that up). I responded, angrily, on May 24th, and resorted to insulting them, since relieving my frustration was the only thing I could hope to accomplish. They responded on May 28th and said, "You need to check with your bank once again. We forwarded the credited amount to your bank. It is now up to your bank for how long they take to apply this to your account.". In the email was a screenshot of their system where they had supposedly credited the money on May 24th. It was actually deposited the day of that email, on the 28th though. I don't know for certain if they were lying, but I have trouble believing the bank takes 4 days to even display a transaction as pending. With that said, at least I had my money back, 13 days after they billed me for an order in which they prompted a cancellation on, and without ever receiving my photo ID.
I thought my experience with Matco was over, but on June 17th, 2 months after this all started, I got an email stating that my order status had changed for the second ratchet. It said it was no longer backordered and that my order was processing. I emailed them within 30 minutes, saying, "DO NOT BILL ME, THIS ORDER IS CANCELED!!!". I fumed for about 5 minutes, knowing exactly what was coming. My only option was to cancel my card, which would create issues with automatic bill payments that I didn't care to reconcile. I responded again, hoping to send a loud message, so that maybe they wouldn't go through with it. I sent, "DELETE ME FROM YOUR *** **** SYSTEM!!! DO NOT BILL ME. DO NOT EMAIL ME. **** OFF!!!!!!!". Then, unsurprisingly, on June 20th, I received an email stating the order had been shipped. I sent them another email, demanding they give me my money back, and stating that I did not intend to wait around for them to receive their tool. They sent it in error, and they should have been willing to risk it. I got no response from them by the end of that day, so I called. I pretended to place an order by selecting "1" in the menu options. Unsurprisingly, I got someone on the phone quickly, who said I would have to wait until they received the tool to get the refund.
What if I didn't have enough money to pay bills, eat, or pay for medication? Is it okay for them to draft peoples' accounts so negligently, and then be unwilling to risk losing a ratchet? For the prices Matco charges, I would expect better customer service than that. I realize that many of their customers probably deal with the tool trucks, and never directly interact with Matco. With that said, the company behind those tools is the worst I've ever had to deal with. Snap-on's customer service was what you'd expect for $200+ for a ratchet.
Update (June 25th): While on the phone with their rep this afternoon, they were trying to refund me for the second tool Instead of a refund, there is now a hold on my account for another $224. Supposedly, they haven't drafted my account, but we'll see.
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