MATCO TOOLS Franchise Complaints

4,850 thoughts on “MATCO TOOLS Franchise Complaints”

• continued……….
  In the Matco class action LAWSUIT document (http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/matco-tools-class-action-lawsuit/) Bergen gives a sworn statement in which he identifies “NINE practices that account for the large failure and turnover rate among Matco”

  5. District Manager conflicts of interest
  An inherent and undisclosed conflict of interest exists between district managers (DMs) and distributors because although DMs are represented to distributors as “business coaches” and “partners”, they are paid commissions on tools sold to distributors. If distributors don’t buy, DMs, whose compensation was based, in large part, on distributor tool purchases, don’t earn their sales commissions. Accordingly, distributors are subject to aggressive sales tactics used to sell more and more tools to distributors regardless of their ability to re-sell the tools.”

  6. No Room to Grow – Over penetration
  The List of Calls given to a distributor will shrink over time. Matco locates too many distributors too close to each other and consequently when the natural reduction in customers occurs the distributor has no place to go to replace these lost customers”

• Just want you to know that the twelve reason a Distrubutor Failes are so True.

  Matco Tools Dirty Dozen- 12 Reasons Why Distributors Fail
  1. Bait & Switch Distributor Rides
  The prospective distributor is taken on a “check ride” with a distributor that has a much better territory than the new prospect will receive.
  2. Inflated List of Calls
  The “List of Calls”, or number of potential tool buying customers, sold to the distributor is inflated and often includes customers that have little or no chance of ever buying tools from the distributor.
  3. Misleading use of branch paid sales figures to prospective distributors
  Use of misleading sales figures based on average sales of a Regional Branch, which are by their nature higher than a prospect can achieve.
  4. Churning of List of Calls
  Lists of Calls or territories that have failed before are re-sold time and again to unsuspecting prospects to ensure that Matco keeps a distributor in the territory regardless of their ability to be successful and the company’s knowledge that the territory is unlikely to support a successful route.
  5. Overselling of Tools
  Employees are paid commissions on tools sold to distributors by the company so distributors are subject to aggressive sales tactics used to sell more and more tools to distributors regardless of their ability to sell the tools; after all, you “can’t sell from an empty truck”.
  6. District and Regional Manager conflicts of interest
  Inherent conflict of interest between company managers and distributors because although managers are pitched as “business coaches” and “partners”, the managers are paid commissions on tools sold to distributors – if distributors don’t buy, managers don’t eat.
  7. Extension of Excessive Amounts of Credit
  Matco extends excessive amounts of credit to distributors to allow them to “purchase” more and more tools from the company regardless of the distributor’s ability to sell the tools and regardless of the distributor’s ability to pay that credit line off – eventually, the distributor suffocates on his debt and his route fails (this allows the territory to be re-sold to a distributor with a “fresh checkbook”)
  8. No Room to Grow- Over Penetration
  The List of Calls given to a distributor will shrink over time. Matco locates too many distributors too close to each other and consequently when the natural reduction in customers occurs the distributor has no place to go to replace these lost customers.
  9. Credit Hypocrisy
  Matco will extend credit to mechanics to purchase big ticket items from the distributors such as diagnostic equipment, but will not extend that credit to mechanics that do not have Social Security numbers or other proper worker documentation; yet Matco expects the distributor to extend its own credit to mechanics that do not have Social Security numbers or other proper worker documentation for the sale of smaller ticket items.
  10. Non-Supervision/Assistance –– Diluted District Manager supervision
  There are not enough managers per dealer to provide meaningful business assistance which should include sales assistance to business reviews.
  11. Usurping New Customers
  When a new customer is located in a specific territory, the customer is often not given to the distributor but used by Matco to create new Lists of Calls so that in can sell another initial inventory and more tools to a new distributor.
  12. False Recession Excuse
  Matco blames the current economic difficulties and failures of its distributors on the recession. The truth is that had the List of Calls had been sufficient, meaning enough customers to sustain the amount of tools purchased (and the debt service of those purchases) far fewer distributors would have failed.

• I have never been a DM so I wouldn’t know that but it is in our franchise circular so I knew that I was just being a smart ass. Matco #1 I have no beef with you because I feel you are not personally attacking me but this Kevin attacks much like Tommy and if I had someone publish articles in my hometown I might be in attack mode too.

  I am only on here to deter people from doing what I did!

  Trust Matco! who told me if I followed their plan for success I would succeed and I did.

  Tim Novak reinvented the distributor program with GOOGLE map which turned my successful franchise into a money making scheme for Matco .

• Debbie you need to add this to #12

  But Matco has stated that this franchise is recession proof when advertising for new franchisees.

• Let’s see Danny sold his truck and Matco took his distributorship….well he’ll yeah they would do that!!! It ain’t rocket science if you have no way to service your customers because you sold your truck, yeah he will get a lot of sympathy from a court on that one. I am going to go out on a limb and say Jerry won’t even touch that one, what a joke !

• #11 is what caused my failure with Matco. You see Tim Novak thinks it is great to sit behind a desk all day looking at TACKS on a GOOGLE MAP and make assumptions about people on their route list. You see a Regional Manager has the ability through GOOGLE MAP to see where every address you type in is at on a map. Then he can see them in colors too. One color might be red for the shops that are not on your LOC. One color might be black for your LOC. And then there might be green ones which list new or surveyed shops with no service. Matco could control Distributors every move in this way. So when you become a Franchisee in a route where Matco knows the head count will not support that many Distributors it gives them a reason to terminate.

  Guess when Matco came out with Google Map?

  About 2006!

  In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if Tim Novak used me as an example to other DM’s in training of how to successfully threaten their franchise and make them surrender shops with the aid of very loyal DM from Texas (Rick Pena)

• I know Todd, just saying if you want to move some of your stuff I might be able to help you out, if you want you can get ahold of junior he has my email, if you have a list put together send to me.

• Debbie why do you keep posting the same thing over and over?

• Matco#1!

  I just recently after being terminated for over 8 months sold my truck. Before that I had borrowed from my money from my mom to live off of.

  So are you telling me I don’t have a case if I don’t have a truck?

  That you give up your rights to sue Matco if you sell your truck?

  Just in case I still have an 18′ Freightliner!

• No I was referring to Danny who sold his truck, didnt have one to sell tools and was terminated

• Debbie…how does my list of calls shrink over time ?

  Matco doesn’t forbid you from selling to new customers . If a new shop opens then you have to get permission to go there unless the address is on your list of calls.

  I have new customers come to my shops all the time, I don’t need Matco permission to sell and they cant it won’t take them away.

  How many illegal aliens do you have on your route? And Matco doesn’t expect you to sell to them .

• She posts because there is truth in her posting. I don’t know her case but I support her list 100%. I imagine she is trying to compete in an area where Matco is trying to root out Snap-on and she is unable to meet the 80% of the National Average which is carried largely by distributors who don’t work under the same rules which we do in regards to LOC. In my state this does not give ‘Good Cause’ for termination.

  In Arkansas it says, specifically, that when terminating a franchisee it has to be for ‘Good Cause’ which means all franchisees have to be equal. In other words you can not terminate an LOC franchise for good cause if they are having to compete with Charters , Territories, or other Franchise agreements if their at a disadvantage and having to compete for their livelyhood on purchases.

  You see, my inventory was well above the minimum, my truck was up to date and bigger than probably 80% of trucks out there. The only thing Matco could do was terminate me for not being at 80% of the National Average which is why I tried to get help before my purchase average got to low with a resurvey and more customers.

• I disagree with you Todd I was a dm in two different districts, ironically enough both districts were all LOC except for 1 guy in each of the districts. Both guys were charter distributors and both were under 80%.

• Matco#1

  Look buddy this is exactly what I did and I can prove it. I picked up shops approved by DM and that is what made me successful. Tim Novak becomes a Regional Manager see’s red tacks fires my DM and forces the surrender of shops in my territory along with another top 50 distributor within 3 mo. It says that all adjustments to LOC must be in writing on UFOC and contract but in training it is never explained by anyone how this is done. Tim came to my house and said that none of the shops I picked up were secured on route list by my DM and blamed my DM for me getting my shops taken away. If only Robert had signed a Drop/Add form and made them part of my route. GEE! I didn’t hear about a Drop/Add form on my UFOC or in training at STOW, OH. Isn’t a UFOC supposed to list all forms used by Matco. Especially important ones that can cost you money?

• Todd, I only attack, when they attack me, I have provided so many numbers and contacts and these people are too scared to call , as for the craigslist ad’s, there are a bunch of us posting, I don’t know what cities I have posted in, it is a bunch, like some other people here,helping the cause, but I will continue to post and be loud.

  I WILL ATTACK, WHEN SOMEONE ATTACKS, THEY ARE TRYING TO DISTORT THE REASON WHY WE ARE HERE.

• Well I am not a lazy man and if you could see what I had compared to the rest of the state you would ask yourself ‘How did he do it.’ I worked hard as I have already explained to you.

• Tommy you attack anyone at will and have proven that, but if you are attacked it comes off that we are diluting truth or something. I hope you do post on all sites, because then if my business decre4ases due to your libel ill be leading the law suit train all the way to sunny florida!!!

  Admin, I have one question, I have reviewed this weekends posts and find that Junior was warned for personal attacks, but not Tommy??? Just wondering why. Thanks

• Matco#1

  Do you know what a Drop/Add form is?

  Just curious I asked two other DM’s and they heve never heard of one?

• Todd why you getting so mad at me?

• Jay, come on to Florida, the defenders start the attacks because they don’t like what they are hearing, if you don’t like this site, then leave, this site is not for the defenders, its called unhappy for a reason.

  I am posting anywhere, and everywhere, if you fail , blame matco.Thy have screwed so many people, we are no longer going to be pushed around by matco.We are taking a stand against matco.

  The defenders have a site, so run along now.

  Jay, like I said when matco fails you or you fail matco, whichever comes first, we will be there to help you, because it is coming.Just keep Jerry in mind.

• I am not mad I was just curious if you knew what a Drop/Add form was or if you protect your distributors by using it to protect their routes. So your Regional Manager doesn’t see tacks from google map and start putting more Franchisees in business so they will fail.

  You know when you fill a glass with anything it is full!

  The excess is just failed Distributors who stink , don’t work, don’t have tools on their truck, leave their truck s in disarray, and have smelly breath.

• Matco#1

  Is there a reason why you can not answer that quesstion?

  Or are you trying to figure out what the hell a Drop/Add form is since you have never heard of it before?

  Or is this one of those questions you can’t give an honest answer too without consulting Matco Corporate first?

  Junior knows my number you are free to call me if you wish.

  My goal on this website is to point out the tactics Matco has used to terminate me personally as a Distributor and discourage others from signing the agreement which I HAD to sign to receive a wonderful opportunity to be my own boss, set my own hours, vacation when I want to and do business with whom I choose.

  Everything in the above statement ended up being a lie except having to sign the agreement.

• Todd, sorry was a little bust selling tools and driving across town to deliver a tool sorry I didn’t immediately respond to your post.

  I am fully aware of the form…as a former DM I filled out many. I don’t need to, and don’t consult with Matco on anything I say or do. See you don’t realized why I am on here and sometime when I have time I will discuss it, but right now I am at a ford dealer for the next 2 hours so I am a little busy.

• Work comes first! Unfortunately I have all day but I do need to put up for rent sign and fix a few things so catch you later.

• Tommy, the only way I will fail is if I do it myself. I will not need the help of Jerry. But thanks for the offer. I will post here as long as people on this site are using genaralities and categorizing that this is the way it is for everyone.

• People, posting is fine, but you all turn it into a personal issue, we are here to tell how we have been treated by matco, the defenders want to make it personal.

  This is an open blog, none of you know about our personal experiences we each have had with matco, you may think you do, but you don’t.

  It is nothing personal, but we are here to let the world know how matco treats people, if you had a great experience with them, then great, let us tell the world our problems with matco.

  Looking back at the posts here, it seems there are only a few D.M’s and R.M,s
  that everyone is having problems with.Let us post and if you are happy, their is a defenders site to defend matco.

  Post and be loud and post everywhere, if any of you want to make it a personal attack, we can continue that also.

• It doesn’t matter what personal attacks happen here
  It doesn’t matter that Matco Damage Control tries to quiet the voices……….

  THE FACTS SPEAK **LOUDLY** FOR THEMSELVES!

  It is not lazy, unsuccessful, “not cut out for the business’ distributors that fail

  DISTRIBUTORS ARE FAILING IN MASS! IT IS SYSTEMATIC FRAUD, DISTRIBUTORS ARE FAILING IN GREAT NUMBERS AND THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN!!!!

  THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN – I have that in writing from a very successful current distributor!!!

  UNHAPPY – you bet UN happy – no positive posts? Well why would any distributor that has invested SO much time, SO much money, and so much effort in a business that ultimately
  FAILED THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN – why? would they have anything positive to post???

  OF COURSE NOT – UNHAPPY FRANCHISEE –

• Wow, Debbie go back to 5 days a week working, go to your sales meetings, and expo to attend classes, stop bitchin to your customers on how Matco is treating you and start promoting tools….then I might hold stock in what you say.

  But when you do less than minimum, I think the only person YOU can blame is yourself

• There was one dbr in kingman, az and 1 in lake havasu. Both dbr’s were under 80% both worked 4 days, both bitched about how Matco screwed them over, even though havasu was a previous top 150 route. The kingman dbr started cherry picking in havasu after that guy went out. Eventually the person was called back to active duty and had to separate. Now both dbr’s that replaced them are in the top 100.
  Wow Matco screwed the first two, but the next two are top dbr’s in the same route?
  I will keep posting because I have about 10 more of the same story…Debbie you need to look in the mirror!

• Tommy must I remind you, that it was YOU that said Sam u marriage was failing, it’s YOU that calls people losers, morons, lemonlines etc…it’s you Tommy!

• Matco#1

  Do you know for a fact that Debbie has enough viable customers to call on in the first place?

  Maybe her route looked like mine when I first started and when Tim took my customers away from me and put me back to what Matco started me with. A crap route that takes me 3 1/2 days to run and a 1 1/2 days to stand around with thumb in my WHOA! Not this Arkansan.

• Well HELL lets both talk about successful Distributors that are in routes today!

  Lets talk about a previous Snap-On competitor (Robert (Bob) Demers) who took over a route where a previous Distributor (Michael Johnson) failed.

  Bob is kicking ass evidently and why shouldn’t he.

  Not only did he assume his route from Richard Richardson with his truck where Michael Johnson failed but Matco felt he didn’t have enough customers so they gave him an entire city which is clled Siloam Springs where another distributor Joe Duran quit because Matco would not give him more shops. I think I need to give Joe a call and find out how many customers he called on in Siloam I am sure there was at least 200.

  So lets say 200 in Siloam and Mike Johnson had over 450 that equals 650. Lets say 100 are closed that still leaves 550.

  Now I wonder what Joe Duran or Richard Richardson could have done with the head count Bob got?

• Todd,
  When I would go interview people about Matco, I told them everything I knew about Matco and the other companies. When people would ask me about list of calls and growth I would tell them they have to stick to their list if calls but if a shop opened and they wanted to go to it, we would do a route adjustment and add it to their list of calls. Keeping that in mind it sounds like you had a lot more than just one or two shops, in fact if you started with 325, and by your own admission built it up to 650 or 700 headcount, yeah that’s going to get novaks attention.

  As a dm, I didn’t like loosing distributors. I wanted successful and happy distributors. In a selfish way, a lot of it had to do with surveying a route. I hated surveying, it wad 3 days on the road, then 1 day of data entry. I hated surveying the same territory. It was kind of like being a technician, you hate having to do the same job on the same car over and over. So when I went and did an interview I tried my hardest to find people that were long term, u didn’t want to have to go back in 2 or 3 years, spend a week on survey, a week loading a truck and seeding the route, two weeks training, that’s a month away from my family.

  Now u can’t speak for any other dm and won’t, just like any profession there are good and bad. I did my job the best I could and did over and beyond to help my distributors

• Unfortunately Todd I am not debbie’s DM, so I know nothing of get route, you never know if I was there is a chance she might not have even been a distributor.

• I wonder if they would still be in business?

  Why does Matco get to pick who gets a shot to succeed and who will fail. I thought that should be up to the distributor putting his assets and credit on the line?

  Why does a FAILED Snap-On Distributor in a bad economy get an opportunity at my expense to succeed. Where he couldn’t buy tools to take care of his customers I could and did.

  Why did Matco terminate my franchise and give him another guys route plus more shops? A lot more shops.

• Or she may be kicking ass or you may have never put her in that route in the first place.

  Again! I appreciate that you love Matco so much and the opportunity to defend them but you can’t dismiss what I am saying and without knowing the facts about other circumstances people have how can you be so argumentative.

• Don’t know Todd, like I said before not defending Matco, I don’t know why Pena and Novak did what they did, I know both, maybe I should call Rick and ask?

  But if you had 700 headcount I know the answer that’s 2 routes.

• Matco#1 I have no doubt you were a great DM and are a great Distributor. Junior I know was a great DM and a great Distributor. That being said you know what it takes to become great in this business HARD WORK! But if Matco forces you to not work how successful can you be?

  I don’t know the exact number but whatever the number is I had over 95% of them being serviced from my original LOC and my customer approval was GREAT! according to Rick PENA. Rick said I had 2 customer complaints and one of them were not on my LOC.

• Matco knew 15 years ago long distance high windshield time routes NEVER last…ever
  Yet, they are happy to assign……….. then back pedal and say they need to ‘fill in’ the head count a 100 miles away…. making a LONG distance route, even LONGER

  Also no distributor EVER quit the truck to become a DM because it was HARDER..
  .and the only DM’s that go back on the truck really really suck at being a DM,,,,,,

  I heard one high placed RM bragged he could do $12K/week – Every Week, if he were on the truck, YET – he had only been a DBR for 9 MONTHS before he went to Management!

• Excellent point about DM’s Debbie….. Matco1 & Junior admit they were DM’s but since they “failed” at being a DM one had to get back on a truck and the other is a used car salesman in the West Texas dirt…………how glamorous.

• I know you say 2 routes but I was not working 8 hrs a day. My other DM said I could work as many hours as I wanted as long as I was servicing all my customers on my LOC and I had his approval to go there.

  Michael Johson quit or got terminated less than a year and half after he started. I know he got two more shops on Moberly Lane and he started his own route going out 412 which has cities on that route called Hindsville, Huntsville, Eureka Springs, Berryville and Green Forest. Michael quit all the 3 shift jobs I gave him and much of the other shops as well. I know Anthony asked me to call on J.B. Hunt after he left but the customers were telling me they hadn’t had service in a year. Oh and Anthony never put it in writing and had me sign it to add it to my route list but he added it in my false survey he performed.

• ■TOMMY CHEUNG on December 26th, 2011 10:44 pm
  THANKS FOR KEEPING OUR COUNT GOING,

  MATCO2, BRING IT ON BOY.

  MATCO, GET OFF YOUR LAZY AZZ AND CALL THE NUMBERS I POSTED, IF IAM LYING , GET OFF YOUR AZZ AND CALL

  ■Tommy Cheung on December 26th, 2011 6:44 pm
  When people try to slam me , I am going to slam back, I don’t run or hide, that moron made a derogeratory mark toward me,because he is friends with lemonlime

  ■Tommy Cheung on December 26th, 2011 6:17 pm
  I call it how I see it it, if you think thats making fun of people, you are screwed in the head
  ■Tommy Cheung on December 26th, 2011 4:25 pm
  I have been busy today contacting other terminated distributors, have spoken to a bunch today, so there will be a bunch of new people coming soon to visit and tell us about their wonderful experience with matco, ha ha.

  Just doing my job , l am required to contact other prospects and get info , so we can build our case. I didn’t want to be fired by the defenders, just letting everyone know where we are. I have contacted people in about 15 states so far and will continue

  So Tommy this should prove the personal attacks and the fact you ARE EMPLOYED by Jerry Marks. Which means this site is paid for by Marks and Klein. WOW

  Tommy is out of the closet

• Oh Debbie, guess I struck a nerve, Yep sucked so bad I was top 15 DM multiple years, finished #2 the year before going back on the truck. Yep, one of Novaks guys beat me out.

  Gary didn’t fail, just didnt want to do it anymore. 8 years was enough time away from my kids. I am sure I will do it again someday, when my kids are out of the house. For now I will enoy the nights at home and the weekends at disneyland. No trucks to load, no surveys to do, no interviews, just selling tools baby!

  Debbie both years back on the truck, $14,300 per week avg. Are you even 1/2 that?

• talking about routes. i had 2 different routes. the first route covered over 750 miles a week. i was going under fast. i complained of headcount and distance a route opened closer to my home area and i asked for it. i had to fight for it but i got it. cut my time and travel in half. i was required to front the money of a new distributor but was treated as an existing dbr. didnt get to collect 9% on psa but didnt get credit on prior purchases. then in jan this year i lost 250 customers in a month, military baes cutting back . i complained about headcount. i was told that that was the reason on my last route so it wouldnt work. at the end of the day it was still my business and my problem. resurvey denied. end result, terminated for not meeting 80% npa. left holding alot of stuff because of the return rules. i played by their rules and lost it all.

• Actually I know both of them. Their dm jobs had them traveling away from their families too much. Both of these guys do over 12k a week when on trucks.

• WOW! Debbie!

  You know TIm Novak!

  He told me the same exact thing before he ruined my Business.

  Because i asked him “How am I supposed to stay in the top if you force me to quit selling to my customers?”

  His response was almost word for word.

  Hey Debbie! If you see Tim again ask him how he put Steve Chun in a route in Joplin that was already getting service from another Matco Distributor and had been for over two years. I am not sure how that happens but I guarantee you it probably has something to do with tacks on a google map and a Distributor with an outdated MDBS program.

• We got ex Snap-On guys on here don’t we?

  Anyone know what the NO COMPETE CLAUSE is for Snap-On these days?

  Matco is one year!
  But I have heard that it won’t stick. If you are terminated.

  But if you file Bankruptcy against Matco not paying them back and go to work for Snap-On will it work then?

• MATCO1, YOU GUYS WERE THE ONE TO START THE PERSONAL SLANDERING, BECAUSE YOU ALL DID NOT LIKE WHAT WAS BEING SAID ON HERE, WHAT WAS BEING SAID WAS ABOUT MATCO AND ITS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS WHAT WE SAY ABOUT MATCO.

  WE ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE OUR OWN THOUGHTS ABOUT ACOMPANY, THE ONE FORMER DIST MANAGER WHO THINKS HE KNOWS ME ,STARTED THE SLANDERING .FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

  KEEP POSTING AND BE LOUD.THERE ARE ALOT OF PEOPLE WHO HIDE BEHIND MADEUP NAMES, ARE U SCARED TO PUT YOUR NAME OUT THERE.

• YEA JAY, I AM THE LEAD PLANTIFF IN THIS CASE AND I AM PROUD OF IT, I AM
  NOT SHUTTING UP OR GOING AWAY. AM I BEING PAID BY JERRY, MAKES YOU WONDER RIGHT, YOU WILL NEVER KNOW.

  CALL US IF YOU NEED HELP.

• ALL MATCO DISTRIBUTORS ARE EMPLOYED BY MATCO AND THEY CONTROL YOU.