Well, I just heard back from my dealer and he quoted me $439 plus $100 shipping. So a grand total of $539 dollars for the part which he said had an MSRP of $750. So it looks like I am getting it at about $200 below MSRP. My gut tells me that this part only costs at most $150 to manufacture.
I know there are mixed feelings in here, but I think my final opinion is yes it was out of waranty, but I do not feel satisfied as a consumer who spent 20G's on a kubota set up. I think they could have come a bit closer to their cost to keep a stisfied customer.
I am not going to stir up trouble with kubota or my dealer. I will just fix it myself and chalk it up to a life's lesson and if I ever spend another 20Gs on a tractor I will most likely look at another brand. Maybe I will GO GREEN:laughing:.
Mr. Messick,
When I mentioned the potentially "trigger happy", I didn't know it would be YOU (i.e., a
dealer), but you self-identified, in your first response following mine. I put this part in my original post just for people
like you, (the potentially "trigger happy") when I said this:
My Hoe said:
I would then THREATEN (in my LONG LETTER) to start cross-posting the above to GREEN, BLUE and other-colored sites, so that POTENTIAL CROSS-SHOPPERS WOULD BE POISONED against Kubota (To the potentially-trigger-happy: please note I said "THREATEN"--you don't want to actually do this--at least not yet).
So Mr. Messick, was Nick's response (below),
IN GREEN, the response you anticipated when you said what you said, below?
nmarco said:
"...and if I ever spend another 20Gs on a tractor I will most likely look at another brand. Maybe I will GO GREEN:laughing:.
seems to be a lot of over reacting going on... he is already being offered a new boom for half price even though he is out of warrenty [sic] and Kubota has no obligation to do anything at all.
I don't know about you all, but on my end we go to bat for customers over these kind of things the ones who get fair resolutions are those who are descent [sic] people and worth keeping as customers. It maybe tempting to throw a hissy fit, but I see it doing more harm than good. About a year ago I had someone do a lot of whats been mentioned (with another vendor) and it ended up in him having to sign legal resolution to keep his mouth shut and never buy another one of the companies products. Don't be that guy.
I only ask you because Nick's (potential) souring on Kubota, and his considering GOING GREEN (or BLUE, or whatever) was exactly the response I anticipated, and if I were him (and the dealer did not do better in their offer), my response would be the same as his.
And clearly, based on other responses in this thread, we are not alone in feeling that such a
CATASTROPHIC FAILURE, in only 22 months of residential use, is unusual and should be addressed better than it was.
In fact, earlier, you yourself said this:
Thats quite the failure there. Never seen anything like it.
Firstly, the dealer's
original offer was, I believe, only $350. If the part was $750. retail, plus labor, plus pickup and delivery, that doesn't seem like half to me, but I'm no math whiz....
Secondly, I take offense at your mis-characterization of my thoughtful, warranty-experienced based, customer service advice.
Specifically, there was no "...over reacting going on...", nor was a "hissy fit" being suggested, by me or anyone else I saw, on this thread. Far from it.
I was merely relaying the types of situations that I KNOW WORKED, for the customer, (approved by management) when I dealt with (dissatisfied) customers who owned $40,000-$120,000.+ luxury cars--and some owners had a history of 8, 10 or 12 cars, over the years.
In other words, they didn't stop buying the cars after THEIR FIRST, even though, no doubt, there could have been problems with their very first car.
Why?
Because the company "stood up," when the customers' claims MERITED it, even IF they were somewhat past warranty.
Since I worked for the company's national headquarters, we often had to override knuckle-headed decisions by dealers--almost daily, in fact. On the other hand, I can't tell you how many times I told customers "no" when they wanted a new ($30,000.) engine, because they drove through water too fast, and the intake snorkeled it up, hydro-locking the engine and bending connecting rods like spaghetti.
If the facts are as represented, Nick's claim is NOT like a customer-caused, non-warranty claim. Far from it.
I feel, from doing this customer-service work in a related business (automotive), that Nick's concerns MERITED further attention than the initial response he received from
Goodrich Implement, Inc., of Johnson City, NY.
Thirdly, I feel your thinly-veiled threats of vague, undocumented legal consequences for the dissatisfied customer to be inappropriate, and uncalled for, at best. I have NEVER,
EVER, heard of such legal repercussions happening to a customer who merely
WROTE A LETTER TO THE CORPORATE OFFICES, which is all I suggested Nick try, (initially) when they were unhappy with their dealer. I KNOW, because I used to
GET SUCH LETTERS about bad dealer-decisions EVERY DAY. And emails. And phone calls. And I used to address them. I talked with engineering, marketing, corporate and regional management, field reps., dealers, and LEGAL.
The legal "scare tactics" you warn of never happened, in my own experience. So whatever DID happen that you are aware of (second hand, by your own admittance) must have been waaaaaaay beyond anything I was suggesting Nick undertake. Therefore, as I say, your thinly-veiled attempt to shut down Nick's attempt to seek satisfaction at a regional or corporate level is just that--TRANSPARENT.
What, pray tell, do you suppose the job of regional and district SERVICE MANAGERS IS, if not to address failed customer-satisfaction attempts by mis-managed dealerships? IOW, if dealers never made mistakes, why HAVE regional and corporate Service Managers?
And why are you suggesting that Nick is not "descent [sic] people," and not "...worth keeping..." as a customer (your words, and your spelling, not mine) for merely finding his dealer's initial response (of only $350.) unsatisfactory?
As I said, I'm no math whiz. But I've kept that luxury car company's name out of the newspapers more times than I can remember, and I know how senior management
should think--and I'll share it with you, free of charge-
Kubota Corporate should have said:
"If it costs us $500., our cost, with warranty labor rate to the dealer included (just a guess, on my part) to GET NICK'S PHOTOS OF OUR BROKEN KUBOTA DIPPER STICK OFF OF THE WORLDWIDE WEB, THEN WHY HAVEN'T WE DONE IT ALREADY?"
My guess? Because
PERHAPS Gooodrich Implement, Inc., of Johnson City, NY, never even "went to bat" for Nick (as you claim you would), with the regional manager, let alone anyone higher up.
Mr. Messick, I didn't know you before this, but thank you for showing me who you are--despite the fact that I suspect you are a sponsor on this wonderful site (and if so, thank you for your sponsorship). I will be purchasing $25-30,000. worth of Kubota and other attachments in 2011. But don't worry--since you obviously consider customers who's equipment suffers
CATASTROPHIC FAILURE, only 22 months into residential use, not "...worth keeping as customers..." let me put your mind at ease:
I
promise not to spend even ONE DOLLAR with your establishment, over the next 30 years, during my anticipated Kubota ownership.
Mr. Messick, given your support of Nick's dealer's first and second offers to him, and his statement that
"...if I ever spend another 20Gs on a tractor I will most likely look at another brand. Maybe I will GO GREEN::laughing:." plus my new found resolution not to purchase so much as a filter from Messick Farm Equipment,
do you feel your customer-care model is performing to your expectations?
Also, I would consider it a personal favor if you felt free to ignore anything I post here, in future. For my part, I promise return the courtesy, for the benefit of this community. I'm sure we can both co-exist here, without further interaction.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
To the remaining readers:
Not to Kubota-bash at all, (and Nick's experience had nothing to do with my decision, which was made last year), but I will be adding a Woods BH80 X "Groundbreaker" backhoe to my Kubota, in lieu of a Kubota hoe. My decision is based mostly on Woods' adjustable swing-speed control, which I do not believe Kubota offers. Also, IIRC, the stabilizer stance is approx. one foot wider on the Woods' hoe than on the comparable Kubota piece. It just works better, for my intended usage.
I still believe in Kubota products.
I just don't believe Kubota Corporate ever really got a fair chance to examine this, possibly due to
Goodrich Implement, Inc.'s POSSIBLE failure to run it by the appropriate parties--
though that is merely MY SUSPICION, for which I HAVE NO PROOF. My advice to Nick was solely to give Kubota the chance to perhaps give the dealer some additional (and in my opinion, much-needed) guidance on this one.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Nick,
I share your disappointment with your dealer, as you can tell. I also envy your skills to self-repair such a critical part. My own welding skills are no where near yours--and I would also be afraid that any further hoe-failures might be blamed on the work I did, rather than on any other (latent) manufacturing defects.
In other words--I write better than I weld! :laughing:
And, despite my obvious differences with Mr. Messick, I do give him credit for at least one piece of his advice, i.e., that any visible repair will probably affect resale value negatively. Of course if, like me, you're not planning on buying another tractor after this one, then that is of little concern.
I do wish you well, and I respect both your fabrication skills and your decision. Everyone must do what feels right to them. I hope I have offended no one in my attempts to help you (even Mr. Messick, who offended me first).
And thank you for letting me see how Goodrich Implement, Inc., of Johnson City, NY, views customer service. Though they are local to my "travels," they are another dealer I will not be purchasing even service items from, based on their treatment of you. The information I've gleaned from this thread, plus a PM given to me sometime ago, from someone else (to whom I am
VERY grateful) brings my list of Kubota dealers to avoid up to three, so far. I sincerely hope it does not grow any further, as the company itself clearly offers superior products, in the SCUT/CUT market, IMHO.
Again, best of luck with your repair, and I envy your fabrication skills! :thumbsup:
Sincerely,
My Hoe
