Have any of you ever used products from

[maxpower]

Autosmart... the reason for asking is my lad has just been offered a "franchise" with this company selling their car products from a company van provided by autosmart and with this being a "car community" i was wondering if anyone on here has used or even ever seen any of their products for sale in their local car marts etc.

i have looked the company up on the web and they do look a big/international outfit, but i am trying to find out how well these products sell and what the market is like for them in the u.k before the lad goes chucking his hard earned at something that could come back and bite him in the ass. all i can get from the site is reviews by other franchise owners saying how great these products are etc, but they are going to say that anyway aren't they and the company are not going to post a bad review from a disgruntled franchisee on their website.

i must confess i had never heard of them or seen their stuff or maybe i just wasn't looking, so any light shed on this would be much appreciated...

 

over to you guys

[Cavcraft]

I think they do more direct sales to garages than anything. I knew a lad who worked for them who reckoned he was always busy and making a mint at it but he came across as one of those smarmy old school car salesman types who always say they're selling motors like hot cakes but sat looking at the same Lada Samara for weeks on end.

 

If he gets a good round with loads of customers and the potential to build on it then fair enough, but I reckon it'll be a struggle due to opposition and places going quiet.

[maxpower]

cheers cav, as far as i know they have 2 areas up for offer right where i live and right next door to each other, so if he took their offer of one area then what would stop him from drifting into the other area and covering both franchises? can they swipe their van from you for doing sneaky underhand things like that?

i haven't a clue how all this franchise crap works, my idea of work was get up at 7am and come home at 6pm

[Cavcraft]

I expect there'll be a clause whereby they take the franchise back off you or something and you get Jack Shit back. Mind you thry have to catch you first and if you're not too far off the beaten track you can put it down to being new and not knowing the area. Tbh I'd expect they wouldn't be too arsed if it was a new customer anyhow.

 

I was in non-franchised sales/service for eight years in my last job and regulary sneaked into enemy territory for a sale as we all had our own area.

[pompei]

I've no direct experience of franchises but I bet if you deviated from the terms they'd be down on you like a ton of bricks. If your lad is interested in going for it, maybe he should enquire about extending his coverage patch at least on a temporary basis until the other area position gets filled. I imagine they would prefer a straight up approach and would probably take the hump if he went off in his own direction.

[RoadworkUK]

Our franchise uses them, or used to when before they started contracting the valeting out. For what it's worth the stuff they used gave pretty good results. The valeters loved it.

 

Well, I assume they did. I couldn't actually understand a word they were saying.

[CreepingJesus]

If he wants to go for it, I'd say do it.

For one, my dad tried a few 'franchise opportunity' type nonsense schemes, and other than the car security marking, they were rubbish. From my experience of Autosmart, they're a genuine and reliable company. While you're right to be cynical about a website full of glowing tributes, the Autosmart folk I've dealt with have been friendly and helpful, and never let me down. Most importantly, they tend to stay in the job for the long run, which is a lot more than can be said for many franchise setups!

From a valeter's (well, ex-valeter...) point of view, Autosmart is like the supermarket. Bulk selling products like shampoo, TFR, basic polish, and window cleaner and sundries, which just do what they're supposed to do, is where they're best.

[Pete-M]

I use Autosmart stuff a few times a week. It's not bad.

[michael1703]

They do a good traffic film remover which gets used everywhere, valeters/garages/moto cross competitors/farmers/home users use it

[alf892]

It is good stuff and is a well established name in the trade......as someone else said I think it would be mostly trade sales as it is sold in larger containers. Like anything else though I suspect competition is fierce in the market and your lad would have discount heavily and then work plenty of hours to keep the captain of Autosmart in the manner to which he is accustomed

[kinkersaab]

yup, we too use them, our rep Frank is......

He does talk the talk and makes out to be doing very well, personally i struggle to see how, lugging a greatbig truck around scotland and staying in hotels and the like, but he's been at it a while now!

[Barry Cade]

I use them Autosmart products every day, and have found them to be as good as Autoglym. My local rep drives a very new, and rather expensive 5 series, so must be doing OK! Watch out for their boxes of cloths though, last one I got had buttons and studs still attached,and could have been expensive if used.. and thier spray bottles don't like the alloy wheel cleaner...