Is tractor buying supposed to be difficult?

[VABlue]

When I bought two weeks ago, I knew what I wanted but just had to pull the trigger. Once I did, the dealer was helpful and quick. I wanted R4 tires but he didn't have them in stock, so I took turf tires and the tractor was delivered the next day. He did say that he would change out the turfs if they didn't work in the woods for me. Haven't tried them yet, but I will this weekend. Both the JD and Kubota dealers seemed good, I chose JD based on ergonomics - all others being comparable. The NH dealer in town seemed to be a sideshow to the main equipment rental business. When I was there, the 15 (or so) employees spent more time talking amoungst themselves and commercial (?) clients than looking in my direction. After ~20 minutes I was told the ONE guy who could sell me a tractor (or even talk about pricing) was out of town at another store. NH lost my business and was out of the running.

Dealers make or break the sale becuase the machines are essentially the same.

 

[weldingisfun]

COMMUNICATIONS.... IF delivery was held up because of something not being in stock, or any other legitimate reason, a phonecall or a visit from the salesman with an explaination would go a long way towards pacifying the customer.

If a dealer has trouble with the very basics of communication skills, who's to say they won't have troubles with more complicated skills such as repairs, prep and delivery, or warranty issues. When I fork out my hard earned cash, I expect the best effort a dealer has to offer. I'm most likely no different than 99% of tractor buyers in that regard. Fall short on those expectations and you have a disgruntled buyer. Next tractor he goes elswhere.

I took the liberty of shortening Farmwithjunk's posting to make my point.
I feel this way about any purchase. It is my money that I am giving to someone to purchase whatever it is they are selling. They have to remember that they have an obligation to me, since they are profiting from my business. If they do not want to put forth the effort to make me, the customer, happy then they can expect that I will not return to them in the future.
There used to be a saying in the sales business, it was; "The customer is always right". Nowadays it seems that has gone the way of free air and water at a "Service" station.
If we all demanded what we are entitled to when we buy from someone rather that accept poor or bad service, the sales community might start to catch on. Wouldn't you think that may be true?

 

[flusher]

Last year I decided to buy a tractor. I went to the John Deere dealer. After waiting quite a while the dealer finally had time to see me. We looked at 3 tractors and I decided to buy one. We picked out several attachments. I went home and he said he was going to email me all of the information including pricing for the attachments. I waited and after a few days emailed him back asking for the information. He then sent it to me with the wrong information. I asked about this and he sent me the right info. Took about a week for this all to transpire. Then I went in and filled out a credit app. It was approved but then I never heard from the guy again. I called, left messages and finally gave up. I talked to other people there who said that he was busy and would pass on messages but after a couple weeks of this I gave up.

For some reason this guy did not want to sell me a tractor. Then we had a major family crisis and I didn't have time to buy or use a tractor. A year later I am back to tractor shopping. I just knew that I didn't want to deal with the same guy and the next closest JD dealer was too far so I started looking for used tractors through private parties. After quite a bit of searching I went to the local Kubota dealer. Again the only one local. I looked at few tractors. Decided on one and filled out the paperwork. Approved and I'm told I'd get the tractor in a week or possibly into the following week. Few days later. No tractor. I email. No response. A few days later I call. Leave a message. No response. Call again leave a message and he calls me back. No tractor and it won't be available for a few more days. I call. No tractor. Few more days. I call mid-week. No tractor. In fact I'm told the parts just arrived that day and I'll have to wait another week. I say I don't understand this. I'm told it takes several days to setup the tractor and assemble the attachments but he would call me back about getting it to me by Friday. I don't get a call back. So now it is Friday. Haven't had the courtesy of a call back even if to just say, Sorry I couldn't help you - much less actually getting the tractor.
So I'm wondering is this typical? Last time I bought a new car I got it same day. Even if it is typical that it would take three weeks (or more) doesn't seem the right way to treat people. I'm considering just canceling and going through the hassle of shopping again. I'm feeling so jilted right now was even considering going back to the JD dealer. Any thoughts?

In May05 I bought a new 21-hp engine Kubota B7510HST with the LA302 FEL from the Kubota dealer in Redding, CA. The tractor was in stock sitting on the lot.

My garage/shop construction wasn't completed until late June, so the dealer held the tractor for about a month. During that time he welded three chain hooks on the FEL bucket free of charge.

He delivered the tractor a day after the construction was complete and spent an hour with me demonstrating the tractor's features.

In July 06 I bought a used 45-hp engine MF-135 from a local seller. Part of the deal was that he deliver the tractor (about 6 mile trip to my place). Bought the tractor on a Saturday and he delivered the following Monday.

So far my tractor-buying experiences have been pleasant.

Going after a JD-3020 next. Hope to have similar success.

 

[weldingisfun]

In May05 I bought a new 21-hp engine Kubota B7510HST with the LA302 FEL from the Kubota dealer in Redding, CA. The tractor was in stock sitting on the lot.

My garage/shop construction wasn't completed until late June, so the dealer held the tractor for about a month. During that time he welded three chain hooks on the FEL bucket free of charge.

He delivered the tractor a day after the construction was complete and spent an hour with me demonstrating the tractor's features.

In July 06 I bought a used 45-hp engine MF-135 from a local seller. Part of the deal was that he deliver the tractor (about 6 mile trip to my place). Bought the tractor on a Saturday and he delivered the following Monday.

So far my tractor-buying experiences have been pleasant.

Going after a JD-3020 next. Hope to have similar success.

And that is the reason you will buy again from that dealer. He treated you as a valued customer and earned your future business. I'll bet he is either an older man or he just opened his business.

 

[Kendall69]

I purchased from Kentucky, I'm in Kaulifornia. This was in 1999 shortly after Al Gore invented the internet, and this dealer went out of his way to make me feel like I was in the neighborhood.

I ordered some unusal things that had to be custom done, along with all the usual addons. The saleperson took daily, yes I said daily digital pictures of the progress and placed them on his web site for me to view in a private area. WHAT !!!! How cool was that. We all want to check on our new toys daily cmon, you know we do, well this guy knew that. Sure they were silly pictures of the Cab being installed, ot the hooks being welded to the bucket, backhoe added etc, I loved it.

Everything was done as if the dealership was a block away - actually better than the dealership that I do have a block away, this guy is a real scum.

Tractor showed up when promised ( with a box of goodies, filters, hat etc ) the tractor hit the ground running and has never been in the shop for repairs.

Like they say a picture id worth a thousand words. Communication is key. How difficult is it ot call a customer and give them an update - even if it is bad news.

 

[RedRiver]

That is beyond ridiculous, if they are that uninterested in a customer wanting to buy a tractor ,think about how helpful they will be when/if you have any problems with your tractor. Find another dealer, I wouldn't give anyone a penny of my money that acted like that.

 

[patrick_g]

A truly sad story but unfortunately not unique. It is not a statement against a particular brand or group of brands like green or orange. It just shows continuing evidence of the deterioration of civility. It is totally inappropriate to treat anyone so poorly whether they are buying a $50K tractor or a root beer float.

What is even more unfortunate is how wide spread this phenomenon has become. If you just totally refuse to do business with anyone or any business who treats you in a rude and substandard manner you will in time have nowhere to do business.

The new truck we just bought doesn't have keyless entry. While working the deal and filling out all the paperwork the finance manager took our personal check for $50 to get us an extra fob to control the keyless entry. After a bewildering array of different printouts for different trucks I guess I may have been overwhelmed by input and become confused about the keyless entry but apparently so did the salesman and finance manager. They offered to let me pay "cost" to get a keyless entry installed. I counter offered to let them pay the whole thing. I was led astray by talking to a live person instead of reading the fine print. It won't happen again. They whinned a lot but are going to install the keyless entry.

Pat

 

[Bedlam]

Can be the usual I guess these days.
I dealt with the same dealer for about 10 years in the 70's. then he went out, and I delt with the replacement dealer for many many years, going through a few tractors. NO TROUBLES.
But a few years ago a bigger company made him an offer, and they run the show , now, He is a sale man there.
I went there several times and they never got back to me. I emailed the tractor trade pics, and no reply.
It seemed to me that they didn't need my business.
Its been two years now, I'm still waiting to hear from them. I did however contact another dealer 3 hours away. I got an email reply that they would surely want my business, and gave me a couple of quotes. They followed with a personal phone call.
I was inpressed by this.I told him I was interested, but would get back to him, and he was fine with that.
I guess some get so big that they dont care about the smaller sales anymore.
Oh Well.Guess I stick with the old one.Al

 

[ToadHill]

Before I bought my Kioti DK35 I looked at JD, Kubota and New Holland. Kioti dealer told me I would be better off selling my trade in than taking what he was willing to give me . The other 3 promised to come and look at my trade and give me a price. Never heard from any of them again. I went with the honest dealer. By the was I got $1200 more selling the trade on my own.

 

[xreliable]

I live in San Fran Bay area. I've lived and worked all over the country but California has been the worst place by far to deal with local companies. I lived in NY City and while the people could be abrasive most businesspeople had professional standards. They might talk loud and fast but at least you get a call back when you should be getting one. In CA it seems like everyone I do business with just has this "I don't care attitude." It's not even an in your face, screw you type thing. Just complete and total apathy. It is a wonder that CA has the 6th largest economy in the world. How does anything ever get done?

Then when you ask them why you didn't get a call back or a follow up of some kind they are like, I understand and you're right but then it is the same thing. With what everything costs in CA you'd think people would be motivated to have customers - to pay their bills. But it just doesn't happen. I went to buy a truck last year and one salesman tried to sell me 24" rims and a drug-dealer pimp package when I told him I just wanted a standard truck. Then he actually yelled at me over the phone and intimated that I was a total idiot when I suggested a price. Needless to say I ended up going with a different dealer but it's sad that you have to go with a company 50 miles away to find someone that treats you decently.

Last week the tractor dealer said he'd call me back and never did. So I call him today ready to cancel the deal and he's sort of like "yeah we'll try to deliver your tractor tomorrow." No explanation, no apology. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

A truly sad story but unfortunately not unique. It is not a statement against a particular brand or group of brands like green or orange. It just shows continuing evidence of the deterioration of civility. It is totally inappropriate to treat anyone so poorly whether they are buying a $50K tractor or a root beer float.

What is even more unfortunate is how wide spread this phenomenon has become. If you just totally refuse to do business with anyone or any business who treats you in a rude and substandard manner you will in time have nowhere to do business.

The new truck we just bought doesn't have keyless entry. While working the deal and filling out all the paperwork the finance manager took our personal check for $50 to get us an extra fob to control the keyless entry. After a bewildering array of different printouts for different trucks I guess I may have been overwhelmed by input and become confused about the keyless entry but apparently so did the salesman and finance manager. They offered to let me pay "cost" to get a keyless entry installed. I counter offered to let them pay the whole thing. I was led astray by talking to a live person instead of reading the fine print. It won't happen again. They whinned a lot but are going to install the keyless entry.

Pat