I've never owned a Snap On tool in my life, but I saw this discussion on another forum, and I thought that I'd see what the opinions were around here.

Basically there was general agreement that the tools themselves were good, but that the dealers these days often were not. There were a number of posts that said that it was hard -- if not impossible -- to get replacements. The situation was much worse when the account hadn't been doing much purchasing.

If this topic is deemed too controversial please delete it.

 

I have dealt with several Snap On dealers over the years. One was hard to deal with and didn't like to warranty anything. The other two have been great and I consider them to be friends after years of buying tools. Just like anything else...there are good dealers and bad dealers!

The Mac dealers I have dealt with have all been good but they never seem to stay in business long (at least around here).

 

The dealers are people, some are ****** some are cool. I left my shop 3 years ago and I still talk to my snap on guy every few weeks or so.

 

My snap on guy acted like friend ,until I didn't need much in the line of new tools , all crap from there on ...I haven't seen a driver in 8-9 years . A couple of snap on supervisors stopped in , they were not much concerned . Its actually a good thing , I have found many other places to buy my tools for a lot less cash...

 

The last snap-on guy I dealt with sold me an extractor kit with lefty drill bits. I asked him if he would warranty the drill bits since there is no way I could sharpen them myself. he said Snap-on won't but I will. A year later he must have forgot cause he charged me for 2 new bits. I deal with a Matco guy he is easy to work with.

 

I think mac and possibly matco warranties drill bits, snap on doesnt. I htink Mac has some issues with the way they treat their dealers, they dont seem to last wrong around here either

 

Matco warranties drill bits. The only reason I bought matco bits was for the warranty. The first week I had them, i wore two 1/2" bits out drilling through hardened steel. Snap-on dealers can go either way, I've had good and bad, some will warranty some will argue with you. Never tell them you broke the wrench with a cheater pipe. I have never had any trouble with Matco, they have been very good, and are usually a little cheaper. I got to where I only go to snap- on when Matco doesn't make what need.

 

My snap-on dealer is a great guy I've bought about 40,000 dollars worth of tools from him already I owe about 5000 more and only pay him 85 a week he works with me alot so I'll buy my tools from him.

 

I moved to a new shop and we finally got a snap-on guy there. Every Monday morning at about 8 he's in there with his weekly sales pitch. The most laughable was he had a bit set and the special deal was he would trade our old bits toward the new set and give you up to $100 in trade. So my buddy says I already have Snap-On bit set. He said yeah but if you trade them I'll give you $100 (the set was $400). My buddy said Really, and how much do you think I paid for mine?

 

Even the dealers who sell to the government/military vary quite a bit. One was so bad that nearly every unit where I was stationed quit using them. His replacement was excellent and regained the lost accounts.
I like their tools but I wouldn't expect much from service.

 

I got out of the Army in 1971 and bought a lot of Snap On tools at the time. They were sold to me with an UNCONDITIONAL guarantee. That guarantee is no longer honored.

They still make a great product, but it is even more over priced than it was in those days with less warranty. If I were starting my tool collecting today, it wouldn't be at the Snap On truck.
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Tool truck dealers all come down to how cool the guy driving them is. I've met a few snap on dicks who wouldnt warranty anything (not many, but a few), but whatever...the nice thing about snap-on dealers is they're everywhere, go find another one. If you have a problem with the one who comes to your shop, call corporate snap-on, tell them your guy is a douche, and you want someone who will honor a warranty. One shop i was at actually did that, it was before i started working there though.

I like snap-on....not really because they're tools are great, but simply because personally most every snap-on dealer (except just 1 i think) that came to where i worked was always the reliable tool truck guy. I remember i wouldnt see the mac guy for months, the matco guy would show up every week for a few months, then just stop coming for months, but the snap on guy: every Wednesday at 2 pm, he was out in that parking lot, and he always warrantied stuff like it was no big deal, thats how they won my business. Plus, i like to go on ebay, or garage sales, and find old or broken snap on tools, buy them up and go exchange them for a new one, i told my last snap on guy thats what i was doing, he was fine with it.

Towards the end of my wrenching career, i started to go with Cornwell, because they made good stuff, was cheaper, and my Cornwell dude warrantied stuff, and also i discovered he lived 2 miles from me. I bought one of those cheap plastic "Jeepers Creepers" off him, he said he'd warranty it no matter what. I ran those things over like 4 times with a 18 wheeler, he gave me a new one every time. no questions asked.

but....yeah, some tool truck guys are unreliable, and give you hassle over warranty, but the awesome thing about capitalism is there's plenty of other tool truck guys out there in business, and if you look around, i'm positive you'll find someone who you can depend on. It's just a person-to-person basis.

One thing i'll say is always stay away from tool truck guys who are just agents: Meaning, they dont actually own the truck, they work for someone who owns the truck and tools, almost 100% of these guys i've encountered are real queerdos. Guys who actually own and operate their trucks are generally way more dependable and reasonable.