Cheetah wrap & Fellers - Update

[ProWraps]

Well, we all know they are the same company.

Here is the latest that I was told from a fellers rep when I called to order materials:

No we are not cheetah wraps.

NO WE DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHO THEY ARE. WE HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THEM.

We will match ANY company OTHER than cheetah wraps. WE WILL NOT MATCH CHEETAH WRAPS (WTF)?

The rep was coached to say all these things and even admitted to the coaching.

Personally, I find this disgusting. I spend easily over a quarter million $ a year with them and its sad to see Frank treat his customers this way just to compete with Metro Restyling.

Grimco, or any other supplier that monitors these boards, please feel free to contact me. Im more than happy to move vendors at this point.

From their about us page:

CheetahWrap is backed by FELLERS (link to fellers), the World's Largest Wrap Supply Company.

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[TSC1985]

Why did Fellers create CheetahWrap? Is there any difference between the 2 companies?

 

[player]

Cheater Wraps will sell directly to your customers. Fellers pretends to only sell to businesses, but by owning Cheater Wraps they get around this promise.

 

[andy]

"The World's Largest Wrap Supply Company" .... *snigger*

 

[nitro2010]

I completely stopped using Fellers because of CheetaWraps.com and I have been using Fellers for over 16 years. I guess Frank has made it so big to where he doesn't give a f*** about who he looses. Very Poor Business Decision!!!

 

[FatCat]

Cheater Wraps will sell directly to your customers. Fellers pretends to only sell to businesses, but by owning Cheater Wraps they get around this promise.

No, unfortunately Fellers will send directly to end users. You don't have to be a wrap shop, sign shop or print shop.
You can open an account using a personal name or even Bobs Pizza Shack...doesn't matter.
I found that out about 2 years ago, shocked me of course because they didn't see anything wrong with it...still doing business with them, but hate the fact anyone can order from them.

 

[printhog]

for one - cheetah sells carbon fiber for $50 less.. nice way to reward the signcos that helped fellers get big..

 

[CanuckSigns]

No, unfortunately Fellers will send directly to end users. You don't have to be a wrap shop, sign shop or print shop.
You can open an account using a personal name or even Bobs Pizza Shack...doesn't matter.
I found that out about 2 years ago, shocked me of course because they didn't see anything wrong with it...still doing business with them, but hate the fact anyone can order from them.

Out of curiosity, why do you continue to buy from them if you don't agree with their business practices? I'm sure other suppliers would be more than happy to sell to you, they would likely even match fellers pricing.

 

[FatCat]

Out of curiosity, why do you continue to buy from them if you don't agree with their business practices? I'm sure other suppliers would be more than happy to sell to you, they would likely even match fellers pricing.

Fair question, but many reasons actually;
1. When I started my company in 2008 Fellers was the ONLY company to send out a sales rep to meet with me. At the time I had reached out to Grimco, Tubelite and 1-2 more, Fellers was the only one to give me the time of day. I appreciate them for getting me started.
2. I formed a great relationship with their salesman John, who to this day is my favorite salesperson. He's a great guy, does his best to give me the best prices on what we use and always answers his cell phone when I call with questions or concerns.
3. My inside sales rep Shauna is another favorite of mine and yet another reason I still buy from Fellers.
4. Lastly, Fellers seems to always have stuff in stock. Even Grimco seems to struggle to keep things in stock and waiting 2-3 days for material is a hassle. We do a lot of quick turn work, and waiting several days can make or break a project. More times than not, Fellers always comes through when other shops can't.

Now, to be totally honest, Fellers doesn't get all my business. I also spread the wealth around a little to some of the other companies because they carrry a product Fellers doesn't, (rare) or because I may get a better price (again, rare). I don't "like" that Fellers sells to end users, but unfortunately, they do a good enough job to keep me buying from them, at least for now.

 

[jayhawksigns]

2. I formed a great relationship with their salesman John, who to this day is my favorite salesperson. He's a great guy, does his best to give me the best prices on what we use and always answers his cell phone when I call with questions or concerns.
3. My inside sales rep Shauna is another favorite of mine and yet another reason I still buy from Fellers.

Kind of the opposite for us. Fellers is the only place to hardly have a rep come in, and that is even when we were almost exclusively buying from them.

Makes me think about the stuff Avery used to(maybe still does) sell. They basically said, avoid going to the expensive sign shop and make your signs at home. Avery for labels and Avery for sign vinyl may be different divisions, but they should still make sure they are not attacking each other.

 

[FatCat]

Kind of the opposite for us. Fellers is the only place to hardly have a rep come in, and that is even when we were almost exclusively buying from them.

Makes me think about the stuff Avery used to(maybe still does) sell. They basically said, avoid going to the expensive sign shop and make your signs at home. Avery for labels and Avery for sign vinyl may be different divisions, but they should still make sure they are not attacking each other.

Yeah, I'm sure its different from everyone. My buddy has a shop in Cleveland and he loves Grimco, hates Fellers...so I guess the lesson is to never forget good people can do wonders for your business...

 

[SignProPlus-Chip]

$30-50 less per roll from what i have seen, and $5 less per yard. They also sell by the foot.

Maybe I should just order from Cheetah Wraps instead.

for one - cheetah sells carbon fiber for $50 less.. nice way to reward the signcos that helped fellers get big..

 

[Nuagedesigns]

And with a simple email of your tax resale certification.....they do not charge you tax. Won't be my go to for everything but just ordered 15ft for some stripes i have to do. Just consider them a vendor if you need them...Do I agree with them selling to Joe Smoe? .....No but if there are other companys out there and he has the means its his best interest to move volume..... my .02$

 

[CharlieDK]

GRIMCO!

Contact Ben Hannam <bhannam@grimco.com> From Grimco. This guy has gone above and beyond to help me through the last year or so and I am just a little guy on the second to last tier purchasing structure only that high because I bought an HP Latex 360 so I got bumped up from bottom to second to bottom heh, anyways Ben is the man. If he doesn't have the answer he knows who to contact on his team to get you the answer. I used to order a bunch from more local companies NGlantz and Pioneer Supply but Grimco actually has the materials they sell in stock, wider selection and much better pricing. Especially for me because pennies saved on every expense count more than someone with a $250k yearly supplies budget.... (just a little jelly here...) but thats ok, one day!

-Charlie
Charlie@Decal-Kreations.com

Well, we all know they are the same company.

Here is the latest that I was told from a fellers rep when I called to order materials:

No we are not cheetah wraps.

NO WE DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHO THEY ARE. WE HAVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THEM.

We will match ANY company OTHER than cheetah wraps. WE WILL NOT MATCH CHEETAH WRAPS (WTF)?

The rep was coached to say all these things and even admitted to the coaching.

Personally, I find this disgusting. I spend easily over a quarter million $ a year with them and its sad to see Frank treat his customers this way just to compete with Metro Restyling.

Grimco, or any other supplier that monitors these boards, please feel free to contact me. Im more than happy to move vendors at this point.

From their about us page:

CheetahWrap is backed by FELLERS (link to fellers), the World's Largest Wrap Supply Company.

[FONT=&amp]Ch
[/FONT]

 

[jfiscus]

Contact Ben Hannam <bhannam@grimco.com> From Grimco. This guy has gone above and beyond to help me through the last year or so and I am just a little guy on the second to last tier purchasing structure only that high because I bought an HP Latex 360 so I got bumped up from bottom to second to bottom heh, anyways Ben is the man. If he doesn't have the answer he knows who to contact on his team to get you the answer. I used to order a bunch from more local companies NGlantz and Pioneer Supply but Grimco actually has the materials they sell in stock, wider selection and much better pricing. Especially for me because pennies saved on every expense count more than someone with a $250k yearly supplies budget.... (just a little jelly here...) but thats ok, one day!

-Charlie
Charlie@Decal-Kreations.com

The pennies saved help all of us, just think of how many more pennies the larger companies are saving getting the best prices from our vendors. Grimco has always treated us well, but they have never been close enough to be our primary vendor. Not a one of us here are happy about cheetah wraps, but it aint going away. Thankfully, our business' primary model does not revolve around color change wraps.

 

[Behrmon]

If Grimco ever moves twoards carrying more wrap tools/supplies then Fellers will have a much tougher go of it. I've been asking for a while for more tool ptions from them.

 

[CSOCSO]

It's really messed up that Frank sells materials cheaper to the masses via cheetah wrap vs to the professional shops via fellers.com

imagine if Home Depot would have another business for contractors only yet they charge more. Isn't this all backwards??? It should be cheaper for the shops so we can make money on it.

Btw whatever you buy from the cheetah you can not return it if you don't need it. If you order a roll of material and the customer backs out then you have to keep the material. I do order from cheetah if it's a full roll.
I think cheetah's per yd price is higher than fellers per yd price.

 

[SignProPlus-Chip]

From what I have looked at, Cheetah's per yard price works out to be $5 less that Fellers on certain items. 3M Brushed Steel for example is $47.97/yd and at Fellers I pay $53.29

It's really messed up that Frank sells materials cheaper to the masses via cheetah wrap vs to the professional shops via fellers.com

imagine if Home Depot would have another business for contractors only yet they charge more. Isn't this all backwards??? It should be cheaper for the shops so we can make money on it.

Btw whatever you buy from the cheetah you can not return it if you don't need it. If you order a roll of material and the customer backs out then you have to keep the material. I do order from cheetah if it's a full roll.
I think cheetah's per yd price is higher than fellers per yd price.

 

[CL Visual]

I stopped giving them business when I found out both my barber and my mechanic have accounts with Fellers. I do use them from time to time for certain products or tools but they are never my first choice.

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

Wow, I just went and logged to cheetah wraps, and I'm blown away with the similarities between the sites.... H#!!, they even have the same pictures, and getting a quote for 3 foot of carbon fiber is $5.00 less....