Local Dealer Playing Pricing Games? John Deere 3032E

[JDL130]

No fault of the consumer- Even if it is a lost leader ad.
The consumer has every right to buy just the sale item and still be treated as a valued customer... jmo

Absolutely right. It was just funny as a young kid knowing that the loss-leader was to bring people in to see your stuff, and hopefully they'd buy something else. We always treated them as valued customers -- despite the fact that we never saw them until next year's sale. I guess my point was that a loss-leader sometimes is just that, a loss, and in a traditional loss-leader, you HAVE to actually have the item, not just put it out there as a come-on. If I run a flyer or a radio ad promising that if you come into my store, you can buy 1 oz. .999 pure gold for $5, as a businessperson, I generally need to have at least 1 oz. of .999 pure gold that I do sell at $5, or I've essentially committed false advertising.

That was all I wanted going in to the JD dealership based on THEIR loss-leader ad. A 3032E with loader and tiller for $221/month. They couldn't provide that, acted befuddled, quoted me other products, tried to upsell me, and then broke off all communication when I pointed out that the @ $24,000 quoted price came out to @ $280/month instead of $221, and told them I'd be more than happy to buy the 3032E for $221/month if they could produce one.

Oh well, I'll stick with what I have. It was just irritating.

 

[jaydee325]

Forcing out small dealers is common across all tractor brands and other equipment such as motorsports vehicles. It is just less cost to deal with a few mega dealers than a bunch of small ones.

My opinion (don't have any facts to back this up!) is that Deere offered dealers certain models that they could sell to a certain price point if they bought a certain number of them. If a smaller dealer already had stock of those models, Deere would not make them whole. You would have to have floor planned the specified number to be able to buy them at the special advertised price.

Sucks for all who gets stuck by the promo.

 

[ultrarunner]

Complaints to the State Attorney General, Department of Consumer Affairs, County District Attorney and for good measure throw in the Better Business Bureau... if they also advertise with the Farm Coop or Farm Bureau... CC them too plus copies to the zone or field rep and the president/CEO of the company...

Thing is most consumers will never go through the motions...

What I have found to be most helpful is to show up at the Dealership with as many complaint forms as possible on a clip board and start jotting down the names of every person you contact with and their title noting date and times... also helps to have someone accompany you even if they never say a word.

Nothing gets attention faster than this approach in my experience... real people with real titles that you have interacted with.

Bait and Switch is fraud...

If you are questioned... simply say you want to make sure that you are 100% clear as to why the Nationally Advertised or Locally Advertised price is not available to you... a buyer ready to buy on the spot.

Consumer Protection is a big deal and trust me... once someone with business sense gets wind... things happen.

Two things to remember... the price or deal must be advertised and most consumer protections only apply to personal non-business applications...

Does Maryland have bait and switch laws

 

[greif]

is that with a loader?

 

[sd455dan]

Absolutely right. It was just funny as a young kid knowing that the loss-leader was to bring people in to see your stuff, and hopefully they'd buy something else. We always treated them as valued customers -- despite the fact that we never saw them until next year's sale. I guess my point was that a loss-leader sometimes is just that, a loss, and in a traditional loss-leader, you HAVE to actually have the item, not just put it out there as a come-on. If I run a flyer or a radio ad promising that if you come into my store, you can buy 1 oz. .999 pure gold for $5, as a businessperson, I generally need to have at least 1 oz. of .999 pure gold that I do sell at $5, or I've essentially committed false advertising.

That was all I wanted going in to the JD dealership based on THEIR loss-leader ad. A 3032E with loader and tiller for $221/month. They couldn't provide that, acted befuddled, quoted me other products, tried to upsell me, and then broke off all communication when I pointed out that the @ $24,000 quoted price came out to @ $280/month instead of $221, and told them I'd be more than happy to buy the 3032E for $221/month if they could produce one.

Oh well, I'll stick with what I have. It was just irritating.

I would be irritated to- sounds like false advertising,

Thought there had been many cases of a consumer who had a legitimate ad- being able to force a company into selling for the advertised price .??!?

after reading ultrunners response- maybe you do have a right to what was advertised and at the price in the ad...

 

[sd455dan]

is that with a loader?

YEP AND a tiller

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

$221/mo for 84mo = $18564. I bet you could do a 2WD, gear drive tractor with tiller & loader and hit that number. There is always angle with those things. Kubota had a payment ad like this running earlier in the year ($199/mo i think). it was a L2501, gear, 2wd, Ag tires... bare tractor. Delivery & Setup extra. (.... hey, at least we know what our promo's are for!)

 

[JDL130]

I would be irritated to- sounds like false advertising,

Thought there had been many cases of a consumer who had a legitimate ad- being able to force a company into selling for the advertised price .??!?

after reading ultrunners response- maybe you do have a right to what was advertised and at the price in the ad...

I really thought about doing what ultrunner suggested, even looked up some of the forms with the PA Attorney General's Office. In the end I figured, well, might as well just keep what I have and save the hassle. I've done stuff like that before and it rarely works -- once almost had a used Camaro convertible for @ $5900 (the dealer's Internet Special Advertised Price), dealership realized they were only making $50 on the sale, it was MLK day so banks were closed and I couldn't do all the papers that day. I came back the next day and then all of a sudden they "couldn't get it past inspection" and tried to upsell me. I even offered to pay for the repairs "needed" but they refused.

After several months of back and forth with higher ups, State's Attorney, etc., I basically got a letter from the AG saying "What they did was scummy, and we've told them they better not do it again, but that's all we can do."

Oh well, live and learn.

 

[JDL130]

$221/mo for 84mo = $18564. I bet you could do a 2WD, gear drive tractor with tiller & loader and hit that number. There is always angle with those things. Kubota had a payment ad like this running earlier in the year ($199/mo i think). it was a L2501, gear, 2wd, Ag tires... bare tractor. Delivery & Setup extra. (.... hey, at least we know what our promo's are for!)

I definitely appreciate that. Both of my current tractors are Kubota and you guys have fixed my stuff in the past for me, too, out of your Biglerville branch. What got me started on this was hearing the ad, knowing what was being advertised, and saying "Da** that's a good price!" That sent me down this little rabbit hole. The Deere's don't even have gear drive anymore in the 3032E so it was pretty easy "optioning" the tractor, but you could never arrive at the same price they did.

 

[DavesTractor]

If the initial ad of $221/month did not specify down payment amount, they could easily get you to that number, or any other, by saying "oh yeah, that is with $5k down". Problem solved, but still not a good way to advertise.

One brand we sell for will sometimes offer up to $4500 off! That ends up being on a huge cab model and cash only or standard rate. Yes it is true, but it really isn't a discount, you are just getting back what has been added on top to subsidize the 0%. So a guy comes in here for a $15k tractor (not a $50k cab) and looking for 0% on it and wants $4500 off based on the national advertising, and he turns away disappointed. I don't like it. It isn't false advertising, but I think it is misleading.

We should all remember, the real price of a tractor is what a dealer will take if you show up with your own money and a trailer and buy out of his stock. Apply all discounts, load it up. Everything else gets a little fuzzy. There is no free 0%, it is packed into the price somewhere.