MATCO TOOLS Franchise Complaints

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• My claims are true but who is supposed to listen to me?

  Who is supposed to stand up and make a change?

  Beth Solomon of Vetfran blamed me for my FAILURE as a Franchisee but did it over the phone rather than through emails and did it not looking at the proof I have of the lengths Matco will go to FABRICATE information to MANIPULATE its FRANCHISEES!

  With all this IFA and VETFRAN care for our BELOVED U.S. SOLDIERS where is the GROUP created to make sure that these COMPANIES SELLING FRANCHISES are acting APPROPRIATELY?

  No doubt, none of these Questions will be answered but Franchisors who sit on VETFRAN committee chairs will still be "Catching up on small talk with the Vice Presidents Wife this NEXT Veterans Day" allowing the "CHURN and BURN" operations and the FRAUDULENT TERMINATIONS of GOOD, UNSUSPECTING, HARDWORKING and DEDICATED INDIVIDUALS who have SERVED our COUNTRY and do not deserve the treatment which I have been forced to endure!

• To Whom It May Concern,

  My name is Todd Peterson and I owned and operated a Matco Tools Franchise for 6 1/2 before I had it Fraudulently taken from me by Matco. This was only after they took my successful Franchise in which I was a top Distributor for them and reduced my business to nothing and actually less than is required to have as a NEW FRANCHISE owner (325).

  Serving my Country for three years, and half of that in Korea during Desert Storm, I developed many skills and abilities. It made me the strong and independant person I am today. These are the attributes that VETFRAN is looking for for its Franchisor owned opportunities. What I don't understand is how a Company, like Matco, that rides along side an organization like VETFRAN can be allowed to perpetuate an opportunity which I know is not in the interest of my fellow servicemen. Matco has become a "Churn and Burn" operation catering to those who have been in longer and have different Franchise agreements than those signing up today! Matco committed FRAUD, LIED, CREATED FALSE DOCUMENTS and STOLE money from me and MANY others whom have served our COUNTRY.

  It is time for someone to except the responsibility of making our Country a better place to BE and WORK rather than be CONTROLLED and MANIPULATED!!!

  My Phone # and email is below!

  I look forward to moving on with my life but this has to be resolved and I need help to do it. No EMPLOYER would EVER be allowed to do the things that Matco has done to me under our laws. I don't understand how Matco can get away with MANIPULATION, FRAUD and DECEPTION they are committing against their Franchisees.

  I prayerfully hope that someone can investigate our lead me in the right path to make sure that there are requirements put in place to make sure that FRANCHISOR Companies who participate with Vetfran be held accountable to the opportunities they offer. If they offer a CAREER OPPORTUNITY then those statistics should be released. If they say they don't overlap routes then they should not be allowed to do so! At some point these companies should be in trouble for FALSE ADVERTISING their FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES!

  Concerned American,
  Todd A. Peterson
  (479) 435-0573
  todd@toddsmatcotools.arcoxmail.com

• snapon been getting a lot of press lately for being military friendly franchise, they have lots of websites with ads targeting us military. are they a better choice? see their name everywhere

• I would think a former Vet would be wary of anyone making
  them a "target"

  SnapOn is no better than Matco, and Matco abuses Veterans!

  Matco CHURNS distributors and will certainly be found guilty in the
  multitude of lawsuits alleging fraudulent activity.

  The "time" for the Mobile Tool Business is over.

  It is no longer a viable business - it has deteriorated to
  a shameful scam....

• Snap-On and Veterans,

  Yes! Snap-On is going after Vets too with their FALSE ADVERTISING and LIES! This is do in LARGE part to the organizations called VETFRAN and the IFA!

  The Vetfran Committee is made up almost ENTIRELY of people who PROFIT from putting individuals in Franchises! (Selling Franchises to Franchisees)

  This is why Snap-On in 2010 HIRED Jon Rucker to represent THEIR interests by implementing him into a Vetfran Committee Chair. To get their name in the hat at getting these unsuspecting HEROES to commit themselves Financially to MORE "Churn and Burn" operations that these Franchisors are selling!

  The Franchise Contracts that you are having to sign to be a Franchisee are being created by the VERY PEOPLE who are serving in the IFA and Vetfran. These Organizations which were created to PROTECT Americans from becoming VICTIMS are now PROTECTING those who are VICTIMIZING Americans.

  Ask yourself why Vetfran and the IFA both boast of NUMEROUS Franchise Companies stepping forward to give our Soldiers these GREAT FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES with GREAT DISCOUNTS? Answer: POLITICS!!!

  That's right!!! Look at where Vetfran gets its money to BUY OFF!!! Politicians to get them to VOTE for all these NEW!!! TAX BREAKS!!!! and FREE TAX PAYER money to perpetuate the "CHURN and BURN" operations!!!!!!!!

  Don't CALL ME a raving LUNATIC. Go the the IFA website and LOOK for YOURSELF!!!

  RIGHT NOW! They are trying to LOBBY CONGRESS to get MORE SBA Loan money for the POOR TROOPS who need jobs! Not to give them a CAREER but to SCREW the Taxpayer at the SOLDIERS expense!

  On November 11, 2006 this article (http://www.thefranchisemall.com/news/articles/16040-0.htm) was created to promote Matco Franchises through the Vetfran Program to our Soldiers. In it it boasts of 227 Companies who are willing to put a SOLDIER in their Franchise. According to my conversations with Mr. Gatewood from North Fort Myers, Florida he says Matco is a SCAM!!!

  How many Companies are willing to sell a Franchise to a soldier through the Vetfran Program TODAY? I was told 450+ yesterday! Yes 450 Franchisors want that SOLDIER!

  So who is Vetfran and the IFA SAVING us from? NOONE!!!!

  They don't care if only 50% of those who sign up for a franchise are successful because Vetfran and the IFA is BIG MONEY to those who control and lobby the interest of our Government!

  Just imagine, a vast pool of money (Tax Payer) and if your in the club (Vetfran and the IFA) you have access.

  It is NO WONDER why NOONE has the BALLS to dig into this STORY!!!!

  Media is controlled by BIG MONEY!!!!

  When will people open their eyes and see that this is a Government / WALL STREET SCAM!! !

  You see a soldier sees the IFA AD. He decides he wants to be his own boss and signs up for a Vetfran Sponsored Franchise. The IFA and Vetfran who are PAVING the way for more TAX DOLLARS to be RELEASED for loans through the SBA Loan Program sell him a Franchise with an SBA Loan. This Loan (When he FAILS!!!) will cost him his CREDIT but it is the TAX PAYER who ultimately pays for it all.

  Yes! Our soldiers won't pay for it with money just STRESS and feeling DISHONORED by our GOVERNMENT for being CONNED through FALSE ADVERTISING through Franchise BULLIES and Organizations created through our Government to SCREW AMERICAN TAX PAYERS!

• What makes me sick is this is just one way I have found that BIG MONEY is USING our Government to SCREW us the Tax Payer!

  You see, my experience with Matco is they used FRAUD, LIES and even created FALSE DOCUMENTS to terminate my Franchise. Yet noone I call that has the power to help will.

  Like, Beth Solomon, Vetfran IFA Campaign Coordinator, who told me through a phone conversation that "some people just don't have what it takes to be a Franchisee."

  This was her response to a SOLDIER who served 3 years for his COUNTRY in the Army and 6 1/2 years as a Franchise Distributor for Matco. Outlasted 9 of 10 other guys who were in my Matco Training Class in July, 2004, persevered after losing almost all my established customers and half of the ones given to me by Matco in July of 2006 to a hostile takeover of a SUCCESSFUL ROUTE, doing nothing but paying my business expenses and keeping my doors open for two years because a DM who was promising a ROUTE RESURVEY (DUE TO DECREASED CUSTOMER HEAD COUNT COMPLAINT) KEPT PUTTING ME OFF, receiving a FALSE SURVEY on July 26, 2010 after being given a SEPARATION LETTER on July 11, 2010, then told I had cured by my DM and to "FORGET THAT LETTER EVER EXISTED." in Nov. 2010 and meeting my purchase average and retaining it in the Holidays with a 13 purchase average at the end of 2010 which was $100 BETTER than the NATIONAL PURCHASE AVERAGE.

  Why would Beth Solomon call me a FAILURE and not listen or head up an investigation into my allegations to PREVENT our SOLDIERS from becoming a VICTIM as I AM? Because I am not carrying the BILLIONS of dollars that these PROFITABLE "CHURN AND BURN" Franchisor Operations who are allowed to do so through a smoke screen of HER protection through the beloved Vetfran and IFA Organizations.

  My vote is to FIRE or ABOLISH all Vetfran and IFA Committee Members who have been allowed to profit through their RING OF CORRUPTION and give ALL of the money and belongings they have to DISTRIBUTE EVENLY for all SURVIVING MILITARY Personnel and any WIDOWS!!! There is probably enough money that has been stolen from tax payers to make all of us FILTHY RICH!!!

  I know there might actually be SOME good Franchises out there but I PROMISE YOU THIS!!! It is a HANDFUL! I can name four that will screw you GOOD and their all TOOL COMPANIES!

  WHY can I say that? Because they all have the same FRANCHISE language in their contracts. THEY CONTROL EVERYTHING! Who your customers are, how many you get, who gets what, where you go, when you start, how often you work, how much you make, how long your open, where you will go to court if you have a problem, how your problem will be judged and when you are done with your Franchise.

  The biggest deterrent to being a Tool Distributor for ANY Company is READING the UFOC which Vetfran and the IFA helped create to cover Franchisors asses when they SCREW people. If you read that you and sign you were WARNED!

• Are there any honorable Vetfran or International Franchise Association Committee members who might want investigate the situation which I experienced in which my Franchisor allowed their management to STEAL my successful Franchise then use FRAUD, LIES and FALSE DOCUMENTS to terminate my Franchise relationship with them?

  It is pretty hard to sell tools for your Franchisor if they won't let you pay for them!

• Jerry,

  I have been reading lots of interesting articles on the internet involving Vetfran and the IFA.

  Correct me if I am wrong but the IFA (International Franchise Association) was created to protect innocent people who had money from becoming victims of fraudulent opportunities being created or sold to those who were willing to invest their money.

  Vetfran was created by the IFA and Don Dwyer Sr. in 1991 to give "Desert Storm" troops an opportunity to entice soldiers to own their own business after serving overseas. These soldiers would receive benefit from the Franchiser that others do not get.

  My first question is why are MOST of the committee members for both organizations profiting off of what I have come to know as "Churn and Burn" Franchises?

  It seems strange to me that an Organization like Vetfran would be ran by the very people who would PROFIT from the Entrepreneurship of the Veterans they are pursuing.

  Don Dwyer Sr. created Vetfran and at the same time owned the Dwyer Group which is a Group of Franchise opportunities. The IFA stood behind him to do it.

  It seems to me that someone has an Organization to DIRECTLY SOLICIT to Veterans!

  So, how much does it cost to join or what are the requirements to become a participant?

  I would think there would be no money made off an organization that claims to HELP Veterans. Yet an organization that had 227 participants in 2007 now has over 450.

  It looks like to me that someone created Vetfran to CONTROL something or PROFIT off of the ACCESS!

  So all the Vetfran Participants which include Snap-On and Matco must be viable companies who offer GOOD opportunities to those Veterans who are looking to be successful in the Civilian world?

  Surely our government would not stamp their approval on a program and mislead the American people and SOLDIERS into a FALSE sense of Entrepreneurship in which there is no PROOF of it being VIABLE!

  That is DEFINITELY the case with Snap-On and Matco. Both opportunities DO NOT yield HIGH SUCCESS rates yet the media is allowed to perpetuate their false sense of SUCCESS using the media and FALSE RANKINGS!

  Why is Matco allowed to represent Franchises as employment opportunities on the internet through media's like careerbuilder.com?

  Is it because NOONE really cares if they are breaking rules or not?

  The IFA does not seem to care if Matco committed FRAUD, LIED or CREATED FALSE DOCUMENTS to Falsely Terminate my Franchise!

  Vetfran does not seem to care that Richard Brannies, Michael Gatewood, myself or the other Veterans who signed up through the Vetfran Program or not are being mistreated.

  My point is! My accusations are CRIMINAL! Why isn't there anyone with Vetfran or the IFA (who was created to protect consumers) here to investigate my allegations to see if they are true?

  College football players can't profit for their participation in a College's program but it has happened and when allegation's are made investigations are done and punishment is handed down.

  Why is there no investigation for my "CRIMINAL ALLEGATIONS"?

  Why is noone with Vetfran or the IFA taking action to see if my allegations are true! If they are found to be true who is going to punish or debunk their participation in the IFA or the Vetfran Organizations?

  Promoting Franchisers who have no PROVEN history of sustaining themselves as a Franchise Opportunity should be the IFA's responsibility!

  The way I see it the IFA and Vetfran were created with GOOD INTENTIONS but somehow these Organizations are profiting from the Churn and Burn of Franchises.

• its all about corporate greed. they are all in it together and its like a bed of thieves. no one wants to bust on anyone nor do they want anyone busting on them.
  it is sickening how some people can rip honest people off and call i t doing business when it is just plain wrong.
  lies, deceit, deception. its the way america is now. look at all the politicians training their young to do as they do and rip off the american people to enrich themselves.
  the vetfran and ifa were created to enrich the pockets of a chosen few at the expense of those they claim to protect. its all bullshit. who profits, why they do of course. why do you think they invented it to start with. they knew what they were doing.
  its all wrong and no one wants to do a damn thing about it to make it right because they wouldnt make any money.
  they ought to get jail time for ruining peoples lives like they do.
  how is it that when you start with matco you are an above average person with stellar credit and have money in the bank but when they are done with you, you have no money in the bank, your credit is gone and ruined and you are a failure. even though you were promised the worlds finest customer support in the world. how does that happen over and over again, yet no one cares.
  yes, me , todd, debbie, and so many more have been there and know what it is like yet there are a few who like to think that they are better than anyone else and put us down. they are the real losers in the long run. they just dont know it yet.
  what happens when you have a really successful dbr who has over $100,000.00 on the streets, thats kinda what you need to be considered successful, dies. who is going to collect his money. matco isnt. they are going to divide his route and sell it to new dbrs and to hell with the money owed to the deceased dbr. all they will care about is the sales the new dbr can make.
  you old farts need to think that one because matco doesnt care at all once you are gone. just like they dont care about us now.
  the only problem with us is that we are alive and are going to have our day in court. spank, spank, somebody will have the red ass then.
  its not anywhere close to over so stay tuned for news.
  have i ever said, matco sucks. i think i have on many occasions but just to refresh everyones memory, matco sucks. they have no honest moral at all.
  cheat, lie, deceive, mislead, take advantage of, rip off, and there are so many more words to describe them, matco.
  i hear that train a coming. whooooooo hoooooooo.

• Our day in court is coming................

  Matco hasn't and will not change - they continue to shamelessly advertise , FALSELY advertise JOBS that don't exist on employment sites like Career Builder

  DESPITE THE FACT is is against FTC regulations to advertise franchise opportunities as legitimate JOBS

  They continue to CHURN distribututors......................

  They continue to ruin people with excellent credit .....................

  They continue to defraud the American public with their SBA Loan Fraud...........

  OUR day in court is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!