Looking at Bad Boy Tractors, thoughts?

[KennyG]

I noticed an interesting twist when I spoke to a Bad Boy Dealer in the Austin area. This is the policy that they described to me.

Buy from them

1. Maintenance on their customer’s equipment is prioritized over other dealer’s equipment
2. Labor rates are $40/hour higher on repairs for equipment not bought from them

I think Item 1 makes some sense. I think Item 2 would make me run the other way.

 

[2manyrocks]

IMO, that is at odds with branding. Have also seen a dealer for chinese mini ex post they only stock parts for their customers.

 

[BigBlue1]

I noticed an interesting twist when I spoke to a Bad Boy Dealer in the Austin area. This is the policy that they described to me.

Buy from them

1. Maintenance on their customer’s equipment is prioritized over other dealer’s equipment
2. Labor rates are $40/hour higher on repairs for equipment not bought from them

I've always hated dealers that show favoritism like that. One way or the other the customer is paying them for a service and putting someone behind another customer because of where they bought is just a dick move. Most car dealers, at least those I know about here in MN, have moved away from that concept long ago.

 

[2manyrocks]

My thinking is to avoid both that dealer and the brand that the dealer is servicing.

 

[5030]

Both of those policies would tend to make me avoid that dealer. In my opinion both are signs of a beginner mechanic without much general experience. That is not a professional attitude at all - focused on money rather than the job.
But I've got old fashioned values....now out of date....and curious what others think....
rScotty

Have no issue with part A. In fact my long established Kubota dealer works on that very principle.

Not part B. My Kubota dealer charges the same labor rate for everyone and anyone but I get a discounted labor rate because I work there part time. I actually told him to increase his base labor rate last year as he wasn't charging enough and he did and passed on the difference to his employees. He will remain nameless but suffice to say he was charging 80 bucks an hour and got him to bump it up to 100 bucks an hour. He didn't sacrifice any business either. He's always busy, winter and summer, probably because his technicians know what they are doing and rarely are there any 'comebacks' plus he sells a ton of new Kubota tractors and implements. I know, I buy everything farm related implement wise from him.

Heck, the Western Star dealership I retired from over 10 years ago, at that time was at $125.00 per hour for heavy trucks and $150 per for diesel powered RV's. I wondered about that and Tom, the service manager who I also hunt with told me that working on diesel pusher RV's like Prevost's are a royal PITA so they charged accordingly and they had no shortage of customers either because Tom ran a tight ship and no BS.

In a way, I kind of miss it and in a way I don't. Retirement is pretty good for me and the wife.

 

[Tony H]

I noticed an interesting twist when I spoke to a Bad Boy Dealer in the Austin area. This is the policy that they described to me.

Buy from them

1. Maintenance on their customer’s equipment is prioritized over other dealer’s equipment
2. Labor rates are $40/hour higher on repairs for equipment not bought from them

DESCRIMINATION
$40 higher? What do they charge per hour for equipment bought from them? $5?

 

[LouNY]

DESCRIMINATION
$40 higher? What do they charge per hour for equipment bought from them? $5?

Have you checked out the hourly service rate for equipment dealers in your area, or even worse the new car dealerships.

 

[CPTKILLER]

https://www.reddit.com/r/DieselTechs/comments/1hqiwh5/labor_rate_in_texas

Shop rates will take your breath away. It makes doing your own maintenance very cost effective.

 

[D&D]

Both of those policies would tend to make me avoid that dealer. In my opinion both are signs of a beginner mechanic without much general experience. That is not a professional attitude at all - focused on money rather than the job.
But I've got old fashioned values....now out of date....and curious what others think....
rScotty

Not number one, you have to prioritize your own customers first. Same with a "fleet" customer, you pretty much drop what you're doing and see if you can get them back on the road in a hurry.

As for charging more, that would be a hard NO

 

[deezler]

Eh, up to that shop to decide their labor rates. Essentially by charging more for equipment bought elsewhere, they are telling those prospective customers that they are simply not interested in doing that work. Maybe they are fully busy as is with their own brands and customers work already. $40 difference is pretty big, though.

A well trained/experience mechanic or technician should be making near or around $100k salary these days. Add in a benefit plan, shop overhead (energy, equipment, maintenance, taxes, etc) and a little profit margin and you are at $120+/hr to charge your customers.