Dargo
Super Member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2004
- Messages
- 5,974
- Location
- S. IN
- Tractor
- Jinma, Foton, TYM, Belarus, Yanmar, Branson, Montana, Mahindra and maybe some green and orange too.
As you may have guessed, I have an opinion. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I'd been pretty darn loyal to JD and NH until I decided that I wanted a cab with A/C and about 50 hp. I'll skip the process, but my only logical choice was Kubota. Besides, Kubota seemed to be the "Toyota" or "Honda" of tractors...
As things go, I got a Kubota that hasn't exactly lived up to their standards as I understand them. My biggest issue is the year and a half that I've been fighting Kubota on the two pieces of equipment I bought new from them. I honestly think that waiting a year and a half before starting to come unglued shouldn't rank me as impatient.
My "loyalty" is now being shaken due to Kubota's obvious reluctance to take care of their customers. I could fill two pages of this board detailing what all I've done to try to get satisfaction from Kubota. When I have an obvious problem, verified by the fact that numerous members on this board do not have the same problems I have, and Kubota tells me that it "is the nature of the beast", I feel obligated to tell others of the problem with the manufacturer's customer support.
Sure I had a problem or two with the JD tractors I've owned, and even had a problem with the NH tractor I bought. However, those problems were immediately addressed and that was the end of the story. There wasn't a year and a half battle; not even a day and a half battle! When my tractor broke, they came and got it, fixed it, and brought it back. Not even once did I ever get the reply of "it's the nature of the beast", or some other crap.
I'm not very PC, and at times am rather blunt. As you can tell by my year and a half wait with Kubota, I honestly don't think I have been impatient, or that I got upset right away. My issue seems to be more with the manufacturer than the dealership from what I can see. If the manufacturer won't authorize the replacement of a part under warranty, I can see where the dealer would have to follow the "patch" instructions from the manufacturer. I was at first really upset with the dealer thinking that he wouldn't do the work. That is when I started the most difficult process of actually getting a hold of the factory representatives direct. It seems that they want to tell me that they don't want to just go "replacing parts until they find what is wrong". Fine, except in the mean time, what am I, the consumer, supposed to do?! They made it. It would seem to me that they should know how to fix it. These facts make me rather brand disloyal.
I also do make it a point to speak up about something that has performed well for me if asked. I try to think of myself as "equal opportunity" on giving praise or complaining. What I have no use for is people who are so brand loyal that they will go to extremes to hide a known problem, or will attack another person who has their same brand but is complaining about a problem. I don't care if it is a crate Jinma or a top of the line JD, if it does not perform as advertised, I think the owner has a right to tell it like it is. If it makes the manufacturer look bad, so be it. How else are we, the consumers, going to get the attention of the manufacturers and hold them to manufacturing tractors that live up to what they are advertised to do?
As I said, I'm not going to be politically correct on tractors as to not hurt someone's feelings, or hide facts, when I am not getting cooperation on fixing my tractor from the manufacturer. If I feel that I'd have to go through the same year and a half to get something fixed from the manufacturer again, would I jump ship? You bet! Would I tell others why I jumped ship? You bet; along with all of the documentation as to why. I think that if enough people change brands because the manufacturer is not responsive to repairing their tractors, perhaps that manufacturer will re-think their strategy of brushing their problem units under the rug.
If I'm told that a single pedal hydro controller is "normal" when average bumps in the lawn causes a very sensitive pedal to not only shift from propelling the tractor foreward, but actually rocks enough to hit reverse when hitting the bumps, yes, I'll say that that design is crap. I certainly don't think that would be normal, but the manufacturer has now told me that it is. So, by taking them at their word, yes, it's junk and I'll certainly change brands over such an issue if they can't make it where it can be used as advertised.
I really don't care about the color of a tractor. I care about how the tractor will serve me and be dependable and reliable for a respectable amount of time. I also care whether a manufacturer wants to sweep a problem tractor under the rug, or wants to address the problems with that tractor. I don't believe anyone reading this thinks that any tractor company is immune from an occasional "bad" tractor getting out of the plant. However, at what point does the manufacturer bite the bullet and change the transmission, or whatever the problem may be, rather than acting like the problem doesn't exist? To me, the decision on such an issue separates a "good" tractor company from a "bad" one.
As things go, I got a Kubota that hasn't exactly lived up to their standards as I understand them. My biggest issue is the year and a half that I've been fighting Kubota on the two pieces of equipment I bought new from them. I honestly think that waiting a year and a half before starting to come unglued shouldn't rank me as impatient.
My "loyalty" is now being shaken due to Kubota's obvious reluctance to take care of their customers. I could fill two pages of this board detailing what all I've done to try to get satisfaction from Kubota. When I have an obvious problem, verified by the fact that numerous members on this board do not have the same problems I have, and Kubota tells me that it "is the nature of the beast", I feel obligated to tell others of the problem with the manufacturer's customer support.
Sure I had a problem or two with the JD tractors I've owned, and even had a problem with the NH tractor I bought. However, those problems were immediately addressed and that was the end of the story. There wasn't a year and a half battle; not even a day and a half battle! When my tractor broke, they came and got it, fixed it, and brought it back. Not even once did I ever get the reply of "it's the nature of the beast", or some other crap.
I'm not very PC, and at times am rather blunt. As you can tell by my year and a half wait with Kubota, I honestly don't think I have been impatient, or that I got upset right away. My issue seems to be more with the manufacturer than the dealership from what I can see. If the manufacturer won't authorize the replacement of a part under warranty, I can see where the dealer would have to follow the "patch" instructions from the manufacturer. I was at first really upset with the dealer thinking that he wouldn't do the work. That is when I started the most difficult process of actually getting a hold of the factory representatives direct. It seems that they want to tell me that they don't want to just go "replacing parts until they find what is wrong". Fine, except in the mean time, what am I, the consumer, supposed to do?! They made it. It would seem to me that they should know how to fix it. These facts make me rather brand disloyal.
I also do make it a point to speak up about something that has performed well for me if asked. I try to think of myself as "equal opportunity" on giving praise or complaining. What I have no use for is people who are so brand loyal that they will go to extremes to hide a known problem, or will attack another person who has their same brand but is complaining about a problem. I don't care if it is a crate Jinma or a top of the line JD, if it does not perform as advertised, I think the owner has a right to tell it like it is. If it makes the manufacturer look bad, so be it. How else are we, the consumers, going to get the attention of the manufacturers and hold them to manufacturing tractors that live up to what they are advertised to do?
As I said, I'm not going to be politically correct on tractors as to not hurt someone's feelings, or hide facts, when I am not getting cooperation on fixing my tractor from the manufacturer. If I feel that I'd have to go through the same year and a half to get something fixed from the manufacturer again, would I jump ship? You bet! Would I tell others why I jumped ship? You bet; along with all of the documentation as to why. I think that if enough people change brands because the manufacturer is not responsive to repairing their tractors, perhaps that manufacturer will re-think their strategy of brushing their problem units under the rug.
If I'm told that a single pedal hydro controller is "normal" when average bumps in the lawn causes a very sensitive pedal to not only shift from propelling the tractor foreward, but actually rocks enough to hit reverse when hitting the bumps, yes, I'll say that that design is crap. I certainly don't think that would be normal, but the manufacturer has now told me that it is. So, by taking them at their word, yes, it's junk and I'll certainly change brands over such an issue if they can't make it where it can be used as advertised.
I really don't care about the color of a tractor. I care about how the tractor will serve me and be dependable and reliable for a respectable amount of time. I also care whether a manufacturer wants to sweep a problem tractor under the rug, or wants to address the problems with that tractor. I don't believe anyone reading this thinks that any tractor company is immune from an occasional "bad" tractor getting out of the plant. However, at what point does the manufacturer bite the bullet and change the transmission, or whatever the problem may be, rather than acting like the problem doesn't exist? To me, the decision on such an issue separates a "good" tractor company from a "bad" one.
