Second owner of a 5264D. What are my chances of CC paying for my shift kit?

[Sub-Cadet68]

****** ****** ******

The parts are free....
I agreed to cover the labor....
The labor is around $1,000.00.

Time to call the CC rep back......

 

[jnelson]

About 30 minutes to install.

The labor is around $1,000.00.

Whoa! Am I missing something here? If my math is correct they are getting $2,000.00 per hour on that job. Kinda makes the Wall Street gang look cheap, don't it? Where can I get a job like that? :licking:

JN

 

[Sub-Cadet68]

Whoa! Am I missing something here? If my math is correct they are getting $2,000.00 per hour on that job. Kinda makes the Wall Street gang look cheap, don't it? Where can I get a job like that? :licking:

JN

The install time is suddenly 2 days labor.
I'm thinking he jusT doesn't want to do it.
The trans has to come out & gears are apparantly being replaced.
I'm going to see if I can find the install instructions online to see for myself.

 

[VinceSMTA]

I hate to say it but it sounds legit. After reading your post I went back and looked through my records from the 5234 I used to have. I found a service slip on warranty work done on my machine. It was at the shop about two weeks and I was told that it was a fairly intensive project. I was not having the same issues you were having but I am fairly good friends with a couple of guys at the dealer and they wanted to put the shift kit in for me since it was in the shop already (I had it in for a leaking axle seal). On my ticket it says "Advisory # CC-558, Hi-Lo Actuator Shaft Update", unfortunately it does not have how long it took to put it in or a price since I did not have to pay for anything as it was warranty. I hope they step up for you and cover at least some of the labor. Good luck.

 

[56FordGuy]

A lot of the time, manufacturers have flat rate time for repairs. I.E. if 'Replace Part ABC' pays .5 hours, then you get paid .5 hours, regardless of whether you get it done in 5 minutes, or it takes two days.

For your transmission problem, the flat rate may well be .5 hours. But, they didn't include removing the loader (add .5 hours), re-installing it when the repair is done (add another .5 hours), removing body parts to access the transmission, removing the transmission, reinstalling said parts, etc...I don't work for Cub and I can't say for sure that's how they work, but I do work on some equipment and have run into that before. It's possible that's how the .5 hour job became a two day, thousand dollar task.

In my opinion, this is where a good dealer will step in and help the customer out. Let us know what you find out!

 

[VinceSMTA]

The only problem is that if the dealer did not sell this machine it will be difficult to get them to cover $1,000 of labor. I also did a search of the advisory number from my records and cannot find any info on it. I am going to guess that it involves a complete transmission tear down and that the dealer did not know this initially...thats just my guess though.

 

[jnelson]

I actually agree with everyone regarding the scale of the job. The big issue here is the original quote of .5 hours and it sure seems someone should have been able to figure that out ahead of time.

Thirty years ago I was a service writer for a Chevy dealership in Pontiac Michigan. At that time there was a Michigan law that required a written estimate on all jobs (over $100.00 I think) and if the job turned out to run more it was necessary to contact the customer before proceeding. If the customer did not agree it was required to reassemble the job to it's as it came in condition at no charge or complete the job at the amount quoted. The result was that they looked to us writers to be very good diagnosticians and estimators to avoid losing on jobs.

Yes, the labor book can be deceiving. That's where experience and common sense become important. Good communication is also important. Is it possible that the dealer quoted the job something like "once the trans is out it's only half an hour to install the kit"?

It's a shame that a misunderstanding of this size happened. Nobody ends up on the winning side here.

JN

 

[VinceSMTA]

Well, its a miserable day here in WI so what did I do? Went to my dealer and asked him about these shifting updates. Apparently there were a couple of different updates that dealt with shifting. One update involved tearing the transmission apart and another involved just replacing some external linkage. His guess is that the dealer got the two confused when quoting the time. On a side note...I never knew Chevy had service managers because according to my friends they never break down!

 

[jnelson]

I never knew Chevy had service managers because according to my friends they never break down!

Oh they break alright! And some of them that were not already broke when they came in got broke before their owners picked them up. I could write a book with stories like the car left on a two post hoist that the mechanic let down wrong and was left standing on its back bumper, the six month old Corvette totaled by one of the porters that decided to borrow it to drive to lunch, and a 4 x 4 Blazer that ended up stuck in the woods 200 miles north of Pontiac after another employee decided to borrow it for a weekend (that cost several thousand dollars in towing fees to retrieve it from the woods and return it to Pontiac with a blown trans). I don't take credit for any of the above since I was a service writer - not the service manager.

The discrepancy regarding the repair quotes makes sense from what you discovered. It's likely that the person that quoted the labor did not do the work. Unless there was a written estimate or job order that the mechanic had to refer to he/she would have no reason to suspect a problem. If there was a written order it is not a guarantee that someone would catch it, but the chances it would be detected would be better.

JN

 

[Sub-Cadet68]

WOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :thumbsup:

I just FINALLY got in touch with Gary MacPhail again.......

Parts AND LABOR............... 100% COVERED!!!!!!!!!!! :laughing:

Cub Cadet customer service FTW!!!!!!!!!

I'm playin' the lottery today fellas!