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[Anonymous Poster]

As Ernie said, maybe the statement "we only work on our machines" is a way to tell a customer who is likely going to be a problem to go away. Another would be to price the service at such a rate that he won't take the offer...or if he does, you are well compensated for the risks and headaches.

 

[EFC]

In other words I should screw you on a repair because your business is an inconvenience to me. I won’t do it. It is not good business. If my workload goes up then my business gets bigger and I get more efficient at what I do and ultimately the products I sell are cheaper. As far as customers that feel that they are getting screwed on the service cost I don’t personally see any of that. All I see are people happy that they finally found someone to fix their tractor. I do agree they are upset but mostly because of being turned away by repair shops "because they didn’t buy the tractor there". I personally feel obligated to all paying customers that includes service customers. I have had customers that spent $3k on repairs and customers that have spent $3k on a tractor. Tell me which one deserves better treatment.

 

[EFC]

If I have a customer that is a pain in the [censored] I tell them to go somewhere else because they are a pain in the [censored]. Why lie to them?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Because they might have friends/family members who aren't a pain. Every service has its price, even for us SOB's.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Whoa!!!!! Obviously I stirred up a hornets nest. I did not realize that service for grey market tractors was so passionate a subject.

Everyone knows I am new here but I still have a viewpoint.

As a grey market buyer, I realize there are sellers with no service facilities. I respect their business but would probably steer clear for obvious reasons. What buyer wants to buy the orphan or red headed stepchild? (please realize I intend no insult to anyone who fits this description. In fact, my wife, who I love dearly, has both a step mother and a step father and RED HAIR!)/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

Grey market tractors are generally less expensive than their fully accepted counterparts because we realize they have some facets that don't meet US standards.

BUT!!, If we see that the seller is, in fact a dealer, with service facilities, We expect that we will be allowed to use those facilities. WE do not see this as a charity case, We expect to pay for this service and we expect that this will be at a rate that will provide the service facility with a profit.

Yes, there are customers who ***** if the actual repair is more expensive than originally estimated but this is not something that is restricted to grey market tractor purchasers. This type of person exists with every service based business in America and perhaps the entire world. I think this excuse not to service the tractor purchased elsewhere is just a copout.

If you have a business where you sell a service to some, but not to others, you are guilty of discrimination. I know this may make business more complicated but,......... thats business.

If I know that my purchase of tractor is at a provider who is the only person in the world who will service my tractor, I am taking a risk by purchasing from that provider. We talked about buyers who move, How about providers who, for any number of reasons, go out of business. Maybe the owner gets seriously ill or (God forbid) he dies. My tractors value is seriously hurt because I now no longer have a facility which will provide necessary service?

I also believe a two tiered level of pricing for the same service is clearly discriminatory and probably illegal.

Please understand that I respect the difficulty of operating a business and realize you cannot possibly please every customer. but you also must follow the rules of the land.

I expect to be treated in a fair fashion at a reasonable price at any business I patronize. I also realize that the businessman must operate at a profit to stay in operation. Is that such a difficult concept??

I intend no insult to any of the fine folks on this board who obviously know volumes more about tractors than me, but if you desire, flame away. I also have been informed for years that I am a bastard.

 

[EFC]

It is a loose loose. They are going to be mad at you either way. Be honest with them maybe they didn’t know they were jerks. I told a guy to leave once because he was cussing up a storm in front of my son. He didn’t even realize he was doing it and apologized. Some customers are not worth all the money in the world what do you do with them if you’re afraid to tell them the truth?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

There are some ways of doing it that are discriminatory, but others that are not--you can't charge more for credit transactions, but you can give a discount for cash. Sams club sells gas--if you are not a member, you get less of a discount. So surcharges aren't ok, but discounts are.

Any dealer can say "I don't feel comfortable doing that repair", or "I don't have time". If, however, you are routinely denying service for other than business reasons (i.e. you take business from Catholics, but not Baptists) it is discriminatory.

You can do it based on almost any business reason but not for race, religion, ethnicity, or ***.

 

[EFC]

Service laws in the state of Washington say your service price (for All customers) has to be clearly visible to the customer permanently mounted to the wall and is one fixed hourly rate. You can refuse service if they are abusive, vulgar or they do not have the ability to pay.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

As a surgeon, there were always patients that you could tell were never going to be happy, no matter what you did. In that case, you either referred them on to someone more specialised, or told them you didn't have anything to offer them.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I thought that you were not allowed to purchase from Sams Club for any price if you were not a member. I know they do not charge a higher price for items sold inside their stores for items purchased in cash or credit card.

I understand your reasons for denying service to anyone who is abusive or vulgar but I dont think that is what we are discussing here.

Denying service to Catholics or Baptists is obviously discriminatory but denying service because you did not buy your tractory from me is also clearly discriminatory. If you offer a false reason for this refusal, you are still discriminating, though it may be up to lawers to prove it in court.