Local Kubota dealer not honoring warranty

[taborekle]

Just as a side note, this seems to be happening across all lines of commerce. As the internet shops compete with the brick and mortar shops on price, this seems to be the only way for the B&M shops to fight back. Astronomy is a side hobby for me, and I'm currently reading a thread where by a local telescope shop is refusing service on any telescope that was not bought through their shop.

 

[Herkypilot]

I believe the general theme here is that dealerships are caught in the middle. It's the manufacturer who is the real root of the problem. If they would properly compensate the dealer for work performed, this would probably never come up.
Warranties are sales enticers for customers on a high dollar purchase. If dealers really don't want to honor it, which was also the general theme of dealers who chimed in on the thread, then it's false advertising by misrepresentation.

HP

 

[Robert_in_NY]

This has all been very enlightening.

I recently bought from a few hundred miles away. I shopped around, and really wanted to stick with my local dealer since I bought my first tractor from him (as well as a rotary cutter and box blade). He was a little higher than some, but close to most. I pretty much knew I was going to buy my second tractor from him.

I decided that I would try Barlows, and just get an idea of what their price was like. In the end, they saved me about 3K on the tractor. Now to me, if my local dealer had been 1K in range, then I would have still gone local without a second thought, but 3K was a big difference to me on a small tractor. I thought about the service and warranty real hard.

I decided to go with Barlow's, and I knew the risk I was taking. I sent an email to my dealer explaining that I had found a tractor that better aligned with my budget needs, and hoped that I could still frequent there for supplies and equipment, and was not burning bridges. If I did burn the bridge, then I apologized in advance. I was kind of hoping he would have responded back with a second offer, but he didn't. That was tough for me, and I did not even know at the time all this information that has been exposed in this thread.

As it turned out, I did have a few small issues with the Barlow's tractor. However, to their credit, they sent me the parts free of charge to replace anything, and I did the labor. I don't mind doing the labor, since then I know exactly how the work was performed. Brady was very responsive to any issues I had. I think he realizes the situation, and tries his best to make it work out for the customers the best he can. I have no complaints and have heard nothing but good things about them.

My local dealer did reply back, and although I could tell he was disappointed, he pretty much said they would be there if I needed them in the future. They would not be able to do the free things like pickup and steam clean, but certainly there for normal work. I told him that was understandable, and I have been back to his store several times since then to buy supplies. Last week I was there and bought a new leaf blower. I plan to but a rotary tiller soon from him as well. He seems fine, and I hope it stays that way. He is a really nice person, and now I really feel guilty, but I am a pushover for people's feelings.

In retrospect, my only regret is that I should have been more direct with my local dealer, saying if you can meet me somewhere in the middle we have a deal. But, I think it all turned out ok in the long run. If I can get the parts under warranty, I like doing the work myself (within my limited abilities that is!)

That's my take on it.

I don't negotiate with the dealers until I get each of their best prices. I make sure each dealer is pricing the same exact unit and to give me their best price right up front. Once I get the prices I see who is in line and who isn't. I then take the best deal (not always the lowest price) and finish negotiating from there. I don't tell the other dealers the price from the competeing dealers till after I finalize the deal. They don't need to know it until they are ruled out in which I then tell them so they know where their price stood in relation to the other dealers and hopefully that helps them in some way.

 

[Herkypilot]

I don't negotiate with the dealers until I get each of their best prices. I make sure each dealer is pricing the same exact unit and to give me their best price right up front. Once I get the prices I see who is in line and who isn't. I then take the best deal (not always the lowest price) and finish negotiating from there. I don't tell the other dealers the price from the competeing dealers till after I finalize the deal. They don't need to know it until they are ruled out in which I then tell them so they know where their price stood in relation to the other dealers and hopefully that helps them in some way.

YES! That's what the free market is all about. Seems to be forgotten with some dealers who take it personal you didn't choose to take a worse deal from them. Dealerships need to stay competitive, not just assume they can ask what they want and YOU will just have to pay it.

 

[donn12]

Cars or tractors - truly good dealers are very rare. Look at the difference between Wallace/Messicks posts vs some of the sore losers. Wallace and Messicks are taking care of the customers regardless and growing their business.

the other guys:

"I dont make enough on a warranty job" "you didn't buy it from me"
very short term outlooks and frankly very poor business strategies. How anyone that runs or owns a business could ever try to be adversarial to a potential customer is beyond me.

I know several car dealers. the ones that truly love their customers and provide them with great service have MUCH bigger houses.

To the OP and anyone else that is worried about warranty coverage: If the local dealer will not honor the warranty, figure out the dollar amount of the repair and take them to small claims court. even the very poor dealers wouldn't want to go to court. They would not be able to explain to a judge why they wont honor the warranty if they are a franchised dealer. The courts always side with consumers and the judge will not care if the business is losing money on one repair. Not to mention the bad press they would get....

 

[5030]

Just as a side note, this seems to be happening across all lines of commerce. As the internet shops compete with the brick and mortar shops on price, this seems to be the only way for the B&M shops to fight back. Astronomy is a side hobby for me, and I'm currently reading a thread where by a local telescope shop is refusing service on any telescope that was not bought through their shop.

Same with Garmin products bought on Flea-Bay. No warranty, no maps.

'Astronomy' is sort of a hobby for me too. Spying on the neighbors with bino's......

 

[Delphicoder]

YES! That's what the free market is all about. Seems to be forgotten with some dealers who take it personal you didn't choose to take a worse deal from them. Dealerships need to stay competitive, not just assume they can ask what they want and YOU will just have to pay it.

Now that is interesting, my dealer said "that is what the free market is all about" when I went elsewhere. Again, he is a good guy / local dealer.

I had no idea all this warranty stuff was such an issue for most dealers. My local dealer would work on it even though I did not purchase from him, he just could not take the pickup/deliver costs for free. I think that is fair.

 

[Racer11]

When I bought my B2400 in 99 it had a growling noise in the front 4x4 drive system. I took it to Coleman Implement and they would not fix it under warranty since I did not buy it there. I argued with them and they refused.

I contacted Kubota and bitched to them and they would or could not force Coleman to work on the machine. I ended up hauling it to another Kubota representative and they fixed it under warranty.

 

[jimbo64]

When I bought my B2400 in 99 it had a growling noise in the front 4x4 drive system. I took it to Coleman Implement and they would not fix it under warranty since I did not buy it there. I argued with them and they refused.

I contacted Kubota and bitched to them and they would or could not force Coleman to work on the machine. I ended up hauling it to another Kubota representative and they fixed it under warranty.

this has not turned out to be a massive ad for Kubota or its dealer network- as i said before not sure i will be buy anymore big orange in the near future----very disappointed in this thread results- i truly thought that a factory product warrenty was just that and could be used at any licensed dealership----apparently not worth the paper written on in most cases----makes it tough on the really good dealership like MESSICKS AND BARLOWS who unfortunately are not close to where i live-

 

[beppington]

this has not turned out to be a massive ad for Kubota or its dealer network- as i said before not sure i will be buy anymore big orange in the near future----very disappointed in this thread results- i truly thought that a factory product warrenty was just that and could be used at any licensed dealership----apparently not worth the paper written on in most cases----makes it tough on the really good dealership like MESSICKS AND BARLOWS who unfortunately are not close to where i live-

I would say that's a reasonable position ... as long as you're sure big orange is the only one with these problems.

 

[TripleR]

Good grief, we got stung pretty bad by a warranty issue on a John Deere and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another John Deere, still love their products, I just won't buy it from the same dealer.

 

[Marcussen]

When I went looking for a tractor my first stop was the local John Deere dealer, after standing in their show room for 15-20 minutes with no one asking what I needed or wanted. (only customer in there) I left and never came back. My local Kubota dealer was and has been very good with the few problems I have had plus available parts for regular maintenance.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

As I read these won't buy a certain brand because of warranty issues or dealers won't honor warranty claims, I had to smile.
These same words used to be said about (all) of the different brands of automobiles in years gone past. Don't know now since I haven't made a warranty claim since, I can't remember.
Course I haven't had but about 3 warranty claims in 9 years against 13 Kubotas. One for a flat front BX tire, one gas cap rubber ring and one FEL arms got misaligned. May be to much is being made about a rare happening but I guess one out of a thousand is alot if you hear about it (TBN ). Bet 99 out of a 100 of us has never had a warranty claim problem with any dealer in fact I bet it's even higher than that.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

this has not turned out to be a massive ad for Kubota or its dealer network- as i said before not sure i will be buy anymore big orange in the near future-

I'm sorry... but did you read anything that any of the 3 dealers on here posted?

THIS IS AN INDUSTRY PROBLEM

It just happens to be in the Kubota forum. Infact, I can say for us... Kubota is better than most.

 

[Martian]

I do think it's fair to say it's an industry problem, and that this could happen at any BUM dealer to a GOOD brand. This would not discourage me to buy a Kubota, because I know my odds of something like this would be the exact same for any other product. I would be more worried of finding a good dealer:thumbsup:

 

[BeezFun]

I'm sorry... but did you read anything that any of the 3 dealers on here posted?

It is my observation that many talk, few listen.

In fact, I can say for us... Kubota is better than most.

Yes, I would say that my dealer has been so good I can only wish my car dealer would match him. I had two warranty problems, he came to my house with one of those field service trucks and fixed it in my garage. Dealer is Dekane Equipment in Big Rock, IL.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

this has not turned out to be a massive ad for Kubota or its dealer network- as i said before not sure i will be buy anymore big orange in the near future----very disappointed in this thread results- i truly thought that a factory product warrenty was just that and could be used at any licensed dealership----apparently not worth the paper written on in most cases----makes it tough on the really good dealership like MESSICKS AND BARLOWS who unfortunately are not close to where i live-

I think TractorTidy is a Kioti dealer so if Kubota is big orange Kioti is little orange so you may just want to avoid orange and all the other colors since this issue isn't just limited to Kubota.

On that note, a company can really capitalize on this if they went through and started pushing their warranty will be covered by any dealer regardless of where you bought it from. It will bring light to the problem and like what you just expressed, a lot of people would drop their current company if they found out that their warranty isn't as good as they thought and go to the company that is pushing a true warranty network. Well at least it sounds good :laughing:

 

[Martian]

Don't you wish that company's stopped trying to save penny's and lose dollars? Is it really that complex that when you don't do a service promised by ink that it gives you a bad name and although may save you $100 in labor for the warranty repair it could cost them $1,000's in the next new tractor they were going to buy and a terrible name for their company

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Don't you wish that company's stopped trying to save penny's and lose dollars? Is it really that complex that when you don't do a service promised by ink that it gives you a bad name and although may save you $100 in labor for the warranty repair it could cost them $1,000's in the next new tractor they were going to buy and a terrible name for their company

The sad thing is they can get away with it because every other brand does the same thing. This is a situation where your dollar doesn't do your talking, its a situation where sadly we need government regulation to force the companies to fix the problem

 

[Martian]

The sad thing is they can get away with it because every other brand does the same thing. This is a situation where your dollar doesn't do your talking, its a situation where sadly we need government regulation to force the companies to fix the problem

Seems like at least one of them would think, maybe if we can back our dealers to the fullest and have the best, cream of the crop dealers, then people would bee more likely to by brand xyz. But nobody can figure it out... As your signature says... God must love stupid people, because he made so many of them...