Dealer Bad Internet Dealer Experience

jimg · Feb 15, 2005

Hmmm...this sure is an interesting thread. I like the local model myself as Im sure most others do as well. Its far more difficult to ignore an unhappy customer in your showroom than one who phones/emails from far away. Perhaps the anonimity of the internet breeds a certain amt of disrespect that wouldnt ordinarily occur in face to face transactions. OTOH I do understand how tough it must be when theres no good dealer locally....which I think is VERY rare. In that case I buy from the one who would offer best service and who makes every effort to assure me that hes going to treat me well in the event of problems/another purchse/etc and who has a reputation for doing so. When I bought my first tractor I thought it would be a Deere for sure. Well long story short is that the Deere dealer lost my business all on his own. OTOH the NH dealer got my business b/c he treated me well before, during and after the sale and he had a reputation for doing so. I was just another in a long line of happy customers. The make of tractor didnt make that big a difference to me. In fact, CUTS are pretty much all the same w/i their class. It just makes it harder on yourself if you get really sold into a particular brand. Getting good service/price/etc locally doesn't necessarily mean paying the big bucks just like buying over the net doesnt mean geting best price. I suppose it comes down to which set of problems that you feel are most easily managed.

As you said...this forum is really good for sharing these sorts of things. I really appreciate you bringing it up b/c it gives me some pause when considering my buying alternatives/motives.
jimg

Alan L. · Feb 15, 2005

If it were me, I would file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in the locale of the dealer. The dealer will have to address the complaint or else the BBB will give a tainted report to those who inquire.

NH55 · Feb 16, 2005

I have to weigh in here with my experience. I bought the same exact tractor as you from the same dealer. I also bought a Midwest landscape rake. I ordered mine in late November. It was supposed to ship in mid-December but due to some local snow that was delayed. I got it right after New Years. I had 3 issues -- the wheels on the rake were on backwards, the cover on the manual was ripped and I got no SMV sign. That's it. I did have an issue with proactive communication out of them but when I called they were more than pleasant and gave me the info I needed. I've been to my local dealer already to stock up on some "goodies" and they have been great, as well. They were not even close on the price of the tractor, however.

Overall I would say I am very happy with the transaction. I've used the tractor a few times already and have had no problems. The small issues are totally out weighed by the money I saved.

2 years ago I bought a $45,000 truck. Its been in the shop 5 times for various issues -- one time for over a week. My local dealer was great but that did not keep my truck on the road and certainly did not make me feel any better about the quality of the product for the money I paid.

I hope you get your issues resolved and can get back to the fun (eh, work) that you bought the tractor for in the first place.

AndyMA · Feb 16, 2005

( Hey Andy coulda, shoulda, woulda. What about the folks like me, and there are more than a few of us here that were basically given treatment by the local dealers like we were third generation step-children pleaaaase! Don't beat up on the guy, he's already having problems even without your help.

)

PineRidge I never intended to beat on the guy with the problems. I was actually trying to help others not make a bad choice. I'm as price sensitive as the next guy, but when it comes to something as expensive and important to me as my tractors, service matters much more than price. There is no way a dealer 1000 miles away from me (or anyone) could provide the level of service a local dealer can. (and I appreciate there are bad local dealers) When I had major problems with my first TN75S, it was the dealer who called New Holland in and had it replaced. It was the dealer who loaned me a 12,000 excavator to finish some digging that I had to get done. If your tractor is basicly used for fun (and yes mine are used for fun as much as work) and having it out of service for extended periods is merely and inconvience, then in all means buy long distance. I have been a proponent of Internet shopping for many year, and was in fact the architect for several major web stores, so I firmly believe in Internet shopping. Heck one of the guys I worked with was the founder of Furniture.com which with $100 million in venture money couldn't even do the customer service nationally on furniture. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

And to the original poster, New Holland can be very helpful when called in. I would find a good local dealer and work with New Holland to have all my problems resolved. I think you'll make out fine.

Andy

Keith_B · Feb 17, 2005

( There is no way a dealer 1000 miles away from me (or anyone) could provide the level of service a local dealer can. )

That isn't exactly accurate. It doesn't matter how close or far away your dealer is, what matters is the willingness of the dealer to back their work and back their product. A dealer next door who will not make good is of a lot less use than one a thousand miles away who is willing to take care of the problems that occur.

If one is concerned about service, be it local or distant, then ask for names of people who have purchased that same tractor and check those references. The good dealers, no matter what brandfs they sell, are generally easy to get references from.

rudedog · Feb 18, 2005

Hey Guys,

Just a little followup. We had a little fracas going on over at the tractorpoint forum about my issues. But Tarheel is communicating with me again.

In the last 24 hrs my missing hoe bucket has showed up, I have the repair part I requested coming 2nd day air, my missing items are coming 2nd day air, and I am supposed to be getting a check to reimburse me for lost oil.

Situation is looking decidely better. I'll update again. In the meantime, thanks to all of you for your comments and suggestions.

AndyMA · Feb 18, 2005

( ( There is no way a dealer 1000 miles away from me (or anyone) could provide the level of service a local dealer can. )

That isn't exactly accurate. It doesn't matter how close or far away your dealer is, what matters is the willingness of the dealer to back their work and back their product. A dealer next door who will not make good is of a lot less use than one a thousand miles away who is willing to take care of the problems that occur.
If one is concerned about service, be it local or distant, then ask for names of people who have purchased that same tractor and check those references. The good dealers, no matter what brandfs they sell, are generally easy to get references from. )

I have to respectly disagree. While I can't dispute what you say about lousy local dealers. I ask myself, how can a dealer a 1000 miles away show up on my farm to do a emergency repair within about 2 hours of a call in like my local dealer has done for me many times? Yes good and bad dealers exist everywhere, but my expereiences just tell me that good local service is prompt and efficient. How does a dealer 1000 miles away pick up my tractor, split it, fix an oil leak and have it returned to the same spot on my farm within 2 days? One of the members of this board has visited the newer dealer in NC and just last night told me all about it. He said that there were hundreds of New Hollands parked outside and a single bay service facility. The new tractors went in for a little while and then were shipped. He has pictures. He told me that in no way was it an up to par service facility. My local dealer has the capability of having about 20 tractors in the service facility at one time. All the specialized tools and well trained long term mechanics.

I guess to me trying to repair a tractor from 1000 miles away is like being in the hospital in Boston and having the nurses and doctors in Chicago. I suppose they can tell me what to do and send supplies, but what happens to me during all that time delay and who provides the hands on care?

And like I said before I do buy many items over the internet and have received excellent (and lousy) customer service on them. Years ago I ran a customer support center for the commercial data systems division for Raytheon. We supported 1bout 35,000 customers and tried to resolve most issues over the phone and via remote diagnostics. However there were many times when we had to field dispatch. We had 70 sales officies in the US with techs and several hundred service centers and still had difficulity at times arranging for a prompt dispatch.

Just my thoughts and experiences.

Andy

Robert_in_NY · Feb 18, 2005

One other issue about buying local, talking to local farmers and homeowners you can learn a lot about local dealers. I know a lot of dealers around here and I know a lot of farmers will only deal with certain ones (wonder why /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif). What I look at is this, if I buy something and the dealer don't take care of my problems I talk to my friends and word gets around real quick. That dealers rep takes a hit and they try to make me happy to shut me up. So far I have only had one major issue with a dealer and between my talking to my farmer friends and posting online I had my issue taken care of immediately. That dealers rep just took a hit in my area and I am sure people will think twice about dealing with them. I know I have caused 2 of my friends to buy tractors from dealers other then that dealership because of the way the treated me so I know buying local will work better then buying far away. I know if I buy a tractor from NC and it don't work when I need it to then what can I do? Call them up and wait to fix it myself? Ask a local dealer to fix the problem and feel guilty about it? Or just sit around and talk about how much money I might have saved?

In the end, buying large, mechanical items like cars, trucks and tractors is best left to local dealers. Shop prices and get the best deal you can but keep local. Buying items like CD players or other small electronic items online is fine since you need to send them out for warranty work anyway and most local stores won't deal on prices on small items. So good dealer, bad dealer it makes no difference. If you buy local you have more power. You can park your tractor in your front yard with a sign about how bad your dealer is and I am sure your dealer will take care of any problem, but park a tractor in your front yard about how bad your dealer is 1000 miles away and I am sure no one will care and your local dealers will get a laugh. You have no leverage when you buy out of state.

Something else I noticed Andy, how come whenever we talk about buying local everyone seems to jump on us and tell us we overpaid for the honor of buying local? It seems that we here about just as many problems from tractor buyers who buy online and have problems getting service as we do from buyers who have "lousy" dealers. I know I get as good if not better price locally then I would get online and I don't have to worry about repairs. I guess in the end I feel helpless if I buy online. What good is talking to a person who you have never met or seen before. To them you are just a dollar sign. To a local salesman you are a person who they have to deal with and hope they will have get see again.

Bob_Skurka · Feb 18, 2005

Robert & Andy. . . I'm also a fan of the local dealers. I will push my local dealers for good prices, but I reward them with follow up purchases, I also buy my oil, filters, belts, etc from them. I'm sure I could run to NAPA and save 38-cents on a hose or a half a buck on a gallon of oil, but if I use factory parts and fluids on my tractors and that puts my face in front the dealer one or two more times a year, and then that dealer delivers implements to me for free, or picks up my tractor for service, or sends a guy out to the house for service, then I figure IN THE LONG RUN that I have acutally saved both money & time.

Most people don't consider the TOTAL cost of ownership.

And there are probably plenty of bad local dealers out there, I'm fortunate that I've found 2 very good ones that I can deal with.

rudedog · Feb 18, 2005

Robert in NY,

I had to chuckle a bit at your idea of parking a tractor in your front yard with a sign. Sounds like something I would do /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But that is so 20th century.

We have the electronic equivalent of that now called the Internet. And in many cases, it works much better. My case is a great example. I was getting very poor customer service and in frustration posted to several tractor forums. I am getting decidedly better customer service now.

I don't fault anyone that buys local. That is my preference too when I don't think it will cost me too much.

And as for service, I think we have at least three different categories I'd define as something like:

Standard Warranty Service
I can go to any authorized dealer anywhere and get this. My CNH warranty certificate says so. It's a legal obligation.

Super Service
This is the "above and beyond" service like Andy is talking about. The local dealer provides this based on your particular relationship with them. As a "small potatoes" customer, I don't expect this.

Remote Service
Dealer is far away. All he can really do is give advice by email and phone and send parts and documentation when appropriate. This is all I expected from an Internet dealer. And now I am getting that.