Dealer is really poor sport!

[N80]

Once again I'm going to weigh in on prodestmonkey's side. It boggles my mind that there are folks here who don't get the concept of the customer/merchant relationship. I suspect that some of them, maybe even some here, work at dealerships that the rest of us would prefer not to trade with.

Edit: That last sentance isn't a fair statement and I take it back.

And while I agree that the customer is not _always_ right, but the exceptions are, should be and need to be so few and far between that they really shouldn't shape the way that we in the service industry do business. Proudestmonkey did nothing, NOTHING, to put himself in the postion as that exceptional 'wrong' customer other than not doing his initial business with this dealer and that decision was made on the most basic of all elements of business. And yet, this dealer, or at least their front man, sent business somewhere else. Even if it wasn't rude, arrogant, petty or creepy it was stupid. Plain and simple. There was nothing in this story to suggest that proudestmonkey, regardless of any personality flaws he, or you or me might have, did anything to suggest that he would be a customer so problematic as to not be worth taking his money. But the salesman did and he lost the money. If he's in the business of turning away cash flow for the privilege of only dealing with people he really really likes, then he's got a more comfy job than anyone I know.

 

[N80]

Once again I'm going to weigh in on prodestmonkey's side. It boggles my mind that there are folks here who don't get the concept of the customer/merchant relationship. I suspect that some of them, maybe even some here, work at dealerships that the rest of us would prefer not to trade with.

Edit: That last sentance isn't a fair statement and I take it back.

And while I agree that the customer is not _always_ right, but the exceptions are, should be and need to be so few and far between that they really shouldn't shape the way that we in the service industry do business. Proudestmonkey did nothing, NOTHING, to put himself in the postion as that exceptional 'wrong' customer other than not doing his initial business with this dealer and that decision was made on the most basic of all elements of business. And yet, this dealer, or at least their front man, sent business somewhere else. Even if it wasn't rude, arrogant, petty or creepy it was stupid. Plain and simple. There was nothing in this story to suggest that proudestmonkey, regardless of any personality flaws he, or you or me might have, did anything to suggest that he would be a customer so problematic as to not be worth taking his money. But the salesman did and he lost the money. If he's in the business of turning away cash flow for the privilege of only dealing with people he really really likes, then he's got a more comfy job than anyone I know.

 

[RobJ]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Once again I'm going to weigh in on prodestmonkey's side. )</font>

I'M SHOCKED!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

George, are you really in the service business, or the sales side of a service business. Big difference. My BIL owns an upholstery store. And yes he turns away certain customers with a history and is still making a real nice living. It's not worth it for him to cover a $300 chair then have to redo it because they are not happy with the material they selected. Or some stich that shows if you turn it upside down and pull back the pleet. Or they finally like it and won't pay or take 4 months to pick it up. He looses money on these deals and since he is never right this customer will never talk good about him (but they still come back...funny).

Now, I don't know PM other than he's a guy on an internet forum with a new tractor. He went to one place and couldn't get a deal put together. Went someplace else a little further and bought a different brand. Then went back to the first place and asked if they would work on his new tractor he just bought while buying some tractor parts and asking about a snowblower, BH, yada yada. When the sales guy said "we'd really rather not", he hands the pins and such to the sales guy and says "I guess you don't want my other business" (or something like that). I really fail to see the big deal anyway unless there are some other things we don't know about. But PM didn't ask for a reason, he just made his comment and left. Why didn't PM ask "how come?". I still say there is a little case of sour grapes here. If I really thought that they were trying to screw me over on the price of a new tractor, they were also trying to screw me over on the 2005-2004-2003 model of this tractor (that the dealer never actually "said" it was this year or that), then why the heck would I even go back in there. I'd driven 20 miles out of the way in a heartbeat to go elsewhere. My business relationship with them would have ended on the other to screw ups. Only reason I'd be back in there would be try and stick it to the man!! But that's just me. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

And George I'm not trying to change your mind, just having a discussion....about a person that none of us know personally or have ever met, talked to in person, etc.... that we(and others) feel differently about. It's harmless. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RobJ]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Once again I'm going to weigh in on prodestmonkey's side. )</font>

I'M SHOCKED!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

George, are you really in the service business, or the sales side of a service business. Big difference. My BIL owns an upholstery store. And yes he turns away certain customers with a history and is still making a real nice living. It's not worth it for him to cover a $300 chair then have to redo it because they are not happy with the material they selected. Or some stich that shows if you turn it upside down and pull back the pleet. Or they finally like it and won't pay or take 4 months to pick it up. He looses money on these deals and since he is never right this customer will never talk good about him (but they still come back...funny).

Now, I don't know PM other than he's a guy on an internet forum with a new tractor. He went to one place and couldn't get a deal put together. Went someplace else a little further and bought a different brand. Then went back to the first place and asked if they would work on his new tractor he just bought while buying some tractor parts and asking about a snowblower, BH, yada yada. When the sales guy said "we'd really rather not", he hands the pins and such to the sales guy and says "I guess you don't want my other business" (or something like that). I really fail to see the big deal anyway unless there are some other things we don't know about. But PM didn't ask for a reason, he just made his comment and left. Why didn't PM ask "how come?". I still say there is a little case of sour grapes here. If I really thought that they were trying to screw me over on the price of a new tractor, they were also trying to screw me over on the 2005-2004-2003 model of this tractor (that the dealer never actually "said" it was this year or that), then why the heck would I even go back in there. I'd driven 20 miles out of the way in a heartbeat to go elsewhere. My business relationship with them would have ended on the other to screw ups. Only reason I'd be back in there would be try and stick it to the man!! But that's just me. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

And George I'm not trying to change your mind, just having a discussion....about a person that none of us know personally or have ever met, talked to in person, etc.... that we(and others) feel differently about. It's harmless. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[proudestmonkey]

Thanks N80. I couldn't have said it better myself. Now I don't even need to respond to the other guy's post. And if he had read my post in the other thread ("Dealer is a really good sport") he'd realize that I am not alone in my opinion of what happened. In any case, this other guy really takes himself seriously doesn't he. Wow. Its not a big deal.

 

[proudestmonkey]

Thanks N80. I couldn't have said it better myself. Now I don't even need to respond to the other guy's post. And if he had read my post in the other thread ("Dealer is a really good sport") he'd realize that I am not alone in my opinion of what happened. In any case, this other guy really takes himself seriously doesn't he. Wow. Its not a big deal.

 

[N80]

I think we can all agree or disagree in a cordial matter. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion. I just feel strongly about customer service and feel that it escapes a lot of folks. Plus, since starting the process of buying a new tractor I have experienced an equal number of good and bad dealers. The good ones get my business and my word of mouth advertising. That word of mouth meant two easy, quick tractor sales for my Kubota dealer. My experiences at the equally good JD dealership led to my purchase of a mower and good references.

On the other end were the bad experiences. And they still stick in my mind since both of them, one in particular, was a bit demeaning. This was the closest dealer to me. I went to the place (they had MF and NH) and told the guy what my budget was, what I needed and that I didn't know anything about tractors and needed advice and for him to show me a few on his lot. Maybe I didn't express myself well enough, maybe I didn't ask the right questions, maybe he thought I was a jerk or maybe it didn't look like I was ready to drop 20 grand on a new tractor. But he blew me off and acted like I was a fool for coming in there with no more than $20,000. He never offered to walk out onto the lot! So not only did he not help me, he sort of made me feel bad. Had he spent a moment to talk to me, show me a few tractors and just been nice, he'd have had a great chance of selling me a machine. After all, I bought one within a few weeks. The thing is, he didn't just lose a sale. I sent two customer to my Kubota dealer who both bought tractors within two months of my purchase. So this guy really lost 3 sales! More really since I steer people away from him when they ask me about that dealer. I just think 1) dealers need to be aware if this sort of thing and 2) customers do too.

 

[N80]

I think we can all agree or disagree in a cordial matter. Everyone is entitled to have an opinion. I just feel strongly about customer service and feel that it escapes a lot of folks. Plus, since starting the process of buying a new tractor I have experienced an equal number of good and bad dealers. The good ones get my business and my word of mouth advertising. That word of mouth meant two easy, quick tractor sales for my Kubota dealer. My experiences at the equally good JD dealership led to my purchase of a mower and good references.

On the other end were the bad experiences. And they still stick in my mind since both of them, one in particular, was a bit demeaning. This was the closest dealer to me. I went to the place (they had MF and NH) and told the guy what my budget was, what I needed and that I didn't know anything about tractors and needed advice and for him to show me a few on his lot. Maybe I didn't express myself well enough, maybe I didn't ask the right questions, maybe he thought I was a jerk or maybe it didn't look like I was ready to drop 20 grand on a new tractor. But he blew me off and acted like I was a fool for coming in there with no more than $20,000. He never offered to walk out onto the lot! So not only did he not help me, he sort of made me feel bad. Had he spent a moment to talk to me, show me a few tractors and just been nice, he'd have had a great chance of selling me a machine. After all, I bought one within a few weeks. The thing is, he didn't just lose a sale. I sent two customer to my Kubota dealer who both bought tractors within two months of my purchase. So this guy really lost 3 sales! More really since I steer people away from him when they ask me about that dealer. I just think 1) dealers need to be aware if this sort of thing and 2) customers do too.

 

[proudestmonkey]

One of the members of our forum sent me a private post asking about my local experiences (he guessed correctly that I live near him). I didn't say one way or the other whether to stay away from any particular dealers--I just gave him my two cents on what I liked or didn't like about a particular tractor. Now that I've written this post, and the other one ("Dealer is really good sport") he and others who are local may have a sense of what I've dealt with good and not so good and make their own decisions. It just goes to show you that, even if all of this were due to a single salesperson having a negative attitude about me for any reason, including the fact that I didn't buy my tractor from him, the whole dealership loses my business, and may lose the business of anyone I talk to about their attitude toward me, by that one guy, on that one day.

 

[proudestmonkey]

One of the members of our forum sent me a private post asking about my local experiences (he guessed correctly that I live near him). I didn't say one way or the other whether to stay away from any particular dealers--I just gave him my two cents on what I liked or didn't like about a particular tractor. Now that I've written this post, and the other one ("Dealer is really good sport") he and others who are local may have a sense of what I've dealt with good and not so good and make their own decisions. It just goes to show you that, even if all of this were due to a single salesperson having a negative attitude about me for any reason, including the fact that I didn't buy my tractor from him, the whole dealership loses my business, and may lose the business of anyone I talk to about their attitude toward me, by that one guy, on that one day.