Kubota Letter/Cracked fenders/battery cover

[Musclford]

F.Y.I.

I sent the following letter to Kubota and hope to get a response in the near future...

Every dealer I've asked doesn't know anything about the cracking fenders.. And, there seems to be some uncertainty about a redesign in the works... So, I thought I'd give the following a try.. Can't hurt....

I'll obviously post my findings when available..




"I just recently purchased a BX2350.

I did a lot of research before purchasing and concluded from previous experience and others input that Kubota is exceptional in quality and durability. However, I asked my current dealer about a couple of issues with the BX's that appear to be very real. They say they haven't had anyone complain and know nothing about the issues.

The new PLASTIC fenders are prone to cracking.. We haven't even seen cold weather yet and many are experiencing this. Some dealers are telling owners that Kubota is redesigning the fenders. Will you confirm if this issue is in fact being looked at and possibly being addressed?

Also, the fit of the battery cover is horrible on both my unit and a countless number of other BX owners.
The tabs on my brand new unit at delivery were broken and not fitting properly. I could blame the dealer for not catching this, but they have promised a replacment as soon as I get them mine. Again, I've spoke with a number of owners that are experiencing similar issues.

For being an improved model, Kubota appears to have stepped backwards on the new BX's, especially using plastic on a work tractor.

If Kubota doesn't believe the plastic fenders are an issue, please refer to the following link.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/kubota-owning-operating/85514-what-kubota-doing-about-broken.html

I realize that manufacturers won't likely use internet forums as proof of problems and OEM's have multiple ways to track dealer warranties, but I can assure you that forums directly affect sales...

I was seriously considering a competitors sub compact, but I purchased the Kubota BX solely because of the loyalty of many Kubota owners and the high regard for the product. I must say I'm a little disheartend to read some of the discussions recently of the BX's fit and finish issues.

Can you please respond if Kubota is aware of the issues and are addressing them? Please don't reply with canned responses.. I as well as many others are very concerned and would like to know the current status.

Best regards and thank you in advance for your response.."

 

[RonR]

Hey good letter and all, but I'd be suprised if you received a reply. Or if you do, it probably will be a "thank you for purchasing our product. We value you as a customer and thank you for your input." Never one mentioning why you wrote or responding to specific complaints.........

I had an "encounter" with Bota USA a coupla yrs ago. Seems they didn't like the fact that I was using a name for myself that included the use of their K word. They (correctly) pointed out that since I had no affiliation with them, I had no right to use that name in my side biz. And if I didn't cease and desist immediately, they had a roomful of lawyers that could help me change my mind.

They were 100% correct, and the lady that spoke to me was very nice. Obviously, she knew her job well and was pleasant to deal with, as long as I agreed to comply.

Hey, I don't fault them at all--they were just doing their job. But I really don't expect they will take the time to respond personally to a customer complaint.

I hope you are pleasantly surprised, but I wouldn't hold my breathe.

Ron

 

[bill177]

I can assure you that forums do, in fact, influence purchases. In my specific instance, I shied away from Kubota for reason of the "broken fender" and "slam stop" issues. I purchased a Massey Furgeson GC2300 and am immensley pleased with my choice.

As an additional point: I sent several emails to Kubota regarding both of these issues. I received ZERO replies - that is NONE! If a company is not interested in operating in the modern world of the Internet, why have an email address or a web site?

I enjoy the great amount of information and experience on various forums that interest me. They have saved me time, money, and aggravation many times over.

My advice to sellers, manufacturers, importers: Pay great heed to what your customers/potential customers are saying about your products. Demonstrate great product support - loudly. You are going to be discussed in a good or bad light in the forums - you control which.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Musclford . . . Interesting.

1. You don't have a problem with your tractor that your dealer is not addressing.
2. You may never have a problem with your tractor.

Yet you choose to send a letter that discusses a myriad of points, confusingly changes tenses, and suggests mostly annonymous 3rd party sources as your evidence.

I would be very surprised if you received any reply beyond a form letter as pointed out by RonR.


Bill177 . . . I do agree with you about what manufacturers should do with regard to email and forums. It has always been a curiosity to me that manufacturers will provide for a link for questions/contact on their website and then ignore the questions/feedback that they recieve.

 

[Buster57]

Musclford . . . Interesting.

1. You don't have a problem with your tractor that your dealer is not addressing.
2. You may never have a problem with your tractor.

Yet you choose to send a letter that discusses a myriad of points, confusingly changes tenses, and suggests mostly annonymous 3rd party sources as your evidence.

I would be very surprised if you received any reply beyond a form letter as pointed out by RonR.


Bill177 . . . I do agree with you about what manufacturers should do with regard to email and forums. It has always been a curiosity to me that manufacturers will provide for a link for questions/contact on their website and then ignore the questions/feedback that they recieve.

I thought the letter was well written. 6-8 weeks ago I sent a stronger letter to Kubota with pictures, serial numbers and offered instances where I thought the tractor was unsafe. Specifically on a steep hill in reverse it may become unstable.

I never received a reply of any kind from Kubota but was told that it was received and reviewed by Kubota and discussed by Corporate with my dealer.

Not what I would consider very good communication.

TBN is why I went with Kubota. They should be paying attention to the message boards, and I am sure they do. But judging from history, don't expect them to respond.

 

[RonR]

Buster, you might have gotten the reply based on one word you used: Safety.

That word sends chills through the corporate world, in my opinion, cuz it tells them they are on notice of a potential safety defect with the use of their product. And it's in writting. So if something happens later, even the dumbest lawyers can find a letter like yours, and the execs will have nightmares over depositions that go like this:

Attny A: "Mr. K, did you receive a ltr from my client informing you of a potential safety defect in your product?"

Mr. K: "Well, I think we did.................."

Attny A: "Well, Mr. K, you failed to act on this, correct? And now my client is injured gravely, will be unable to work forever, yada, yada, yada, and needs you to provide him with $20 Million in compensation, pain, and suffering........"

At this point, Mr. K wakes from his nightmare in a cold sweat!

In the past, at work, we've tried to fix a lot of issues for the employees. The one thing that opens every door is when you can show it's a SAFETY issue!

Have fun,
ron

 

[ultrarunner]

Safety is a catch-word that gets attention. I had a problem with a new hand held cable winch breaking. The dealer referred me to the manufacturer.

I wrote the manufacturer and did not get a reply. I then contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The CPSC sent a field investigator to my house to examine the winch and had me demonstrate how I was using it when it failed.

The upshot of the story is the manufacturer had switched from a grade 5 spindle bolt on the cable spool to a ungraded bolt. The CPSC ordered a product recall.

The manufacturer eventually contacted me and offered to refund my full purchase price if I would be kind enough to return the winch at their expense.

I told the manufacturer that I no longer had the winch and had given it to the CPSC for testing, but they could still send me a refund! To my surprise they agreed and apologized that my letter had gotten lost. They also said that they were no longer using ungraded bolts.

 

[Musclford]

Musclford . . . Interesting.

1. You don't have a problem with your tractor that your dealer is not addressing.
2. You may never have a problem with your tractor.

Yet you choose to send a letter that discusses a myriad of points, confusingly changes tenses, and suggests mostly annonymous 3rd party sources as your evidence.

You make some valid points but I would still post the same letter...

There are some people that still like to help others and not necessarily think of only themselves.

Yes, I don't have cracked fenders "yet", but it appears to be an issue and I merely asked if a redesign was in the works... A little bit of planning/research could help not only me, but others experiencing the problems.

I do have a problem with the battery cover, of which was mentioned in the letter, and your right the dealer is addressing the fact that the cover had a broken tab, but I'll bet the new one still doesn't fit as well as most of us would like.

If I don't get a reply, I wasted 5 mins of my time, and 30 seconds of those interested in the topic. I knew of these issues before I bought the bota, and I still bought it.. But, I will guarantee that if I look hard enough, I'll find ongoing issues with EVERY manufacturer out there... Especially NPI's

I work for a very large manufacturer of heavy equipment. I know first hand that products have been redesigned at one time or another and was probably a step backwards once it was in the hands of the customer. Field testing doesn't find every scenario no matter how much planning you do. However, we take the voice of the customer very serious and perhaps I'm assuming Kubota would do the same. My assumptions could be very wrong....

I can assure you that if cylinders were dropping, FEL's were cracking due to the redesign, or something severe existed wich prevented me from using my tractor, I probably would have been less likely to purchase one. However, I can still use it with a cracked fender and a battery cover that doesn't fit real nice....

Either way, I hoped to get a black and white answer from Kubota if they were aware of the problems and more importantly if they were addressing them.

Many have posted that they're dealers said Kubota was redesigning the fenders, going to redesign, or didn't know anything about it. I talked to three separate dealers before I purchased and they all shrugged it off, so I went higher up the ladder.....

I see nothing wrong with what I did, and quite honestly will pursue a call directly to Kubota if I don't get a reply...

As far as the changing of tenses, SORRY, perhaps I should have proof read it a bit closer for grammer issues, but at 1:00 a.m., I really didn't care to....

As far as the annonymous sources, again, I'm not taking them to court, "YET" , I posted a link to this web site which has multiple concerns of the issues that I inquired about and I feel it was good enough for anyone that has delt with customer issues....

I don't care if they grade my grammer, although, I know that it probably effects credibility. (btw, can't remember if I should have used effects, or affects.. Perhaps you could clarify that for me)

If my fenders where to crack tomorrow and my dealer installs identical replacements, I'll be extremely aggressive at contacting a regional rep, and, if they still don't address it, I'll fabricate my own reinforcement to hopefully reduce the risk of it happening again. Furthermore, it will leave me with a memory of how I was treated the next time I upgrade machines....

Regards,

 

[Musclford]

Buster, you might have gotten the reply based on one word you used: Safety.

That word sends chills through the corporate world, in my opinion, cuz it tells them they are on notice of a potential safety defect with the use of their product. And it's in writting. So if something happens later, even the dumbest lawyers can find a letter like yours, and the execs will have nightmares over depositions that go like this:

Attny A: "Mr. K, did you receive a ltr from my client informing you of a potential safety defect in your product?"

Mr. K: "Well, I think we did.................."

Attny A: "Well, Mr. K, you failed to act on this, correct? And now my client is injured gravely, will be unable to work forever, yada, yada, yada, and needs you to provide him with $20 Million in compensation, pain, and suffering........"

At this point, Mr. K wakes from his nightmare in a cold sweat!

In the past, at work, we've tried to fix a lot of issues for the employees. The one thing that opens every door is when you can show it's a SAFETY issue!

Have fun,
ron

Amen, that word is king at work.. so much that everyone that even attempts to walk in the factory must have steel toed shoes, ear and eye protection and NO rings..... There is nothing wrong with working safely, but unfortunately, for most companies, the only reason that it's important is it could ultimately cost them a fortune if they don't enforce it...

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I'm sorry if you took offense to what I wrote, it was simply an observation, and probably the same observation that some of the folks at Kubota will make. It was not intended to be an insult, but I suppose you could take it as criticism.

The problem with tractor problems is that they are mechanical things made by man. Anything made by man is bound to be broken by man. A general letter from someone who has not had a problem will very likely be treated totally differently than a specific letter from someone with a specific problem or defect.

In the case of the fenders, some people have had problems and some have not. Some dealers seem to be aware of the problem and some do not. At least one or two large dealers have been contacted about a fix. Is Kubota suffering from the same disease as the Kioti corporation with regards to lack of communication? I don't yet know. But it sure might be. Then again, there seems to be a reasonable body of evidence that they are in the process of making a fix and that there are dealers who have customers who have had problems and those dealers have received information.

With regard to other posts in this thread, specifically safety on slopes and hills, there is no question in my mind that a traditional tractor is generally unsafe on slopes and hills. There is also ample warning in owners manuals on how to operate on slopes and hills and those warning should be heeded. But I don't think that the fact that tractors are unstable on hills are design flaws, I think that most instances of tractors rolling over are operator error due to bad judgement and not following safety proceedures.

Just trying to throw in a little objectivity here folks.

My New Holland is just as unstable on slopes as my Kubota, and the only reason my Cub Cadet marginally worked on my slopes is because it was so small, and because I kept chains and wheel weights on it, but even operating that was fairly scaring. My Ventrac is designed for slopes, it will spin circles around any fixed frame tractor with its articulated and oscillating frame design, and it will spin those circles and cut 'figure 8' patters on the steepest slopes I have. I'd be willing to suggest that if you have slopes that are unsafe to operate on then the tractor manufacturer will suggest you purchased the wrong machine.