Snap-On tools are for fools

Dave Wood

Lifetime Supporter
(I felt this the appropriate spot since tools are required to build ay type of car..especially a GT40. If it should be elsewhere, I am sure it'll be moved.)
I know, I own a bunch.
This is the first post( I will be posting the same on all the forums I am a member of as well as running a local ad indefinetly) of my press on Snap -On tools (trolls??) to get me some dealer service. I have been a Tech since 1969 and have app.$40-$60K in Snap-On tools( that is at the purchase price, not current costs) I have purchased in the last 30 years. I have been unable to get a Snap-On rep to visit my shop in over 5 years. Warrantees are worthless if there is no service. I have contacted Snap-On corp at least a dozen times in the last 5 years by phone and e-mail. Their position is that dealers are independent business owners and they can't make them do anything. Pretty much what I was told a decade ago when one of the dealers overcharged me for an impact wrench. Keep that in mind when you look at the tool prices. I now have to contact a shop that is 15 miles away and then make time to leave my business in order to give that shop a tool and wait until the Sanp -On dealer gets it replaced. Oddly when I owed them for the tools I saw them every week.
If you are a new Tech and looking at buying tools, let me give you some info. Snap-on, like most tool companies, don't make their tools they subcontract out just like Sears,Matco or Mac ( as well as all others). They pride themselves on their quality and service. That only exists while you owe them money, it doesn't seem to apply when you own everything.
Let's see, if I had not chosen Snap-On tools..how would things be different?? I would still possesss the same knowledge, they didn't supply any of it. I would have saved more than enough money to allow me to waste my time trying to get a tool warranteed. The credit that Snap-On extended to purchase tools doesn't go toward your home loan application...or really any credit score...the Sears one does. After buying tools for 40 years from Sears, I would have had some credit to go on my home loan or other loans, plus if I needed a tool replaced..Sears is in the same place as it had been for 35 years. I wouldn't have had to make some of the decisions about what I could get for my children because I wouldn't have been financially leveraged to Snap-Off. I also wouldn't have put my dealers kids through college while I was couldn't afford to put my kids through. BUT, I did it because they SAID that they would always service me...BULL*****.
If you are a starting Tech DO NOT buy into the Snap-OFF propaganda. Save yourself a lot of money and buy from someone that will be there even when you have paid them off. It will help your credit rating as well as cut down some of the spats with your spouse over the amount you spend on tools. I hope they go the route of the Tupperware party, they have a similar business model.
As a final note, although I wouldn't neccesarily do it( I already bought my tools form the charlatans that represent Snap-on)...BUT...for the amount you would spend on virtually any Snap-OFF tool you could buy a dozen at Harbor Freight and never even need to see a dealer. As they break you pick up a new one and throw the other in the trash, pretty much what I am going to be doing with my Snap-OFF tools over the next bunch of years.
I contacted, for the final time, Snap-OFF corporation with my intentions to run this as well as the local ads and gave them more than 2 weeks to respond and they apparently thought I was bluffing...I am not.
 

Rick Muck- Mark IV

GT40s Sponsor
Supporter
I have bought most of my tools, primarily S-K from our Snap-On guy!! He is still the older "dealer" agreement with Snap On and they can't get rid of him!

He came around with an independant tools catalog and sold us what we wanted be it Snapper or whatever. My shop saw five Mac guys in three years, best was the "gift certificates" a Mac guy gave us all at Christmas....he was gone weeks later and never had to redeem them!!!!!!
 
You need to go & get the biggest Snap-On tool chest assy they have in the shop, pay $10.00 bucks down & take it home, put it away still wrapped up,dont make any further payments ....then tell em once they fix all the other issues you will let them have it back....:)
 

Ron Earp

Admin
Never drank the Snap On kool aid but have known many that have (I couldn't afford to give it a go). Over time most of those became disenchanted as they realized similar quality tools were available from other vendors for less money.

I've always bought medium grade stuff (Craftsman, Cobalt and a tiny bit of Northern Tool although I don't think many consider it medium grade, it really is for some items) for my primary tools and low-buck for those one off use tools (Harbour Fright). Thus far I've been more than happy with the medium grade stuff and ecstatic at the longevity of some of the cheap stuff.
 

Dave Wood

Lifetime Supporter
You need to go & get the biggest Snap-On tool chest assy they have in the shop, pay $10.00 bucks down & take it home, put it away still wrapped up,dont make any further payments ....then tell em once they fix all the other issues you will let them have it back....:)

Since I already have one of their largest boxes, I can't motivate myself to go to that effort. Besides, I don't initiate anything I don't want to follow through on. I am sure that they would drag my credit through the dirt over a tool box I have and don't want another. I'm content at the present time with swamping the auto sites on the internet as well as weekly ad in the area discount ad paper. If the dealers and corporation care less then they deserve the plummet to the bottom that their stock is currently experiencing. Wish I could feel sorry..I can't.
 
All of the premium tools are nice, and usually the prices follow suit. I have Snap-on, Matco, Mac, and Craftsman. Dealers have come and gone, and one of my guys changed from Snap-on to Mac in about a week without prior notice.
The problem in my neck of the woods is its a 40 minute drive one way to buy Craftsman, shop rates being what they are, its a big loser to take the time to go get a $50.00 ratchet that ends up costing about $200 in lost time. I have about everything I need in hand tools but I stay about $100 ahead of the Snap-on guy to keep him coming around.

Just my 2c
Cheers
Phil
 

Pete

Lifetime Supporter
I feel for you Dave. When I was young I bought exactly one set of wrenches and then proceeded to buy MAC or mostly Cornwell. I nver had problems with either when it came to warranty or service. My dumb luck was I could not see spending the bucks on such pretty tools when I could get not so pretty but fully funtional and the same warranty for less. Piss on them.

Pete
 
I've bought Craftsman tools from Sears for years and have been very happy with them. If something breaks you just take it back to Sears and they give you a new one. In the last 20+ years of hard use I've gone through three or four 3/8 ratchet wrenches - only had to pay for the first one. The ones that broke did so because I was abusing them in some way (like, using a four foot breaker bar on it or smacking it with a 5lb hammer trying to loosen some frozen bolt/nut).

I never understood what all the fuss was about Snapon - the tools don't look any better than Craftsman to me.
 

Keith

Moderator
I bought a Ratchet from the local SO man and that entitled me to go into a prize draw. Four weeks later, I was told I had won the draw. Expecting a wrench or 2, a delivery truck brought me a top of the range rolling cabinet and top box, worth then, about £500-£750. Not bad for a £30 wrench.

Needless to say, I extremely pleased with my "investment", but didn't buy any more so, swimming against the tide here, I'm well happy with Snap On! They rock...

:rolleyes:
 

Dave Wood

Lifetime Supporter
I bought a Ratchet from the local SO man and that entitled me to go into a prize draw. Four weeks later, I was told I had won the draw. Expecting a wrench or 2, a delivery truck brought me a top of the range rolling cabinet and top box, worth then, about £500-£750. Not bad for a £30 wrench.

Needless to say, I extremely pleased with my "investment", but didn't buy any more so, swimming against the tide here, I'm well happy with Snap On! They rock...

:rolleyes:

With that investment/return ratio I would be a happy camper too. Unfortunately your case is probably on the far side. I think most Snap-Off buyers have a lot less return ratio.
 

Keith

Moderator
Reading this post again, and thinking about the way Snap On are structured (here in the UK anyway), your beef Woodz, would appear to be simply that you can't get a rep to call, but you thought enough about their product in the first place otherwise you wouldn't have gone for the throbbing vein scenario.

Anyway, they are NOT reps, they are Franchise Holders and run their own businesses. I am quite sure that Snap On Inc passed your comments on to your local franchise holder, but if he chooses not to call on you (for whatever reason) there's not much they can do about it is there?

You have not mentioned the quality of the tools or commented on their lack of suitability for the purpose, merely their cost and the fact that your local "rep" won't call on you.

Not liking the way they conduct their business, and the failure of the local franchise holder to visit you, seems very trivial reasons for calling everyone a fool who buys them. You don't HAVE to buy them, do you? Equally, they don't HAVE to sell them to you do they?

Sounds like a whiff of sour grapes to me.
 

Dave Wood

Lifetime Supporter
Yes I do like my tools, that's why I bought them. I also bought them because of the warranty arrangement and the promise that there would always be a rep vist. Now I am not asking for a weekly visit, as my post suggests I have pretty much all the tools I need/want and those I do want are not ones they handle, but a company that can't even insure a bi-monthly( remember I said 5 YEARS) visit is asking to fail. I can't afford to sell all of these and buy new( I'm close to 59 and don't wish to go through that exercise).
Sour grapes, you say. Naa, just fed up with a non responsive company that took a lot of $$ and is unwilling to hold up their part of the bargain. It was also noted in the post that young Techs( who I was addressing primarily, since those are the ones they will prey on) who are deceptively( yes deceptively) lead to believe that their tool loan with the company helps their credit rating are being duped. It is easy to verify what will or won't help your credit rating and a Snap-OFF one won't, however a Sears charge account will. I would have to believe that in the curent economic situation that isn't going to change.
If I didn't like my tools they would be easy to sell and re-purchase, but anyone that uses tools for a living understands how you get attached to their feel,etc. especially after 40 years.
I should point out that part of the issue is directly the result of new Snap-OFF policies.There have been several new reps in the decade that I have been in business, many times with months between. The newer company policies limit the warranty costs to a certain percentage of dealers sales. Now, if an area has been without a salesman for months and there are broken tools that were not replaced under warranty because of it, a new dealer is put in a financial bind from the beginning. IF they are supposed to warranty all covered tools, why do they impose a limit on the dealers from the onset?? This is a company policy problem. The company has been in business for a long time( not anywhere as long as Sears) and every year there are more Techs buying more tools. How is it right or fair to those customers and dealers that they impose this obstacle.
As far as not being able to do something, you might be surprised.
 

Dave Wood

Lifetime Supporter
.

Anyway, they are NOT reps, they are Franchise Holders and run their own businesses. I am quite sure that Snap On Inc passed your comments on to your local franchise holder, but if he chooses not to call on you (for whatever reason) there's not much they can do about it is there?

You have not mentioned the quality of the tools or commented on their lack of suitability for the purpose, merely their cost and the fact that your local "rep" won't call on you.

Not liking the way they conduct their business, and the failure of the local franchise holder to visit you, seems very trivial reasons for calling everyone a fool who buys them. You don't HAVE to buy them, do you? Equally, they don't HAVE to sell them to you do they?

Thought I might add.. as far as being able to do anything about it. I have been unable to get ANY response form the company...until this morning..... after they saw my post starting to appear on different car sites. Seems they are sorry and want to make nice. We will see.
You are also corect that I don't have to buy them and they don't have to sell to me. Although they NEED to sell to me more than I need to buy from them, or they wouldn't exist. That wouldn't affect me, would it. It does affect me when I do buy a tool that is guaranteed for life and can't get it dealt with. No company should be allowed to give stated commitments for sales and then not be made to honor that commitment. I can assure you if I hadn't paid my payments on time they would have been glad to take them back and let all the money I paid stay in their pocket. IF I had renigged on my obligation, I would have quietly accepted that they kept my money, my fault not their's.
I am not sure about the laws in Britain, but in the US the party making the guarantee is the one that has to meet that obligation. If their franchisee isn't meeting their obligation the company can remove their franchise, I have seen it. I have worked in dealerships for about 25 of the last 40 years and if the dealership doesn't meet their commitment the company WILL come in and make them, or they will lose their franchise. S-O is under the same obligation, it is THEM that make the guarantee and not the franchisee. If I haven't had a dealer in over 5 years and have attempted over that time as often as a dozen times and they make NO effort to rectify the issue then they are the liable party. Matco made a dealer bring me a warrantee wrench when he claimed it was abused( I'll bet I haven't warranteed a tool a year in the last 40 years,of daily usage, and that doesn't indicate a history of abuse) and refused. One call to the Matco corp. and they had him there, on an off day with a new wrench an apology and a paper for me to sign verifying that he had exchanged the wrench. Seems like S-O, if they value their customers, would act in a similar manner. Once again, it is their warranty.
 
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Keith

Moderator
No worries Dave - just an observation is all...

Good point about franchise rules - don't really know how it works here..

Lip zipped....

Good luck mate... :)
 

Rick Muck- Mark IV

GT40s Sponsor
Supporter
.

Anyway, they are NOT reps, they are Franchise Holders and run their own businesses. I am quite sure that Snap On Inc passed your comments on to your local franchise holder, but if he chooses not to call on you (for whatever reason) there's not much they can do about it is there?

Classic was seeing my Snapper guy taking new drawer sliders and bending them in half. Asked him why, he replied "I ordered a dozen and they sent me 5 dozen. I can't return them as overage and can only return them if damaged or defective so I trash 'em so they take 'em back. Otherwise I have to pay for them in ten days and I don't need the extra 4 dozen"

This is why some companies just "don't get it"!!!
 

David Morton

Lifetime Supporter
:stupid:pat,
I must be foolish as well. I've got a pair of the large Snap-On roller cabinets which are superb. They came from Henry Atherton before he emigrated to France but the Snap-on rep says if I ever have an issue with them - don't worry as they are guaranteed for life. :deal:
I don't know who's life he refers to - his , Henry's or mine. :gossip:
I think they probably came from Willians Touring Car when they shut down the Renault operation in Didcot where Henry worked, and he didn't have them when he was doing the Safirs in High Wycombe so they must be 17 years old at least.
:bandana:
The Snap-On tools that I have are of similar quality. I collected quite a few Craftsman tools from Sears on my trips to the USA as well. Not quite as nice to operate but nevertheless still of good quality. :shrug:

Silly me. :bash: :zzz: :bigcry: :rifle:
 
I've worked as a professional and\or hobby mechanic for much of my life and it's given me a pragmatic attitude to buying tools.

My reasoning is that if I'm using a particular tool a lot, or when it does get used it's having to work very hard ( mission critical if you like :) ) then I'll buy Snap On. In my opinion there is nothing better and even simple things like the shape of their spanners makes a difference to your comfort when you are using them all day long.
I find the strength of their ratchets and sockets allows me to go a drive size smaller than I would risk with lesser brands which is a big help when working in confined spaces.

But before this starts to sound like a Snap On advert :) their products comprise only perhaps 25% of my kit. Some guys I have worked with over the years wouldn't use anything else, literally everything they owned was Snap On, but I could never see the point in that.
I've got a second string of tools from Facom, Britool etc for less critical tasks and once we start talking things like pliers, screwdrivers and hammers then I'll just buy those from a DIY store.
 
Dave,
Interesting topic, I still have some Snap On in my box, but I don't use it very much. I pretty well use Master Craft Professional Series (Canadian Tire Stores)wrenches ratchets and sockets. It about the same as the Sears Professional stuff only less expensive. Nice smooth finish, thin walled wrenches to get into the tight spots.
We used SnapOn (Bluepoint) in GM at first but it would not hold up for the money they were paying. After a while no lifetime warranty. They started using Westward and other off brands. On inpact sockets Cornwell ,Apex . These were expensive but would last almost forever or wore out. I still have some in my box I used to have more but My son and his friends liked them too and many have vanished.
You guys in the UK pay too much for tools. Cheaper in the US and Canada. Princess Auto Canada, Harbor Freight US.
Dave I would start looking at something else for what you pay for Snap On and the hassels on warranty with the reps not worth the money. I been there myself. You could buy two complete sets of the wrenches I use for the price of one Snap On wrench.
Dave
 
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