Flex's biggest problem was being tied to lowes for so long when lowes prioritizes the S-B&D brands even though chevron makes their in-house tool brand. Flex branching out to other sellers will be their answer. Idk if they can make their way into HD, but they're on the home page of acme tools and every other tool site they're on. Lowes is doing their damnest to run them into the ground for seemingly no reason.
They definitely need better marketing. Flex reminds me of LG's smartphones. So good, so much potential but the poor marketing led to its downfall and cancelation.
Team red and yellow have too many customers with big investments in batteries and chargers. They’re also culturally entrenched. Show up at a jobsite with anything that’s not red or yellow and all the mean girls will take it out on you.
Flex makes too good of tools to go away. At least 5 of their tools are industry-leading in terms of power/performance. It is a new brand, 3 years old, and it will take at least 1 full life cycle of a newly bought battery for the general public to have the option pop up if switching platforms. That said, Flex is definitely a great, heavy duty option for pros and has some of the best deals out there
Here’s a big problem with Lowe’s. Very few professionals shop there, and the few that do only recognize Dewalt. Lowe’s employees don’t even know much about power tools.
@@Kaleb_RoSs I'm not sure if I told you, but the manager suggested that I apply there. I would push people toward Kobalt and Skil for DIY. Heck, I could probably sell Bosch.
@@Kaleb_RoSs Is it 20%? I thought about it, but then I would lose my customer benefits lol. The manager and the pro desk guy know me, and they have made me some exceptional deals on clearance items.
Interesting comment. I'm a DS over tools at Lowe's and the majority of my sales are pros. In fact, are pro sales are number one in our district. The biggest problem with this brand is two fold- lack of advertising and deals offered by them and few battery options. Most people who come in have never heard of them and are scared to invest in a brand they have never heard of. Their battery fiasco a while back didn't help them with people who have heard of them. As far as why you don't see them on the end-cap displays, these companies pay Lowe's for their products to be featured in these locations- this brand doesn't do that. I've never even had a rep of their come by to see us. Their stuff just does not sale. Right now, we have most of their products marked down on clearance.
i just took the phase change gel out myself when everyone started having problems have only had a problem with one battery that they replaced also lowes everytime i go to buy flex they try to get me to buy dewalt or craftsman so id say lowes is a big part of the problem they need to leave there and find another place to sell their tools
In my opinion they should have played into their huge popularity with the Ego outdoor lineup and called the power tool line "Ego 24v". Most people in the US have never heard of the original German Flex Tools that the name was borrowed from, and from what I understand the Flex in europe gemany isnt even battery compatible or at all the same as the Flex here in the US. It's a hard thing to launch a new brand in the already crowded sea of Red and Yellow not to mention the other well established professional brands too (Bosch, Makita, Metabo HPT, etc.) And I know it sounds dumb to some people, but the all gray coloring doesn't help grab attention in a store. They have a perfect opportunity to play more into the lime green that they somewhat use. People like hi-vis, and bright colors draw attention and really can sway buyers.
@@lazor222 me personally, I like the color way but that’s not all that important. The point you made about ego, I actually really agree with and kind of consider them as such anyways. I love all of the ego OPE I have and thought of a similar thing as well.
I like my flex stuff but they need a faster release cycle than yearly also they need to get into more stores than Lowe’s. Ace hardware would be great as well as Menards
I have a lot of their tools (just picked up the new 15 ga finish nailer and will also be getting the framing nailer in a few weeks) and for the most part they have been fantastic with high end features and power that they have as well as their founder life time warrenty. I do wish they had more of the less common tools now but it makes sense for them to release them all in the order that they are most polular. A couple of their tools that i do NOT recommend are the vaccum and the radio. Had both of these and the vaccum is under powered and an aweful shape to store paid with not being to able leave a battery in it or else it will turn on if it tips over. As for the radio, its great except for only two things. #1, it should get louder than it does based on its size and #2 it should have an option to plug into AC like their light and fan does so that you can run it all day loud without having to swap the batteries on the charger several times. As for their warrenty, they do honor it and its not very difficult to do either.
@@huntermuir833 I’ve had the quick eject and turbo drill for a while now and they do feel like they’re losing power/getting worn down so I’m going to see if they can warranty them. Other than that, everything has been great.
@Kaleb_RoSs ive been using their quick eject impact for abount 2 years now and so far so good but i think i cooked the inside of the Drill with the turbo and hammer mode by drilling out a dozen ½ holes for anchors in concrete for about an hour and now it acts a little funny. But until it dies I'll keep using it. My experience with warrentying it is that if you did the life time registration you should be able to pull up the receipt online and do it at lowes if its within 1 year but if its after a year its directly through flex and theyll mail another one out
Lowes was already pushing Kobalt and had something to be proud of with the XTR line. I think we can safely say the optics are that they abandoned further Kobalt development for Flex. Anyone that thought Kobalt was going places is going to be jaded by this and have no faith that if Flex has a bad sales quarter Chervon won't abandon it. Chevron's marketing schizophrenia makes it hard for some to get personally invested in their lines.
I think Lowes will start pushing Kobalt more into the premium and skil into the DIY scene. Chervon just doesn't have the capacity for 3 tiers like TTI (Ryobi, Rigid, Milwaukee)
Selling on Amazon just means Flex will be givomg their profits to Amazon. Fees to sell on their platform often eat up most profits. We use to sell items, for something listed at $10 about 60-70٪ of that cost is because of Amazon fees. Which is why Amazon sold products are ALWAYS much less than private seller.
Im a dewalt guy but do have a few Flex and love them. They're powerful and feel good but you are right its very hard to get people to change but its a combination of things, 1 most are dedicated to a battery platform already, 2nd they just don't have enough tools yet to make people want to change, and 3 they do not promote enough, they need to advertise better and maybe give tools out so people can try them.
There was a big sale on Flex and the only sign in the store that said it was an 8x11 print on the shelf. I went over to just look at the tools and would have had no clue there was a sale
I’m all on on flex and love them. Best tools I’ve used in 48 years. They should lower their prices however, they are very pricey and this would bring in more users to the line.
@@citytonightproductions I found them to be very powerful, but really uncomfortable to use. The groove underneath the trigger dug into the knuckle of my middle finger every time I held them. As for price, I feel that are priced competitively with Milwaukee and Dewalt, especially when you consider what you get. $499 for the turbo drill/impact driver combo is only $100 more than the gen 4 Milwaukee, but Flex is giving you stacked lithium batteries. I just feel that Flex was poorly marketed, similar to Metabo HPT and Bosch. It’s tough being the new kid on the block.
I hope flex succeeds and gets their head in the game because I wanna buy some tools(flex) but I feel like they may faze out(just my opinion). They just don’t have any good sales to say, “ hey I need that tool and i like the price!” Kobalt, dewalt and Matabo have good sales.
Man I hope what they said is true. Flex is definitely one of my top 3 favorites if not my most favorite. I try to recommend them to anyone I know in the trades because their tools have been nothing but loyal to me.
at Lowes they are at the half of half of an aisle by the bathrooms just before the exit. Many of the 24v line isn't available in-store. Definitely a lowes issue. Dewalt meanwhile has 3 sections and 2 cages in vibrant neon yellow lights. Flex beats dewalt and goes toe to toe with Milwaukee...C'mon FLEX fix it! As for the phase heat gel, it seems it was common for the NON-stacked batteries in the first few waves of batteries. I hope they pick up the advertising pace because Dewalt is switching to more plastic components and quality as for as tools, warranties, and customer service are all big concern from customers. I've got beef with them but as a tool channel I remain unbiased as to what they have gotten right. Sidenote the Flex 18ga brad nailer is probably the best on the market followed by the gen 2 fuel milwaukee then maybe the Metabo HPT
@@Kaleb_RoSs I made a video not too long ago, the thing is butter. My only issue is of course flex tools are noticeably heavier than other brands otherwise it's smooth sailing
So far, the only Flex product I own is their cordless fan with a 2.5 amp hour battery and I’m pretty happy with it. I think another issue Flex has is that they don’t have as many deals/promotions going on compared to brands like DeWalt, Kobalt, and even Craftsman.
Too late to the market to ever compete with dewalt and Milwaukee in terms of depth. Yes, they have good tools but so does everyone else, not many people are going to drop their investment in one system to take on another that offers 1/3 of the lineup at the same if not higher price point.
No name recognition. I thought it was something that got popular on amazon like kimo or tacklife. It's also a small line and there is not much information about it which makes it a risky purchase.
@@Kaleb_RoSs This is why I think they should have been a Kobalt XTR+ with compatible batteries. Some of the ground would have already been covered. Now there are 2 incomplete 24V lines at Lowes.
It's certainly reasonable to wonder about the future of Flex because it's reasonable to be concerned about the future of any German manufacturer right now. Germany's industrial base is being destroyed by the actions of the US Government in its war against Russia. The sanctions have totally backfired; the Russian economy is booming and Europe is in economic free-fall. Germany has been the hardest hit and mainly because the US destroyed the Nordstream pipeline, so now German industry can't get affordable natural gas. The German deindustrialization is so bad many German companies are leaving Germany and moving to other countries (particularly the US; imagine that). Flex has been around since 1922 so likely not going out of business without a good reason; the US has probably given them that reason.
@@stickermigtigger I know Flex 24v does in fact come from the German made Flex but, I believe the 24v line in the US is Chinese, owned by chervon. They’re using the name and technology combined with chervons technology, the tools are similar but batteries wouldn’t work on each other.
Dude, there's so much misinformation in your post I stopped trying to count how many things are wrong. Anywhere else and I would wonder if you were actively trying to peddle Russian propaganda. Like, for example, it's a fact that a Ukrainian military team admitted to blowing up Nordstream on their own without even their president knowing. Soooo.. I would seriously question where I get my news "facts" if I were you, bud. Like all those conservative "news" podcasters that recently got busted for taking millions of Russian dollars to promote anti-US and Ukraine fakenews stories.
Flex's biggest problem was being tied to lowes for so long when lowes prioritizes the S-B&D brands even though chevron makes their in-house tool brand. Flex branching out to other sellers will be their answer. Idk if they can make their way into HD, but they're on the home page of acme tools and every other tool site they're on. Lowes is doing their damnest to run them into the ground for seemingly no reason.
They definitely need better marketing. Flex reminds me of LG's smartphones. So good, so much potential but the poor marketing led to its downfall and cancelation.
Not marketing just need better price points
Nahh, their phones sucked. Had 2 of them and both had problems with batteries.
Lg great innovation like wide angle camera but bad overall phones.
LG still makes phones and is a major brand
@@Iidentifyascorrect Really? They have no phones on their site and officially stopped production in 2021.
Flex needs to make a compact 12 volt to compete with Milwaukee and Dewalt
Yes they do!
They do, its called SKIL powercore 12v
Team red and yellow have too many customers with big investments in batteries and chargers. They’re also culturally entrenched. Show up at a jobsite with anything that’s not red or yellow and all the mean girls will take it out on you.
Flex makes too good of tools to go away. At least 5 of their tools are industry-leading in terms of power/performance. It is a new brand, 3 years old, and it will take at least 1 full life cycle of a newly bought battery for the general public to have the option pop up if switching platforms. That said, Flex is definitely a great, heavy duty option for pros and has some of the best deals out there
Here’s a big problem with Lowe’s.
Very few professionals shop there, and the few that do only recognize Dewalt.
Lowe’s employees don’t even know much about power tools.
@@DiligentDave1966 agreed
@@Kaleb_RoSs I'm not sure if I told you, but the manager suggested that I apply there.
I would push people toward Kobalt and Skil for DIY.
Heck, I could probably sell Bosch.
@@DiligentDave1966 I’ve thought about getting that 20% discount before lol
@@Kaleb_RoSs Is it 20%? I thought about it, but then I would lose my customer benefits lol. The manager and the pro desk guy know me, and they have made me some exceptional deals on clearance items.
Interesting comment. I'm a DS over tools at Lowe's and the majority of my sales are pros. In fact, are pro sales are number one in our district. The biggest problem with this brand is two fold- lack of advertising and deals offered by them and few battery options. Most people who come in have never heard of them and are scared to invest in a brand they have never heard of. Their battery fiasco a while back didn't help them with people who have heard of them. As far as why you don't see them on the end-cap displays, these companies pay Lowe's for their products to be featured in these
locations- this brand doesn't do that. I've never even had a rep of their come by to see us. Their stuff just does not sale. Right now, we have most of their products marked down on clearance.
I really want they to succeed. I'm all in on Flex, so far all the tools have been great.
@@jflugum same here
i just took the phase change gel out myself when everyone started having problems have only had a problem with one battery that they replaced also lowes everytime i go to buy flex they try to get me to buy dewalt or craftsman so id say lowes is a big part of the problem they need to leave there and find another place to sell their tools
Flex needs to step up the marketing…. There was a huge event when they launched and now it’s so quiet
BUY MOST MY FLEX POWER TOOLS from ACME or OHIO Power tools LOWE'S DOES NOT KEEP ENOUGH STOCK OF ANYTHING
Flex is safe. They've got everything going there way. It will be fine. They've got all thier ducks in a row.
In my opinion they should have played into their huge popularity with the Ego outdoor lineup and called the power tool line "Ego 24v". Most people in the US have never heard of the original German Flex Tools that the name was borrowed from, and from what I understand the Flex in europe gemany isnt even battery compatible or at all the same as the Flex here in the US. It's a hard thing to launch a new brand in the already crowded sea of Red and Yellow not to mention the other well established professional brands too (Bosch, Makita, Metabo HPT, etc.)
And I know it sounds dumb to some people, but the all gray coloring doesn't help grab attention in a store. They have a perfect opportunity to play more into the lime green that they somewhat use. People like hi-vis, and bright colors draw attention and really can sway buyers.
@@lazor222 me personally, I like the color way but that’s not all that important. The point you made about ego, I actually really agree with and kind of consider them as such anyways. I love all of the ego OPE I have and thought of a similar thing as well.
I also like the gray, makes me feel like people are less likely to steal them off the job site lol
@@huntermuir833 That's a weird way of saying they are less desirable.
Uk flex is 18v
I like my flex stuff but they need a faster release cycle than yearly also they need to get into more stores than Lowe’s. Ace hardware would be great as well as Menards
I have a lot of their tools (just picked up the new 15 ga finish nailer and will also be getting the framing nailer in a few weeks) and for the most part they have been fantastic with high end features and power that they have as well as their founder life time warrenty. I do wish they had more of the less common tools now but it makes sense for them to release them all in the order that they are most polular. A couple of their tools that i do NOT recommend are the vaccum and the radio. Had both of these and the vaccum is under powered and an aweful shape to store paid with not being to able leave a battery in it or else it will turn on if it tips over. As for the radio, its great except for only two things. #1, it should get louder than it does based on its size and #2 it should have an option to plug into AC like their light and fan does so that you can run it all day loud without having to swap the batteries on the charger several times. As for their warrenty, they do honor it and its not very difficult to do either.
@@huntermuir833 I’ve had the quick eject and turbo drill for a while now and they do feel like they’re losing power/getting worn down so I’m going to see if they can warranty them. Other than that, everything has been great.
@Kaleb_RoSs ive been using their quick eject impact for abount 2 years now and so far so good but i think i cooked the inside of the Drill with the turbo and hammer mode by drilling out a dozen ½ holes for anchors in concrete for about an hour and now it acts a little funny. But until it dies I'll keep using it. My experience with warrentying it is that if you did the life time registration you should be able to pull up the receipt online and do it at lowes if its within 1 year but if its after a year its directly through flex and theyll mail another one out
Lowes was already pushing Kobalt and had something to be proud of with the XTR line. I think we can safely say the optics are that they abandoned further Kobalt development for Flex. Anyone that thought Kobalt was going places is going to be jaded by this and have no faith that if Flex has a bad sales quarter Chervon won't abandon it. Chevron's marketing schizophrenia makes it hard for some to get personally invested in their lines.
I think Lowes will start pushing Kobalt more into the premium and skil into the DIY scene. Chervon just doesn't have the capacity for 3 tiers like TTI (Ryobi, Rigid, Milwaukee)
They seem to be only available in the states ,
@@Ian-u5q yea the 24v line is for the US market. They’re 18v and red everywhere else
Selling on Amazon just means Flex will be givomg their profits to Amazon. Fees to sell on their platform often eat up most profits. We use to sell items, for something listed at $10 about 60-70٪ of that cost is because of Amazon fees. Which is why Amazon sold products are ALWAYS much less than private seller.
The tools are great the battery problem was unfortunate. I hope they stick
Im a dewalt guy but do have a few Flex and love them. They're powerful and feel good but you are right its very hard to get people to change but its a combination of things, 1 most are dedicated to a battery platform already, 2nd they just don't have enough tools yet to make people want to change, and 3 they do not promote enough, they need to advertise better and maybe give tools out so people can try them.
@@MrBostonBilly definitely, we need more promotion of the brand and more visible. As well as a more expansive lineup
There was a big sale on Flex and the only sign in the store that said it was an 8x11 print on the shelf. I went over to just look at the tools and would have had no clue there was a sale
It just proves that good tools go to Lowe’s to die.
Lowe’s has been pushing Dewalt and Craftsman, but nothing by Chervon, including their own Kobalt.
I’m all on on flex and love them. Best tools I’ve used in 48 years. They should lower their prices however, they are very pricey and this would bring in more users to the line.
@@citytonightproductions I found them to be very powerful, but really uncomfortable to use. The groove underneath the trigger dug into the knuckle of my middle finger every time I held them.
As for price, I feel that are priced competitively with Milwaukee and Dewalt, especially when you consider what you get. $499 for the turbo drill/impact driver combo is only $100 more than the gen 4 Milwaukee, but Flex is giving you stacked lithium batteries.
I just feel that Flex was poorly marketed, similar to Metabo HPT and Bosch.
It’s tough being the new kid on the block.
I hope flex succeeds and gets their head in the game because I wanna buy some tools(flex) but I feel like they may faze out(just my opinion). They just don’t have any good sales to say, “ hey I need that tool and i like the price!” Kobalt, dewalt and Matabo have good sales.
It is concerning, but if they leave it is good they caused a stir with innovation.
Man I hope what they said is true. Flex is definitely one of my top 3 favorites if not my most favorite. I try to recommend them to anyone I know in the trades because their tools have been nothing but loyal to me.
Same here
I always say FLEX Is the new kid in the neighborhood. I won't change my Dewalt or Milwaukee tools for FLEX
at Lowes they are at the half of half of an aisle by the bathrooms just before the exit. Many of the 24v line isn't available in-store. Definitely a lowes issue. Dewalt meanwhile has 3 sections and 2 cages in vibrant neon yellow lights. Flex beats dewalt and goes toe to toe with Milwaukee...C'mon FLEX fix it! As for the phase heat gel, it seems it was common for the NON-stacked batteries in the first few waves of batteries. I hope they pick up the advertising pace because Dewalt is switching to more plastic components and quality as for as tools, warranties, and customer service are all big concern from customers. I've got beef with them but as a tool channel I remain unbiased as to what they have gotten right. Sidenote the Flex 18ga brad nailer is probably the best on the market followed by the gen 2 fuel milwaukee then maybe the Metabo HPT
@@TOOL_TECHNICAL I’ve been eyeing the Brad nailer for a while now
@@Kaleb_RoSs I made a video not too long ago, the thing is butter. My only issue is of course flex tools are noticeably heavier than other brands otherwise it's smooth sailing
It’s a shame. They’re a lot bigger in Europe.
That is a different company almost fully ! They are 18v
They need more to go online, Lowes is fine, but seems it doesn't work very well.
It's Lowes fault. Lowes will promote Kobalt over Flex which makes zero sense.
Could’ve saved themselves the trouble and just released better kobalt models
I was planning on switching to flex, but I'm in too deep with dewalt lol
@@aaronhorm994 usually the case, I went all in to flex at the beginning but thinking about switching to something else for the main brand
Flex tools are the best on the market
They just released a table saw, chop saw , and have deals on ohio power tool. I think their fine overall they probably broke even
So far, the only Flex product I own is their cordless fan with a 2.5 amp hour battery and I’m pretty happy with it. I think another issue Flex has is that they don’t have as many deals/promotions going on compared to brands like DeWalt, Kobalt, and even Craftsman.
Too late to the market to ever compete with dewalt and Milwaukee in terms of depth. Yes, they have good tools but so does everyone else, not many people are going to drop their investment in one system to take on another that offers 1/3 of the lineup at the same if not higher price point.
No name recognition. I thought it was something that got popular on amazon like kimo or tacklife. It's also a small line and there is not much information about it which makes it a risky purchase.
@@tnbspotter5360 they’ve been releasing tools every year but they have a LOT of ground to make up for.
@@Kaleb_RoSs This is why I think they should have been a Kobalt XTR+ with compatible batteries. Some of the ground would have already been covered. Now there are 2 incomplete 24V lines at Lowes.
I certainly hope for Flex to continue with their awesome 24v lineup
@@SorooshJ I do too, I also hope they get some better promotion though.
@@Kaleb_RoSs I wish they could move to HD or make Lowe's do a better job at least
Flex is like ridgid , they started barking like a pitbull . But deflated to a chihuahua level
It's certainly reasonable to wonder about the future of Flex because it's reasonable to be concerned about the future of any German manufacturer right now. Germany's industrial base is being destroyed by the actions of the US Government in its war against Russia. The sanctions have totally backfired; the Russian economy is booming and Europe is in economic free-fall. Germany has been the hardest hit and mainly because the US destroyed the Nordstream pipeline, so now German industry can't get affordable natural gas. The German deindustrialization is so bad many German companies are leaving Germany and moving to other countries (particularly the US; imagine that). Flex has been around since 1922 so likely not going out of business without a good reason; the US has probably given them that reason.
@@stickermigtigger I know Flex 24v does in fact come from the German made Flex but, I believe the 24v line in the US is Chinese, owned by chervon. They’re using the name and technology combined with chervons technology, the tools are similar but batteries wouldn’t work on each other.
@@Kaleb_RoSs Thanks. Wasn't aware they had an American division. Hopefully that part of the company will survive.
Dude, there's so much misinformation in your post I stopped trying to count how many things are wrong. Anywhere else and I would wonder if you were actively trying to peddle Russian propaganda. Like, for example, it's a fact that a Ukrainian military team admitted to blowing up Nordstream on their own without even their president knowing. Soooo.. I would seriously question where I get my news "facts" if I were you, bud. Like all those conservative "news" podcasters that recently got busted for taking millions of Russian dollars to promote anti-US and Ukraine fakenews stories.
There color scheme sucks hard to see and find when you place them down
@@loucifer4205 I guess the color scheme is personal preference, I like the color scheme of flex more than anything else
@Kaleb_RoSs There nothing wrong with how it looks but when you're working and you place it down in low light areas they're hard see and find
@@loucifer4205 that makes sense. I typically work in well lit areas so I guess I wouldn’t know.