SNAP-ON TOOLS Franchise Complaints

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• Per lawsuits. 40+ is just what is listed in the FDD. Go backover 25 years and there are probably over a thousannd lawsuits against snap-on.

  Selling your business?? I am at least a little pissed off at Snap-on because i am trying to sell one of my franchises to one of my dealers. Believe me there is NO BLUE SKY in your business/job. Let me tell you why. snap-on has something called a schedule 1. This lists everything you as a selling dealer has to sale, Inventory, accounts recievable, truck, used tool, discontinued tools, computer, and other things you might sell a dealer. The schedule is bullshit because Snap-on credit will only finance 2 things on that schedule. Inventory and accounts recievables.

  The kicker is the maximum accounts recievable or R/A they finance is $55,000.00. So if we do a good job and put a bunch of money on the street, turn it well, Snap-on rewards us by saying they wont finance it when we go to sell it.

  by the way you can’t go to a bank for financing because if you do, Snap-on tools, not Snap-on credit puts an all encompassing 1st lien against your business. NO BANK WILL TOUCH THIS AND TAKE A 2ND POSITION. Snap-on does this to keep routes cheap and bring in young nieve guys with little education to run volume. Snap-on protects themselves.

  Everything Snap-on does is contrary to us gaining wealth. their training and even volume discount is designed for us to sell high volume at low profit margins.
  Understand all my routes do between $10,000 and $14,000 a week. I am very succesful and always have been. snap-on only looks out for us when we force them to.

  I was a field manager in the 90′s. I will tell you you will never hear a discussion in Snap-on asking themselves what Snap-on did wrong when a dealer is failing. Here is how the discussion always goes. “What can we do to get rid of this guy and put another one in his place.”

• I would like to hear from the Veteran dealers, Snap-on, Matco, Mac anyone. These Franchisors are bullies. If we don’t stand up to them they will walk all over us. If you want to retire someday or maybe your route has shrunk over the years and you can’t get any help then you need to stand up and confront them. Snap-on doesn’t like me much because I have grown to a size that I can stand up to them. they don’t like it but I have had success getting Snap-on to change the rules for me where they don’t for other dealers.

  Does everyone understand when you buy a route from Snap-on they apply your business credit to your personal credit. No bank does this. Snap-on does it so you can’t go buy anything. they want to tie you up and keep all of your money going to them and no one else. Your debt to income ratio destrys your ability to get even the smallest loans.

  Snap-on will own you for years. Oh yeah, Snap-on has pre payment penalties on their loans. Who does that today. No one but Snap-on. Again Snap-on has you tied up until they want to cast you aside. When they cast a young or veteran dealer aside it will not be pretty for that dealer.

  If you havent noticed I don’t intend to give my succesful business away. My goal is to force Snap-on to participate in building real value in our franchises that we as dealers can prosper and some day sell. Snap-on will have to listen to us if we all stand up to them.

• Jim you bring up some great points. Snap on tells there new prospects " buy a franchise, be your own boss, own your own list of calls, one day you can sell those list of calls for a retirement". I guess selling a route isn't that easy? So Jim is snap on only interested in dealers buying tools from them and don't care about dealers ra? Do you know any dealers that did get blue sky? How much did they get? I can say one thing you are not your own boss running a truck. I say that because if you don't see all your stops the phone rings from your BM. You don't buy enough merchandise you get another call from your BM. Your sales numbers change another call from your BM. Your paid sales change another call from your BM. It goes on and on. My point is if you are your own boss then why is someone calling me asking me what's going on? Just like fixing ratchet heads. I spend about 15 minutes a ratchet and fix about 12 ratchets a week. That's about 3 hours a week. I get zero for my time fixing these stupid things and I have to invest in about $100 in ratchet kits. Just like tool box slides. I must do about 1 set of slides a week which takes me an hour to do. So now that's 4 hours I'm working for free. So they say we need to do $10k a week to do well. That is 2k a day which comes out to $250 hour if you calculate 8 hour day being in shops and not commuting time. So if I waste 4 hours a week that is $1000 a week. In a year that is $52000. In 5 years that is $260000. In 30 years that is 7,800,000. Holy crap... That's alot of money lost. If a dealer spends more time then me every week just fixing ratchets and replacing tool box slides is out of more money. Now that time doesn't include replacing bits, screw driver blades and repo tool boxes. What I think is being a snap on franchisee is actually an undisclosed employee for the company that doesn't collect a paycheck.

• I got some good things for you Jim. How about snap on sending us a product today then we try returning it the week after and it is non returnable? Or things like diagnostic tools non returnable at all? I got another one, how about a customer writes you a check to pay snap on credit you go ahead send the money because it has to be in asap and then you get a returned check for no funds? Then you have to chase customer to get paid again because you already paid his snap on bill with your money?? I will post more later. I like to hear comments from other dealers on what they think.....

• I have another that may create some attention. You get loaded up on tools from managers saying you have to buy because its a great deal. You say well maybe I shouldnt because my tool bill is already high but I hate to turn up a good deal. Well shortly later your account is over its limit and now you cant buy any tools and now you cant even service your customers on tools they need replaced. You go ahead and send a new return to get your acct in order and decide to send back all those great deals that really just got dumped on you. Can you believe it takes me sometimes 6 or more weeks to even see the credit on my statement... How the hell is that gonna help me at all if my acct was in trouble 6 or more weeks before that??? And the funny thing is you tell managers " maybe I shouldnt buy these deals because my acct is already high..". They say " Its ok just return tools if that happens and we will work with you" I dont think so because no manager has even offered to help me with returns and 6 or more weeks for a new tool return credit... Come on give me a break... I could have walked it there punched in the #'s myself and walked home a few times over and I live hours away by vehicle to my distribution facility.

• I am still new with snap on. I am young and have many years of work ahead of me. I think snap on has the best tools in the world. I like what I do but there are some things that need to change. I think with some fine tuning this company could be the best franchise in the world. I like to help out and this association idea you have Jim looks like a great idea.

• Dealers
  go to http://www.snapontoolsdealerassociation.com
  This is a forum of dealers sharing ideas of increasing profits as well as a forum that will make Snap-on stand up and notice we won't take their abuse anymore. Buy a Snap-on franchise if you want a 12 hour a day job, 6 days a week that pays maybe $60,000.00 a year. Add on the risk of loaning your money to every Tom, Dick and Harry and then in the end when you attempt to sell, Snap-on devalues your business to the point of financial loss. Go to this web site to share and help make a difference.

• Hey me franchise fooled.

  I don't know of anyone getting blue sky. In fact Snap-on controls your ability to get outside financing by placing a 1st lien on your business. 2nd. Take a look at
  Snap-on's schedule 1. This schedule lists everything one can sell with their franchise. There are only two items however you can get financed. 1. NEW tools and 2. R/A as long as it does not exceed $55,000.00. Snap-on will not finance anything more than that. Not your truck, not your computer, not your used or discontinued tools. Not anything. Of the $25,000.00 required as a down. Snap-on gets it all. Not one bit can go towards anything else. Do not plan to retire from Snap-on.

• Hey all,
  This sucks, as you have invested so much, I am not a franchisee, but can you use alternate financing that needs no credit for your customers. Or as it seems, snap on controls everything, and if you are stuck with only there financing, you guys are in a pickle and I hope you all good luck.

  Brad

• Today, Snap-on Tools franchisees sell far more than just wrenches. They offer over 22,000 products, including hand tools, power tools, diagnostic tools, tool storage and shop equipment, but the way they sell is much the same. Once a week they bring their "mobile stores"--trucks filled with their products--directly to their customers, which include car dealerships, mechanics, marinas and airports.