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Snap-On tools are for fools

122K views 87 replies 50 participants last post by  Carlos Murphy 
#1 · (Edited)
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.
 
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#27 ·
There's nothing wrong with Craftsman...at least Sears will warranty them no questions asked. It's the same old story with vendors...as long as ur buying or u owe them money they show up. The minute u quit buying or pay everything off...they disappear.
 
#28 ·
Forgive me if this has been brought up but I didn't read ever post, just skipped around a little.

The stupid thing about the whole argument is TIMES HAVE CHANGED!

When I bought my first tools as a pro over 30 years ago there was Snap On and JUNK, hardly any middle ground at all. Craftsmen wrenches were friggin CLUBS they were like using a 3/4 ton truck to do gardening work. They were rough edged, bulky CLUBS.

And them and anything on that level were the only thing in the middle, below that was the Chinese garbage that would break the first time it was used. There were Craftsmen tool boxes and Snap on, that was it. Mac was around as well and maybe Matco though I didn't see a Matco truck until about 20 years ago.

My point being that there was a time when you were a hack if you didn't have Snap On tools. And I don't mean that like "peer pressure" though that existed too. No, I mean that if you were a pro, you used the best and nothing but the best. Snap On was the best hands down.

Today, all that has changed, hell a Craftsmen rachet (the upper end fully chromed ones) are as good as Snap On for far less money. This goes for sockets and everything else. Even phillups screw drivers that I would die for are now "common" with much cheaper ones doing as good a job and lasting as long.

I have a mixture of Snap On, S&K, Craftsmen, Gear Wrench and many other tools in my Mac tool chest. I have picked them over the years and I will not use anything but the best at work. So yes, over the years things have changed but if you want out and out quality with no questions, the "tool trucks" still have the best hands down.

If you have the time to figure it all out, you can do it without them. But there was a time, there was no choice. It was the tool trucks or junk, PERIOD.

I know one thing, as my very wise brother said years ago when talking about this subject. "I have never said to my self, DAMN, I wish I would have bought the CHEAPER tool".

I think that is damn profound. I have thousands of dollars in tools (not as much as a lot of people because I ONLY buy what I need, I am not a tool junkie) and I have never looked at them and said "Damn I have wasted money".

Brian
 
#29 ·
How about Snap-ons' great lifetime warranty? I've seen some used tools advertised on E bay saying the tools have a lifetime warranty, and if there's a problem, all someone has to do is go to a dealer.
Try not to laugh. If I track down a dealer, and walk up to him with a busted tool, is he obligated to exchange it for a new one? Ok, you can laugh now. :D
 
#30 ·
scrot said:
How about Snap-ons' great lifetime warranty? I've seen some used tools advertised on E bay saying the tools have a lifetime warranty, and if there's a problem, all someone has to do is go to a dealer.
Try not to laugh. If I track down a dealer, and walk up to him with a busted tool, is he obligated to exchange it for a new one? Ok, you can laugh now. :D
In a word, YES. I know one thing, I buy a tool now and then from my tool truck dealers. Not much, as I have all the tools I need. But every once in a while I get something. And because I step on the truck now and then they WILL fix tools or replace them without so much as a grunt.

Brian
 
#32 ·
Will Snap On "go under", oh yes I see the writing on the wall. As I said, the times have changed and the line between the finest tools you can buy and the more "affordable" tools has been blurred.

One of the reasons is how Snap On has the "value line" tools as well on their truck. If a person going on the Snap On truck sees the same cheapie tools as he does at the cheapie tool store or web site the Snap On truck has lost it's edge. There was a time as I said when you went to Snap On because they were the best hands down, no thinking about it. Now, you can get almost as good of tool for a lot less money elsewhere and you they have cheapie tools as well on the truck, what in the heck are they? Are they the best tools or aren't they?

The one thing that will keep them going is the credit, that will keep them going for a long time be damned the tools they sell.

Brian
 
#33 ·
iv got all craftsman tools at home, at work i work out of the bosses tool box which consists of matco and snap on. the ratchets are nicer but other then that iv yet to see a difference, all the other mechanics make fun of craftsman tools like alot of mechanics. i think it boils down to people thinking the tool makes the mechanic, which is easy to get caught up in.

one thing i have to say about craftsman tho is that there ratchet wrenches are the absolute worse iv ever seen, got a set of gear wrench ratchet wrenches and im extremely impressed with them for the price. craftsmans screwdrivers are pretty lame as well, but extremely cheap, really tough, and i can always have them replaced when they brake.

im glad i read this, ill be going to school next year to become a gm certified master tech and iv been holding off on buying various tools i find myself needing for certain jobs because ill get snap on and matco tools half price, but after reading this i could care less about that, a tool aint worth much if you cant get any service on it. after reading this ill have no problem just buying tools at sears.
 
#34 ·
I have not seen my Snap-On Dealer

In over three months; My Cornwell dealer went bankrupt last year; my Mac dealer went out years ago; a new Mac dealer came & he literally got ran out of town; (from so many mechanics who had just such a bad taste in there mouths with Mac Tools.) So were does this all leave us; broken quality tools where we spend top dollar on tools & service. I must admit; I have started quite a collection of harbor frieght tools in the last year or so; always had Craftsman too; but there is nothining like a professional tool; to do a professional job;
 
#35 ·
bubjel said:
In over three months; My Cornwell dealer went bankrupt last year; my Mac dealer went out years ago; a new Mac dealer came & he literally got ran out of town; (from so many mechanics who had just such a bad taste in there mouths with Mac Tools.) So were does this all leave us; broken quality tools where we spend top dollar on tools & service. I must admit; I have started quite a collection of harbor frieght tools in the last year or so; always had Craftsman too; but there is nothining like a professional tool; to do a professional job;


I have said this before, as much as I like Snap-On I would be hesitant to recommend them anymore because it may very well mean investing a lot of money in an orphan tool. You ask a darn good question there, where is this going to leave us? Well I think the tool trucks will soon be a thing of the past but tools like S&K are available from some stores, believe it or not Harbor freight even has some genuine S&K but they are priced accordingly! There will always be a market for professional quality tools so I think some of them will survive, maybe even Snap-On but if so they will most certainly need a different marketing strategy (wonder if we will soon see "made in China" on Snap-On tools. :rolleyes:
 
#36 ·
i bought snap-on for years the salesman was very cool dude and did not pressure u to buy but would give some good deals and loved to bull shi$. heck his wife
would stop by and bring us biscuts. i left where i worked for a better job which was out of his route
i owed him 400. dolllar was going to transfer the acc to the new salesman but only got him to stop by once in the last 4 years no joke
my old salesman left snap-on and told not worry about it u tell me
i got broke tools now and here i am chasing down snap-on to get them fixed
:boxing:
 
#37 ·
you know, iv never purchased from a snap on or matco guy(own nothing but craftsman and a few gearwrench, kobalt, ect), but i would have to think that any shop with several mechanics(like say if you were working at a dealership) would have to always have people buying tools which keeps the tool guys around. you guys are saying they all take off once you stop buying from them, but i cant imagine that every employee at the shop stops buying and the snap on guy suddenly disappears? is that really how it goes down?
 
#38 ·
There has been some Snap On bashing here. No doubt. Most of it has been in the SERVICE sector. And I can relate with that. We are at the mercy of a panel van making his/her rounds. Other than that, you call customer service and pay shipping.

Really, it's the same at Sears/Craftsman anymore. They do not have the higher line Craftsman or the variety listed in the catalog ON HAND. That would be a lot of inventory. And for a Snap On dealer, A VERY big heavy truck.

I don't like it when Snap On tries to be sneaky and bring in Blue Point (and some Snap On) made in china-wherever and pass them as professional tools.

It's been a big soap box for me lately.
 
#39 ·
no lie

The Snap On ice cream truck. LOL.

I have a real world experience that begun Oct. 16th. Our local Snap On dealer stopped by, as he does every Friday believe it or not, an I wanted a set of attachments for a power driver I have, (Snap On also). Didn't have it on the truck. Whilst not a #2 phillips screwdriver, it was something that he admitted "why didn't I re-order that"? I was thinking the same THING! Wow talk about parity! Ok no problem. "Well I won't be here next week- vacation".

Hmmm. Sure enough the 23rd came and went. No ice cream truck.

All of this and maybe this coming Friday I still get to pay Seventy-Four Dollars and Forty-Five Cents for only this:
.
 
#40 · (Edited)
Since this is now the service oriented thread, here goes.

OK, so the 23rd came and went. A 'measly' 75 bucks is all I want to spend. No, I do not spend a huge amount of money with him. I have most of my tools that I 'need' already.

The 30th came and went also. No Snap On dealer. He was aware of this tool I need/want. Todd Baker, more specifically.

CORRECTION... I was informed by a friend in the shop that Todd did in fact stop by on the 30th. I did not catch him. My mistake. I'll have to wait until this coming Friday the 6th.

In all honesty Todd does a helluva good job. No real complaints. Just wish Snap On had brick and mortar stores around. Probably would never happen.
 

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#43 ·
deadbodyman said:
I'll bet a guy could make a good living getting a bread truck and filling it with S-k and good used tools at bargan.... mabee even a little low interest credit (not through a bank) and stopping by every week...Were a pretty loyal bunch when we feel were being treated right...
I actually had a guy do just that. For years he stopped by my shop, I bought a number of things from him.

For that matter, many SnapOn type trucks will sell other tools! I have bought a number of Martin tools from my Matco guy and my big S&K impact sockets came off my SnapOn truck!

Brian
 
#44 ·
I am sure that would work BUT where do you get the tools to sell? You wouldn't last long if you were constantly telling people "I don't have one of those right now" (That's what a lot of Snap-On salesmen are doing). If you could get a S-K franchise or just buy them wholesale at a good price then it might work but it would take a HUGE $$ investment to cover most everything the people you sell to would need even if you are carrying mostly used stuff, if you don't have it on the truck and want to just order everything then, again, that's what wrong with Snap-On.
 
#45 ·
I agree Red,it would be a huge investment.But where theres a will theres a way. Flea markets around here are loaded with good used tools all the big names and buying them in quantity always helps.Pawn shops always have a load of stuff they would love to sell.I'm no salesman but its something I always thought would work for the right person..but not me ,thats for sure..
 
#46 ·
I had a discussion with both my Snap-on and Mac tools guy’s about this very subject.

Both explained this side of the problem. If you show up every week and nobody buys anything, do you continue stopping there? Obviously, you have to make a decision, and it may not be favorable to the shop. The other reason is they were burnt once too often at a location. Both told me that even if I or another person who are good customers began employment at these locations they still wouldn’t service that location because they would have to service everyone else that worked there.

Don’t think I’m altogether with just their side of things. I got into it with my Snap-On rep about every time I go on his truck all he carries is “made in Japan” Blue-Point crap. Tried to purchase a Devillbiss gun and all he could offer me were Blue-Point junk. Had to have my Mac rep order it and it took two months to arrive. Same thing with a warranted half-inch impact extension.

Sad part of this story is that in the near future all tools will be made overseas at inflated prices. Be prepared to take a trip to emergency for a broken knuckle when your tools start to fail.
 
#47 ·
Your post about sums it up and is all too often the case with some of these dealers. While I can see their point they are still totally out of line with that kind of thinking, why? Because they made a promise when they sold those high priced tools to back them and provide service after the sale. I like Snap-On tools and IMO they are the very best you can buy, worth every cent as long as Snap-On lives up to it's promises which those salesmen are refusing to do. They have an obligation whether they want to admit it or not, that obligation was part of the deal when the mechanic laid out all that hard earned money for those expensive tools!
 
#48 ·
However, I have talked to these dealers too and the SnapOn company has gotten tighter and tighter with the dealer. They reinburse less money than they used to on tools being WAY more picky with returns. They are tighter with the credit to them.

The introduction of all the cheapie Bluepoint and such, the dealer is hardly at fault.

Brian
 
#50 ·
Finally getting to post up a short review.

Ok, I now have the extensions that were ordered by my Snap On dealer. Very nice fully locking driver extensions. I recommend them.

As far as service, he did order multiples of this tool this time around so the next Joe can get them more quickly. My Snap On dealer works 5, 12 hour days a week on his route. He always stops by every Friday. My delay was a rarity, according to the dealer AND the employees of the shop.

All in all I'm happy. I don't spend a bunch of money on Snap On tools but the service (at least in my neck of the woods) is very good.
 
#51 ·
snap on tools

bla bla bla thats all i hear,snap-on is the maker of fine quality tools i know ,i have been a mechanic for 35 years and my tool box is full there is around at last count 85,000 dollars in the stupid box,but anyways you know the snap-on dude wont show up at your shop if you never buy anything,come on now if you were selling tools ,would you go to places that dont buy tools HELL NO,so if you want to see him buy something sometimes,i got the same problem and im in canada but if i buy a thing or two ,he shows up every secon week to see if he cant get some of my money and that's when i nail him with broken tools,it's not rocket science get with the program LOL.
 
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