I should be happy, but I'm not.

[arrow]

I agree in part with MacDab. Think like the businessman and use this experience as buying leverage. State to the manager you are planning to buy a bunch of stuff, that you were unhappy with delivery and you'll give him a chance to make it up to you. It was not appropriate to give you a dirty tractor used or not. The mindset at that dealership needs altering. A good dealership would have had that thing spic and spanned automatically. "As is" means to me you pay for existing repair. You should have only gone to that dealer twice. Once to pick out the tractor, and the other to own it and in your possession. You are dealing with an old country mentality and these things you experienced do not bother that mentality. It comes down to whose going to adapt to whom. Don't think you have much chance but I'd give it a shot anyway. I always tell people "Do whatever you need to do, but then so will I"

 

[GreenWannabe]

My experience with Tri-Green couldn't have been more pleasant. Granted, I was buying a '94 model LX176 lawn tractor, not a bigger machine, and this was my first time buying. The salesman held it for me even though he had four others in line behind me, who might have even offered him more than asking - which was a good price when comparing to other dealers in MachineFinder. I went to the Athens store, and talked to Bobby. The parts staff and the service staff have also been good to me. Bobby even delivered it for me, after telling me they couldn't do it.

I understand that Tri-Green is more like an amalgamation of individual stores still run by many of the same people rather than a monolithic corporate monster. It is possible that you could find different treatment at a different store.

Their corporate headquarters is in a temporary facility on Slaughter Road in Huntsville. You might try calling there and talking to someone.

 

[Ken Cunningham]

I just bought a used 1070 yesterday with a new 300cx loader. When i asked about touch up paint, the saleman said "well give you a can", also said they would do a basic service on the machine as well as throw in a owners manual at there expense , plust put a hidden kill switch on it when i asked about the best way to try to prevent theft. All of this, plus the tractor has a front mounted push blade, for 8500.00! I am very happy with my experience, but i have to wait 12 days for the mounting post for the loader to come in. If in that time they were to use it to work on lthere sales lot I would be very upset and every one at the place would know it! O allmost forgot to mention, they are delivering it for free!

 

[exiled]

I went to the Athens store, and talked to Bobby.

If this is Athens Al. I think Bobby had given me a quote 1 time but all the other times I talked with King. Once King was out and another salesman made me a quote. If I could have swung the payments on a new machine it would have been bought from King.
The Tri-Green gang is a joke. I have priced packages consisting of 5303 tractoer and 512 loader, 275 haymower, and 457 bailer at the Madson, Flourance, Leighton, Cullman and Decatur stores as packages they are all with in $700 of each other. I'm sorta thinking the differnces might be in the Taxes cause all my quotes are tax and all out the door. But.... if your drive to everone and buy 1 piece from each one you will save $3462. I got to noticing that they have price list already maded up of combos. If you want to just buy a single piece they have to look up on line, then go to a book then pull out a calculator and crunch some numbers. For examble all the Tri-Greens but Leighton wants $4500 or some where close for a 512 loader. Leighton quoted me the loader for $3800, but their 5303 was like $700 more than everybody else's. They have it worked out where they're going to get $X however you chose to do it. The only way to get a break is like I said "drive all over N Al and buy 1 piece at a time.

Ken good deal. Hope you work the mess out of that thing. Glad to hear you where taking care of.

 

[Nuru]

If this is Athens Al. I think Bobby had given me a quote 1 time but all the other times I talked with King. Once King was out and another salesman made me a quote. If I could have swung the payments on a new machine it would have been bought from King.
The Tri-Green gang is a joke. I have priced packages consisting of 5303 tractoer and 512 loader, 275 haymower, and 457 bailer at the Madson, Flourance, Leighton, Cullman and Decatur stores as packages they are all with in $700 of each other. I'm sorta thinking the differnces might be in the Taxes cause all my quotes are tax and all out the door. But.... if your drive to everone and buy 1 piece from each one you will save $3462. I got to noticing that they have price list already maded up of combos. If you want to just buy a single piece they have to look up on line, then go to a book then pull out a calculator and crunch some numbers. For examble all the Tri-Greens but Leighton wants $4500 or some where close for a 512 loader. Leighton quoted me the loader for $3800, but their 5303 was like $700 more than everybody else's. They have it worked out where they're going to get $X however you chose to do it. The only way to get a break is like I said "drive all over N Al and buy 1 piece at a time.

Ken good deal. Hope you work the mess out of that thing. Glad to hear you where taking care of.

I had a dealer I dealt with that was less than 6 miles from my house, when i lived in another state. I bought a lawn tractor from this dealer one year and called him the next to trade up to a compact tractor, a 4100. The guy basically dissed me on the phone for shopping prices, and so I ended up going 35 miles to get the 4100. So i feel your discouragement and I agree with your remedy

 

[Willis Fecon Bushhogging]

Your post takes this converstion to new places thank you. !st and foremost. I do not regret buying green. Nor do I regret buying that machine. I just dont see someone giving me $16,000 and I treat them this way. Dude knows I'm coming back to buy a haycutter, rake, and bailer. No not this week, and maybe not this year. I hope it is this summer I'll just have to see if cattle drops anymore or start coming back up. If your into this busness than your aware just how much where talking about. $16000 will barely cover a used new bailer.

No my bill just says as is. I dont assume anything. It just never dawned on me that I would have to wait for somebody to do nothing at all or that I could buy a machine from a dealer that was low on fluids. See thats the point. The name John Deere stands on its own. It does'nt need a pencil pusher to move it's products. How do you sell something to someone and dont even check to see if it's fluids are full?
I did'nt waste any time dealing w/ it. I just brought the tractor home yesterday. I know the manger was'nt there yesterday. Cause I was going to ask him what was the "meaning" of getting a tractor "ready" while I waited for the saleman to find the pins for my brand new mx6 cutter that should have been already "ready". I want my customers to tell me if I did or did'nt do something that bothered them. I did'nt ask for he saleman to throw anything in for free. I did'nt bother him for a hat. I did'nt try to talk his price down. I'm not asking for anything I did'nt pay for. It is crappy busness to sell anything that is'nt suitable under a banner that states its products are better than any other.
No I have'nt made a mistake. If I make a mistake I'll say so. I cant even say I made the mistake of doing busness w/ a bad dealership. I had no way of knowing that this was going to go down like this. I live and I learn. The mistake was on their part. I will tell everybody. I'm a supervisior at a grain elevator. Thats right there is alot of green blooded farmers that I see everyday. I'm talking farmers that truely trust me. Monday morning I'll even call the busness burue.

Well most of what Im going to say has already been said. In my younger days (hot headed and a big pride) I would do what you say, dont talk to the dealer and take your friends with you to another dealer.
A bunch older now and sometimes I want to think wiser, I would swallow my pride, take their offer and then decide if you want to go to another dealer. I wouldnt take my friends with me, that may kick you in the butt. If you take your friends with you to another dealer and they have a bad experience, they may blame you, good way to lose friends.
You will be the bigger person, if you do what your wife says and give them a chance to fix their mess and at least you might get some sort of closer, this means more as you get older. As my wife tells me often, "you should have listened to me" So do what she said and you will be a bigger man.
It sounds like they dropped the ball (bad salesman) but are willing to make it right. I always check the fluids in anything Im buying, it will tell stories, if you look good. I look for oil in water, water in oil, metal in hyd fluid, leaking cylinders, etc. I try to get a oil sample if I can, this is pretty popular now and most dealers can offer this, if you ask for it. More than likely, if you trade something in, they will do a oil sample.
As far as the dirty machine, they shouldnt have been trying to demo it in this condition, bad idea. You should have made them clean and service the machine before you signed the contract, its hard to check a machine out, that is that dirty.
OK Im finished, let the dealer make it right, make sure the owner knows about the crappy salesman. You might find out that next time you might get a better deal, because they sc-ewed you the first time.
A little of this was your fault, so realise it. I have been there and do that. Forgot JD green is the best

 

[exiled]

A little of this was your fault, so realise it.

If there is any fault it is in deed all mine. I know what I should have done and what needed to be done. But the word fault really has no home here. Why I say that is. Cause I took off work thursday to sign the papers. This tractor was in the same spot it had been at. No not in the line up but right in the spot where it was shut down for what ever reason being worked grading their lot. 2 days earlier I put down $1000 on the tractor. At what point do you take a customer serious that they are going to buy something. So now I have sign the contract with John Deere they are sending $16000 to this dealership. The tractor is mine. Right now Feb, 14-08 I'm tired just glad its over and ready to move on I'm willing to take the tractor home as it sits. The salesman will not let it go I have to wait untell its ready, which he says it will be in the morning. When its "ready" its in the same spot same shape it was for the last 3 weeks. You dang right I could have left it. Maybe I should have. Time restraints was working against me. I burnt 3 days working this out already. Its just clear to me that I bought a tractor from them and thats that. I'm going on with life just like that. I bought a tractor from them so what no big deal. I'll buy another piece of equiment from somewhere else see how that goes. If it goes good I'll return. Again I bought a tractor from a tri-green dealer no big deal. Just like they sold a tractor to some grain elavator operator who trys his hand at raising cattle. No big deal.

 

[ChuckinNH]

You dang right I could have left it. Maybe I should have. Time restraints was working against me. I burnt 3 days working this out already. Its just clear to me that I bought a tractor from them and thats that. I'm going on with life just like that. I bought a tractor from them so what no big deal.

Well, there is no fault here, and no blame either, you made that clear. There is a lot of luck though. You are a lucky man Exiled. You bought a used tractor "as is" with no warranty without ever even checking any of the fluid levels before laying down your money. I think you are pretty lucky that the fluid that was missing from the radiator wasn't in the oil pan.

It's also quite clear that you didn't follow your plan of "going on with life, and that's that."

Let's end this thread, and get back to talkng about tractors, projects, and the positive things about being stewards of our land.

 

[TMoore]

I've purchased a Gator CX, a 757, a 90" finishing mower, a box blade and now I've bought a new 5303 with a loader from Tri Green in Mt. Juliet, TN all in the last 8 months and without a doubt my purchasing experiences have been first class. I'm in the capital equipment sales business and I wish my company worked as well as Tri Green does. They have staff that knows what's going on, they always take care of me.

I know this, I'll take this thread to the Segment Manager at Tri Green and see what he has to say about it because if I was this mad, I would never have spent much time posting about it but would have spent my time in front of the District Manager for JD and wore his ***** out about it..............but that's me.

TM

 

[exiled]

TM, Thank you. But pleeeeeeeese, dont. This thing will not end untell its just left alone. I'm glad your happy and was treated well. I've had a friend speak up for me over this crud and it went crazy. I know you mean well. Life is going on.