Tool Truck Stories
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Shop I worked in when I was 19 used to close for two weeks during Christmas and New Year's. At exactly that time, we got a new Snap On man.
The first time I ever laid eyes on him, he tells me he needs to take my box because I haven't paid for two weeks.
I whipped out the money for two weeks payments and only made payments to him until the box was paid off. Never bought a single tool from him ever.
The first time I ever laid eyes on him, he tells me he needs to take my box because I haven't paid for two weeks.
I whipped out the money for two weeks payments and only made payments to him until the box was paid off. Never bought a single tool from him ever.
Every tool dealer has stories of guys that are always on "road test" when they show up. Tool dealers generally dont want to repo your tools, its a lot of work for them to try to recoup the money. My Snapon and Cornwell guys will work with anyone that is upfront and forthcoming about an inability to pay, stuff happens. A couple of times have had one of them say "Hey if you see so-and-so call me asap" because they were trying to track down money.
AutoMechanic
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I know a few people who will make it a point to not be around when one shows up. Mostly cause they don’t want to buy anything and get tired of being told by the Snap-on man that we need to sell all our stuff and only buy Snap-on. He won’t take anything on trade that isn’t Snap-on either except boxes occasionally. Except we never know when Snap-on is showing up he might show up Tuesday morning, afternoon. He might show up Monday sometime he might show up Friday. I honestly think there has been maybe three weeks where he showed up at the same time. Nowadays I run when he comes in the building because I don’t owe him anything anymore and he wants to sell me stuff haha. He got a little upset with me last week cause I wouldn’t buy anything lol. Now Mac and Matco I both owe money too but I’m always on top of them when they show up cause they have good reputations with a set schedule and being on time and let us know when they are showing up and when they are not. I don’t know anyone that owes so much that they run when they show up for that reason though.
Lol, I thought this was going to be more Rated X, given what happens inside most tool trucks. 
We had a snapon guy that set his own prices. He would be much higher than the catalog or monthly flyer showed.
My local Matco guy is the same way, but when questioned, he always matches the website. Thankfully there isn’t much from Matco that interests me.
On the other hand, my Snap on dealer is great. But he never tries to sell me things since I’m a cash customer.
He doesn't want cash?
I think he means that he never tries to pressure him in to buying things.
You would think it'd be the opposite. He'd want him to buy since he's getting the tool paid for in it's entirety in cash.
It's usually the "new" guy in the shop that gets stuff repo'd....Thinking they'd get away with changing employment outside the reps route.
Had a kid drop around $4000 and got fired a few weeks later
Varies greatly, I've seen young techs go stupid & get their parent to co-sign a large line of credit....Then end up with weekly payments of over half their take home pay, Of coarse that's not sustainable for very long. Can't think of a single one that stayed in the industry either.
Then you have some with common sense & start with a small $4-500 Truck (RA) Accounts & build their tool collection slowly.
In my opinion....A mechanic doesn't even need to consider a new quality tool box 'til they're 8-10 years in, By that time you should know whether or not this industry is right for you.
When it come to big ticket items you can't put on a RA account, I recommend getting a loan from a Bank/Credit Union, The payments are monthly & the rates are FAR more favorable! The credit arms of Snap-on, Mac, Matco & Cornwell charge ridiculous interest rates even with decent credit.
Bought my first scan tool (Tech2) & my second (Snap-on MT2500) with loans through my credit union.
Place I recently retired from Snap On guy is a prince of a human, just a pleasure to see and work with. I moved halfway across the country and the next time I need something, he will get the call. We caught our Matco guy selling counterfeit Milwaukee batteries. Most of the Matco stuff didn't appeal to me and I got boned on a warranty deal by him also. Cornwell driver was cool, always fun to see him. Same deal, if I need something Cornwell, he will get the call.
I have an opposite story. One local Snap On guy was, we will call him Brett, was shall we say, a less than honorable being. Fast forward to him losing his franchise, failing to pay Snap On the $120K he owed, and losing his marriage due to violence etc....
I was at the Stuart FL airshow, in the hour long cue to leave. He was ripping drunk, passed everyone at dust raising speeds (in the grass) and pushed his car into mine (hit the tire) to get in line. I opened the window and said "wait in line like everybody else" as I could not move. He got out and beat on my poor car with no mercy. I rolled up the window and watched him misbehave. Kicking and punching my car and doing quite a bit of damage while reaching in his pocket for something. (the cops saw all of it)
Anyway, he almost lost his life that day, as had he broken the window (he did try) and gotten in, it was going to be "lights out" for him. I was not about to be beaten or stabbed to death inside my car.
I was at the Stuart FL airshow, in the hour long cue to leave. He was ripping drunk, passed everyone at dust raising speeds (in the grass) and pushed his car into mine (hit the tire) to get in line. I opened the window and said "wait in line like everybody else" as I could not move. He got out and beat on my poor car with no mercy. I rolled up the window and watched him misbehave. Kicking and punching my car and doing quite a bit of damage while reaching in his pocket for something. (the cops saw all of it)
Anyway, he almost lost his life that day, as had he broken the window (he did try) and gotten in, it was going to be "lights out" for him. I was not about to be beaten or stabbed to death inside my car.
Circa '05 we had 2 guys: Jim and Tyler. Not sure how this happened in a small rural area.
Jim was a mess. I worked with a machinist who owed him on account but Jim never came around. Maybe once every 2-3 months. Jim's truck was older and dirty. Even from a distance you could tell it was "grungy."
My wife worked at a local bank at the time and told me Jim's account was always in the negative and they were frequently having to deal with him for NSF issues. Obviously, this should be confidential but in a small town what do you expect??
Around '08 Jim's truck popped up on the side of my local highway with a "For Sale" sign. Gee, never saw that coming.
Tyler's truck is kept in good repair. He returns phone calls and runs his route regularly. We still have Tyler. He's easy to deal with and I buy from him occasionally.
Jim was a mess. I worked with a machinist who owed him on account but Jim never came around. Maybe once every 2-3 months. Jim's truck was older and dirty. Even from a distance you could tell it was "grungy."
My wife worked at a local bank at the time and told me Jim's account was always in the negative and they were frequently having to deal with him for NSF issues. Obviously, this should be confidential but in a small town what do you expect??
Around '08 Jim's truck popped up on the side of my local highway with a "For Sale" sign. Gee, never saw that coming.
Tyler's truck is kept in good repair. He returns phone calls and runs his route regularly. We still have Tyler. He's easy to deal with and I buy from him occasionally.
What's the typical interest rate from the big tool companies? My FICO is 840, curious what rate they would charge me.
From Snapon it depends if its a truck account (RA) or a SNapon credit account (EC). Generally RA is small purchases, EC is big depending on the dealer. RA is no interest and weekly payment is generally 10 percent of the financed amount. EC is an interest bearing loan at either 9.9, 19.9 or 29.9 depending on creditworthiness.
Cornwell a truck account is the same guidelines generally, Cornwell credit is called Tech Credit and tech credit is 19.9 for purchases under 2k and 9.9 for over 2k.
Some examples:
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Tool Truck Accounts Payments
For those of you with a tool truck account, what's your payment interval and payment amount? What's some of larger tool truck account balances either you or a co-worker have accrued?
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