Being ripped off by dealers

[HayFarmer]

Couple of comments on this thread ...

thread title caught my attention, so I read the entire thread

disclaimer: I am not a fan of Amazon, Ebay etc

I am still as perturbed / annoyed as I was when I read OP Ordinary Person's post

1) Ordinary joined TBN 4 days ago
2) one singular post
3) I brace myself for anything other than an original introductory greeting and welcome
4) HOWEVER complaints from the get go, with a very pigeon-holed opinion about dealers ripping him off, compared to Amazon, Ebay etc. That doesn't sit well with me. What is the background, context, experience etc that lead to the opinion or comment ?

Dealerships have overhead, salaries, retail MSRP guidelines etc, so there will be costs, that online sellers may not have any regard for.

Truth is, having a good relatioship with the dealer, and the parts / service dept should be a good and vital connection to have. As with ANY contacts / businesses, there are some bad apples, but they can be weeded out quickly. Sure you can save money and buy online from the big suppliers ... but are you getting the item as described ? is it USED but sold as new ? who backs it up for warranty, or even the potential issues with packaging and shipping ? is it the item that you ordered or even need ?

I have way less hassles going through trusted dealers, service people, small business owners, and I prefer to buy locally, not online.

I hope that Ordinary Person comes back and participates in TBN, that would be better than a 1 post gripe.

Just my opinion. Have a great day everyone.

I would prefer to buy tractor parts locally, but where I am the dealers are 40 minutes to 1-1/2 hour away, and aren't very good. Messick's in PA is very good and they are a real dealer, not an internet place. Get my Ford/NH/Kubota stuff from them. Only actually been there once. They have since built a new home office. Hope to see it sometime.

 

[Hay Dude]

I would prefer to buy tractor parts locally, but where I am the dealers are 40 minutes to 1-1/2 hour away, and aren't very good. Messick's in PA is very good and they are a real dealer, not an internet place. Get my Ford/NH/Kubota stuff from them. Only actually been there once. They have since built a new home office. Hope to see it sometime.

Its extremely large. Like several acres under roof. They use golf carts to get around. The parts counter is like 300’ long with about 15 terminals with employees to get you parts.

 

[Shenandoah MF1760]

Dealers are like real estate - location, location, location.

I ran over a Muscadine vine hanging down from a tree and it slapped one of my mirrors up against the cab shattering the mirror.

Local dealer (small town) wanted over $30 more than the folks in the big city. I'm assuming the turnover is better in the city due to population density and probably the number of municipal tractors.

If the tractor hadn't been only a year old I'd have jury rigged something up, but I wanted to keep it looking good at least for now.