I don't think McGees was implying that at all. If I bought something from you, him or any dealer I do business with I sure the heck expect a preference over someone who bought there machine a 1000 mile a way over the internet.
Arranging for shipment from Texas to Virginia?
- Thread starter Matt in Virginia
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I don't think McGees was implying that at all. If I bought something from you, him or any dealer I do business with I sure the heck expect a preference over someone who bought there machine a 1000 mile a way over the internet.
roamerr
Silver Member
Non-selling dealers do not have to work on items they did not sell. Very rare is it required. Most will since it brings in business and opens the possibility of a future sale.
Some Products make this very clear. As an example Don't buy an RV if you think any dealer will service. Forest River clearly states that non-selling dealers "are not contractually obligated to perform warranty service on Forest River products that were purchased elsewhere". They state this as under a "Buy Local" header on their brochures.
See pg 12 if you wanna see how they write it up:
http://www.forestriverinc.com/nd/fifthwheels/cherokee/brochures/CherokeeGreyWolf2010.pdf
I mention this only because Forest River makes a good point. The RV industry was doing really bad and local dealers needed help. The point is that if we all purchased from the lowest cost dealer then many small dealers will go under. This happened with RV's and has happened in many cases with tractors.
Some Products make this very clear. As an example Don't buy an RV if you think any dealer will service. Forest River clearly states that non-selling dealers "are not contractually obligated to perform warranty service on Forest River products that were purchased elsewhere". They state this as under a "Buy Local" header on their brochures.
See pg 12 if you wanna see how they write it up:
http://www.forestriverinc.com/nd/fifthwheels/cherokee/brochures/CherokeeGreyWolf2010.pdf
I mention this only because Forest River makes a good point. The RV industry was doing really bad and local dealers needed help. The point is that if we all purchased from the lowest cost dealer then many small dealers will go under. This happened with RV's and has happened in many cases with tractors.
being loyal locally is a great thing when you can, but there are times when it's not reasonable. if a manufacturer won't stand behind their warranty on a TRAVEL trailer, i certainly wouldn't buy one from them. after all, the intended use is to travel AWAY from home. if i break down 500 miles from home i'd want it fixed by the closest dealer who can service it, or else have the the manufacturer guarantee to foot the bill for any qualified mechanic i could find. to me that decision, while honorable in its intent, has got to be the worst business practice decision i have ever seen.
i could post on this topic for hours, but i will try to keep it brief.
this is very similar to automobile business, although the numbers of tractor dealers across the country is substantially smaller. every day 100's of people buy vehicles from a dealer that dealer is 50, 100, or more miles away. people travel large distances because they want to shop a larger selection or they believe that they can get a better deal from that dealer. these people do not go back to the selling dealer for service, they instead go to the local dealer. they receive both warranty and routine maintenance from the local dealer because it is closer. if you can't receive warranty from a dealer, regardless of where you purchased, i can guarantee the dealer will hear about it from a representative, and sure, they can try to play it off by saying they are/were too busy to take care of it, but the factory rep will find a way to get the problem taken care of.
being a tractor dealer does not make you gold plated or bulletproof in your business practices. that attitude may win you a point with someone who does business with you, but it probably will lose you points with far more people. customer service at the corporate level is important, and i can't imagine a large manufacturer wants any bad press involving a dealer who attempts to refuse warranty work. if they can't resolve the issue, it loses customers to other brands in the long run.
just because you are the only game in town doesn't mean that people will pay any price for equipment. if your prices are too high to be competitive and people buy elsewhere, you make no profit on the sale. if you refuse to do warranty work, the manufacturer ends up paying another dealer to do the work. if you don't make the sale and refuse the warranty work, it's a guarantee that the customer won't give you any paid service jobs. sooner or later not making any money will probably hurt them more than anyone else.
in my experience i have seen dealers similar to this. i've never seen a dealer who will flat out refuse to do the work, but i have seen the ones that make it known that they do not want to do it, or drag their feet scheduling it. those dealers are never high profile ones. they are the ones who seem to be barely hanging on and often end up closing in a few years. the movers and the shakers are the ones who are willing to do whatever it takes. even if they don't make a sale, they are willing to make money on the warranty work and on the routine maintenance and parts. i'd say 2 out of 3 is better than 0 out of 3. in most cases, a dealer progressive enough in their thinking to operate this way is probably willing to be competitive in pricing too.
i'm not an expert on that tractor, or pricing in general, but a $3k+ difference must be around 10%. that seems like a pretty big difference. i'd think that a dealer who cares would try to bridge the gap some. as far as kubota's warranty, they tell you straight up that you are covered by a nationwide network of over 1000 dealers. as expected, they suggest you take it to the dealer where you purchased it, but if that is inconvenient you may take it to any authorized dealer.
this is very similar to automobile business, although the numbers of tractor dealers across the country is substantially smaller. every day 100's of people buy vehicles from a dealer that dealer is 50, 100, or more miles away. people travel large distances because they want to shop a larger selection or they believe that they can get a better deal from that dealer. these people do not go back to the selling dealer for service, they instead go to the local dealer. they receive both warranty and routine maintenance from the local dealer because it is closer. if you can't receive warranty from a dealer, regardless of where you purchased, i can guarantee the dealer will hear about it from a representative, and sure, they can try to play it off by saying they are/were too busy to take care of it, but the factory rep will find a way to get the problem taken care of.
being a tractor dealer does not make you gold plated or bulletproof in your business practices. that attitude may win you a point with someone who does business with you, but it probably will lose you points with far more people. customer service at the corporate level is important, and i can't imagine a large manufacturer wants any bad press involving a dealer who attempts to refuse warranty work. if they can't resolve the issue, it loses customers to other brands in the long run.
just because you are the only game in town doesn't mean that people will pay any price for equipment. if your prices are too high to be competitive and people buy elsewhere, you make no profit on the sale. if you refuse to do warranty work, the manufacturer ends up paying another dealer to do the work. if you don't make the sale and refuse the warranty work, it's a guarantee that the customer won't give you any paid service jobs. sooner or later not making any money will probably hurt them more than anyone else.
in my experience i have seen dealers similar to this. i've never seen a dealer who will flat out refuse to do the work, but i have seen the ones that make it known that they do not want to do it, or drag their feet scheduling it. those dealers are never high profile ones. they are the ones who seem to be barely hanging on and often end up closing in a few years. the movers and the shakers are the ones who are willing to do whatever it takes. even if they don't make a sale, they are willing to make money on the warranty work and on the routine maintenance and parts. i'd say 2 out of 3 is better than 0 out of 3. in most cases, a dealer progressive enough in their thinking to operate this way is probably willing to be competitive in pricing too.
i'm not an expert on that tractor, or pricing in general, but a $3k+ difference must be around 10%. that seems like a pretty big difference. i'd think that a dealer who cares would try to bridge the gap some. as far as kubota's warranty, they tell you straight up that you are covered by a nationwide network of over 1000 dealers. as expected, they suggest you take it to the dealer where you purchased it, but if that is inconvenient you may take it to any authorized dealer.
DavesTractor
Elite Member
Just thinking here...but if the tractor is roughly $32,000 (guess) and if sales tax is 8% (another guess), then $2560 of the $3200 savings could be in evaded, or more popularly but incorrectly called, avoided, sales tax. The guy in Texas may be only $650 less than the local guy, and the local guy could probably drop his price $650 to match the pre-tax price. You can't ask a local dealer to discount, by the amount of sales tax, what is legally owed. This may not be a factor in this case, but it could be.
As far as the local dealer doing warranty work, he really has no choice if he is to retain a good reputation and run his business properly. But a long distance buyer would not get the extras, like top priority service timing, free pickup/delivery and the "goodwill" items that often go with a local sale. If you tractor has a failure 30 days out of warranty, or if it isn't clear if the problem is warranty or abuse, will your local dealer go to bat for you? All things to be considered.
As far as the local dealer doing warranty work, he really has no choice if he is to retain a good reputation and run his business properly. But a long distance buyer would not get the extras, like top priority service timing, free pickup/delivery and the "goodwill" items that often go with a local sale. If you tractor has a failure 30 days out of warranty, or if it isn't clear if the problem is warranty or abuse, will your local dealer go to bat for you? All things to be considered.
McGeesEquip
Silver Member
I started not to do this, but I decided to do it still.
There appears to be a lot of misconception about dealers getting "paid" for warranty work. Now I may be wrong about this, but for most parts I don't feel that way. Dealers are not "paid" for warranty work. A check does not get wrote, cut, and mailed to dealers from the brand manufactures anymore for warranty work. Dealers are "Credited" for warranty work.
Dealers have to pay all their service employees out of thier own check books for work being done on tractors regardless if it's warranty or not.
When a tractor repair job comes in and it's warranty work, a dealer has to pay his service employees to work on the unit, then the dealer gets billed by the brand manufacturer for any parts ordered and used on the warranty job, then the dealer has to have someone sit down and fill out the warranty claims, and turn them in for approvals and then has to learn how much "credit" he will receive from his warranty work. Credit given by the brand manufacturer to the dealer in return for the warranty claim can be used by the dealer to buy more parts and items from the brand manufacturer. NO CHECK GIVING TO THE DEALER. Now how is that profit?
Now lets see, the dealer is out of pocket all costs to the service employees, and parts for the warranty work, but now the dealer has more credit with the brand to buy more parts. HUM.....Profit.
There appears to be a lot of misconception about dealers getting "paid" for warranty work. Now I may be wrong about this, but for most parts I don't feel that way. Dealers are not "paid" for warranty work. A check does not get wrote, cut, and mailed to dealers from the brand manufactures anymore for warranty work. Dealers are "Credited" for warranty work.
Dealers have to pay all their service employees out of thier own check books for work being done on tractors regardless if it's warranty or not.
When a tractor repair job comes in and it's warranty work, a dealer has to pay his service employees to work on the unit, then the dealer gets billed by the brand manufacturer for any parts ordered and used on the warranty job, then the dealer has to have someone sit down and fill out the warranty claims, and turn them in for approvals and then has to learn how much "credit" he will receive from his warranty work. Credit given by the brand manufacturer to the dealer in return for the warranty claim can be used by the dealer to buy more parts and items from the brand manufacturer. NO CHECK GIVING TO THE DEALER. Now how is that profit?
Now lets see, the dealer is out of pocket all costs to the service employees, and parts for the warranty work, but now the dealer has more credit with the brand to buy more parts. HUM.....Profit.
MtnViewRanch
Elite Member, Advertiser
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2005
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- 10,648
- Tractor
- Mahindra 7520, Mahindra 3215HST, Case 580 extendahoe, Case 310 dozer, Parsons trencher, Cat D6,
Well, I guess if you never did any more work with the manufacturer, then you would be out of luck. But if someone needs some parts that they would have to pay for, then it sounds like you get the parts for work already performed (don't have to pay money for them, you have credit) and you get to sell the parts to the guy that needs them and you get your money back and then some. Is this how it works or am I misunderstanding your explanation?
McGeesEquip
Silver Member
Brain,
In a nut shell, for most parts, that is how the tractor industry now works. It's not just tractors, it's also the motor sports industry like motorcycles, atv's and lawn care units.
In a nut shell, for most parts, that is how the tractor industry now works. It's not just tractors, it's also the motor sports industry like motorcycles, atv's and lawn care units.
if the dealer is operating on that close of a margin, sure, i can see where it might be tough if all they did was warranty work, but i live near a few fairly good sized dealerships, and whenever i've been in for parts, they always seem to have a bunch of tractors in the shop that haven't been under warranty since reagan was in office. sure, it's got to be tough for some dealers, but like everyone else, they have to adapt in these times. the dealers i see do a decent business in consumables too - bailing twine, lubricants, blades, etc. not to mention sales of new and used machinery. if you can maintain a steady business then you should hopefully maintain a steady cash flow. it just might take a little change in attitude or business practice to do this.
MtnViewRanch
Elite Member, Advertiser
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2005
- Messages
- 10,648
- Tractor
- Mahindra 7520, Mahindra 3215HST, Case 580 extendahoe, Case 310 dozer, Parsons trencher, Cat D6,
Well, if your busy, then the $$$$ comes in, but no fun if there is much waiting in between. :thumbdown: 