MATCO TOOLS Franchise Complaints

4,850 thoughts on “MATCO TOOLS Franchise Complaints”

• Debbie, just google vetfran and it will pop up.Look on the site and there is a forum and you have to sign up and then you can log in.

• Hey I need an idea for a christmas promo, last year I gave away a 55 inch tv want to mix it ip this year. It’s weird when I run a promo my sales pick up, but then after I stop the promo my sales always go down. Should I do more giveaways?

• Debbie if your dog creeps out your customers I would not let him on your truck

• Richard, I think once a year, my DM came around a few weeks ago, said hi.

• Guest3, we’ve always had good luck giving away a firearm of some sort. Nothing gets someone’s attention like a nice rifle! However it is very weird, my sales go UP when I run a contest too! Customers don’t even mind paying more a week to get into these contests, which in turn increases my collections.. I know weird

• guest3 – dude, I’d REALLY like you to meet my dog………………..
  I bought you a gift certificate to kevin’s reading comprehension course
  OBVIOUSLY the HE is the DM……….duh

  @guest 17 – really, 17??? just call yourself tom dick or harry…………….. 17? silly

  OR maybe Use Your Name…………….
  I DO :)

  @Tommy – done – at least on two sites – I’ll keep working

  @17 – the firearms – i prefer to keep, just in case my dog is at home….
  beside, isn’t it illegal to give away, or do you do the background checks??

• so, nobody answered my question

  do i HAVE to let my DM go with me on my route??

  guess i didn’t read or remember the WHOLE franchise agreement, it maybe it is answered somewhere, but, maybe somebody knows the answer

• Thanks I will go to cabella’s and buy one. Thanks what a fantastic idea, I bet this will help a ton. I can picture the snap off guys in my area getting pissed already.

• No problem, if it doesnt work out call Jerry

• That dude is on my speed dial, I took Tommy Bahamas advice…lol

• Jerry must be the solution to all problems. I should put his number in speed dial too.

• Guest2. I have used the cabelas gift card and it works great. I am now doing a contest giving away 2 32″ lcd flatscreens. It is off to a great start.

• Sorry meant guest3

• Everyone should have Jerry on speed dial, because Matco will have to answer to him and the court of law. So guys and gals, when Matco screws you, the same way they have everyone else, give him a call, because its coming, you may be doing fine now, but Matco has you set up to fail, its called turn around. Debbie , I, and everyone else cant wait to receive a big fat refund from Matco, it’s coming real soon. When you screw as many people as Matco has. including the government, they better watch out, because the FEDS are coming, right along with the rest of us. So, when matco screws you, ‘ WHO YA GONNA CALL’,JERRY,JERRY,JERRY, MARKS THAT IS. HE IS GONNA LEAVE HIS ‘MARK’ ON MATCO.

• @Debbie – In my Contract it states- (in part) sec 3.13 – Matco’s Inspection Rights – The Distributor will: (A) permit Matco and its agents to inspect the Distr Matco Truck and observe the Distr business Operations at any time during normal bus. hours, (B) cooperate with Matco during any inspections by rendering such assistance as Matco may reasonably request, and (C) immediatly, upon written notice from Matco take the steps necessary to correct any deficiencies in the Distr business operations.

  this could have varied through the years.

  I personally would respectfully decline his visit because of security reasons and immediately relay your concerns to his management, stating you security concerns, the negative effect on your business, etc. I would expect (hope is a better word) that your personal/individual rights would have precedence over the contract wording. Laws vary state to sate….

  I’ve talked to many distributors that have declined visits from the DM. Of course, they all face retaliation from the company. And no two are dealt with the same.

  After Matco (DM) screwed me out of $5000+ in tool box warranty issues, AND making a complete ass out of himself in a shop, embarrassing me and my business, I asked him to never visit me at a shop again, do not talk to MY customers and visits will be after work.

  My DM was an ex distributor, (multiple companies), understood the need to purchase outside, but when it came to termination, he had no problem listing “outside purchases” as one of the violations. Hypocrite.

  When communicating to Matco, I would document all of the violations that they incure per the contract. I have in writing a ‘false’ and blatantly erroneous ‘list of calls’ that can and should be used against them.

  It was clear in my opinion, with timeline documentation, they did not honor the contract in good faith.

• I never understood the ‘give away free stuff’. Are your customers that stupid? Is that all the respect you have for your customers?

  Are you really taking money out of your pocket to give away a free TV? No, your taking an extra bite out of your customers to pay for that TV.

  I have competition in my area, I give nothing away for free, except to reward customers for purchases and paying above and beyond our agreed terms.

  My Customers aren’t stupid, nothing is for free. But they do know I have the best price in town, with honest and loyal customer service.

• You think our customers are stupid, really? The only thing a contest does is generate excitement and customer LOYALTY! Am I taking money out of my pocket to purchase these prizes? Damn right I am! When I run a one in 30 contest AND discount the tool 50 bucks, where do you see me “taking an extra bite” ?

• @guest17- your giving something away, you discount the item $50. Your still making a reasonable profit, I would hope.

  My guess is your initial retail price for ‘said’ tool was extremely inflated.

  I apologize for posting something so ‘off topic’. I’ll refrain from doing it again. Sorry.

• Is it entirely unreasonable to expect exceptional customer service when ordering a 6 series, $10,000+ toolbox?

  IN SCHOOL, we were told all 6 series boxes are delivered via furniture delivery, would be unpacked and set up for customer

  My first, only, last………… 6 series toolbox order was delivered regular freight, no special treatment, customer had to move the box to his bay and unpack himself

  Per customer service’s request – I submitted the order via the Toolbox Configurator. I was told – no errors can be made that way. Earl said we only build the boxes you tell us to build.

  MY BOX was delivered, and built WRONG! Customer should have had TWO drawers on top and box was built with one.

  SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, after fighting with customer service over “who” should pay for this mistake – they agreed to send two drawers.

  After fighting with customer service, they finally agreed to send the drawers to the customer

  They shipped ME the slides.

  Customer received the drawers this week – One had the correct chrome trim piece, ONE HAD A BLUE TRIM PIECE

  The box ordered was white with chrome trim, HOW? HOW? HOW? could they ship two drawers – and ONE with the correct chrome trim and ONE WITH BLUE?

  I understand “mistakes” happen………………………. this suspiciously is not sounding like much of a ‘mistake’

• I don’t think the error with the tool box drawers was a mistake. All I can guess is Jamestown, NY draws the best manufacturing talent in the world. Its a small town out in the middle of now where… you get what the town has to offer. No one is going to move their for a low paying, multiple layoffs per year job.

  INFO gathered via MDAC: About 5 years ago, Jamestown shipped a tool box direct to the customer with the wrong color top drawer. ( I don’t remember the exact colors), but example, box was yellow, top drawer was blue. Of course, some where out there was a Blue box with a Yellow Drawer. They found it, shipped to a distributor that hadn’t opened the packaging yet.

  MDAC issue: How could this happen? Doesn’t someone sign off for QC before a box ships? The response was that during serial number install, the top drawers are removed and placed on a table, the worker picked up the wrong drawer during reinstall. Some good drugs there! So where was the QC? Maybe Matco, jamestown is not ISO 900x certified.

  i won’t say that this is factual, but it is my opinion, that ‘sometimes’ Matco ships the wrong stuff or damaged stuff, just to make the numbers for shipments look good. -and we’ll fix it later… usually at a loss to the distributor, for service and support time.

• 6 series double bays come on pallet regular freight. ALL my toolboxes come to me! I NEVER direct ship that way I can clean up myself not expect my customer to do it! It’s my customer service to my customer, yes it’s extra work .
  VALIUM!, nuff said!

• i just got a call back from jerry marks himself. he seems like a very nice person. he is going to take my case and he is looking for any other vets who have been taken advantage of here. it doesnt matter whether you are in or out. call him and see if he can help you. he wants to help all the vets who might have been taken advantage of by matco. CALL JERRY—–732-747-7100 …..NOW. DO NOT HESITATE.

• @guest3 – NOT ‘nuf said’. I WAS TOLD my
  $10K 3bay 6 series box was SO special and
  Delivery WOULD BE special – SO the customer
  Would feel like HE was special, getting the royal
  treatment
  THAT would have been CUSTOMER service
  Don’t dare condesend to me about Customer Service,
  MY customers come first, and not just “sometimes”
  BUT always at MY expense!
  NO support from Matco
  AND I have the paperwork and customer testimonials
  to PROVE it

• Southern states is at it again, our regional and district manager , have ousted three in the last 6-8 weeks. Out are Gerard, Bruce, and Steve. Way to go Matco in the gators district. Who is next?

• Hey Richard of course Jerry will take your case, he is a lawyer and it’s 40% of whatever along with a retainer fee, of course he will tale your money. Jerry is a smart business man and loves to make money

  Former dist…. Speaks for itself, ” I don’t give stuff away,”probably why you are former distributor, it’s called buying right. I take advantAge of loot, sales meeting product and expo so I don’t have to raise prices to reward my customers for shopping on in my store.

• Well why weren’t you there then when the toolbbox was delivered?

• Just pick up the phone and call Jerry. Some of those who are distr now , should go ahead and call too, because you will part of the turn-around that matco has, its just a matter of time. Numbers speak volume. Unless you are a charter, and even then your time is limited. Jerry will represent you also, just give him a call or visit his website’ MARKSANDKLEIN.COM.

• @Guest3 – former Matco, now independent. Profits up significantly. No limit on ‘list of calls’ , product on average 30% less. Same warranties. The only thing I miss out on are those high priced toolboxes. Damn I miss selling on psa’s, Matco makes a profit on selling the box to you, in addition charging u 9% & the Cust 22+%(depending on state lending laws), and U do the collecting for them.
  What’s that scoring thing Matco has that determines your bonus? Oh yea, that’s fair.

  Payment terms? Matco 7-14days, wd’s 30days

• Just for the record, as I stated before, all my post on this site are my opinions and have never been stated as factual, but I would say the same under a court of law. I would repeat myself because it is my beliefs that matco has screwed me and hundreds of other people.We are not going to stand for it and we will see matco in court. Matco has ruined many lives and devastated many people. Stand Tall, Be Proud and Be loud as HELL. Fight for your rights. GO GET EM JERRY.

• …And don’t mind what Matco tells you, even if your mechanic friend is paying Matco $30-40 / week for his toolbox, He has plenty left over for your TP account with him/her, Or your competitions, when you refuse to sell him anymore, because he can’t pay to your terms. You wouldn’t over sell your customer to get that big sale, would you?

• Someone, go into your matco computer and look up Steve Sadler out of ST.AUGUSTINE, FLA, give him a call, tell him about this site and to call Jerry, he was just let go.

• Yeah people always complain about collecting Matco Psa money, let’s see in most cases you sold the product, made money, got paid on it, and don’t have risk involved. Wow that sucks….NOT!

  Former if you can make it on your own more power to you, I like brand recognition and the ability to sell a lot of tools at no risk yep Matco makes money just like you and I do no doubt about that.

• Debbie,

  I have never met a successful dbr who has a dog on his truck. My MAC guy has a dog on his truck and our mutual comstomers say it smells like dog a** on his truck. Maybe you should put your seat back in and leave FIDO at home.

• To all current distr, watch out for matco, because when Jerry gets done with them, the prices of tools are going to skyrocket.Their payout is going to be so huge, they wont have an option, but to raise their prices.

• I’m not diss’n matco for making money, My concern is with ‘fair business practices’.
  My series of termination letters were always addressed, ‘Business Partner’. Again, all I ever expected was a fair deal.

  No honest lawyer would ever recommend you to sign their contract, but I trusted they would act in good faith as a ‘partner’. They did not do that.

  I know, though I cannot show evidence, of Matco’s profit margins on some items are near 100% with 60+ days terms. Your profit on the same it is 30%, 14 day terms. Again, nothing illegal about it, just not fair, in my opinion, as a ‘business partner’. Therefore, I terminated.

• @guest3 – no need to argue with you, YOU do a good job all by yourself………….

• How about when the Matco Regional Manager tells you to divorce your wife and you can keep your franchise.

• @guest2, you never met me. My dog has road with me for the first half of my career as a distributor. Are you qualified to determine success? If you own a dog, you know how to clean up after a dog. I have three dogs. I’ve been on trucks that allow smokers on board, now that sucks. Though they could address it and clean up after smokers were there.

• I have sold three 6s boxes in the past year and not one of them were shipped correctly. I gave my number for the delivery company so that I would be called before delivery. They never called. I called and complained to my DM about the delivery company and he said there was nothing he could do.He had already had other complaits but “Its A Corp Deal”. My customers were upset and I was left to make it right. (By the way they were all 3 bay boxes and nothing was ever said in Stow that only 3 bays were by shipped furniture movers.) The delivery company is not a furniture mover they are just another freight company that sometimes hauls furniture.They dropped the last box off and never even asked for a signature. Great customer service don’t you think. Just one more lie from Stow or mistake depending on which side of the isle that your on.

• debbie
  Earl is an idiot and the tool box factory never makes mistakes, why didnt you know that….lol

• @ Tom toole, thanks that was funny. I hope that wasn’t directed towards you.

  I don’t know the ‘wife’, maybe that would have been good advice :) Just kidding!

• Matco has been for sale for several years…..according to a former VP. Wonder why it wont sell……hummmmm

• Former Distr

  None taken, actually wasnt good advice…..

• I have heard a story that DM told the distributor(not an exact quote) “stop worrying about your wife and start worrying more about your business”. The wife died a few months later… Distributor was terminated a month or so after that.

  Thats seems to be the kind of activity Matco condones.

• “I have never met a successful dbr who has a dog on his truck.”
  I think a smart tactic would be having multiple dogs that you take on different days, depending. Dalmation for sales calls, say, and when making collections or chasing skips, break out the Doberman.

  “How about when the Matco Regional Manager tells you to divorce your wife and you can keep your franchise.”
  If ever a comment called out for elaboration, this is it. are you serious, tom toole?

  It’s weird that Debbie can’t get a question on a windshield but Tom is gets dictates on his marriage?

• wow, smoke and mirrors boys

  guess you figure if you blow enough smoke – You won’t have to look in the mirror!

  The sh*t that has been talked about –
  ALL REALLY HAPPENS,
  and you all know it does. Sadly, Matco doesn’t ‘care’ about anything,
  Before Guest number whatever – comes back with
  “It isn’t Matco’s purpose to care”.
  maybe a LITTLE human compassion? –
  or maybe they didn’t learn that on their planet?

  But, a company that PREACHES – and SELLS themselves on “World Class Service” and “Team Environment” – SHOULD BE ACCOUNTABLE

  I BOUGHT into a franchise that made MANY MANY MANY MANY promises,
  and to date……………has kept NONE

• Might disclose who I really am and still considering joining law suit. Lets just say wife wasnt a Matco dealer, due to Matco

• dogs on truck are okay, have done it when mine was a puppy and then as an adult. Most customers love the dogs, if not, keep them in front of truck if you can. Knew one guy that his lab smiled at everyone as they walked in.

• former distr

  Sorry to hear about the man
  s wife but that is the way they are, most of upper have been known to have women waiting for them in different parts of country when they travel. Not saying that about all of them, but a chosen few

• My D.M. told me in 2008, stop worrying about economy and get out there and sell. I was out everyday , making my rounds, and people were not buying or paying. He did not give any advise on ways to make more sales or to convince people to pay. Then at the district meeting, he comes out and says, yes the economy is in bad shape to all of us. What a way to change his story. Never once mentioned any way to keep sales going or any support at all.But by the way this is a partnership.Sounds like this is another useless D.M.