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Below I have listed a few "low-lights" of my experience… it went bad right from the start.
1) I was maneuvered into purchasing $13,000.00 more product than was actually required for my starter inventory.
2) During my recruitment the DM had me ride with 2 distributors of his choosing. These guys were the DM’s buddies. Of course I was not asked to ride with any of the four distributors who would quit the business within next 5 months!
3) MAC never had enough product to fulfill the orders from there sales flyers. Customers lost confidence in my ability to deliver.
4) Replacement ratchet mechanisms were faulty / poorly fitting … when you could get them.
5) Our district went through 4 DM’s in under 3 years and I was without any district manager for up to six months at a time. I had tool box warranties and other issues that were not being addressed due to this lack of support.
6) I was subject to MACS unfair broken tool policy. I routinely did not send back broken tools because they went against my purchase totals. MAC put you on probation if you did not buy enough from them. My ability to warranty tools was based on my purchases. If I did send back broken tools, I was forced to opt for replacement even though I did not need or want the tools. Many of the warranties were pieces and parts that I did not need to carry on the truck. This was unfair to me and a burden to my customers as I was encouraged not to take tools on warranty.
7) Mac instituted a policy where they would regularly change model numbers stamped into otherwise identical tools still sold as new. I would attempt to send back new tools for credit and have them sent back to me stamped with “obsolete model number”. These were unsold new tools that I had bought from Mac in perfect condition.
8) MAC’s end user credit policies were not competitive. Where MAC refuses to extend credit, the competition moves in and takes the business. This affected not only sales, but also the credibility of me as a distributor with the customer base.
9) The MAC distributors who “existed” in this territory I soon found out were making their “real living” selling 3rd party tools. MAC just did not have the quality, the product, the pieces in stock, or the right price. I did not sign on as a MAC dealer to then, in turn, have to spend additional dollars to purchase, sell, and warranty other tools. But that is how others were surviving. Oh and by the way, selling other manufacturers tools is a practice that was prohibited by MAC...Catch 22.
Never work for Mac Tools as a route Sales Distributor, especially in Central Texas. MAC TOOLS name is already so tainted you won’t get a break from any mechanics and they won’t buy from you. It was difficult to get a foot hold until after they realized I was going to take care of them as customers. Mostly the only mechanics that buy on credit are the ones that have no intention of paying. Mac Tools Brand is a well established brand.........that's how I was misled.
Use to be the only way to get quality tools was from a route sales person. This way the mechanics could shop during working hours and get high end tools they needed delivered directly to them. The honesty was high. What was purchased was paid for on a credit account or with cash.
That is not at all how it is today. So many mechanics are hurting financially that it’s hard for them to pay for tools that are so overpriced to begin with, not to mention most of them are made in some foreign country now. There seems to be a lot of mechanics that don’t pay for their purchases and find a way, with the help of others, to hide every time the MAC TOOLS truck comes around. So you, as a route salesman have to be the retail store/business owner/franchise owner/banker/creditor/collector and you are the only one that gets screwed when someone doesn’t pay up. MAC TOOLS the finance company, just sits back and waits for your payments. So many phone calls to ignorant uncaring office people on salary that could give a crap about my business. No help, no support, nothing.
Many times I could have sold a couple of tool boxes or other high end purchases, but the so called customer credit that MAC TOOLS say they will provide is just not there. So my customers couldn’t make the purchases like I was told in training and was counting on. My total sales for the first year was $142,000. My profit after paying for the truck lease, truck and tools insurance(very expensive), tools, gas, repairs to the truck, towing(not cheap), some office supplies, more repairs to the truck, was $4,000. Know and remember this number $4,000. That’s what you live on to eat, buy clothing and pay for shelter. The truck was leased from MAC TOOLs and I was told it was in great condition and that the transmission was repaired right before I leased it. At month 13th after the warranty ended, the transmission went out, of course.
Tool replacement, only if MAC TOOLS doesn’t change the SKU numbers. After a tool has a SKU change, you can’t enter the correct SKU into the computer system for an RMA without having to tweak it using the newer number. When the tool is sent to MAC, it’s refused and returned, since of course the SKU on the tool no longer exists in the system. So screwed up.
The whole system of selling directly to the mechanic has a lot of competition now with high quality tools being sold on the internet, the very same tool except MAC is stamped on them at Mac Tools. There’s also the competition from Snap On and Matco already solidly in place. Word of advise, run away from MAC TOOLS.
"Becoming a Mac Tools Distributor is a life changing opportunity and commitment." You will be so sorry you even thought about working for Mac Tools and you will be broke.
No vacation, you are on your own. Salary is commission only. No support from upper management or division manager. No support from Mac Tools help line. No support for financing for customers as promised. There are no existing customers, there's existing auto mechanic shops you have to go try to sell to. The working capitol is a loan with interest if that is even available.