Constructive Feedback from Former Potential JD Customer

[deathtoblackberries]

You are purchasing a tractor not a friend, just passing on some advice a wise individual gave me years ago. And its been my experience its frequently the overly friendly types that are two faced.

Case in point last Saturday I headed over to JD to spend $5,000 on a lawn tractor and grass catcher. Got to my local JD dealer and found they closed at 1pm (winter hours) so I drove 40 miles south to another dealer that was still open. The sales guy was super friendly and quoted me a today only price about $400 under list. But when we sat down to do some paperwork he seemed oblivious of the current JD incentives, or maybe he was hoping I was. I had all my ducks in a row however, there are $650 of incentives available for this particular lawn tractor. So he tried to overcharge me $250 for the grass catcher. When I told him I had already priced it and asked what the extra $250 was for he said labor for installing it. I said fine I'll install it myself. Then he hit me for $150 for delivery.

Oh this gets better. He seemed desperate for me to fill out some kind of card with all my information to qualify for some $250 discount which he had factored into the price he quoted me. It wasn't even for my lawn tractor, they were listed at the bottom of the card. As it turns out they didn't have the chute in stock and didn't know when they would get them in so I told him I'm not filling out anything, find out when the chute is coming in and call me Monday. So he called me this morning and things got weird. He tells me the chute will arrive in 7-10 days. I said great call me when they arrive and I'll come down. Then he goes back to filling out this card, says he'll fill it out for me and sign my name which threw up a red flag so I said no I'll fill it out when I come down. So he says if its not filled out in 2 days you won't get the discount which was a big fat lie but I again declined, nicely and said no big deal. So then the guy says, "well if that's the case then I'm going to pass on this deal". LOL I said okay fine by me have a nice day. How dumb was that? lol

Literally an hour later I went over to my local JD dealer and bought the lawn tractor and grass catcher. I got all the incentives, free installation of the grass catcher and free delivery which they do for all customers. I didn't have to fill out any card and the whole thing took like 20 minutes.

 

[MF283]

I filled out the card, got 250 off the price of already reduced 2015 Gator Demo, it's just that simple. I'm like you, my local dealer treat's me like i'm a high end buyer, which i'm not, they just take care of me from sale to service, as you know, that means a lot.

Ronnie

 

[ripHST]

I've just started looking for my first tractor so these kinds of discussions are interesting to me. I've also learned over the years that I have high expectations of dealers of any kind, so after reading some of the comments here, I'm thinking I've got a good chance of being disappointed by running into someone who doesn't have time for someone buying a CUT. But I'll keep an open mind.

That said....I spoke to a JD dealer at one of the big home shows recently and mentioned specifically that JD is putting in a big push for market share so they're wheelin' and dealin'. Anyone seen signs of this in actual practice? Could be they're trying to get more competitive in the CUT market in particular since this display was at a home show...not a farm show. Just curious is this was a sales pitch or an actual change in philosophy.

 

[Garandman]

Just curious how many single store Kubota dealers and the other brands you refer to would still be that way if they had as large of a product line up as John Deere, CNH, or Agco. Those are really the 3 big ag oems for NA and they all have Lots of multi store groups. I think comparing those two companies in that regard in incorrect, to support precision farming, etc, etc, requires a vast knowledge network. I am also curios how many Kubota dealers (as well as those others you mentioned) have a separate IS department to handle guidance, yield mapping, irrigation controls, etc etc like the above mentioned 3 do? I could be wrong here but I believe that CNH boasts the largest single owned dealer network.

That's not really relevant to most CUT purchasers, is it? I went to the "big" JD dealer and once they found out why I was there they rolled their eyes and directed me down the street to the dealer who sold the smaller units. Once I started talking to the salesperson I learned why the pros up the street rolled their eyes.

Kind of unrelated by you know how when you buy a car they throw in floor mats? My BIL bought a Case combine. The "throw-in" was a Cub Cadet lawn tractor, with trailer.

 

[MORRISONSTEEL]

That's not really relevant to most CUT purchasers, is it? I went to the "big" JD dealer and once they found out why I was there they rolled their eyes and directed me down the street to the dealer who sold the smaller units. Once I started talking to the salesperson I learned why the pros up the street rolled their eyes.

Kind of unrelated by you know how when you buy a car they throw in floor mats? My BIL bought a Case combine. The "throw-in" was a Cub Cadet lawn tractor, with trailer.

Why? My response to the op was related as to why some oem's sport large dealer groups vs those that do not. I prosed that to support precision farming it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage such support without a large group of people with really big (and expensive) brains. The op stated that if one brand has lots of single store groups then so should the rest, I felt his comparison of the dealer structure between brands was flawed for that reason. I don't believe that you finding a dealer that does not handle cuts makes my statement false, precision farming is still "one" of the drivers for multi store locations. IMAO