DK45S finally arrives ready for duty....or is it?

Donnyj · May 13, 2005

Well, I believe Kioti has solved the tire issue. Let me first say a big thank you to everyone that offered advice. Another big thank you to the 2 gentleman at Kioti that offered there help. Very impressed with the way they responded to my emails and phone calls. The tires were mounted correctly, but the tires were misprinted. The tread on the tires looks to be right, but the direction arrow is facing the wrong way. The tires were misprinted. The dealer did mount the tires correctly, but he did not go over the tractor completely. He also did not handle the situation correctly. Telling a new tractor owner to change his own tires and not returning phone calls is in no way a professional way of doing business. The dealer and I hopefully can work things out at a later date. If not , I will build a relationship with another dealer. Kioti as a company showed me that they took my questions seriously, and answered each and everyone. Something the dealer should have done. As far as the product goes..... Simply awesome machine. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures small enough to fit on here I will proceed. Thanks again to all the people on here and thanks again to Kioti! Great company to deal with. Nice to know there is going to be someone that you can get a hold of in case a problem shows up.

shoppintractors · May 13, 2005

Simply awesome machine. 

Glad to hear it and glad to hear the tire mystery has been solved. Let's us know if you need help resizing your pictures. Pictures in the photo section accept larger files (500K verses 100K here). You can post a link here to pictures in the photo section if you opt to put them there.

Don

KiotiJohn · May 14, 2005

( There is absolutely no excuse for the dealer or Kioti to treat a customer like this. It's just as much Kioti's fault as it is the dealer. The dealer IS Kioti. If this is the way the dealer operates then Kioti should pull his franchise. Time to shut that garage door for good.

Kioti is cutting it's own throat by letting dealers get away with this kind of thing. )
Well, if the dealer is John Deere, then the ones that I shopped at should all have their franchises pulled. One was also a Kubota dealer, so then he is Kubota, and should have his franchise pulled by the way I was treated as a potential customer.
Kioti doesn't have any way of knowing what's happening on a day to day basis unless they hear from a customer as to how they are treated. John Deere and Kubota, and NH and all the rest have the same problem.
Yes, the dealer represents Kioti, and when corporate gets enough information, those dealers who only use Kioti to walk a customer up to another brand they sell, and those who don't honor warranty issues, and those who cause lots of internet complaints will go the way of many of the Lely Kioti dealers from days of old before Daedong USA showed up to make things better. They'll be out in the street.
I wonder how much you've gone to the other brand forums and made similar statements about those brands, including the maker of your own tractor. All of those forums have similar tales of woe when it comes to the way they've been treated by dealers at times, and those MFGs are no more or less responsible than Kioti.
It seems, from the tone of some of your other posts, that you've taken Kioti on as a pet project to denegrate the brand for reasons best known to you.
The follow up post about the resolution shows, ONCE AGAIN, that Kioti takes care of the problems, and they're getting better and better at doing so.
John

Donnyj · May 14, 2005

One thing that I was impressed with was the quality of people that I talked to at Kioti. Not just someone answering a phone, but a qualified service engineer and Sr. Manager Product Support. I wonder how easy it is to talk to someone as qualified as these 2 individuals with other brands. All within 1 day. Each and everyone called me back and emailed me back the same day. They explained and sent pictures to me. I like the fact that there is very qualified person to answer questions instead of someone with little or no knowledge.

cag · May 16, 2005

Donny good to hear you had your issues resolve... In your case it appear's it was dealer related, Kioti made things right for you, these or other issues exist with all brand, as a matter of fact the kubota forum have owner's of B3030 that have vibration issues, it appears these issues have been notice and will be taken care of, I think TBN is a great asset for tractor owner's that have issues, it's a good way to get them resolve in a quicker fashion.. John I read Viking reply, I don't see anything wrong with it, as a matter of fact, I see it as a guy simply saying it like it is...cag

KiotiJohn · May 17, 2005

( John I read Viking reply, I don't see anything wrong with it, as a matter of fact, I see it as a guy simply saying it like it is...cag )
That's the thing about human beings, we see things as we see them, not as others do.
John

viking65 · May 17, 2005

John, I'm sorry this thread may be getting a little Kioti negative. Kioti is not a pet project of mine. Kioti just seems to have a fairly vocal following among the second tier companies. I like a spirited discussion.

That dealer should have his franchise pulled and Kioti should monitor what goes on with their dealers better. Kioti may want to make a visit to someone applying for a franchise. Make sure they have more than a phone, a box of tools and a garage door. Kioti IS responsible for the image that is projected to the public. Maybe Kioti is not large enough and sophisticated at this time to closely monitor their dealers. But they better get there fast. Having a heavier tractor with a few more features for a few less dollars than a comparable big 3 tractor isn't enough for long term success.

One thing I don't understand, maybe you mentioned, or someone else, dealers will use the Kioti tractor to get people to the dealership to sell another brand. I can't believe a dealer would go to the trouble to bring in a new franchise, product, parts, train their service and sales people and then use that to sell another line of tractors. That doesn't make sense. If that does happen, then corporate Kioti is really dropping the ball.

If a dealer is not making the up front large financial committment that surely comes along with bringing in a line of tractors built by a major manufacturer (Daedong) then why would Kioti grant the franchise in the first place? Kioti may not be doing enough to check out who is selling their tractors.

Once again, I hope Kioti survives. I like their products and the ones they build for Cub Cadet. I've got nothing against Kioti or you.

KiotiJohn · May 17, 2005

( I can't believe a dealer would go to the trouble to bring in a new franchise, product, parts, train their service and sales people and then use that to sell another line of tractors. That doesn't make sense. If that does happen, then corporate Kioti is really dropping the ball. )
Some of these dealers get into it not realizing that they need to make a much larger committment to Kioti than they are able to. Kioti has been weeding out these dealers as they can. It's not an overnight proposition.
I don't understand the motives behind those who carry, say, NH, Kubota etc. that also have Kioties, only a few, and try to walk people over to the other brand unless they're simply making more money off the other brand. That would make sense to me.
Kubota went through much the same things in the '70s as is happening to Kioti now. I have no doubt that Kioti will get better and better. If they don't, they don't. It's ceratinly not in my hands.
I may be too sensitive at times to some of the posts, but all too often, non-Kioti owners come to the Kioti forum only to attempt to bring up the negatives. Without those of us who know better responding over and over, new lookers would get the impression that there's something fundamentally wrong with the brand which just isn't the case.
I can't help but wonder why someone who owns a Cub Cadet, not even the Daedong version, would come to the Kioti forum and ask if the brand is viable for the long haul, rather than make a more general statement to that effect about all the 2nd tier brands. I think most people can understand why that makes me defensive. I stay out of the other forums. I don't go in there and post questions such as that. For a while, a long time ago, I went into Kubota and others only to answer questions that I could answer about those brands, not to put them down. I don't appreciate it when others only come to stir it up.
Maybe you don't have anything against Kioti, but your viability thread should probably have been in the general forum covering all of the brands.
I will continue to steadfastly defend Kioti tractors against those who would, for reasons best known to them, attempt to make them seem less than they are. They're very good tractors, as are most, and usually can save someone money while giving more in the balance.
John

Donnyj · May 17, 2005

My experience while tractor shopping was no dealer and I mean none was helpful. I did not buy a Kioti because of the dealer as that is obvious. I bought it because of what I looked at and seen. Now I did not see every brand out there, but I feel comfortable with my decision. Kioti was more than a few dollars cheaper. $6,000 dollars is not a few dollars to me. Most of all the best thing about the deal was the opportunity to talk to "real" experienced people at Kioti about issues. None were serious, but I feel very confident that if a serious issue pops it head up, I will be taken care of. Not only from Kioti, but from people and other dealers that are on this website. Not one of the "other " tractor dealerships has called me back to follow up on the different tractors I tried out. I wonder how easy it would be to contact someone from those big corporate headquarters to help someone out in such a quick turnaround? Kioti is not perfect, but for my money and piece of mind down the road I'm happy with my decision.

AutoUnionTypeC · May 17, 2005

Excellent post John, I support you 110%. I shopped tractors for well over a year and a half before I bought my CK20. It was a well-studied decision I came to when I chose Kioti. I'm very proud of my tractor and my brand. Kioti may well be a second tier tractor in number of sales but I believe it to a 1st tier company in quality and features. Its position is not unlike that of Nokian tyres. Both companies seem to have a small but well educated consumer base who are proud to use their products. Shear volume in sales is not always the best way to measure a company. The growing pains Kioti / Daedong is going through, here in North America are to be expected. From what I can see they are being handled in an efficient manner, the future looks bright. IMHO. Once again………..well said.
Best Regards, Jamie