Is this acceptable quality on a brand new Kubota?

[KennyV]

You are better off than what you started with, and your miserable dealer will continue doing to others like he did you...
You end up better off all the way around. The dealer will no doubt sell someone a tractor with one loaded tire and the other not, unless he can figure how to sell the buyer a pair of loaded tires.
You have discovered who not to do business with and you can help your neighbors by letting them know of your local experience.

 

[Evil the Weasel]

Bandaman,

Your posting was well written and expressive. I could easily see myself feeling exactly the same if I was in your position. I hope you are happy with your new loader. Satisfaction for $$$ is a must. I'm not an expert on weld quality, but some of them still look crummy. I cannot fathom a dealer that would deliver a mower deck in that state. Plus it would have been nice to get it set up, mounted and adjusted so you didn't have to deal with it. I was less than happy with the prep of my tractor, but it got sorted out eventually. I think you need to find a new dealer, preferrably one that cares.

 

[Harvest Moon]

BANDAMAN

I suspect that what you've ended up with will be as reliable and dependable as any of the same but I'm NOT impressed.

I truly hope the days of quality and service are not numbered but based on my experiences with Kubota, I'm not so sure. I think I'll stick with the great Kubota tractor (after two years of resolving it's deficiencies) that I own and forget about getting a better one.

The service you've received is too often accepted and seems to be becoming the norm. I had to dump my dealer, he was like yours but one thing was probably worse, he did it all with a smile.

 

[greenmule]

Well I'm an expert in nothing,but the closest I come in anything IS welds. I have been an inspector for past 25 years,and a certified welding inspector for 25 years,before that[and during] I welded on gas pipelines and related construction. I have inspected in power plants,chemical plants,pipelines,bridge fab shops,etc,etc. I have worked with about every welding code out there.

And I can tell you for a fact,those welds still are unacceptable to any code out there,[plus they are just ugly and sloppy].

Like I said earlier in this thread,you can only get so much out of 12-14 dollar an hour welders. So,to protect your name you have to really go over finished product before it goes out the door. It appears the welders couldn't make acceptable welds,and if there was an inspector looking at finished products,he didn't know what a good one looked like.

Where ever these things are made at,kubota needs to go there and check them out,[with someone who does know],cause this sort a thing will cut their bussiness in half,real quick.

 

[radioman]

All I can say is wow - not a good wow . I see the welds looks better, I cant claim myself an expert in welding- I am still learning on my own but i know what a good, perfect weld looks like (havent acheived it yet) but at least there are no weld spatter, it smoother then before. As for the tires not being filled when swapping it out- that downright suxs. As for noticing the old tire on another tractor in the lot shows you have a sharp eye and shows the type of practices your dealer has. Like I have told other TBN'ers, I would drive out of my way to another dealer for better service, even if it cost me more gas money. Its the kind of guy I am. The reason I have gone to my kubota dealer is because he paid extra attention and literally took the time to "understand" me due to my personal condition and will keep going back until he stops working there if it ever happens . As for the mower deck, not even a simple wash down or verbal offer if you wanted to wait longer to have it cleaned up, but i cant really blame them due to the fact it was still in the crate when you were there and you got it fresh out the crate. Overall - I am surprised you havent ranted louder on this forum, I know I wouldv'e. You show alot of restraint, but persistant on it and that is to be admired for.

Overall - You must be happy to have this over with and can breathe a sigh of relief.

 

[WaxMan]

I kinda thought the Dealer was giving you a hard time, otherwise it would of handled sooner.

You should send a nice thank you letter to Kubota for handling your loader exchange sending you pictures first etc, sounds like they really wanted to please you.
And tell them after all Kubota went through for you in getting you a new loader to make a satisfied customer. Your Dealer on the other hand made every effort to undermine Kubota's efforts by giving you a hard time every step of the way once the dealer had the new loader. This is after Kubota spent so much time trying to satisfy you.
Maybe Kubota will not look to friendly towards that dealer in future specials and discounts. Isn't that a satisfying payback.

One more thing was the dealer aware of this Thread? if he was then post the dealers name. It would be good advertising for the dealer, for the people who don't care, here's a dealer just for them.

 

[greenmule]

Dealers don't make loaders. [Guess he coulda got another brand loader and put on it,but...]

 

[medicshawn]

The dealer response is just sad. I've gotten better customer service from a dealer I have never met in person, only communicated by phone and email. My dealer (Barlows) is 400 miles away. I emailed him pictures of two parts that had cosmetic damage and he sent me warranty replacement parts, done deal. He offered filters to do my 50hr service for missing a promised delivery deadline. I would think in these tough economic times people would be bending over backwards to keep customers. Hopefully you will post the dealer name so other members can avoid it like the plague.

 

[medicshawn]

Hopefully you will get a survey card from Kubota to comment on your dealer. I know I did when I got my stuff switched out under warranty.

 

[BANDAMAN]

BANDAMAN, I was wondering if you could post one more picture that would show the spot where your dealer stuck his advertising decal?

LOL! thanks, that made my day.

Of course, there is not one on it...if there was, it would have come off with a heat gun ASAP.

I'm not sure about posting this dealer's name....not really the way I do business. Not sure about the legal ramifications of that, and not something I want to get into.

Yea, I think they deserve the bad reputation for the lack of service I was given. The owner told me Saturday that I would not have liked it if they had handled this at the dealer level, meaning grinding, rewelding, and painting....I told him that was not the point, I would not have let them do that and that I did not blame them for the loader....of course I know they did not build it. My point to him was that I made this happen (with the help of this thread) and that he (the dealership) did not. I was contacted by Kubota Manufacturing before the dealer gave me any indication that they would support or help me in this matter. Once Kubota made this decision, the dealer was used as the avenue to swap the loader, I really don't think they did anything else...I really felt like they were going out of their way to piss me off....and I could not figure out why. I really wanted to ask Kubota to send this loader to another dealer so I could have been done with them, but I didn't want to make this more difficult for anyone.

I really do think that Kubota wanted to make this right....they made a mistake and corrected it....I knew it would take some time, and that's ok to.....The communication could have been better, but I put that on the dealer and the local Kubota rep (whoever, where ever he may be???) I think the new loader could be better, but its far better then what I had. I do wonder if Japan would have sent me a loader that looked better then this new one? I betcha.