Does John Deere actually care?

[slaveToHorses]

Is there a way that I can convey my personal experience with their product to someone at the company who actually cares?
It doesn't appear that they listen to their sales people. At least that's what I get from them. There doesn't appear to be a feedback mechanism to their marketing or heaven forbid their out of touch design group.

If you know of a way, please let me know. I have a couple of issues to talk to them about.

I will post my experience replacing the foot step on a 3720 later this weekend...after I remove the entire drivers station aft of the console to get at one nut because they were too cheap to thread a hole...

 

[rdln]

its actually more money to use a nut instead of a self tapping screw, musta had a good reason or its just one of those oversights. its hard to find things that were built to be serviced (easily).

 

[fgross335_2210]

I'm pretty sure you will not find the person you described. My 2210 was an early model with the toplink plate leak "recall". The dealer was happy to fix the leak but JD & the dealer refused to pay for hauling my tractor back to the shop and back to me after it was fixed. The leak started within about 10 hours of operation so it was clearly a defect - I just couldn't understand why they wouldn't cover the hauling. I made several calls to JD corporate customer service. All they would do is call the dealer. All the dealer would do is say "you pay or JD pays". They did finally agree to 1/2 the normal rate for pickup/delivery, but JD didn't cover it - the dealer did.

JD corporate was very nice on the phone but didn't seem to have any interest in helping me or understanding my concerns - only "policy".

 

[slaveToHorses]

That's really too bad about the hauling charge.
My tractor had a bent arm on the rockshaft control lever. My dealer sent a guy out to replace it. I was happy about that. Of course they should have noticed that when they set up the backhoe when I purchased it....

 

[NDAWIND]

Its seems like every company is going that way. I bought a brand new Dixie Chopper and found out it had a bad head gasket. I had to load it and take it back. When they said it was done with the warranty repair, I owed them for the oil because Dixie wouldnt cover that. Needless to say I pitched a fit and they finally ate the oil expense, which I would have done off the bat if I was the store owner.

Darrin

 

[BRUSHTAMERS]

Had pretty good luck with warranty issues while I owned my J.D. 4600, but also felt that J.D. wasn't backing the dealer very well. Traded in my J.D. 4600 to a Montana dealer on a 5740 C with extras. Haven't had the same hesitance from the Montana dealer about warenty issues, but they also don't have that deep database for parts. Happy with the Montana so far, but it isn't a John Deere either.; Sidey

 

[GATOR445]

Unlike a car dealer, JD dealers don't have real high volume of sales. They also don't make large margins on the sale' so it's harder for them to eat the cost of picking up your tractor. If you think about it say you live 1 hour away from the dealership. by the time they drive to pick up your tractor, load it, drive back an unload it, they will have aprox. 3 hours of time. Times that by 2 to take it back to you, they have 6 hours of time into it. Let's say thier shop rate is $70/hour that's $420 that they could of charged someone with that person in the shop, not to say the cost of fuel, the truck and trailer wear, ect... The dealer get's 0$ from John deere as you can read on the back of your jd purchase order (yellow paper you signed).

I bought a 63" HD rear projection TV 5 years ago from ABC Warehouse a eletronics chain store here in Michigan. I bought the extended warrenty since it was one that was returned after the Super Bowl. The salesman told me that if I didn't use the warrenty I would recieve half of the money for the warrenty back. What he didn't tell me was that I had to have my copy of the purchase order (yellow paper I signed) to get my money back. even thou they had a copy, it was in the computer system, sorry no paper no money! The manager said if Iwould have read the back of the PO. I signed I would have known to hold on to the PO. for 5 years if I wanted MY MONEY back. So that's $250 down the drain. Good thing I bought the TV at almost half pricee.

Moral of the story read the back of the yellow paper it's a contract that you signed. It tells you your rights and the manufactures rights.

 

[BleedGreen]

slaveToHorses,

I apologize that you are having an issue with the step on your 3720. IMHO, Deere does care, although that may be hard to see...

After 15 plus years of selling Deere equipment, here is my take on issues like this: Deere is a large, global company, and they depend on their dealers to contact them with issues such as yours. I cannot say that this is a good system, or a bad systerm - what I can tell you is that this is the way it has been for quite some time, and I do not think it will change. It does not mean that John Deere does not care about their customers. This is why it is so important to buy from a dealer you feel comfortable with, where someone listens when you talk, and where your experiences - both good and bad - are passed on to the correct people. On the dealership level, we have several ways of passing on issues such as yours to Deere - but if your dealer does not care enough to do that, it will be very difficult for you to make yourself heard.

Now I can't say that anything your dealer does will have any impact on where that step bolt is placed, or if it gets changed to something easier to remove - but I can say that Deere should look into it - and they will look into it if your dealer contacts them. If your dealer is telling you that Deere does not care, and that they do not listen, I wholeheartedly disagree. If your dealer will not sit down and honestly listen to you and contact Deere through the correct channels, PM me with your details, and I will.

As far as pick-up & delivery / hauling issues are concerned, the John Deere warranty does not cover any of those charges. Your dealer should have made sure you understood that when he went over your Warranty with you at the time of delivery. He did give you a copy of the warranty and went over its parameters, right? If you chose to purchase a John Deere Maintenance Plan Plus, or a PowerGard Extended Warranty these charges would be reduced, or covered in full, depending on the plan. At our dealerships, we have an additional form that is signed by the customer which specifically states that transportation is not included with the basic warranty, and that they do not wish to purchase a maintenance plan or an extended warranty. On the other hand, I have never charged a customer full price for transportation early in the warranty period - I have always worked something out that was fair to both the customer and the dealership - again, another reason to purchase from the dealer that is going to take care of you, which is usually not the dealer with the lowest price. When there is a true recall - Deere calls them "Product Improvement Programs" (PIP's) - all transportation costs are taken care of by Deere.

In regards to the Dixie Chopper customer, I cannot believe that the dealer would even try to charge you for the oil - even if Dixie wasn't going to pay for it - talk about poor customer service! How much is a few quarts of oil anyway? Especially in regards to customer happiness and loyalty??? Think of it this way, if the dealer had never tried to charge you for the oil, would you have any reason to post on this subject?

None of the manufacturers are perfect - it is up to the dealer to "go to bat" for the customer - not to just stand there and blame "corporate" when they have the tools right in front of them to at least try and help...

 

[Rob-D]

BG,
Good post.

I've been saying this a long time. When I bought my machine I went to a JD dealer that I used to bring my ratty trailer to. I remember once I brought it in and one of the tail lights was out. He fixed it free and passed me. That's the guy I want to buy from. My tractor probably cost me a little more but I'll bet I made it up in parts and used attachments he gave me a break on.

When the sight glass broke on my 2320 he handed me all the oil I wanted. when the cable frayed on my blower he handed me a new one without even asking for the old one.

That's who I want to drop 20 or 25 grand on, not the guy cutting every corner because I'm going to be one of the corners he cuts.

 

[Cidertom]

I have had good experiences with my dealer. My 4300 had a severe case of rock-shaft drop. The first time was prior to the high pressure filter fix. They came out and picked it up twice for that problem. The third time was the 500 hr maint where I pulled out the suction screen and found it shredded. I went in with the remains expecting them to give me advice on how to clean the gear case. They said, "do nothing, we will come get it tomorrow." I was living 55 miles from that dealer, guess where I bought my new tractor from? Also most of the attachments.

I think I found a correlation between employee happiness and customer happiness. This dealer seems to have and keep happy employees, and they seem to have and keep happy customers.