What a nightmare, please read.

[MossRoad]

...

I believe there is a difference in products... and a lot of the difference is not readily apparent when shopping... a strong dealer network with large domestic inventory a phone call away matters when you depend on your equipment to meet your obligations...

This is one of the reasons I went with the Power Trac machine. Its made in the U.S. in Tazewell, VA. There are NO dealerships. Its all factory direct. They stock all the parts and they usually ship the day you order the parts. They'll also repair parts if you send it to them. But you have to love working on machinery to own one of these.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I sell several brands. I am going to be purposefully vague about the brand and model since it really doesn't matter.

I've had situations where a buyback or swap seemed reasonable and necessary and the OEM refused, or continued to delay the decision. It's my customer and I sold him the tractor, so I bought it back anyway. I have done the buyback or the swap before and just dealt with the short term financial loss, and I have reaped the long term rewards of that sort of customer service. The dealer can make this call, he just has to realize that he now owns a repaired tractor that he must discount and that is costly.

Most customers will agree to pay a modest value for the hours they have already had the unit. That is as long as you get it done quickly. And often they will move up a tractor size and pay the difference for that, and that helps the dealer. But if you wait until they are smokin' mad, you have gained nothing. Even if you do exactly what they want at that point, it is too late to buy "good will". Timing is everything, and customer satisfaction is key and there is a point of no return.

Maybe the best post DavesTractor has ever made. Your customers have to come before your short term profits. A tractor, regardless of who built is, is only as good as the dealership who sells it to you.

 

[Ford850]

I agree the dealers are the most important when deciding which tractor to buy. I huge dealer means you could be a nobody to them. A dealer that's too small means THEY could be a nobody to the manufacturer. You want a dealer who has the experience, knowledge, and connections, to make decisions and keep a good relationship/partnership between you and them. I'm lucky to have a couple choices, both medium sized for my area, and both with excellent service. Here's a recent parts story about one of them...
I wanted to add a 3rd rear remote to my tractor. They made a kit with all fittings, tubing, handles, etc., but that became obsolete many years ago when they changed part numbers for a newer kit. Then that newer kit became obsolete a couple years ago, with only rare stock found at some dealers. Anyways, I tried to get that kit from my dealer. He searched dealers inventory nationwide, and none have been in stock for over a year. I kicked myself for not getting all 3 remotes when I bought the tractor new. Then my dealer started asking more questions and continued to dig. He found an original kit with the old part number, in stock at a dealer in Canada. Still new in the unopened box, made in 2007. Still listed at the 2007 price which was less than half the latest kit price from a couple years ago. He said "I can have it in tomorrow for you, or if you can wait 4 days I can get it with no shipping charges". I now have a 3rd remote on my tractor, and that dealer has me as a dedicated customer.

 

[SteveM70]

Thanks ultrarunner and moss road. Times have definitely changed. It seams like in this day we almost take for granted that when we need something the Internet and the little brown truck can have it at our door within hours. And it does most of the time.

 

[ultrarunner]

Maybe the best post DavesTractor has ever made. Your customers have to come before your short term profits. A tractor, regardless of who built is, is only as good as the dealership who sells it to you.

I agree up to a point...

Unfortunately all the local Kubota Dealers closed up shop in my San Francisco area... but Kubota still found a way to get me my new seat for my BX 10 years ago... ;-)

 

[crreed67]

Maybe the best post DavesTractor has ever made. Your customers have to come before your short term profits. A tractor, regardless of who built is, is only as good as the dealership who sells it to you.

YUP..

 

[Industrial Toys]

That kind of relationship with PT is almost impossible to believe in this day and age and too good to be true. Usually a company like that (Or Harley, The Rake People) gets bought by a Billion Dollar corporation in a leveraged deal and everything that's good is destroyed to become like every other dysfunctional faceless corporation.

 

[ultrarunner]

Sad but true... kind of what might happen when my little local Hospital gets absorbed by a huge National Hospital group... in part it is the insurance companies driving this because stand alone community hospitals get paid WAY less in reimbursements than the big chains...

People that know me realize I literally have kept the doors open at times... the plan is to outsource all facilities to the lowest bidder and negotiate as contracts come due.

I'm really pulling for you getting back up and running soon!

 

[MossRoad]

That kind of relationship with PT is almost impossible to believe in this day and age and too good to be true. Usually a company like that (Or Harley, The Rake People) gets bought by a Billion Dollar corporation in a leveraged deal and everything that's good is destroyed to become like every other dysfunctional faceless corporation.

Rumor has it they close during hunting season... :laughing:

 

[TMGT]

Wouldn't suprise me, there's a number of companies around me that close during hunting season.

From my understanding, power trac main income is from underground mining equipment, they started building the tractors as part of a side venture.

I went to the factory with my dad when he was looking at one years ago. Didn't end up buying one but always liked how heavy they were built.