How often do your tool guys just disappear?

[BowtieGuy]

I guess this is part question, part bitching. My shop has one tool guy, Snap-On. The last time I saw him was four weeks ago. That day he said he may be quitting, & continued to complain about the guy he works for. Ok, I know there are two sides to every story, but this is the THIRD guy in less than a year to say / do the same thing. Seems like an odd coincidence. So, it's been ANOTHER month without sight of the Snappy truck. Yes, this has happened two other times. Is it unheard of to at least get a phone call to see if we need anything? I have a few broken tools, & even money to make payment(s). I just think it's funny when corporate calls me & asks where their money is. "Ask your Customer Service specialist,.. I have your cash here, where the truck should come more often." I'm almost to the point that I don't care to see that truck ever again. All the other local shops are the same way. I can't imagine SO Corp. would like to be represented this way. Does this happen to you? Or do we have a dud for a franchisee?

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

Snap-on Corp. has nothing to do with your payment I believe. No?

 

[jjjrmx5]

Is it unheard of to at least get a phone call to see if we need anything?

Depends on your driver, your market size and the size oif the stop.

If on a route with mfgr facilities with 100's of employees and industrial accnt's, drivers are happy and nice.

If on a slow route , then the climate changes.

I know of several local dealers with small tech staffs that only get a S-O van driver with little stock and monthly service. And this in a city of 2 million folks.

It all depends is the answer.

 

[tkonetzke]

We have "4" tool trucks that stop by the shop. Snap on and matco every week. Mac sometimes every other week sometimes every other month. ******** about once every 4 to 5 months. Needless to say I have no mac or cornwell tools, but for some reason they can't figure out why I don't.

 

[Brentocool]

My Snap on gouy shows up 1 Time every 2 months maybe

 

[ummhowsthat]

When I worked at the dealer there was a point where I didnt see the Matco guy for about 2 months. Apparently his wife was very ill.

 

[crewchief888]

i havent seen any trucks around our place for well over a year.
long time matco dealer retired/quit, new matco guy shows up for a couple months, and disappears.

mac has been gone for at least 2 years, if not longer, cant say that i miss him.

seen 4 SO dealers in 5 years, last one over a year ago.

guess i dont need any new tools

 

[BowtieGuy]

Snap-on Corp. has nothing to do with your payment I believe. No?

I suppose "Snap-On Credit" would be more proper.

Also, good to hear I may not be alone. I guess the part that ticks me off is that the "agreement" so to speak, was every week. Then, "****" just gone for a month or more at a time. I was just wondering if this happens with other routes too.

 

[tyndall]

LOL, this kind of Houdini act is what I'm going through now.

I desperately needed some small feeler gauges for today and my usual Mac guy didn't have any. Called Snap-on earlier this week and they said they would forward my number to the truck but couldn't give me the truck's number. Fine. Waited a couple of days and still no call. Asked around the shop and was told we are getting serviced from a far away dealer because of the usual complaints that the local guy wasn't returning calls or coming around. Nobody had the new guy's number and he hasn't been around for a few months, even though he knows that some of the guys have broken tools and have been waiting up to six months for stuff they ordered.

So that's it. Our city officially has no viable Snap-on dealer. The industrial rep returns calls but takes forever to come around or complete orders. They are nothing more than a mail-order tool company. If I have to buy mail-order, I'll buy other equal quality brands for half the price.

I have to laugh at the people that say you're paying for the service and how truck brands are so convenient and such a time/money saver for professionals. I had a pair of Channellock cutters break on me today. Stopped at the store on my way home and exchanged them in a few minutes. If they were Snap-on I'd still have broken cutters tomorrow and until I could complete a mail-in warranty exchange. I've always bought industrial brands even though my occupation is heavily targeted by Snap-on. Glad I did. The only difference between my stuff and my co-workers is I don't have a box of broken tools waiting for someone who never shows up.

Snap-on corporate doesn't care how they are represented. They spend lots on advertising and have enough brand recognition that they don't need to worry about bad dealers. They won't turf one from complaints, as ours has a history of hiding that goes back many many years. Any problem with a dealer is solved by directing you to their website for online ordering.

 

[BowtieGuy]

Good points tyndall. I have a 1/4 in ratchet that is broken right now. But who knows when I'll see a truck again. THAT must be the convenience everyone talks about. lol. I have to make a 3 hour trip tomorrow for personal business. I'd be better off taking it with me & finding a truck along the way somewhere. I think I'm quickly becoming anti-snap-on, or anti-tool-truck in general. I thought we had a deal, I pay inflated prices for a great product, & service. BUT, even if I don't get service, the "I pay" part still applies. lol

 

[canuckian]

Mine has only disappeared once and that was only a for a couple weeks. Turned out he had to get some kind of emergency surgery done but he was back on his route as soon as the doctors allowed him to. I know what days he's in town and I use 3 or 4 different stops that he uses throughout the week to meet him depending on my schedule. He's usually on time for the most part and if I get there and he's not there and I call him to see where he is, he's usually either just after leaving or on his way there. Couldnt wish for a better truck guy. Now if I could get him to carry more promos on the truck I'd be all set!

 

[greasemonkey44]

ours disappeared about a year ago; ive got stuff to warranty
I'd like to buy a ton of tools; and i would like to check out a solus ultra as well
but oh well; my matco guy is cleaning up

 

[regguy1]

Back in the 70's our tool guy 'disappeared' turned out the stabbed his wife to death and disappeared to prison

Made me glad I always paid him on time

 

[ptschram]

My Matco guy just retired after servicing my account for ten years.

My one Snap-On guy has been selling Snap-On since about '78 and still goin' strong, If I need to see him, I call him and meet him.

The other one, stops by every other Friday.

Nobody's getting rich selling me tools, but they all make money stopping to see me.

 

[jhelrey]

The guy we have stops by weekly...

 

[bgott]

I have a friend that got on the Cornwell truck around twenty years ago and bought a new rollcab. Then he turned right around and traded it in on a bigger box off of the Mac truck. He was making both payments, although Cornwell's ******** was puckered, when the Cornwell man disappeared and hasn't been seen since. We found out later that the ******** guy got caught selling Cocaine off of his truck. The only thing I bought that got orphaned by a tooltruck going out of business was an IR thermometer off of a Matco dealer, that was a hundred bucks or so.

 

[mrshaun]

I only disappeared for a few days after rolling my tool truck in August. Drove 1600 miles and got another one and only missed 5 days of work. Just had surgery Monday and was back in the truck Wednesday. I have had 60 doctor type appts and still managed to get my job done. If I am gone it has to be something major.

 

[BowtieGuy]

Tomorrow will be a month. We'll see if a truck shows up.

 

[Roots]

I guess this is part question, part bitching. My shop has one tool guy, Snap-On. The last time I saw him was four weeks ago. That day he said he may be quitting, & continued to complain about the guy he works for. Ok, I know there are two sides to every story, but this is the THIRD guy in less than a year to say / do the same thing. Seems like an odd coincidence. So, it's been ANOTHER month without sight of the Snappy truck. Yes, this has happened two other times.

It sounds like the Franchisee or District Manager who's employing those guys doesn't have the best employee relationships or partnerships.

 

[BowtieGuy]

Exactly Roots. From what I understand, it's the "boss", with his own route, & one other guy with HIS route, (the one I'm on). So, if I ever see a SO truck again, it'll have the 4th different driver in just over a year.

 

[camarotoolman]

From what I hear from my customer at the swap meets and fLeemarkets, is that Snap on guys ae usualy the best, them Matco. Most mac guys come and go, corn hole non-existing in most areas. Snap On sells better and for more money used, if I was buying tools to use, that what I would buy.

 

[plinker]

My Brother got a job about 35 miles away at a tire shop and according to him the local guy down there has not been there at all except the one time. And from what one of his co-workers says he only show up when he's owed money.
Kinda hard to spend if you dont show up in the first place to sell something.

The Matco dealer down there isnt any better from what I'm told (I think he also lost his driver's lis.)


The local dealer my Dad knows and deals with, is looking to get out of the biz as it were. He says sales have been down 50% and he's not restocking his truck, orders everything in now. He has a very big area from what I know, with alot of small towns so I can see things are not good, but it seems like sales have always been down for him for a long time(read years). I think he's tired of it myself.

I dont do much businuss with him, beings as he's only around every two weeks and it's easy to miss him. Hardly conveniant.

I've been going online for all my new stuff and warranty work, and I think thats the way alot of people are going.

 

[tcsalvage]

snappy just showed up again after 3 years, new guy but says hes been doing this for 12 years. hope this one sticks around, had four in here in three years, hard to build a rapore when reps keep changing. mac shows up when he has something ''new and improved'', matco stops in about once a month. looking to upgrade my solus pro so he couldn't have timed it better.

 

[BowtieGuy]

Snap On sells better and for more money used, if I was buying tools to use, that what I would buy.

Me too! There are tools I would buy if he'd show up. BUT, he'd probably have to order them. :-/ That's a WHOLE other problem. lol

 

[tyndall]

I've been going online for all my new stuff and warranty work, and I think thats the way alot of people are going.

This is something I don't understand. Maybe if the truck brands were giving a 30-40% discount for online ordering, but why pay full list price and not get the service? The only justification for S-o charging so much for a wrench that's no better than Wright, Proto, Williams, SK, etc., is the alleged convenience of having the truck come to you.

If you have to settle for mail order, shouldn't they be cheaper than brands you can get and warranty over the counter?

 

[tyndall]

Snap On sells better and for more money used, if I was buying tools to use, that what I would buy.

So you would rather buy 10K worth of S-o and sell it for half price 20 years from now, instead of buying 5K worth of SK and selling it for a third? Invest the 5K you saved and you'd be further ahead with SK.

 

[plinker]

This is something I don't understand. Maybe if the truck brands were giving a 30-40% discount for online ordering, but why pay full list price and not get the service? The only justification for S-o charging so much for a wrench that's no better than Wright, Proto, Williams, SK, etc., is the alleged convenience of having the truck come to you.

If you have to settle for mail order, shouldn't they be cheaper than brands you can get and warranty over the counter?

I can see your point, but I should clarifiy, in regards to the truck brand tools.

I dont buy everything new off the website(s), my Matco wrench set was pieced together from ebay/classifieds and some other S-O and truck brands are as well.

What I do buy new from S-O for example, are things I really like such as ratcheting screwdrivers, picks, some speciality tools like re-threading taps and dies (they have open stock listed).

The issue for me is I live in the middle of nowhere as it were, the closest Sears for example, is 45 mile away. So it's not really conveinant to drop what your doing and go get something replaced or buy a new one.

As for the truck brands if there's an OEM that has the same warranty on the tool I'll buy it as the OEM. But they are some thing "exclusive" to the truck brands that you cant get the same exact tool elsewhere for less, unless you like bidding on ebay and waiting for someone to list it.

If the S-O sent the tool design to Williams for instance I'd get the williams tool as it's cheaper, since I'd have to order it in anyway, same for warranty issues.

FWIW, most of my tools are either S-K, Craftsman or recently Napa.

Edit;
The one thing I will not do is keep all my eggs in one basket, and just buy one brand. I also will not pass up a good deal if it comes my way, truck brand tool or otherwise.

 

[38D]

My snap-on guy comes every week and delivers to my house...that's pretty darn good in my book

 

[ekuhn]

I know the SnapOn guy at our shop stops in so infrequently that its disgusting. Then when he does show up he has socks and hand cleaner for sale. Call him for a warranty or looking to upgrade, if you're lucky he comes in a week later.

 

[packofqtips]

38d whos your guy?
i had mike (cant think of his last name atm) when i worked in charlestown, he would show up for all 3 shifts at my place wasnt a bad guy

 

[Ratchet.]

Our snap on guy is here every week even when his truck broke down and was in a garage for weeks waitign for parts he came in his car and took any orders for guys that he had

Usually he says if he wont be in so no complaints at all (on that front, there are some issues that are a bit annoying, not the dealers fault tho)

The mac tools truck however vanished off the face of the earth tho, no one seems to know where he went, and no one has taken over, bit of a pain if you need warranty stuff as i do ¬_¬ (don't have much mac tools as i don't like a lot of there newer stuff anyway)

Lastly the matco truck is a bit sporadic, but its part owned by the company i work for so serves most of Scotland, so i guess that's forgivable (didnt even know matco had a dealer network in the uk till i started at my current work)

 

[GoBlue]

Man you guys are killing me. My Snap on guy has been in business since the early 70s, my Matco guy since 82, and my Mac guy since 88 or there about. They NEVER miss a day. On the rare occasions they have they have always let us know a week ahead of time. We are a small shop to boot. Right now we are down to me and one other mechanic in the shop due to being slow. We both have modest balances (less than $400) and they keep showing up...and i keep buying tools! Fwiw...if i call them in need of something...they come right over too.

 

[Deception]

When I was in a shop our Mac guy was always there like clockwork...
We used to say this one guy worked 8-3 on Friday because once the Mac truck pulled up he'd stand around BS'ing for 2 hours with him haha

 

[98TJ]

Our Snap-On guy shows up every Friday and even helped move the shop to the new location. He brought the truck over, loaded the boxes on the truck, and dropped them at the new shop.

I have his cell number and we're friends on facebook. If there's something I need, I'll call or send him a message on facebook with the part number of what I want and he takes care of me.

Good dude.

Heck, there was a time where something broke on a Saturday. Called him and he came over and took care of it.

 

[mayhemman]

the snap on guy that i have. he has been around this area for quite awhile, at least several years that i know of.

only really dealt with im the last few months. excellent service and honest. seems half the stuff i want i have to wait for, because he doesn't have it. but it could be just thats what i want lol.

ive only spent a hair over $400 dollars with him and pay for that item right then. the impact only being $200 but i am doing in about 2 payments so i can keep some cash saved for taxes.


there are some other items i want to have him warranty but will do that as i remember to bring them. my father also wants to have him rebuild a couple of ratchets.

he stops our route ever two weeks, only missed one time but that was because he didn't have anything for us, so no biggie. always brings the flyers around and has been just great to deal with, even brought me the ratcheting driver before christmas so i could give it to my dad as a present!

boss bought 1 ratchet from him and waiting for a promo srewdriver that is oversold currently. we are right next door to a automotive shop and being we are a small engine repair shop, he didnt' stop by for a long time. i talked to him about some warranty items and got him to stop back. its been really good to have the service when needed.

 

[rayh91]

My Matco guy is just terrible. I've been here for 7 months and I've only seen him like 4 times. I don't even remember his name. I see him drive by every now and then but he never stops by.

Never had a problem with my SO or Mac dealer. Although my SO dealer takes a day off every now and then. My Mac dealer is here every week, around the same time. It's a shame that I never bought anything from him.

 

[mrshaun]

Talk to your snap on guys and ask them exactly why they are not there. I have a lot of my customers on Facebook now and that keeps the customer and I both in check. If I am running late there will be a message on fb asking when I will be stopping by.

 

[38D]

38d whos your guy?
i had mike (cant think of his last name atm) when i worked in charlestown, he would show up for all 3 shifts at my place wasnt a bad guy

Aaron Picard...he's absolutely great. I believe his route is the 495 corridor.

 

[taterdog]

Snap on comes every week. And will make a trip to the shop during the week if I need anything. Marco and mac seem to show up weekly but I've never been on there trucks

 

[RV77]

Hey Bowtie - Call Snap-on Corporate and The district rep. will get you taken care of.Thats what I did and I let them know How I felt.