Improving Snap On Customer Service

[Charlief]

My share of the Internet revenue last month was $32. Snappy throws us dealeRs a little bone here n there.

 

[Lx460]

My share of the Internet revenue last month was $32. Snappy throws us dealeRs a little bone here n there.

Wow...how generous. How do they calculate that? Could you even buy a single tool off your own truck?

 

[stikman56]

Great place to start would be standing up to honor their warranty.....long story there.
Yes, they changed their website and it *****, big time. The search engine won't even bring up good part numbers half the time. Then, on top of that, not even a picture of the part now. It's really a joke, and if you don't have the part number figured out already, good luck, because for the most part, it's not going to come up by finding the tool, then clicking on parts. Why on earth would they change from what was s good working site, to this garbage?
Had no issues with the truck coming around every week and ordering parts that way, when I needed them.

 

[Model A Fan]

Is Snap-On's pricing based on anything? They seem much more expensive than other tools that are made in the US and it sounds like they don't have very good customer service. Their company is a throwback to pre-internet days with a splash of pyramid scheme. Why do they have such high prices and then do price breaks for people on their tools? What makes their tool boxes so expensive? How do mechanics pay for the expensive tools? Is it mostly an image thing? I am confused b their company, their marketing, the way they won't sell to regular people, why they run trucks?

The idea of having touring tool trucks is a good one. Where you can look up the schedule and location for their stops.

 

[sberry]

Is Snap-On's pricing based on anything? They seem much more expensive than other tools that are made in the US and it sounds like they don't have very good customer service. Their company is a throwback to pre-internet days with a splash of pyramid scheme. Why do they have such high prices and then do price breaks for people on their tools? What makes their tool boxes so expensive? How do mechanics pay for the expensive tools? Is it mostly an image thing? I am confused b their company, their marketing, the way they won't sell to regular people, why they run trucks?

The idea of having touring tool trucks is a good one. Where you can look up the schedule and location for their stops.

The idea they have for a business model is a good one and it works. Snapon does exactly what it is they should do, be the leader and charge for it. Why stoop to the bottom, follow that path and strive to become Sears?
Snap has the best, gets the best, some people want it, they provide.
Its a different argument on the worthiness of a tool or its real rate of return. They should not change the way they do business. They should keep the margins selling a few tools vs a lot of cheap tools.

 

[sberry]

If they were to compete on price they would have to slash the price a lot,,, not just a little but a lot. It would put them in competition with the second, third place contenders at 1/3 the cost and lose the leader spot, have to react to competitors price.
Sears should have been chasing SK all these years instead of Walmart and Harbor freight.

 

[sberry]

If HF really wanted to stick a needle in Sears they would offer up a ratchet trade in scheme.

 

[sberry]

Its 32 juice. Hahahaha

 

[RedneckWelder]

They seem much more expensive than other tools that are made in the US

What brands of tools are you talking about? Craftsman is nowhere near the quality and the industrial brands that do approach or meet SO quality operate on a different business model and don't run tool trucks- they are strongly oriented towards factories, mills, .gov, and so on. Before the internet, availability of the industrial brands was not very good. SK tools availability was hit or miss as well. Thankfully one can easily get Proto, Wright, SK, and Armstrong now but warrenty is still not the easiest thing to do.

and it sounds like they don't have very good customer service.

The popular GJ sentiment is not necessarily reality for most SO customers.

Their company is a throwback to pre-internet days with a splash of pyramid scheme.

First point is somewhat valid but there is nothing pyramid scheme about it IMHO.

Why do they have such high prices and then do price breaks for people on their tools?

Most retail goods have MSRP and street price. MSRP for some can be 2-3x as much as what most pay on the street. Snap On is not a whole lot different in that model. The franchisee is like any other retailer outlet in pricing stuff- they order it from SO at their rate and set the price for it on their truck. They choose whether or not to participate in the specials.

Remember, when you are buying off a tool truck you are buying from that franchisee, not SO themselves.

What makes their tool boxes so expensive?

Quality, durability, and made in the USA (and sometimes Canada). Plus don't take retail price as a true indicator of price.

How do mechanics pay for the expensive tools?

Either cash and carry or the mechanic can put it on truck credit

Is it mostly an image thing?

Around my shop, no.

I am confused b their company, their marketing,

I don't understand why the confusion, they are oriented towards the professional mechanic and carry the specialized tools a mechanic needs.

the way they won't sell to regular people,

Myth. They will sell to the non pro mechanic but their business model is strongly oriented towards the pro mechanic. It is what works for them and makes the customers by and large happy.

why they run trucks?

For the same reason things like ice cream trucks and food trucks and so on exists- convenience. The tool trucks come to the shop, you hop on for about 15 minutes and get your warranty exchanges done, check out new products, buy what you are needing, and a good tool truck driver will have lots of specialized and innovative tools to make aggravating jobs easier, so you grab it right there and get back to work. Most of the other shops in town that sell higher grade tools have a limited selection and close not long after I get off of work, so it's hard to get over to them with traffic and make it there before they close. They also don't carry much beyond the basic sockets/ratchets/wrenches, and what I need is beyond that.


That said, I don't shop exclusively tool truck brands, my box has a lot of proto/wright/armstrong/williams in it and some HF and Sunex and so on.


But the SO hate on here is just annoying. They provide a quality product and are convenient for the mechanic.

 

[steed andersen]

I ordered two batteries and an impact back in the beginning of November. Finally this week I canceled that order after repeated/various excuses as to why it was not in yet. This is the second time in a year I had to wait well over a month to get a tool I need at work. If it is not available don't advertise it. If I need a tool at work I don't have time to mess around. I may have to buy another companies tool this time if you don't have it,if you continue to not deliver what you advertise you lose my trust and I don't even bother looking at your tools.

 

[sberry]

I have a few snap wrenches, they are great but I don't need every hard line tool they make. When I tooled up they were 10x the cost of a cman, over 20 today and the quality of the cheap tool has skyrocketed.
I think they do great business but I would have to really think about it to pull over to put out a truck fire for one. They never done much for me and doubt they will in the future.

When they extoll the virtues of SO here and elsewhere, some claim them to be brainwashed by SO marketing, which is insulting to men who have spent their adult lives using tools.

This is about like Kroil and they should feel insulted. Owning an overpriced wrench doesn't make one a genius, you got to wonder about basic math skills.

 

[Hiball]

Its just a Tool Brand.. I don't get all the hurt feelings, Your not a lesser person if you don't have Brand X in your arsenal. I can't speak for Everyone obviously, but if I Personally don't get Good customer Service, I simply don't patronize the Brand/Retailer, and I move on. I can't help to think some of you guys are really distraught over other people's consumers choices, Its borderline silly to see the same Names and stories repeatedly defend "for" or "against" a specific brand.

Are you sure you guys even need tools?

 

[sberry]

Not much else interests me, I really don't need a lot of help with tools. Most threads I don't bother reading.

 

[AA/FC]

I agree there is room for improvement in SO process. That would be true in almost any market, today.

But, the Corp folks make decisions on things like, cost of customer acquisition, cost of goods, margins, overhead, etc. I doubt that very many of them have actually been on a truck, or worked using those tools the sell.

I used to work some NHRA races, where we had sponsors, snap on was one, where every SO attendee saw what we did with their tools, the importance of the tool function and why quality was important and to whom, the name recognition meant something. In the post mortems with SO, they were all but speechless about what they learned about "their" tools. But most SO guys never attend an event like this, so again the Corp folks never see the value.

There are customers and there are lost opportunities. Business, SO included, need to understand that simple principle.

In answer to your last question - the SO people top to bottom need to use their tools for 3-4 hours continuous use on some staged assembly. Then have those same folks "receive" a full tool box assortment of SO tools and have them unwrap and organize them in a large tool box and then assess or critique them as to why they did things a particular way. Lastly have those same SO folks, order from a list, that you have created, 30 or 40 disparate tools - from their website, so they can see what it takes to do so.

The president of SO Sales and Franchising owns, drives, and works on his own Nitro Funny Car.

 

[dsimatt]

Is Snap-On's pricing based on anything? They seem much more expensive than other tools that are made in the US and it sounds like they don't have very good customer service. Their company is a throwback to pre-internet days with a splash of pyramid scheme. Why do they have such high prices and then do price breaks for people on their tools? What makes their tool boxes so expensive? How do mechanics pay for the expensive tools? Is it mostly an image thing? I am confused b their company, their marketing, the way they won't sell to regular people, why they run trucks?

The idea of having touring tool trucks is a good one. Where you can look up the schedule and location for their stops.

Snap on and the other truck brands are the premier tool brands and their products are mostly higher quality than the cheaper tool brands out there, they have very good warranty and people that come to you so that adds to the price.

Snap ons website ***** big time, the search is horrible and they can't even have pictures of stuff that costs hundreds of dollars. My dealer is really good and will find what i need wether it be a snap on tool, or even aftermarket brands that they carry and deals really good one prices compared to the website.

This rachet here http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...682323&supersede=&store=snapon-store&tool=all I paid $60 for because we did on group buy on my shift so he dropped the price that much so its nice having a dealer that does that.

 

[dsimatt]

Its just a Tool Brand.. I don't get all the hurt feelings, Your not a lesser person if you don't have Brand X in your arsenal. I can't speak for Everyone obviously, but if I Personally don't get Good customer Service, I simply don't patronize the Brand/Retailer, and I move on. I can't help to think some of you guys are really distraught over other people's consumers choices, Its borderline silly to see the same Names and stories repeatedly defend "for" or "against" a specific brand.

Are you sure you guys even need tools?

I agree i don't have any tool brand tattooed on my **** so i only buy from the ones that give me great service and my Snap on guy will bend over backwards to help with warrantee or giving good deals on stuff. The other 2 trucks they are nice but don't seem to have the support like SO and when you order/warrantee something you can be stuck waiting for awhile which ***** when you need the tool.

 

[abvw]

I have a few snap wrenches, they are great but I don't need every hard line tool they make. When I tooled up they were 10x the cost of a cman, over 20 today and the quality of the cheap tool has skyrocketed.
I think they do great business but I would have to really think about it to pull over to put out a truck fire for one. They never done much for me and doubt they will in the future.
This is about like Kroil and they should feel insulted. Owning an overpriced wrench doesn't make one a genius, you got to wonder about basic math skills.

Here is my observation:

Folks with cheap tools don't give a **** about the work they put out.

Sberry you always preached about cheap tools but how many times have you bought the same tools over? How many tools have you left behind in a customer's rig/car that you didn't bother retrieve because its cheap? How many duplicates do you own (how do you justify owning twenty of the same Crapsman 9/16" wrench when you can only use two at a time at most?). Now do the math and tell me how much you've come ahead buying cheap tools.

 

[flyingtpot]

Here is my observation:

Folks with cheap tools don't give a **** about the work they put out.

Sberry you always preached about cheap tools but how many times have you bought the same tools over? How many tools have you left behind in a customer's rig/car that you didn't bother retrieve because its cheap? How many duplicates do you own (how do you justify owning twenty of the same Crapsman 9/16" wrench when you can only use two at a time at most?). Now do the math and tell me how much you've come ahead buying cheap tools.

sberry is a diehard SO hater. He thrives on bragging about being cheap.

 

[1950mercury]

The only good things that come from these bs threads are the tags, they never disappoint

 

[Conductor562]

Stop whinning and buy from there web site than. Im sure drivers have people waist there time all the time. This thread is a joke they are one of the few tool companies making 90% of there tools in the usa and some people still ***** about ****. Are they perfect no but they are making a high quality product made in the usa so deal with it. If your not happy about them shut your hole and dont buy from them.

What an ******* response. I've sit and read this at least 5 times and it pisses me off a little more each time.

I am not "whining", nor did I deserve for you to tell me to shut my hole. I was not bashing Snap-On, advocating Harbor Freight, or saying anything negative about the brand at all. I was adding to the OP's point that the distribution method leaves those of us who aren't working at a shop a little to be desired. I attempted to locate a driver for a couple of reasons. A: I would rather support a local fella as opposed to the corporate entity, B: I would prefer to shop for my tools in a traditional manner as opposed to the sometimes blind online method, and C: I like the idea of having relationship with a brand dedicated distributor. Would I have been an every week customer? no, but I buy a lot of tools and I don't think asking the guy to go 5 minutes off his normal route to give him $200 or so for a couple of ratchets was over expecting. I'd have been glad to meet up with him at the body shop he stops at, but he never even suggested that. Keep in mind this was about 5 years ago and if Snap-On sold online then, I wasn't aware of it.


It's pretty damn sad that we can't have even a specialized discussion like this anymore about Snap-On without someone coming along and ******* all over it with ******** about how Chinese **** from Harbor Freight is just as good, or taking the opposite approach and suggesting that Snap-On is impervious to any faults that every other manufacturer on the planet sometimes encounters. Snap-On makes very nice tools and sells them at greatly inflated prices, good for them, and if that's what you like, good for you. I didn't bash their tools or advocate the bargain bin alternative, I just shared my lone customer service experience with them and I fail to see where my comment warranted your troll *** reply.

So help me God this is the last thread I will ever participate in on this forum that has Snap-On in the title. Threads like this have pretty much ruined any desire I had to talk about the brand.

 

[Strouty]

haters gonna hate