Phil McNeil was a Mac Tools Distributor for a little over four years, from 1993-1998 in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada. After years of operational problems within Mac Tools and Stanley Works, Mr. McNeil was forced to seek resolution to a long standing contractual dispute in the courts. After the courts ruled that the dispute must be settled by way of arbitration, Mr McNeil spent over a year trying to have his dispute settled in that forum. Stanley Works tried bully tactics and strong arming Mr. McNeil into going away, all the while refusing to have the dispute settled by the means the court had ordered.
After several unsuccessful attempts to have Stanley engage in arbitration, Mr. McNeil issued a letter to Stanley again requesting to have the dispute settled and warned that if they did not reply, that he would take his case to the public. Again there was no reply and the concept of the web site was born. This web site started out as a public vent for frustrations Mr. McNeil had endured and soon grew into a large and comprehensive site embraced by an ever growing readership, many of whom have shared similar experiences with Stanley.
It turns out that Stanley has been dealing with these problems for quite some time. Industry experts in the U.S. suggest that Mr. McNeil was not alone in his dispute with Mac Tools/ Stanley. Over the last five years, Mac/Stanley has been engaged in several lawsuits and have settled literally hundreds and hundreds of cases just like Mr. McNeil's all over the U.S.
On November 2nd, 1999, Mr. McNeil was named the defendant in a $15 Million defamation and Trademark lawsuit by The Stanley Works of New Britain, CT, USA This "frivolous and vexatious" lawsuit is yet another attempt by Stanley to bully Mr. McNeil into submission. One is obliged to respond to such a personal attack and that is just what he did.
In the mean time, the site continues to grow and promises more information will be made available on a consistent basis. Book-mark this site and come back often and if you have an opinion on the matter, kindly e-mail us with your thoughts.