Ignorant, uninformed, lazy or ??? Dealers

rback33 · Mar 2, 2007

Oleozz said:
It seems like quite a few folks have had the same experience at the JD dealers. It doesn't seem to be in any one part of the country either, although the JD dealers that frequent this site sure don't seem that way. I think we are real lucky to have dealers on this site who give out good information and are willing to help with problems.

I know you meant this, but I want to reiterate that the last statement is true of ALL brands.

N80 · Mar 2, 2007

I agree. I found the local Kubota and JD dealerships to be the best. The NH and Massey the worst. So I don't see any one brand having worse dealerships than another. And in reality, it might even vary from day to day. Salesmen have bad days too. But when I'm looking to buy and someone won't give me the time of day, I consider it their loss, not mine. So I don't take it personally. The guy might be a great guy 99% of the time, but if I catch him on the 1% day, he loses a sale. That's just life in the jungle.

kubotaman68 · Mar 2, 2007

N80 said:
I agree. I found the local Kubota and JD dealerships to be the best. The NH and Massey the worst. So I don't see any one brand having worse dealerships than another. And in reality, it might even vary from day to day. Salesmen have bad days too. But when I'm looking to buy and someone won't give me the time of day, I consider it their loss, not mine. So I don't take it personally. The guy might be a great guy 99% of the time, but if I catch him on the 1% day, he loses a sale. That's just life in the jungle.

I agree with that but when i bought my first kubota I went to the dealership on a sat at closing the salesguy was in a big hurry to get out , I was put out that he couldn't be bothered so I called the owner the next week and made mention of his haste to leave in spite of my presence. Turned out much to my embarassment his son had fallen at a friends house and was in the ER and he was headed there to be with him. Not everything is what it seems I guess. So a couple weeks later I went back and bought . no regrets honest fair reasonable price. never would have known that if I had taken my first impression at face value

ultrarunner · Mar 2, 2007

I bought Kubota and a lot of my decision on where to buy was based on a no-nonsense salesman. He knew the product and was able to give me a price without having to "Check" with someone.

My JD experience was like others. I visited several JD Dealers and none of them had the time could give me the time of day. I left my name with two of them and never got a call.

In all fairness, I stopped at a JD Dealer several months ago on my travels and the guys could not have been any nicer. They said that they are a small family owned business and they could not stay in business if they turned folks away.

Like everything, there is the good, the bad, with most somewhere in between.

shvl73 · Mar 2, 2007

rback33 said:
I know you meant this, but I want to reiterate that the last statement is true of ALL brands.

Yes but,
The Mahindra dealers on TBN are most certainly among the best!
Torin (a possibly biased Mahindra owner)

Cliff_Johns · Mar 2, 2007

My data point would be that the JD dealers I went to (three) were helpful and friendly. Two of the JD dealers were premium in my opinion.

I went to a Kubota/NH dealer who was flipant and downright obnoxious. Then I find out that the salesmen I was talking to was one of the owners. Geez.

The other Kubota dealer was knowledgeable and friendly like the JD dealers.

It's luck of the draw and has more to do with the dealership owners than the tractor.

Cliff

wallace · Mar 2, 2007

Okay I have a question for you as a potential buyer...
This is a big gripe that one of my VERY good employies have about me..
In case you don't know I am a owner and we (my wife and I) don't have sales personal.
Just setting the stage..

The problem is the way I dress.
Do you expect a "tractor salesman" to be in a tie or is it okay if I walk out of the shop in my jeans and t shirt with grease stains a weldin holes in it.

I am very active in my business I attend ALL the schools and I am very hands on.
I have ruined several nice shirts and jackets because a customer came in with their tractor on a trailer and it was broke.
I told wait we can fix it right on the trailer and crawled under and fixed it on the spot (something easy) instead of pulling one of my mechanics off the job I don't mind getting dirty, don't get me wrong I don't look like a bum I just don't wear kakies.

Please give me your honest opinion.

Bird · Mar 2, 2007

Do you expect a "tractor salesman" to be in a tie or is it okay if I walk out of the shop in my jeans and t shirt with grease stains a weldin holes in it.

I would NOT expect a tractor salesman to be wearing a suit or coat & tie, or even a tie. Personally, I would expect a tractor salesman to try to be wearing clean and undamaged clothes, but jeans, or other work type clothes, are what I would expect.

spanky8N · Mar 2, 2007

Bird said:
2) he wasn't afraid to say, "I don't know" instead of making up an answer if he didn't know, QUOTE]

I would buy from him without looking back. By admitting he is unsure of the correct answer he is proving his honesty upfront before any money has changed hands.
Dan

Cliff_Johns · Mar 2, 2007

wallace said:
Do you expect a "tractor salesman" to be in a tie or is it okay if I walk out of the shop in my jeans and t shirt with grease stains a weldin holes in it.

That's a good question. I guess I'd answer it as Bird did. I'd expect the salesmen to be cleaned up, more or less, but work clothes are fine -- even expected.

Still, if you came from the back where you were obviously working on tractors, I'd feel like I was keeping you from important work, and I wouldn't spend much time there. What's more I might wonder -- are the mechanics also salesmen or are the salesmen also the mechanics. Some quick explaination would be in order.

Cliff