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Tool truck stories

Goinlow

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Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
260
I've seen people post random "stories" in some topics.

I'd love to hear some stories from customers or tool truck dealers. Whether it is stealing, bad dealers, people avoiding payments etc post em up.
 
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DanCo

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Joined
Dec 30, 2009
Messages
2,391
Location
In a house, on a block, somewhere in Queens New Yo
My Matco guy, I won't mention his name. Great guy. When I first started working at my shop, he'd come by on his day. He knew I was the FNG so he would offer me what I needed, we'd work out a payment schedual, I would always pay him on time or try to double up on payments whenever possible.I know that the tool trucks sell a lot of stuff out of pocket, so I didn't want to drag out the payments. As of the last year he's slowly falling behind with Matco-not getting any of his order for us and his other stops. I see his truck it's real empty, I'll buy the little stuff he stocks just to help him out. Today I got a phone call from him, this will be his last month with Matco. He too far in debt, and due to that its putting his marriage at risk.
 
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Goinlow

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Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
260
Man that is awful, terrible to see a nice tool dealer go out of business. But at the end of the day you gotta make a profit.
 

mrshaun

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Joined
Sep 10, 2009
Messages
4,033
Location
Killeen - Fort Hood
what do you want to know.
Like a customer pulling a gun on me when I tried to repo his box. I stood my ground and he backed off, then a cop drove by and it was all I could do to not flag the cop down so he would get possibly arrested and I could at that point take the box. But I left him as he was and he returned the box a month later. but then after his little stunt he didnt get what he wanted on his box when it was returned. he had roughly two years of no payments and lots of interest and late fees. he would only make one good payment every two to 3 months. he still owes 4000 after giving the box back. he did pawn the tools so he FU&^%$ himself in more ways that one.....
 

vssjim

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Joined
Aug 5, 2007
Messages
2,713
Location
McLean Va.
The tool truck is a tough small biz and it ain't getting any going to get eazy any time soon in a lot of the country
 

Stick

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Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Messages
2,302
Location
Alaska
We used to have an awesome Mac guy, but unfortunately he retired. The guy who replaced him, not so good. The replacement guy acted like a used car salesman trying to push tools on you, not a great idea in a shop where most of us have full three bay boxes. Needless to say, none of us need basic hand tools or other "must have" tools of the month because we already own them.

Everybody in our shop tried to throw him a bone or two buying small things to help him get started, in the hopes that he would start carrying tools and diagnostics that guys like us actually do need. I spent five or six hundred dollars with him, always paying cash and one day I asked him how much an IR thermometer was on the truck. He replied $109.99 and I asked him what the cash price today out the door was and pulled out a hundred dollar bill. He smiled and proceeded to tell me that he would take the hundred dollars, and put $9.99 on the truck account. I thought he was kidding (because of the smile and a wink), and handed him the hundred dollar bill, took my receipt and walked off the truck. When I went to drop my receipt into the receipt folder in one of my toolbox drawers a minute later I noticed that I had a balance of $9.99 on the truck.

He shows up the next week and I asked him about the $9.99 on the truck, thinking that maybe he forgot to discount the thermometer for a cash sale. He said that no, he took my hundred dollars and put the remaining on the truck, because he doesn't discount tools because it "devalues" them. I looked at him, handed him $10, and told him if he thought that way, I wasn't going to set foot on his truck again. I think he thought I was kidding.

About two months goes by, with him stopping by once a week and nobody from the shop going onto his truck, and he finally asks someone what the deal was. One of my co-workers pointed to our toolboxes and told him that most of us average spending $5-6k a year buying tools, and if he was going to treat one of us like that, then nobody was going to buy from him.

Now I'm not looking for a discount on every tool I buy, but if I spend a couple hundred dollars on your truck, paying cash in full and helping to get your business started, you can throw me a bone once in a while, right? You know, one of those I scratch your back, you scratch mine type of deals. Talking to guys we know at other shops, the Mac guy still hasn't figured that out apparently, and his visits have gone from being weekly to every two weeks to once a month or so. I'm betting he'll be out of business by the end of the summer.

Oh, and I still haven't set foot on his truck, and it's been a year and a half now. Between Snap-on and Matco I spent $8700 last year, and both of those dealers will discount tools occasionally without me asking for any sort of price break from them. Funny how they figured out that part of being a dealer...
 

Az Scooter

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Joined
Dec 30, 2009
Messages
1,500
That is a part of the learning curve when you are new in business. Some guys think that they should never discount prices for any reason, because they won't make as much money. When it is a personal service oriented business, it is always beneficial to have a cash price for a tool, even if it is just in your head. When someone is a good customer, not a piss and moaner, doesn't cause problems, and buys new tools regularly, he is the guy that should get a discount.
That, and remembering that not all the money that comes in is yours, are probably two of the many differences between those that make it, and those that don't.
 
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Goinlow

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Feb 28, 2010
Messages
260
I totally agree. What those dealers don't understand is if you are gonna pay for retail for a tool you can just order it online or eBay it. If you are that loyal of a customer a cash price is just common courtesy.
 

WSMC633

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Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
484
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I just met my Local Snap-On Dealer the other Day. (Thanks mrshaun for helping me find him :bounce: )

Anyway, Very nice guy, told him that I hadn't had a dealer in awhile, especially now that I don't have my shop. Now it's much harder to find a dealer, and that I'd rather give my money to a local dealer than Snap-On's website. Spent $300+ in a few minutes, he knocked the sales tax off (which in LA is almost 10%). Not sure if it was because I was a new customer, because I was paying in full, or because he's a nice guy. Regardless, he's got my business now.

I already have a very nice set of tools and a box so he's probably not going to make $9000 per year off me. But as we all know there are always more tools that neeeeed to be bought :thumbup: So when I want/need something, I'll call him.
 

bowtiebuba

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Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
152
Location
marion iowa
I totally agree. What those dealers don't understand is if you are gonna pay for retail for a tool you can just order it online or eBay it. If you are that loyal of a customer a cash price is just common courtesy.


online or ebay dosent warranty you tools weekly or have that special tool you need that day. not disagreeing with you just pointing that out.
 

Toolhorder

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Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
5,711
Location
Montana
I had a real winner for a Snappy dealer. The guy sold me an 1/2 impact gun and then when it broke a week or two later wanted me to send it in and wait of course for it to come in. Being an kid just starting out this wasn't going to work without a loaner which he didn't have. I told him to just return it to Snappy and tell them it's defective and exchange it but he basically got pissed and I had to invite him to leave my stall. After not paying him a couple weeks he came back demanding the tool and I gladly gave it back. Last time I bought anything from the guy.
I moved on and a couple years later I heard the guy caught his truck on fire (he was a smoker and smoked on his truck) and had a heart attack while the fire dept. was putting the thing out and died.

This one time I worked in the downtown part of my city at an import only repair shop. In the busy downtown area parking is at a premium. My tool dealer used to double park the truck in the lane closest to the curb and put the hazards on. We would just watch for cars and jump on/off and handle our business.
Anyway this one day about 3 of us plus the tool dealer were on the truck looking around and BSing and this guy in a car starts honking behind the truck. A couple of us go to the front of the truck to wave him around or whatever or see what he's honking about and he goes around the side of the truck and yells "Hey tool ****, move ya fu@king truck" and waves his fist at us.
Everyone kinda looked at each other and we all started laughing. To this day my wife still reminds me of that story when she sees a tool truck double parked somewhere
 

Panzer

Active member
Joined
Nov 23, 2008
Messages
39
I have horror stories about Mac in my area. I have dealt with 4 reps since I have began my career. One was great and the rest were horrible.

1st Mac Rep: I was working at a construction company as welder and became a mechanic. We only had a Mac truck stopping by so I asked if I could get a catalog and a price sheet he looked at me and walked away. So next week I asked again same response again. Okay I guess I am not up his standards for a customer. Went out and bought 4 grand in SK tools.

2nd Mac Rep: Well he seemed decent enough in the beginning I was spending 400 dollars a month for about a year with him all my air tools and buying some hardline tools. Well I had outgrown my little KRA box was looking at a different box. Priced out a KRL 7022 and a Mac of similar size. I decided on the Snap On. Well he saw that and flipped out. Starting yelling at me how could you buy that you got ripped off I thought you were a loyal customer. Paid off the fifty dollars on my truck account and told him I do not tell you how to spend your money do not tell me and did not speak to him again.
I traded most of my Mac tools for Snap On.

3rd Mac Rep: Well I told him I am Snap On guy but will try to throw some money his way. I did have a good Mac Rep for a while so I needed some warranty help. Threw fifty dollars a month or so at him just keep him around. He walked in when I traded in my KRL for my Epic. And a temper tantrum ensued. Did not see him again after that day and the other guy in shop owes him like two hundred dollars.

So that is why I do not buy Mac tools anymore. The Mac reps I have dealt with seem like they are jealous of Snap On. Oh well the Snap On and Matco reps are great to deal they want me to buy there brand but no pressure and tell me to buy what "I" want. They will get my business with that attitude.
 
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Goinlow

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Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
260
The shop I work at is a smaller one (me, an 18 year old who just graduated vo tech, my boss, a painter, and a body man). My boss and the body man have tons of tools and us 2 young guns are starting out.

I've spent ~1k in tools so far and it's been allllllll snap on. The matco guy has been there ONCE in the 5 months I've worked here. Mac guy probably comes once a month and we have an sk dealer that is the same way. Our snap on rep is there every Monday at around 11 and gets my business. He is respectful and cuts me deals.

The mac guy is pretty old and my boss said he's been like this forever just seems not to care ( he is owed money from a few people and just never shows). That blows my mind, even he doesn't sell anything new he gets to make money......
 

scbird94

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Joined
Oct 24, 2009
Messages
594
Location
Sauk Rapids, MN
As some of you know, i just purhcased a new matco 6s box.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59611

I knew i was in the market for a bright orange box, and it was between snappy and matco. I walked in to our snapon dealer's truck, and he had almost the exact box i want, even in bright orange... sitting on his truck. He just got it. there was even a dent so it was discounted
I asked his best price, plus trade for my box, took his quote, made my payment, and walked off the truck.

Next day matco came. Asked for his quote. Was about $2000 cheaper than snap. via promo's with matco corporate or something to do with dealer show this winter.

I gave the snap on guy the chance the next week i saw him, i flat out told him- take $1500 off and we have a deal, unload it right now. He wouldnt budge one cent. I smiled and walked off.

Not even ten mins later i called our matco guy and had him order my matco.
S
Two weeks later, Snap on had has some "sales manager" dude tagging along on his route, who is gung-ho about selling toolboxes. Apparently our dealer told his manager guy about me "being on the fence about a box" because this guy came right to me... i told him i wanted your box, but my new matco is on its way from new york as we speak. What?! yup, snap-on wouldnt budge a cent, so i went matco. I gave him the chance.

Ten mins later i was walking past the door of the truck on my way to get a car and i overheard the manager YELLING at our snap on dealer...

"you should have taken that deal, you know what you had into this box, what is wrong with you. I would have discounted it even more just to make him a snap-on customer"\

Our dealer got his *** reamed because he is a tight-***. PS our matco guy rocks.
 
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Goinlow

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Feb 28, 2010
Messages
260
Yup that's exactly what I would have done. Snap on is great but I ain't gonna pay 2k more for something.
 
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Brian41

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Jan 14, 2010
Messages
159
Only dealer in my shop is SnapOn. If you have other dealers coming in that means your SO dealer is weak. I was a SO dealer in the 80's and ran the other brand dealers out of my territory by making deals that they would not.
 

scbird94

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 24, 2009
Messages
594
Location
Sauk Rapids, MN
Our mac guy doesent get the bulk of our sales, we tend to buy matco and snap-on. We pick up on some of his good sales, but in general i dunno why, but mac seems to be chinsyier than matco and snap. I realize all trucks sell re-branded otc and lisle, kd and whatever else, but seems like EVERYTHING on the mac truck is that way.

That being said, even when our mac guy has not one person in the shop who owes him a cent, he still makes a stroll up through the shop EVERY thursday at 3:00 like clockwork, asking if we have brokens, gives us new flyer. I give him some respect for that, hes a very nice guy and i always take a few mins to bs with him even if i dont give him my card that week
 

JD6619A

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Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
255
Right now at work we have a Matco dealer. When I started at my current place of work he almost didn't show up at all then decided he would come again. He seems nice and friendly. What I don't like about him, he's never consistent about showing up every week. When you order something he says it will be in the next week, last thing i ordered was over a month and it was on sale to begin with and was going to charge me full price. He doesn't give any free hats stickers or anything. Oh and whatever is on sale he never has in his truck thats listed on the weekly flyer. He's Skating on thin ice in my books

Last Place of work we had Snap-On The dealers we had was excellent. always very professional and his truck was fully stocked. Had no issues with him whatsoever. The one before him was the same. If he was out of stock on something and was on sale he'd knock off 5% on the cost to keep you happy. I got lots of hats, stickers and a few jackets from both dealers.


Bottom line if I was given a choice i'd go back to Snap-On If the Matco Dealer decided to quit coming
 

iandh

Banned
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Messages
561
My Matco guy, I won't mention his name. Great guy. When I first started working at my shop, he'd come by on his day. He knew I was the FNG so he would offer me what I needed, we'd work out a payment schedual, I would always pay him on time or try to double up on payments whenever possible.I know that the tool trucks sell a lot of stuff out of pocket, so I didn't want to drag out the payments. As of the last year he's slowly falling behind with Matco-not getting any of his order for us and his other stops. I see his truck it's real empty, I'll buy the little stuff he stocks just to help him out. Today I got a phone call from him, this will be his last month with Matco. He too far in debt, and due to that its putting his marriage at risk.

I have to wonder, was it his tool truck that was putting his marriage at risk, or his marriage that was putting his tool truck at risk. :headscrat
 

crewchief888

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
Messages
13,744
Location
NW indiana
seems like ive had good and bad dealers from the BIG 3 over the last 25 years.
my tools are a mixed bag of SO, Matco, MAC, CM, & SK.
i had always got better service from SO than any other dealer, so thats who i bought most of my tools from.
in the last 10 years dealers are few and far between, ive seen multiple dealers on the same routes. the Matco dealer is the most consistent, he's been around for almost 20 years. he gets most of my (limited) business. i probably dont average $500 /year in tool purchasing, so nobody is gonna retire on what i'm buying.
95% of my business with any truck dealer is warranty related, the other 5% is a new purchase.

:beer:
 

Erle385

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Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Messages
108
Location
CT
my snap on guy is a jerk. my old So guy retired and then we didnt have one for 3 years and then i went online and found him. he came by for 2 straight weeks and then never came back. my mac guy comes by every week. never trys to push something on us, and always good with the warranties
 

Lookin4'67Galaxieconv

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Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
16,627
Location
Atlanta, GA
my snap on guy is a jerk. my old So guy retired and then we didnt have one for 3 years and then i went online and found him. he came by for 2 straight weeks and then never came back. my mac guy comes by every week. never trys to push something on us, and always good with the warranties

There may be a lot more behind why the Snap On guy is not coming by that you don't know about?! :headscrat
 

nato

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Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
1,342
Location
Northeast Ohio
Oh boy, another one of these...
Might as well be individual vent thread lol
Our newer Snap On *******-putz has only been in the business for roughly a year and a half. His brother-in-law who got him in the business, b/c he's also a dealer, was awesome! When I was w/ Ford, he was my dealer. top notch!
Then I switch locations and we have a decent S/O dealer. Then, he decides to get "impaired" and wraps his S-10 around a tree about 2 years ago. Now, with sustained brain injuries and mass loads of healing, he now has a driver...to drive him around in the truck to sell tools. Unfortunately, he's no longer w/ us, but we may get him back if aforementioned "*** hole'puts" quits/get's canned/or looses thisr oute. He bitched that he didn't have enough stops, so that's why he gout our shop. Wow, I know.
We lost him 2 years ago like I mentioned earlier, and got Mr. Assface who as of this past Wed., hasn't showed up or called for three consecutive weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!! His boss just called Thursday and asked "WTF?..What's the deal and how long has it been since he's been to your shop?!
We'll see what unfolds this week, but now he's f*cking w/ my EC payments. :thefinger
On the lighter side, I have no complaints for our Mac dealer who shows up every week, same time and is one of the coolest guys you could get to know. Same thing with our Cornwell dealer. Again, same time...every week unless he INFORMS us that he'll be a no show whenever it may be. Our SK guy is a winner too. Only thing that ***** w/ Fred is that we're his last stop on Fridays. you could imagine how that could go. He hasn't made it in a couple weeks, but for us, it's not that big a deal. We don't deal heaviyl w/ him because he mostly does the odds & ends tools.
Our Matco guy is new since fall last year. He's been the pushiest s.o.b I've ever dealt with. He's coming around though....slowly haha. I do like Matco's tools, although they sometimes even surpass S/O prices.
 

SS5150

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Joined
Nov 22, 2009
Messages
1,092
Location
NE IL
Our Cornwell guy has been spotty, but I've SEEN him at the shop the last few weeks....note I said seen: I've been there since Feb 8 and not once has he spoken with me; he did leave a flyer on my box earlier this month, I must have been on a test drive or something.

Our Matco dealer was my dealer back in the late 90s. He was cool then, but he kind of annoys me know. A little bit pushy so I haven't bought very much from him. I do still use some of the tools he sold me way back though.

Our Mac dealer is pretty good. Every Friday about 11am. Flyers every month, willing to deal on some things, warranty as needed. Only drawback is his truck isn't stocked real great; not bad, but not loaded though either.

Our Snap On guy is real good. Been through every tuesday afternoon.....doesn;t always have the flyers but stops to see me each week. Traded an older ratchet I didn't care for a few weeks ago, bought some torx drivers and screwdrivers the last 2 weeks. Jumped on his truck tuesday- dude, it's loaded. Offered me a good deal on a 1023 box (trading my Macsimizer)....held off so far because I'm the new guy and its blue. I'm thinking he's going to get alot of my business.

Back to the Cornwell guy- I saw some things in the flyer I wanted, but I'm not going to chase him down to spend money. His loss.
 

banzaitoyota

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Joined
Apr 2, 2006
Messages
587
Location
Aiken SC
Back in the late 80's I was wenching on the side while I was on Boomers in the Navy. Had a good Snap-on Dealer who came by my shop even though I was a small customer. While I was out at sea he was driving by the Garage and saw my EX-WIFE (current wife at time) putting up a yard sale sign and moving all my tools outside. He stopped the truck, told her I was behind on the payments (I had a 0 balance on the truck acct and EC) and loaded all my tools and took them to his shop. He saved my *** with that move!
 

TheGrooveking

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Joined
Dec 30, 2007
Messages
3,233
Location
An alternate reality in a parallel universe.
Back in the late 80's I was wenching on the side while I was on Boomers in the Navy. Had a good Snap-on Dealer who came by my shop even though I was a small customer. While I was out at sea he was driving by the Garage and saw my EX-WIFE (current wife at time) putting up a yard sale sign and moving all my tools outside. He stopped the truck, told her I was behind on the payments (I had a 0 balance on the truck acct and EC) and loaded all my tools and took them to his shop. He saved my *** with that move!

I hope you bought him a nice gift for that, that was an incredible thing he did, should get a hero award for that.

TheGrooveking
 
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Goinlow

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Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
260
Back in the late 80's I was wenching on the side while I was on Boomers in the Navy. Had a good Snap-on Dealer who came by my shop even though I was a small customer. While I was out at sea he was driving by the Garage and saw my EX-WIFE (current wife at time) putting up a yard sale sign and moving all my tools outside. He stopped the truck, told her I was behind on the payments (I had a 0 balance on the truck acct and EC) and loaded all my tools and took them to his shop. He saved my *** with that move!

Holy ****. That's an amazing thing he did. I would honestly do the same, I hate to see those tools go like that.
 

y20dth

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 20, 2010
Messages
698
Location
Antwerp, Belgium
Back in the late 80's I was wenching on the side while I was on Boomers in the Navy. Had a good Snap-on Dealer who came by my shop even though I was a small customer. While I was out at sea he was driving by the Garage and saw my EX-WIFE (current wife at time) putting up a yard sale sign and moving all my tools outside. He stopped the truck, told her I was behind on the payments (I had a 0 balance on the truck acct and EC) and loaded all my tools and took them to his shop. He saved my *** with that move!

WOW!

:thumbup::thumbup:
 

sonexer

Well-known member
Joined
May 20, 2009
Messages
65
Location
Detroit, Michigan
Back in the late 80's I was wenching on the side while I was on Boomers in the Navy. Had a good Snap-on Dealer who came by my shop even though I was a small customer. While I was out at sea he was driving by the Garage and saw my EX-WIFE (current wife at time) putting up a yard sale sign and moving all my tools outside. He stopped the truck, told her I was behind on the payments (I had a 0 balance on the truck acct and EC) and loaded all my tools and took them to his shop. He saved my *** with that move!

That's great he was looking out for you. He could of stopped and gave her a pair of pink Snap-on socks. :pimpflash
 

Brian41

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
159
Back in the late 80's I was wenching on the side while I was on Boomers in the Navy. Had a good Snap-on Dealer who came by my shop even though I was a small customer. While I was out at sea he was driving by the Garage and saw my EX-WIFE (current wife at time) putting up a yard sale sign and moving all my tools outside. He stopped the truck, told her I was behind on the payments (I had a 0 balance on the truck acct and EC) and loaded all my tools and took them to his shop. He saved my *** with that move!

This morning I got a call from a mechanic that left me in October to move up north and build his own shop. Last night he came back down state get a load of his equipment to find out his wife has left him and cleaned out his pole barn taking all his equipment. She did have the courtesy to leave a note in the barn "bet your happy now". The good news for him is he left his tool boxes at my shop.
 
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