CBP tractors

[Anonymous Poster]

If anyone is considering purchasing a tractor or parts from CBP please read on about my experiance with them.

I got my 49th Email from Steve at CBP today concerning the tractor I purchased /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif. I have never gone thru anything like this before. What should have been a very easy process was near impossible thanks to the way Steve at CBP handled every step of it.

Steve received my first payment to start the order on March 5,2003. I was able to pickup the unit on May 27th 2003. That was about 82 days from the time he got my first of 2 checks.

When I got the tractor and parts home, I found several parts missing or damaged. When I contacted Steve about the missing and damaged parts he told me that he would get them replace and it would take over 60 days to get them at the port. The port is about 3 hours from where I live and I would have to take another day off of work to go there.

I found the missing and damaged parts here in the states thru Jinmaparts.com. In order to get the tractor running I went ahead and purchased the parts and was going to get e refund from Steve. The parts with shipping were $ 535.00.

Steve then sent me a price list he said came from the factory for the parts. His prices reflect about a $ 100.00 refund. I wrote to Steve and told him that even the parts dealer told me that the prices that he gave me were very low and probably wrong.

Anyway I as able to get the tractor running now, and am waiting for the remaining parts to arrive. Having another $ 535.00 in charges, after already paying over $ 9000.00 was hard to take. Steve will not do anything to try and make this right.

I would highly recommend that you steer clear of any dealings with CBP, I am sure others have had similar problems if you check it out further.

I know that you can deal with another china man and he can have the unit delivered to your door for less than I paid Steve. Let me know if you want his name, and I will send it to you.

I am throughly disgusted with this whole deal, and would never recommend CBP to anyone.

I will be posting this note on as many tractor BBS that I can to warn others of this company.

Dan

 

[JohnS]

Dan,

CBP is an exporter and NOT a dealer. I have explicitly warned people on CTOA and here about that. To understand exactly what that means, and have pointed the issue out about replacement parts. Another exporter, even if the price is cheaper, is not going to gurantee no issues. It is this kind of issues that YOU accepted by getting a lower price, than by going to a US crate or assembled dealer.

The price spreadsheet at CBP is for FOB Shanghi dock, and might not be current. It does not include ocean shipping, ground shipping, tarrifs, customs, etc. Typically dealer price will be 2-4 times the Shanghi price. As an exporter, warrantee parts are ussually only covered to the Shanghi port. You are responsible for shipping and everything else. Dealers are able to get these parts on their regular container orders.

82 days is on the long side, but there can be very good reasons for that, that are out of CBP or any exporters control. Again, I feel this is something you should of researched before becoming your own importer.

Some people are able to import small quatities with little or no issues. As far as I can tell, its more a matter of luck. Dealers typically buffer this from buying public.

I would broaden your statement, that in general, no tractor end-user should import their own tractor, without expecting some issues.

 

[SHIFTY]

I agree on the time span,Ive had stuff take 60 days and as long as 120 days(due to the strike),The overall average theise days seems to be around 70 days,82 days is nothing to bark about,I feel it is too be expected,I have never used CBP ,As far a s the replacement parts,you bought them at retail to get them in a timely fashion,you proubally saved a bit on the tractor in the crate that you had imported which is a very stressfull overall experience the first time,What tractor did you recieve?,How has it been treating you?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hi Dan..My first Jinma took 112 days from check to home? My latest one I ordered on March 5th. That's 102 days and still waiting. Not from CBP tho. and nothing was missing or broken. so I guess it's worth the wait.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Shifty,
I got a Jinma 254 with FEL and BH. I am pleased with the tractor, just wish the process would have gone smoother. I did not mind the wait, but once I found seceral parts missing or broken and was told that it would take at least 60 days for them to arrive.... I am still very upset with the experiance.

Dan /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[EFC]

I agree with JohnS. This was so easily avoidable. This is what dealers deal with everyday. To have a tractor ship that has parts missing or is broken is my normal shipment. I have even received tractors broken in half. CBP is a broker nothing more. All brokers do is arrange the deal for a fee. When you buy stock it is really hard to blame the stock broker if the stock is crap. I have never done business with CBP and in general I dislike brokers immensely but when you brought this tractor in you became the dealer and these are normal dealer problems.

 

[lwh]

Dan, Sorry to hear of your problems, but based on the facts as stated, my reaction is that your roasting of CBP is not really justified. I'm waiting for a crate Jinma (best guess at the moment is around 80 days) and went through a dealer as I don't want to learn to be an importer. It sounds like you received a 254TLB for under $10,000 after the parts purchase, which is a good price. My suggestion is learn from the experience, educate others about the process, but focus your energy on getting the most enjoyment out of what you now have. It sounds like you went into the process with an expectation that was difficult to be realized and are now focusing on the problems. And almost certainly your tractor still is not perfect. But you are the dealer and will have to deal with any problems. Burning the bridge with the exporter may not turn out to be the best solution.

 

[heith]

Importing tractors is an aquired taste.If you are a nervous jittery kind of guy it's probably not for you.Even another 500 added to the price you got a good deal,don't stay up at night steaming about it,just enjoy the tractor and all the cash you saved.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Importing tractors is an aquired taste.If you are a nervous jittery kind of guy it's probably not for you.

nervous or jittery?

Give the guy a break...

I don't know if you have to be nervous OR jittery to be upset by paying for something that doesn't work or even arrive with all it's parts. Add to that the fact that parts may take almost 3 months to arrive and I'd be steamed too. I know these tractors sell because of price but I don't think that's an excuse for ANY product to arrive without all it's parts or as someone else wrote SPLIT IN TWO /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif.

aquired taste?

Just how long would it take to acquire a taste for a product that arrives unassembled, missing some parts, with broken parts and without an accessible supply of parts? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seems like tractor fixin' could be more of your hobby than actual tractoring????

I am not saying that I don't think a good buy COULD be had but it seem a lot like a trip to Vegas would just as easily satisfy ones need to gamble and at least they have free booze /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

I first looked a the Chinese tractors when I stumbled on the Hardy Diesel site about 3 years ago and I admit being tempted. The deciding factor is that when I need to use the tractor (horses, snow, fields,) I don't want to hear that the part is an 2 month wait.

As a second tractor it might work or if it's really just a hobby, but what do you guys do when you're stuck???

 

[JohnS]

No, he found parts available in the US, just didn't like paying the retail price. Then he expected the exporter to reimburse the whole retail price. Thats not how importing works. The problem arrises when people assume that importing is like going down the local dealer. It is not, and is frought with risk, for the dollars saved. Buy from a dealer, and have some appreciation for why they charge what they do. Also, when you buy a single quantity tractor, it is sent as loose freight in a container with other loose freight, not in a seperate container just for the dealer. This results in even more handling, and more possibility for damage. I don't know about Dan's case, but the factory usually packs a few "free" parts in the crate, like alternator and starter, etc. In Dan's defense, the CBP website makes it sound like it is easier than it is. I think there is a warning about the parts, but haven't read the site in awhile.

Outside of parts issues, there are other things for a single import needs to consider:

- Completing the EPA paperwork correctly. Regardless of WHO fills it out, the importer is responsible for making sure it is correct. You are subject to customs inspections.

- Product Liability. If you sell a tractor to someone else, you are subject to product liability, and can be sued. Going to be extremely hard/impossible to go after the exporter or manufacturer. Dealers have insurance to cover this. Low probability of this happening, but just like a parts issue, it could.

- Little or no technical support. Many do not sell tractors themselves, and may have never assembled one. They can not help with assembly issues or simple questions like "does this sound normal".