I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy"

   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #61  
I've had the same experience as many here with the big dealerships. I also don't blame them. Me buying a CUT would be barely a drop in the bucket compared to their prime ag business, and the big boys are where the profits are.

I also have one quite the opposite going on right now. I bought my tractor used from a small one-store Deere dealer in another state and 300 miles away. Their service manager called me two days ago and told me that they were going to be in my area and they wanted to do the rockshaft valve gasket replacement/upgrade/recall which Deere has out for the 3x20 tractors.

I couldn't believe it. Apparently they have my tractor, 3 in a town 20 miles to the north, and another 400 miles further away. They are sending a tech out on a 1400+ mile road trip to fix 4 gaskets on tractors without being asked to by the owners. Even if Deere is picking up every penny of the expense, I'm still impressed.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #62  
The customer has brought in that new way of doing business on himself, by comparing prices all the time and buying were it is cheaper. We have eliminated all the small businesses, who cared for the client and gave them good and personalised service. It is the same in all types of business. Now we have to live with all the Wall Mart, Home Depot , Costco (Sam's) . Not to mention the huge car dealers , you can buy several new cars from them and they still don't know you, when you walk in.
Cheaper price= no service
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #63  
Cheaper price= no service

I'll agree with that, but does JD fit within those parameters? Seems like a lot of "Highest Price + Poor Service", a winning combination if ever I've seen one. :rolleyes:
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy"
  • Thread Starter
#64  
I've had the same experience as many here with the big dealerships. I also don't blame them. Me buying a CUT would be barely a drop in the bucket compared to their prime ag business, and the big boys are where the profits are.

I also have one quite the opposite going on right now. I bought my tractor used from a small one-store Deere dealer in another state and 300 miles away. Their service manager called me two days ago and told me that they were going to be in my area and they wanted to do the rockshaft valve gasket replacement/upgrade/recall which Deere has out for the 3x20 tractors.

I couldn't believe it. Apparently they have my tractor, 3 in a town 20 miles to the north, and another 400 miles further away. They are sending a tech out on a 1400+ mile road trip to fix 4 gaskets on tractors without being asked to by the owners. Even if Deere is picking up every penny of the expense, I'm still impressed.

If Deere isn't that interested in catering to their CUT customers the same as they do their large AG customers, then why not drop the line and get out of that market all together? you know why? because the CUT market has been taking off the past few years and they are making a profit by being in that market. I don't own a CUT or even a big ag tractor, I'm kinda stuck in the middle of the two.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #65  
I would assume that maybe , somehow , somewhere , somebody from John Deere looks around . Obviously they do or the products would not be as good . The problem is the corporate punch they put on the dealer . And they have never merged . Problem is , farming is paying , mowing is not .
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #66  
If Deere isn't that interested in catering to their CUT customers the same as they do their large AG customers, then why not drop the line and get out of that market all together? you know why? because the CUT market has been taking off the past few years and they are making a profit by being in that market. I don't own a CUT or even a big ag tractor, I'm kinda stuck in the middle of the two.

I think it's a dealer by dealer thing the way they treat customers. The dealer I bought my 3720 from sells very little ag equipment, his bread and butter is CUTs, ATV's, and L&G. Small time operation, and I got treated great.

My local dealers are big time ag dealers that move tens if not hundreds of millions in inventory a year. They cater to the large farm operations. I would guess their time is more profitably spent pursuing farmers who spend millions and will be buying machinery year after year versus a guy who might spend $20-30k once. If I was in charge of sales, I'd want my salesmen spending their time pursuing the big dollar sales, not the little ones if it was more profitable to do so.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy"
  • Thread Starter
#67  
I think it's a dealer by dealer thing the way they treat customers. The dealer I bought my 3720 from sells very little ag equipment, his bread and butter is CUTs, ATV's, and L&G. Small time operation, and I got treated great.

My local dealers are big time ag dealers that move tens if not hundreds of millions in inventory a year. They cater to the large farm operations. I would guess their time is more profitably spent pursuing farmers who spend millions and will be buying machinery year after year versus a guy who might spend $20-30k once. If I was in charge of sales, I'd want my salesmen spending their time pursuing the big dollar sales, not the little ones if it was more profitable to do so.

The problem I'm having is my dealer hasn't been acting this way until recently (the past two years). They couldn't have given better service in years prior. I was 100% satisfied. Now, I feel like I'm being pushed aside and my money apparently isn't good enough. I'm not price shopping, I didn't even try to haggle with them on price of the suspension seat or the front end loader. I just wanted it ordered! I was willing to pay their asking price for both items. The problem is I'm sitting here waiting and waiting and waiting. How is their profit catering to large farms going to take a hit by ordering me a front end loader and telling me it'll come in, in two weeks and it's going on week four next week? Why would them ordering me a loader take more then 10 mins of getting on the phone and saying "hey send us a 553 loader quick as you can!"? I'm going to be in the market for another tractor this summer/fall and I have Deere a very distant 4th on my list right now, when before they were 1st. It's not because of the product, but it's about the service which absolutely SUCKS. It's not only me they're treating this way, but other farmers as well. I mentioned a good friend who owns 250 head of cattle who couldn't get a quote on a brand new 7330 for 3 weeks. 3 weeks! what are they selling so that they can't take time to try to sell a $125,000 tractor??? You know what he did? He went and bought a New Holland 45 mins down the road. Couldn't be happier. The New Holland dealer fell all over himself to come out to his farm to give him a trade-in quote and the whole deal was done in 3 days, whereas Deere took 3 WEEKS to send someone out to the farm to give him a trade-in quote on his 4440 that was $7,000 LOWER then what New Holland gave him. New Holland gave him MORE for his Deere then Deere would give? yep! What I'm not seeing anymore is the Deere "advantage" of getting parts faster then others. I'm waiting over 3 weeks for a loader when I shouldn't be waiting that long. I waited on a seat for a year which I still haven't received. This just boggles my mind.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #68  
This thread just boggles my mind. Since it flows downhill, there has to be corporate level influence that has caused this massive and broad based lack of customer service/attention. Hard to imagine anything more representative of America, the heartland, and its values, than a JD dealership, its products, salesmen, parts suppliers and mechanics. Either corporate is responsible or an EVEN MORE BASIC change has occurred among America's men of the soil and JD is just the symptom. Either way, it is now being reported here on TBN as a flood of pent up frustration.

If the media does an investigative report, what will we say? Another liberal/biased media report:confused3:

There is a lot of indifference reported here from the foundation of free enterprise, both company and customer,, must be a conflagration somewhere. Yes, not everywhere, some dealers are defended, but many have earned a :thumbdown:

WHY?

Is it JD corporate or is it American culture that has changed?

I vote for Corporate because if it is Culture then the ramifications are a tsunami aimed at the foundations of American enterprise.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #69  
RollingsFarms,

Sounds like your dealership is poorly run and managed, what you describe makes zero sense whatsoever for the dealer to do. The laws of the free market will catch up to them eventually if they stay that course.

My comment was responding more to the other comments about guys not getting dealers/sales guys to bend over backwards for them on a small (in relative terms of course) L&G or CUT purchase, compared to the guys who by several combines, new ag tractors, or implements a year.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #70  
Same story here in NW Ohio. MEGA dealer / outfit buys up all the local stores. After that, everything down hill. 4 Years ago I tried to buy a compact from the guy who kept the family farm operation running for many years. Told him paying a few hundred to do business in his office was worth my money/time. He wanted over 1K more than the dealer I ended up buying from (not a mega outfit).
This time around, worse result. Wanted to offer only the 500 dollar implement bonus, nothing else. Pretty much build your own less 500....

I ask, "is that the best you can do"?
He replies:
Well... If you offer me 100 dollars less than this price I can't promise we won't sell the tractor. There isn't 500 dollars in there however....
ARE YOU FREEKING KIDDING ME? !!!

I said both him and the "mega" dealer need to wake up and smell the internet...
Walked out without saying another word.

Went back to the dealer I got the previous tractor from small L&G outfit. No drama, 16% off right up front. Signed that day and will have the tractor this Saturday.
I won't buy a hat from the mega at this point.

This purchase, I went at like the "last". To me the writing is on the wall. They are doing what HD did years ago. In my eyes this is all about pricing power. When I hear folks being blown off on stuff north of 100K to me it is clear.

1. Limit inventory = increase leverage among buyers (this is why we wait now...)
2. Mega dealer/s = less chance you can price shop.

Eventually price is take it or leave it over a WIDE area.
L&G dealers are going to be phased out by Deere if you ask me.

Think, we are paying for the paint now? Wait a few more years for this "transition" to complete....

If this works for Deere, we won't be saved by other colors. They will follow the lead and do the same. If this dealer consolidation works for Deere's profitability it will work for the other colors too.

Sean
 
 
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