MAC Tools Franchise Complaints (Video)

34 thoughts on “MAC Tools Franchise Complaints (Video)”

• Nick and Paula,

  I just watched your video. I am sorry for what you are going through. I myself was a Mac Tools Distributor and a Snap On dealer. This is a very tough business and these companys make us slave drivers. The real truth is never disclosed when you are being recruited. I eventually hired an Attorney that was able to make a deal with tool company where I owed zero and got a check in return. The downfall of that deal with many many others is, I cannot talk about my bad experience with anyone. It is kind of a raw deal considering many other people like yourselves will continue getting screwed because people like myself can’t spread the word. I am deeply sorry for your loss and many others out there that have or will suffer. I am confident that the both of you will move on in life and eventually Mac Tools will be just a bad memory.

• Seems like a big company like mac tools woulld take better care of their franchisee after all they are the ones making them the money! I”ve heard other stories of mac tools being terrible to their distrutors! Mac tools you suck!!!!!!!!

• Wow , i wont be buying anything from mac tools . Screwing familys , shame on you mac tools , its a shame .

• I have known nick and his family for years he has allways been a hardworker and taken care of his family! I have seen the toll from the stress on him this past year allways on the truck sometimes till late at night and on weekends, it is a shame that mac tools has left him beaten down and depressed!! good luck finding another victim mac tools!!!!!

• This video was very heart twisting… watching a dedicated father/husband try to start a business to support his family and everything just go up in flames is a disaster! I am appauled at the way Mac Tools has handled this entire situation, the lies, false promises and lack of communication and help is flabbergasting. A family loosing all their savings and then some… a mother working to support a family of 5 alone because the promised business has literally drained them.. is just sad! I would NEVER purchase a tool from this company, never recommend it or promote it in any way. Watching this video alone would make my decision. It is sad that someone is allowing the doors to a business with such high negative views and actions to stay open. It is ridiculous that the tools being sold are made in China yet still highly priced. Scamming innocent families with financial background into purchasing a business and being your own boss just to watch them fall down the slope is an outrage! I truly hope this family the best, and I really hope they can follow in the earlier commenters actions..get a lawyer and go after Mac Tools! Mac Tools deserves to be shut down and I really hope this video lands in the right persons lap, because our community needs to see what is going on right here in our very own town! Mac Tools sounds like a big scam, hell sounds like you would have more luck falling for one of those ” work from home” scams online! Best wishes and I must agree I too am confident you both will find a way through all this and Mac Tools will get what they deserve!

• Nick and Paula so sorry you got screwed by Mac Tools. I have known Nick and Paula for a little over ten years, Nick is an great person and a hard worker. Why Mac Tools would want to screw Nicks family and familys just like him is beyond me. I geuss Mac Tools makes their money off the backs of their hard working tool distributors take their money then throw you to the wolfes. Shame on you Mac Tools.

• I am so sorry that you guys are going through this situation. More distributors need to come forward – now is the time to speak up! Mac Tools is destroying families – how dare they. I hope that Mac Tools CEO’s have nightmares at night.

• Nick and Paula, It is so sad to see that in America you can be screwed by a company that is suppose to be an American company helping people to live the American Dream. I see no dream from Mac tools…what I do see is deceit and a **** load of lies .
  I can only hope that Mac tools steps up to the plate and refund you at least half of your monies that you paid them to get into the business if not all. I am assuming that you paid a franchise fee ?

  A franchise company should look after the franchisee a minimum of 6 months to year and within the first couple of months the franchisee does not do well it would be good business to either terminate with the Franchisee or seek out further training.

  I know one thing…a good business company would want their distributers to produce in sales promoting their AMERICAN MADE PRODUCTS.

  The way I see it…Mac Tools shame on you…having your Franchisee dream the impossible dream!

• Can’t believe what I’m hearing. Another example of the big business screwing the ‘little guy’. Stand your ground and don’t let them bully you. Hope Mac Tools gets what they deserve (locks on their doors)!!!

• Mac tools and Stanley could give a rats azz about their dealers and people in general, these are Wall St owned companies…Make no mistake about it-YOU DO NOT MATTER, ONLY NEXT QUARTERS PROFITS MATTER…Mac, Snap On, Matco ALL make more money “churning” Franchisee’s in and out of business rather than keeping them for the long term…
  It is an industry wide problem in almost all of Franchising…

• Really this is unbelievable cant believebavcompany can screw innocent people like this

• Really i can’t believe a company would stoop so low and treat people in this way when they are trying to make a honest living working everyday trying to do the best job possible for the company and the family then finding out that i was betrayed and taken advantage of by the company that i was working for..

• It is depressing to read horror stories such as the one concerning the Tsantles and Mac tools. He has done everthing he can to do to earn a decent wage for him and his family, and the Mac company. He is on the route each day, and puts in many hours not arriving home till late evening, and for all this work he receives nothing but Lies, false promises and a complete lack of coperation from his Company. MAC should be ashamed and made to remove our Flag from their headguarters since this is NOT the way America treats its citizens

• If you are an existing Mac Tools dealer or were one in the last 3 years and feel like you got a raw deal please email me your information. I am working with a Franchise Attorney that wants to help because what Mac Tools has done and is still doing to hard working people is wrong. My email address is [redacted]. I like your name, contact info and a brief description of how long you were with the company, where your route was located, how long you were in business and how much money you lost.

  [We don’t allow posting of personal contact info in the comments. If two commenters want to connect, please send me a request to me at UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com. Thanks. ADMIN]

• It’s good to see some active discussions being generated here at Unhappy Franchisee. If you were wronged by MAC give attorney Jerry Marks a call. Becoming a MAC distributor was the worst decision of my life. That’s why I started this Blog – http://stanleymactoolslawsuit.blogspot.com/ I have links pointing back to Unhappy Franchisee and I hope everyone stops by often for updates and to leave their own comments.

• Very sad to hear your struggles with Mac. I want to assure you as you know that you are not alone. There are tons of us out here. I can validate everything you have said and then some as it has happened to me first hand. I hope your web sight will help save others from making the same mistake as we have by trusting Mac Tools. As a word of advise to guys thinking of getting into this business. Mac will give a distributor a $6000.00 tool box to recruit you. Ask the Mac recruiter what percentage of distributors make to their payoff in 5-6 years still in business. Have a lawyer look at the franchise contract. Find out who the previous distributors in the area were and ask them their side as to why their business failed. What ever you do don’t gamble with a Mac Tools route. Your odds are better at the black jack table!!!

• I had a Mac Tools DM stop at my shop the other day for a survey. He has a new guy starting the area my shop is located. This Manager had no idea what he walked into because I am an expert in this business. My words were ” So you have another poor old soul suckered into a misleading business venture that will eventually be that persons nightmare?”. He looked at me and said ” This business is what you make of it and some fail and other succeed” So I corrected him and said ” What you mean is many will fail and some will make it”. I feel sorry for who ever is gonna be going in this new business venture. My class from 5 years ago in Tool School of about 20 people are all out of business. It’s ashame

• Pingback: MAC Tools Distributor Interview: Robert Wall, Jr. - Unhappy Franchisee : Unhappy Franchisee

• Mac Is A total scam rippoff

• Lost about 45000 in 18 months they could care less

• I drank the mac Koolaid but finally spit it out

• I’m not a franchisee. But have been on the buying tools end of things with the companies mentioned.
  Points:
  -The product is expensive. Yes the tools are nice but not THAT much price difference nice. Some would say OVER priced.
  -The internet has changed the way we all do business. Adapt or FAIL.
  -Tiawan makes some damn nice tools that hold up as well as Mac or Snap on. 1/3 of the price. i go online and at my door in two days. So as a wrench turner I don’t really need a truck coming buy the shop.
  -The Obama administration has ruined our country. It is intentional. Thought out. By design. as a result of communist/socialist/anti business practices, auto dealers and wrench turners have suffered.

  look at the amount of tools in pawn shops. Wrench turners only sell tools as last resort. Our country is being destroyed intentionally by those at the top. Has detroit gone broke under any other administration? Where is your outrage?

  So point i’m making is can you really blame snap -on, mac, or any of these franchisors for the business models failure? You can not do business with out of work and broke mechanics.

  i’m not defending the franchisor practices. But saying that there are many factors here against the business model. All business is a gamble. It sucks when it does not work out.

  Especially when you guys bust your ass trying to make it work and work hard. But maybe the business model is flawed to begin with? How many buggy whip manufacturers went out of business thanks to Henry Ford. Things changed. Adapt or fail.

  When the country is being led by a communist and the bankers are bankrupting entire nations with shady practices. We are going to have a rough time.

• Here’s another great example of Mac taking care of the distributor and being true to their word. The “new exclusive to mac” 1/2″ impact gun which is $450 is also available through Stanley’s other line Proto for $285.67 and being sold to other suppliers. Not only that but this gun is very over rated. Unless you are sending it a ton of air volume good luck braking anything difficult loose. Buy the Snap-on, it has far more “real” power!

  http://www.trident-supply.com/PROTO_3_8_DRIVE_AIR_IMPACT_WRENCH_p/577-j150wp.htm

• Doesn`t Snap On own Proto? I think some one would find that a lot of franchisors own lots of tool producing companies like Proto being owned by Snap On and producing aproduct that is sold to ware house distributors cheaper than franchisees from ANY franchise could ever buy them for. Why would the same people selling franchises to franchisees produce products and make franchisees buy them for twice what warehouse distributors purchase them for? This is a way these tool companies maximize their profits. Mechanics feel betrayed by the franchisee because they think the franchisee is overpricing their tools because the impact is selling at AutoZone for half the price. Franchisees feel betrayed because they feel they have to support their franchisor and most franchisees sign contracts saying they will buy exclusively from their franchisor. Franchisors are the only ones who don`t care because they have COMPLETE CONTROL over franchisees. Mac is somewhat less controlling because they own less market share and have territories versus assigned LOC`s (list of calls) but their tool pricing for franchisees is fixed. This is done to keep franchisees from making profits and causes them to FAIL!

• Proto is owned by Stanley Tools

• Mac Tools doesn’t have areas and hasn’t for a long time. You are assigned customer count. According to the most recent fdd a new Mac Tools Franchisee is assigned to a minimum of 325 customers. That’s because most customers won’t buy Mac product. A Mac dealer really needs over 500 customers just to survive.

• Yep, Stanley owns MAC and Proto. “Well said” to all ….

• I just found out that the “new Mac Fools guy” just started in part of the area that I left. He said the rookie was going on and on about how much better Mac is now and that things have change. Poor guy…I said those same words when I got in. I wonder if he is aware that there have been 4-5 guys in that route in the last ten years….well what’s 1 more bankrupt guy! Its not like Mac is ruining his whole life is it? ****STAY AWAY FROM MAC TOOLS!!!!!****

• What area were you in bob?

• With MAC Tools, you have to be in the top 25% of sales in the country to make enough just to pay your bills.

  To make a decent amount you have to be in the top 4%.

  I have been losing about $1,000 a month, working about at least 70 hours a week.

  MAC tools is the worst experience of my life.

• Looking for more suckers like me for class action against stanley black and decker

• I don’t understand why so many on here are unable to accept responsibility for their own results. It runs through all franchises, not just tools. There is no shame in not being able to run a successful business. But, for every failure on here there are several successes. If everyone deals with the same external challenges, the difference between success and failure is internal.

• Wow, so
  Many people want someone else to do all the work, my wife helps me as little as possible. Yet after 14+ years of selling MAC tools I’m still in business. Every day there are disgruntled customers, low payments and even missed payments ( people seem to think we have a lot of money, right….). Yet good people still value the fact that we deliver our product to them.
  I’ve seen a few snappy guys come and go( their shit doesn’t stink according to them). I still believe it’s the guy doing the job, not the job itself. While there are a good number of dealers who don’t understand how to deal with people and remain bitter about past failures, some of move on and forget the losers. Pleasing everyone is not my goal, I treat people how they treat me. To whine about the big bad wolf(MAC/Stanley) is another excuse for shortcomings of a personal kind. If you think they treated you poorly , maybe you were meant to be a slave to a boss of another kind!
  Jason

• I too have fallen victim to this unrealistic business model! I started with s credit score of 770 now I’m barely in the 600s!!!! A solid year of working my ass off! Doing EXACTLY what Mac told me to do, and now I’m left chasing gypsies and junkies all over Washington State for payments that I’m never going to see! And now I’m discovering big tools that we’re supposedly in my Inventory but aren’t and NEVER were!! But of course I was charged for them!
  This after Mac ‘fired’ me because I wasn’t able to purchase an additional $24,000 in tools!!!! After a year of going broke, working my ass off, doing exactly what they told me and paying Macs outrageous bills!!! Now my financial standing is destroyed and they shut me off! No questions asked! And the poor customers are left high and dry…AGAIN!!!! It’s amazing to me they stay in business like this!!!!