First experience with Kubota Warranties in 25 years, first bad experience with Kubota

[dalola]

Not dealer's fault but a good dealer would do better to try to work things out for a valued customer. Unfortunately it sounds like this was an unforeseen maintenance issue with no one realizing the damage being done.

If I was the dealer, I would work with the OP on a compromise enough to get him singing the good praises about me. Doing the opposite, the dealer risks losing other business. I know a few around me that are not thrilled with the local Kubota dealer and have taken their business elsewhere swearing never to return. Me, I have had a good relationship with them but haven't gotten into a sticky situation as described. No pun intended.

Exactly.

Of course it's not the dealers fault, but the dealer will feel the hit more than Kubota, when a good customer leaves.

If I were said dealer, I would eat 90% of this repair to keep my customer, then battle Kubota in the background.

It's moments like these that provide "pivot points" to where a business thrives or declines. In most cases, if you are not customer driven, you will decline. I'm still amazed at how many business owners don't get it.

 

[628pm]

I agree with you that it shouldn’t be the manufacturers deciding what is covered or not. When I contacted kubota they said the rep reviewed the claim and we(kubota) stand by that decision.

My dealer ate about 6 to 8 hours of the labor, I am completely satisfied with the dealer. They did several other things they noticed while my machine was setting there without additional charges. I did offer to pay half just to get it settled. I don’t expect the dealer to eat this repair, he is a small dealer and he has costs also to deal with. I fault kubota Corp and kubota Corp alone for my denied claim. I could be all wrong about this but i know I didn’t ride the brakes, if I didn’t ride the brakes then it was a mechanical failure in my opinion. Someone stated it could of been a maintenance issue. I believe I did more maintenance than required because I treat my machines like I’m going to own them forever. They are never kept outside once I purchase them.

So bottom line I fault kubota not my dealer. You are a valued customer as long as you don’t have a claim.

Loyalty doesn’t mean anything to the corporate personnel, how many of them do you think bought a kubota, especially the customer service representatives that handle complaints.

As said before have a happy merry Xmas.

 

[SDT]

Of course, the dealer can eat it, but that does not make it the dealer's fault.

Regarding the Kubota rep: Once the rep says no, the dealer can do nothing more. BTDT.

This one looks like Kubota's fault, given available information.

SDT

 

[SDT]

I agree with you that it shouldn’t be the manufacturers deciding what is covered or not. When I contacted kubota they said the rep reviewed the claim and we(kubota) stand by that decision.

My dealer ate about 6 to 8 hours of the labor, I am completely satisfied with the dealer. They did several other things they noticed while my machine was setting there without additional charges. I did offer to pay half just to get it settled. I don’t expect the dealer to eat this repair, he is a small dealer and he has costs also to deal with. I fault kubota Corp and kubota Corp alone for my denied claim. I could be all wrong about this but i know I didn’t ride the brakes, if I didn’t ride the brakes then it was a mechanical failure in my opinion. Someone stated it could of been a maintenance issue. I believe I did more maintenance than required because I treat my machines like I’m going to own them forever. They are never kept outside once I purchase them.

So bottom line I fault kubota not my dealer. You are a valued customer as long as you don’t have a claim.

Loyalty doesn’t mean anything to the corporate personnel, how many of them do you think bought a kubota, especially the customer service representatives that handle complaints.

As said before have a happy merry Xmas.

"So bottom line I fault kubota not my dealer. You are a valued customer as long as you don’t have a claim."

Full agreement, 628.

FWIW, my recent issue was also my first denied warranty claim in over 25 years. As I said previousy, things at Kubota have changed recently.

SDT

 

[thekkfan]

I think the dealer should step up. Kubota won't miss him but the dealer may- IF he has received all of these 8 sales.

How is the homeowner supposed to know the lockup/dragging is going to result in a non-warranty related claim? He told the dealer and dealer was fine with him bringing in later. in the year.

So if no flags with dealer when approached with this question, why would owner think otherwise? I think the free dealer labor if I buy the parts is acceptable solution most of us here would be satisfied with. Yes?

 

[diesel85]

^

I would agree.

My dealer has eaten labor as long as I bought or had the parts...

 

[rScotty]

I have a 2017 BX2680 with 208 hours on it. It is used to mow grass and minor other stuff around our place. Noticed earlier this year that the brake pedal would not come back to the "top". Contacted dealer they were extremely busy so I said we could do it later in the year, don't use the brake for anything anyway except for starting the tractor.

Well of course to see what happened they had to split the rear case on the tractor. The brake rotor looked like a car that had been run for 100000 miles with no brake pads. Dealer told me if the brakes are glazed it would not be under warranty. They had the service rep come in, he denied the claim saying it was operator error.

SNIP....

For all of you mechanics out there what do you think?

Thanks

OK... since you asked for a mechanic I'm a pretty good mechanic by anyone's standards - and beyond that I've always been interested in how people and mechanical things work together.

Just to review what we know, you may have been riding the brakes, or the brake system itself may have been slightly actuating the brakes. Heat from braking caused the fallure - but we don't know who/what caused the brakes to drag. And there is no point arguing who caused it because we don't have any way to know who/what caused it - whether it was the operator or the manufacturer.

So that sort of brake system failure is a mechanical problem, and luckily in this case it is one that the tractor industry addressed years ago.

Some history: Back a few decades ago modern manufacturing technology took the old external friction brakes that were easy to see and service and moved them into the rear axle housing for lots of good mechanical reasons - but it also made the brakes no longer easy to monitor. And the move changed the potential damage caused by dragging brakes from an annoyance into a potential major problem. The problem being the one that happened to your tractor.

This potential problem is one of the reasons why it has become a standard in the industry to include a warning light that comes on to show when the internal brakes are actuated.

To say it another way, since the brakes themself can no longer be monitored, it was up to the manufacturer to provide some alternative system - in this case a warning light... just as it is the responsibility of the operator to pay attention to that warning light.

Your particular tractor may or may not have such a warning light. But you can argue that brake warning lights have become an industry standard on most equipment. My Kubota (vintage 2007) has similar internal brakes and it has a brake warning light, so Kubota was one of the manufacturers who were aware of and responsive to that particular problem years ago.
rScotty

 

[thekkfan]

^

I would agree.

My dealer has eaten labor as long as I bought or had the parts...

I'd also say if the dealer wished to inundate himself with NON-warranty work (without time for warranty issues) so that they are not bound to 'set' labor charges on warranty repairs, I believe he is already stating how important your business is/was to his bottom line.

As for the warning light, OP didn't mention nor did he mention if dealer asked about it either. Funny how we as a collective group can troubleshoot this in a few minutes.

 

[CobyRupert]

Dealers fault? Not dealers fault? Rep's fault? Blah blah blah!

Sorry, but a Dealer does represent the brands they sell! (or should!)

They can pass the buck all they want, but THEY ARE KUBOTA'S REPRESENTATIVE. That's what the Kubota sign on the building says. They represented Kubota when you bought it, told you it had a warranty and took your money didn't they?

 

[RandyT]

Dealers fault? Not dealers fault? Rep's fault? Blah blah blah!

Sorry, but a Dealer does represent the brands they sell! (or should!)

They can pass the buck all they want, but THEY ARE KUBOTA'S REPRESENTATIVE. That's what the Kubota sign on the building says. They represented Kubota when you bought it, told you it had a warranty and took your money didn't they?

Kubota would say NO, and I bet the contract that the dealer has with Kubota specifically says that the dealer cannot represent Kubota.

 

[ruffdog]

Kubota would say NO, and I bet the contract that the dealer has with Kubota specifically says that the dealer cannot represent Kubota.

^^agree^^ The manufacturer's service rep is the last word on warranty coverage from the company. The dealer's service manager can help make a "deal" between the 3 of them, or the dealer can alone make a deal with the customer if the manufacturer denies any help. If the dealer sells multi-brands, nothing is stopping them of selling more product of the good manufacturer that helps their customers. A little competition at the dealer level can sure help the outcome.

 

[628pm]

Coby,
Just like every organization, there is a chain of command, and each link only has so much say so. In this case, it would be the mechanic, service manager, owner, regional rep, and so forth. In your occupation unless you owned the business you answer to someone else. I believe this is the same with my dealer. Dealer represents me as a customer and kubota as a dealer, but they have only so much control over warranties. At least that is my opinion.

 

[CobyRupert]

Kubota would say NO, and I bet the contract that the dealer has with Kubota specifically says that the dealer cannot represent Kubota.

They can't represent them??
So I, or anyone, can put a orange Kubota sign on my garage, park a few used, or even new, orange tractors for sale next to it, and Kubota wouldn't have a problem?
Of course they represent them.

 

[rScotty]

I only mentioned the warning light because the OP asked for an opinion by a mechanic. I'm a mechanic....and I was just pointing out that one of the first things that is going to occur to any mechanic is checking how to tell if the brakes are dragging on that machine. The consequences are obvious.
rScotty

 

[CobyRupert]

Coby,
Just like every organization, there is a chain of command.......

Not the customer's problem or concern.

Customer should only deal with ONE company representative, which is the guy he finds behind the counter when he goes into the building advertising themselves as "Kubota".

If that guy passes the buck....then he's passing the buck and his reputation should be treated as such.

 

[628pm]

I started this thread because I wanted to inform Kubota owners that you are at the mercy of someone who doesn't even talk to the customer. There has been some useful info in this thread, and I appreciate all comments. Loyalty to the brand should be a 2 way street, between the manufacturer and customer. I don't believe it happened in my case, but I could be wrong in my opinion. The customer service rep at headquarters ended each message with stating that I was a "valued customer". Well I don't feel that way at this moment. If this would of happened this time next year it would of been out of warranty and I would of said it was on me, but since it didn't I thought man I have a 2 year warranty, isn't that great. As I found out buyer beware on warranties, they are not what they seem. Operator error is a good catch all.

Again thank you for your comments.

 

[dalola]

There is no brake warning light on a BX.

And we do know what happened here. Based on the OP's post, we have an experienced tractor operator who understands how to use & maintain his equipment.

This is a Kubota malfunction, plain & simple. Kubota corp is taking the easy out here, because they know they legally can.

Shame on you, Kubota. :thumbdown:

 

[SDT]

I started this thread because I wanted to inform Kubota owners that you are at the mercy of someone who doesn't even talk to the customer. There has been some useful info in this thread, and I appreciate all comments. Loyalty to the brand should be a 2 way street, between the manufacturer and customer. I don't believe it happened in my case, but I could be wrong in my opinion. The customer service rep at headquarters ended each message with stating that I was a "valued customer". Well I don't feel that way at this moment. If this would of happened this time next year it would of been out of warranty and I would of said it was on me, but since it didn't I thought man I have a 2 year warranty, isn't that great. As I found out buyer beware on warranties, they are not what they seem. Operator error is a good catch all.

Again thank you for your comments.

Bingo, 628.

Manufacturer's service representative interface between Kubota and their dealers service department. They avoid speaking to customers except in rare situations.

Things have changed recently. I expect that your claim would have honored 6-12 months ago.

In the future, except to see more claims denied due to "operator error."

SDT

 

[ruffdog]

Customer should only deal with ONE company representative, which is the guy he finds behind the counter when he goes into the building advertising themselves as "Kubota".

The employees at the dealer are NOT employed by "Kubota". They work for the dealership....look at their pay check. Many dealers have multi-brands in their lots. Do you think certain employees work for each brand only? Yes, I have worked at multiple dealerships and was service manager at 2 of them. I have also attended service tech classes for 3 different brands.

 

[Ortimber]

My observation is this:

Large companies that are growing at a rapid rate (like Kubota) end up losing touch with the values that created the growth and success in the first place. Eventually their focus on the consumer all but disappears and the primary focus is shifted to profitability and board/shareholder satisfaction.

I would bet that 10 years ago, Kubota would’ve stepped up in the OPs situation and made it right.