Dealer prep oopsies

[SDT]

You contradict yourself by saying tractors arrive crated but dealers assume PDI is done at the factory. There are many PDI checks that are verifications of correct assembly at the dealership. Your suggestion of reimbursements to dealers for PDI time is fantasy as it relates to Kubota, Mahindra and New Holland. Simply not fact based, period. And suggesting a tractor dealer actively and knowingly sends out equipment with assembly and PDI deficiencies in order to increase customer complaints and boost warranty income is just plain stupid. Manufacturers warranty departments are staffed with folks getting paid to reduce bogus claims and they do not pay for faulty assembly or things they figure should have been corrected at PDI. Dealership service departments do not enjoy unhappy customers, or benefit in any conceivable way from having them.

No contradiction. PDI and assembly are separate operations.

Please tell me where I stated that dealers "knowingly sends out equipment with assembly and PDI deficiencies in order to increase customer complaints and boost warranty income...."

Re read my post.

SDT

 

[RickB]

No contradiction. PDI and assembly are separate operations.

Please tell me where I stated that dealers "knowingly sends out equipment with assembly and PDI deficiencies in order to increase customer complaints and boost warranty income...."

Re read my post.

SDT

Your post #14. It reads the same now as the first two times I read it.
Yes, assembly and PDI are separate procedures. No dispute there. I supervise both every work day.

 

[SDT]

Your post #14. It reads the same now as the first two times I read it.
Yes, assembly and PDI are separate procedures. No dispute there. I supervise both every work day.

No where did I say what you have stated that I said. You are making invalid inferences.

Re read my post again.

SDT

 

[Diggin It]

Please tell me where I stated that dealers "knowingly sends out equipment with assembly and PDI deficiencies in order to increase customer complaints and boost warranty income...."

Re read my post.

SDT

Your post #14. It reads the same now as the first two times I read it.

As I read it, he's saying SOME dealers skip the PDI entirely in hopes that everything is OK. If a problem comes up, they treat it as a warranty claim. I don't doubt that happens at SOME dealers of any brand.

I don't see where he claims they intentionally send out known faulty products. Just that they pocket the payment without doing the work and cross their fingers.

 

[ruffdog]

Messicks video on how equipment is shipped to the dealer in what condition.

 

[SDT]

As I read it, he's saying SOME dealers skip the PDI entirely in hopes that everything is OK. If a problem comes up, they treat it as a warranty claim. I don't doubt that happens at SOME dealers of any brand.

I don't see where he claims they intentionally send out known faulty products. Just that they pocket the payment without doing the work and cross their fingers.

Bingo, Diggin.

That precise scenario happened to me about six years ago. No, not Kubota but brand X.

I had the goods on them and took it to the Brand X regional service rep. He was "well aware of the issue."

In one of my many previous lives, I was a warranty analysis engineer for GM for a couple of years. Warranty fraud was and is rampant. Manufacturers are well aware of this, and are well aware that they cannot eliminate all of it. Only the most egregious situations are addressed, most are accepted as a cost of doing business.

Both of the Kubota dealers that I deal with have been fair with me (so far at least, but the jury is still out on the 2018 B3350), but I'm certain that there are some bad apples in all of the barrels.

SDT

 

[RickB]

Digital images and ECU /CCM project files have been game changers in the warranty claims process. There is very little room for dealer carelessness or negligence to be paid for by Kubota. They have little tolerance for dealership incompetence and customers complaining about dealers performance. Your experience in a different industry at an earlier time does not translate directly to 2019. I’ve been directly involved at the dealership level for well over 20 years.

 

[Industrial Toys]

The burn piles of shipping material behind tractor and snowmobile dealerships is disturbing. But I can hardly see with high shipping costs that it makes any sense at all to send shipping frames back to the plant. Certainly, not overseas. You could make it out of light steel, so it is readily recycled, but this would add a little cost, but I can`t imagine as much as shipping charges.

 

[SDT]

Digital images and ECU /CCM project files have been game changers in the warranty claims process. There is very little room for dealer carelessness or negligence to be paid for by Kubota. They have little tolerance for dealership incompetence and customers complaining about dealers performance. Your experience in a different industry at an earlier time does not translate directly to 2019. I’ve been directly involved at the dealership level for well over 20 years.

Certainly you are not claiming that warranty fraud is NOT an issue???

SDT

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have little doubt that warranty is often not offered fairly with preference given to valuable and liked customers. Sometimes even for one at the expense of the other.

 

[RickB]

Certainly you are not claiming that warranty fraud is NOT an issue???

SDT

My turn. Where did I say that?

 

[Diggin It]

My slippage issue could be considered a dealer issue I guess. It's one that could have gotten me or someone else seriously hurt ... or worse.

You may remember me telling the tale before. First few hours with my new machine, I started uphill, at an angle between a few 6" trees. Not an unsafe hill or angle ... one I had taken many times before with my LTs and a couple of times with the SCUT. This time I got about 2/3rds of the way up and lost all forward motion. Started rolling downhill, backwards, no control, no brakes.. Being one of the first few times on the machine, I held on, looked back, steered between the trees and hoped for the best. Tried it one more time at a different angle. Same thing. Well, I'm still here so .....

Remembering something I saw in the Owner's Manual (we read those before using the machine, right?) about backing uphill being safer for some reason, I tried that and made it to the top.

They took it back and checked it out expecting a transaxle problem. Found that the rear wheels were turning inside the tires. RimGuard had seeped slightly and was acting as a lubricant. They removed the tires, added bead sealant and reset everything. 100 hours later and no repeat incidents.

Was this a dealer issue, a lack of instruction from the manufacturer(s) or just a freak situation? Dealer says RG installation procedures have been changed as a result.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Good dealers take care of problems when they arise. Good dealers do the prep work and take care of their customers. I've bought an FEL, had a 3rd function valve installed, and two tractors from the dealer that RickB works for. Wonder why I've never had an issue?

 

[Utopia Texas]

My local Kubota dealership has been family owned for 3 generations, they previously sold Ford, and has excellent service. The Husband runs the front end and the wife is the service manager. My only complaint is that they over grease everything to the point that huge globs of grease end up on my concrete barn floor and all over the tractor and my trailer. I mentioned this one time and the owner explained that years ago local farmers complained about sporadic grease application so they now over do the process. They even use a blue colored grease to prove the areas were taken care of properly. He also nicely told me that I was **** and that most local farmers could care less what their tractors looked like. They are machinery and nothing more. On the few occasions I have taken tractors and zero turns to them I now specify no greasing please!

 

[SDT]

My turn. Where did I say that?

That's exactly why my post is presented as a question rather than a statement.

Are you?

SDT

 

[RickB]

Anyone purporting to be an engineer should possess sufficient reading comprehension skills to answer the question for himself.
But I’ll help you out this once. I made no such claim.
Happy Mothers Day.

 

[bunyip]

My BX was very shoddily put together although I did not realise it for a while, first problem was hydraulic coupling to the FEL coming undone, after numerous visits it was finally founf the when the FEL was fitted the bracket on the chassis that holds the couplings was being grabbed by the front tyre on a lock and pulling it off, of course when you are in the seat you cannot see this.
First service was done by another dealer who found that none of the hydraulic hoses were secured, hydraulic linkages were loose, two grease points ahd never been touched (I was given a run down on greasing when it was delivered and was not aware of these on the FEL), coolant level was low and a few other things that I have forgotten, needless to say I am not going back to that dealer for any work, I was having problems with the FEL and they told me it was normal, after the first service it improved dramatically.
What also bothered me was the couldn't care less attitude.

 

[Industrial Toys]

They do care, just not about what they are doing at work. And just to play devils advocate, why should they? They are never going to get rich and be able to get all those things that they are being bombarded with in advertising..

 

[Alan W.]

Years ago picked up a new Case 580M and took it straight to a job. 20 minutes into digging the backhoe valve handles started falling off. Five minutes later seat fell off. Called dealer and was told, yeah we will have to order you one. Told them no problem, Cat sold backhoes and I would have it back on their lot in a half hour and call the bank to cancel the down payment. Mechanic was dispatched with a seat off from another hoe and he spent a couple of hours going over the hoe fixing stuff that should have been already done.
The reason things like this keep happening is people accept it, fix it themselves and go on. Dont accept it push back.

 

[Industrial Toys]

WOW, sounds like you are talking about Canadians. Problem with pushing back when most others don't (like what I do) is that you become the ugly customer.

I have said it before. Most people haven't got a clue how things work, or actually don't work, behind the scenes at a dealership.