I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy"

   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #1  

RollingsFarms

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
2,301
Location
South Carolina
Tractor
Few John Deere's and one Ford 3600 diesel.
I have been using the same Deere dealer for about 15 years. Before a larger franchise bought them out they were a small, local dealership. When the larger dealer bought them out they retained most of the people from the old one. Everything went right on along like it always did. However, here lately I'm noticing they're getting lazy. I'm not the only one experiencing this either. They're becoming lazy to the "average" farmers(ie. under 1,000 acres) in the area too and seem to cater to the mega-farms now. It seems like now when I want a price quote on something I never hear back from them. They use to email you back the next day but apparently they don't do that now. I go into the store and ask about a piece of equipment and they say they'll order it, take down my name and number, make a copy of my drivers license, won't take a down payment (even though I've offered, hoping to speed up the process). I never hear back from them! I ordered a $300 suspension seat for my 910A last year, they told me "It'll be in, in a couple weeks, we'll call you". Never called. I recently ordered a front end loader about 2 1/2 weeks ago, same answer "we'll call you in a couple weeks". Nothing yet. I was talking to a friend of mine who owns a cow farm and has about 200 head. This guy spends $$$$ at the dealership. He was telling me he was trying to get a quote for trading in his 4440 for a 7330. They told him "we'll come look at it in a couple days". They finally showed up 3 weeks later and then low balled him REALLY bad on the price. They used to give VERY fair trade-ins and this 4440 would sell in 5 minutes flat around here but apparently they weren't interested the way they dragged their feet on getting him a quote and knowing he was VERY interested in buying a brand new 7330. what in the world is going on with Deere all of a sudden??? The local CASE IH dealer is small, but man is he cleaning up with customers the Deere dealer has pretty much run off. The Deere dealer I'm speaking of is owned by the same family that have 4 other stores beside this one. You can't go the any of the other stores and buy because they'll ask you "where do you live?" and when you tell them they'll say "oh just go talk to so and so at your local store." and I'm thinking "I did! he won't call me back, that's why I'm here!" I just can't figure out why the salesman are so lazy all of a sudden. Is anyone else experiencing this? It's VERY frustrating. I'm seriously considering becoming a CASE IH, New Holland, or Kubota man here shortly because I'm getting really frustrated with this. I'm usually a very patient customer but when this is happening to others, I know something is going on and it's not just me.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #2  
All the JD dealers are going that route, They better wake up or Kubota or NH are gonna knock them out of the utility market.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy"
  • Thread Starter
#3  
All the JD dealers are going that route, They better wake up or Kubota or NH are gonna knock them out of the utility market.

Well the other closest tractor dealers to me are New Holland and Kubota (same dealer) and Case IH. I sure am starting to see a buncha blue, orange, and red around here. I'm not talking about just hobby farms or weekend warriors, I'm talking farmers that farm for a living. I've also noticed the other 3 dealers are really starting to change their inventory and are bringing in 130 and below horsepower machines. Lots of them too! My Deer dealer has a lot FULL of utility tractors but good luck trying to get a quote on one. The service department is another thing my Deere dealer is starting to slip against. They will keep your tractor a minimum of 2-3 weeks but the other dealers have you in and out in MUCH less time for the same problem. What happened to Deere being able to get parts fast? Why am I having to wait so long for a seat or a loader? Don't they keep some stock of things like this? you would think out of 5 stores that ONE of them would have a loader or a suspension seat.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #4  
Sorry to hear about your problems might be time for a change when your ready to get another tractor. I am not loyal to any brand. I myself am sick of hearing how great green is.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy"
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Sorry to hear about your problems might be time for a change when your ready to get another tractor. I am not loyal to any brand. I myself am sick of hearing how great green is.

Well a good friend of mine who has some chicken houses is trying to get me to go Case red because that's what he did after the Case dealer beat the quote of our Deere dealer by thousands and from what I hear he's a pretty nice guy to do business with. I've heard that from lots of people. I'll have to pop in there oneday and see what he says. I'm happy with my Deere equipment, would like to buy some more, but I get the feeling they don't want my money.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #6  
Well a good friend of mine who has some chicken houses is trying to get me to go Case red because that's what he did after the Case dealer beat the quote of our Deere dealer by thousands and from what I hear he's a pretty nice guy to do business with. I've heard that from lots of people. I'll have to pop in there oneday and see what he says. I'm happy with my Deere equipment, would like to buy some more, but I get the feeling they don't want my money.

Green turning down the green, That just ain't right.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #7  
Deere corporate made the decision that ALL of their dealers must own multiple franchises in different locations. This shut down very good family owned and run dealers in this area. I have never seen so much NH Blue or AGCO machinery in this area in the last 20 years as you now see in 2 days. Be interesting to see how many dealerships are still standing in a few years.

I have some good friends that worked at the one dealership and deere even wanted to buy their active and current parts and equipment back when they shut them down. That dealership is now a multi line dealer and doing well.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #8  
I grew up on all Deere equipment and still really like it, but don't like what I'm seeing with the whole dealer network thing. Recently our local dealer was bought out and merged with a larger group of dealers and I can honestly say the people they brought in are some of the most incompetent people I have ever done business with. There is one guy in the parts dept. that is still there from before and he is good, the others I won't even talk to. Mostly I just look the part number up myself online and give it to them. Sales is almost as bad, I had to order the rear remote kit for my 5203 through Whole Goods and it took three salesmen to figure out which kit I needed, then figure out a discrepancy in the pricing. That actually worked out in my favor, they priced it based on the 2006 price printed in the literature they were looking at, didn't realize it had gone up $300 in the past 6yrs. What idiots... and I wasn't going to say anything.

Before I bought my 5203 (I was actually looking at new 5045d's) I went to many different dealers and test out numerous tractors. Looked at a MX4700, one of the Kubota dealers I went to was worthless and wouldn't deal at all (quoted MSRP as his only price), another was very good an accommodating, best cash offer of almost 15% off MSRP. Then looked at a New Holland Workmaster 45, dealer was also very good, they were willing to negotiate and gave me a lengthy test drive to really test the tractor out. Best dealer experience by far was at the Massey Ferguson dealer. I was interested in the 4wd 2605 model, they didn't have any on the lot so he called up a recent customer who bought one and got the OK to let me come out and test his tractor. The dealer drove me 20mi out to the customers property so I could test out the tractor. Both the New Holland and Massey salesmen followed up with a call a couple days after I dealt with them to see if I was still interested. In the end I found the used 5203 at a good savings over the rest so I went that route. If I hadn't I probably would have a Blue or Red tractor in the barn.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #9  
I really like my deere, but the salesman that I deal with is horrible about calling me back anytime I have a question. I have his personal cell phone number and it still doesnt matter. I have asked for some quotes on a rear windshield wiper and a suspension seat and nothing. I have pretty good luck with the parts department because I either order online or have a part number when I go in. The service is ok, butthey only have one mechanic doing the work. I have a kubota dealer(and heavy equipment) pretty close by that I use for anything but green parts though.
 
   / I think my John Deere dealer is becoming "lazy" #10  
I have a feeling Case IH is about to over take Deere in big ag sales if they are not careful. I know several years ago I could order a Deere part and have it within one to two days. It now seems like it's taking allot longer to get things. I know last fall I had a little harder time getting price quotes on my 5055E but around here overall the crops where really good and the crop prices where high. Most farmers where trying to buy equipment before the year ended which swamped the dealer. I see really no big advantage to doing away with the small dealerships. If that little dealer has been around for twenty or so years selling there product than I feel there is no need to get rid of them. Some areas have different needs as far as equipment goes and maybe some customers are more comfortable with smaller dealerships. It has worked with Deere for over a 100 years so why change now? I hope Deere sticks to there roots and listens too and takes care of there customers and dealers that has got them where they are today.Solid.Stable.Still John Deere...The new Case IH equipment is very nice. How many of you go to tractor pulls these days?? There is allot of nice Case IH tractors at the pulls.
 
 
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