BX22 Availability

[Anonymous Poster]

Was back at York Tractor yesteray and was surprised to see that the 3 BX22's that they had were now down to 1.

They were saying that they are having major problems with getting equipment from Kubota. Kubota must have under estimated the demend that the 0% deal would place on the sales and they are having problems keeping up.

Ken

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I had a face-to-face meeting with the owner of the dealership today, and have a much better understanding of what's going on. Turns out that the shortage / bottleneck on these machines is a Kubota planning problem being aggravated by the Kubota allocation system.

The planning problem is that they under-estimated the demand for this machine ... badly. The allocation system problem is more complicated.

The "factory order number" I was told about last week doesn't exist on a machine when the order is placed with Kubota by the dealer. It only exists when Kubota assigns an actual machine to that order. In my case, the order was turned in by the dealer promptly, and they are still waiting for Kubota to assign an actual machine to it. Until that happens, there is nothing to track. They have a system by which the Regional Sales VP learns of the number of machines in the pipeline, allocates those to District Sales Managers, who allocate them to dealers. Until machines are allocated to a given dealer through that chain, no factory order number is assigned. My machine is still unassigned. Repeated calls to several folk at Kubota about the allocation /assignment placed by the dealer with every contact they have yielded nothing substantial.

The dealer has committed to take a factory stock machine (one of two due within "a couple of weeks" according to Kubota in GA) trade the 12" bucket for a 10", swap the turf tires for bar/ag tires, and retrofit the 3 position valve with the 4 position that I need. They are making a good faith effort to meet my needs, and are caught by a shortage in the Kubota pipeline (recent phenomenon, within the last 5 weeks) the structure through which allocations are made at Kubota, and the unavailability of key people at Kubota to return calls and help clear up the mystery.

So, net end result: I'm still waiting, and hoping for a machine that may arrive within the next two weeks. The only good news is that a machine for a fellow who ordered 4 weeks before I did is on a truck from GA to VA now. So at least some machines are moving, and someone is about to get one. Just not me, not yet.

 

[BillyP]

That sure sounds familiar. I waited 2 months, last year, for my JD 4610. I ordered it in April and finally got it in June.

Oh well, it was worth the wait. While I was waiting, JD came out with a $900.00 rebate, which I gladly accepted /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

4x5 - I too ordered from them and I think that I am the fellow that they say my tractor is on the way for. I ordered around the 6th of April or close to that. I have been talking to them too and am also very frustrated. If that tractor is not for me than I will be very upset as they have been telling me that I am the "1st one in line". Its sad that I have to hear that it is on a truck heading this way from you on this site and not from them as they know how anxious I am. Oh well. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I ordered the BX22 TLB w/ 60" MMM, Bar Tires, 4 Position Valve, Filled Tires, Delivery, Familiarization, etc. I was quoted $16,000 for the total.

 

[surfran]

Sorry to hear you have to wait. It killed me waiting 3 weeks for mine and it was primarily due to the paperwork and the rear grass catcher that wasn't in stock.

One thing that helped me tremendously was that the dealer, Carver Equipment sent me the manuals when I ordered, so I had plenty of time to read them before machine arrived. This also meant my enthusiasm when it arrived didn't allow me to operate the unit without some familiarization and do something I regretted. Of course I still had to re-read some things, as it doesn't always set in my head until I see and feel what is being described.

This also sounds like dealing with the bigger, higher volume dealers probably makes sense at this time as I would expect they get the higher prioritization for allocation. Of course that doesn't always translate into better service or better pricing.


Good luck,

 

[dmartin88]

Sounds like I'm out of luck as I think I'm the third in line for a BX22 from the Purcleville dealer. If there are 2 due in during the next two weeks (which I hope is correct), this means that I'm even further out!

I sent an email to the folks from Kubota in Atlanta a day or so ago and the good news is they answered it. The bad news is that they must not have read it because the response was that the "southeast division provides excellent updates to their dealers" and that I should contact the dealer if I'm looking for an update. This was in response to a note that said I'm unhappy with the response from the dealer.

Net is, I'm not as comfortable that the folks at Browning Equipment in Purcleville have done all they could but if the response I received from the Kubota corporate office is any indication, I can see they're getting little support as well.

I called 7 other dealers today in Virginia, none had units in stock, only one said the could get one within a week and also said that the price would be $1,600 above the ordered price here and didn't seem willing to talk any further.

Thanks to 4X5V for the information, if only the dealer communicated as well!

 

[manganos]

Dinwiddie Tractor has a couple out front of the store. They will gladly sell you a tractor but the service sucks. IMHO. I was going to trade in my BX22 on a 3130 and told Herman the owner. He said he would get back to me withing a couple of days on how much I could get for my BX22 on trade in. It has been over a month with no repsonse. I recieve my Kioti tomorrow from a very well known out of state dealer.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

It's Wednesday morning, and I just launched a call to the Regional VP Sales at Kubota in Georgia. It will be interesting to see if I get the courtesy of a return call.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Maybe Tomaay, dmartin and I should arrange to parade our BX22's down Main Street in Purcellville once we have them. At this rate, we could comfortably plan that event for Memorial Day Weekend ... 2005.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Well, the one that was on the road from Georgia is here and it is mine so I am quite happy. The dealer has been just as frustrated as I have been with the availability issues that everyone is experiencing and I think that everyone should try to keep that in mind. I know that I want to have a good relationship with them b/c they will be my local servicing dealer. It took about 6 weeks from my order to when it arrived at the dealer. Now I just have to wait for them to finish prepping the tractor and then arrange for delivery hopefully sometime this weekend. Too bad it will be raining but at least it could be in my garage soon. Everyone else, good luck. I know your frustration and remember, so does the dealer.