My letter to Kioti, loader rerepair, long

8561 · May 21, 2006

First and foremost, I truly hope HB and all others with issues get the satisfaction they deserve. I believe Kioti makes a good product, but I can certainly see why some are posting that they are hesitant to put their money down on one right now.

I think the dealer is certainly a part of the problem here. But those that don't think Kioti is part of the problem I think are incorrect. My wife works in a marina service department and all she does is handle warranty claims with the manufacturers. If I'm working for Kioti, and I hear about a cracked loader, as the factory paying for the repair, I request photos. Maybe the dealer should have offered them, but the factory should have demanded them. They designed and built the loader, they should be interested in documentation of all failures to determine if they have an engineering problem.

For those that want to hide behind Kioti not knowing Joe or how to get in touch with him, get real. All they have to do is join TBN and send him a PM. Takes two minutes. If they really are looking at the forums, they should get this taken care of quickly and quietly, engineer a proper fix (or offer replacement), and then send out a service bulletin to their dealer network so all of the units they stand behind are handled correctly.

8561 · May 21, 2006

First and foremost, I truly hope HB and all others with issues get the satisfaction they deserve. I believe Kioti makes a good product, but I can certainly see why some are posting that they are hesitant to put their money down on one right now.

I think the dealer is certainly a part of the problem here. But those that don't think Kioti is part of the problem I think are incorrect. My wife works in a marina service department and all she does is handle warranty claims with the manufacturers. If I'm working for Kioti, and I hear about a cracked loader, as the factory paying for the repair, I request photos. Maybe the dealer should have offered them, but the factory should have demanded them. They designed and built the loader, they should be interested in documentation of all failures to determine if they have an engineering problem.

For those that want to hide behind Kioti not knowing Joe or how to get in touch with him, get real. All they have to do is join TBN and send him a PM. Takes two minutes. If they really are looking at the forums, they should get this taken care of quickly and quietly, engineer a proper fix (or offer replacement), and then send out a service bulletin to their dealer network so all of the units they stand behind are handled correctly.

dgl24087 · May 21, 2006

I wonder if this is the reason that my local Kioti dealer uses Woods FEL's on everything except the DK's.

dgl24087 · May 21, 2006

I wonder if this is the reason that my local Kioti dealer uses Woods FEL's on everything except the DK's.

TractorLegend · May 21, 2006

I believe it unreasonable Kioti would expect the tractor dealer to be a metalworking/ fab shop to boot---
what does Jon DePratt think? if you were asked to do the fix as requested by the factory? (WWJD?) :~)
I think this type of welding repair is beyond the "scope" of a dealers expectations. If Kioti paid the dealer to farm out the work to a local welder/ fabshop then maybe the repair would be proper, and I as a customer in that situation, would have more confidence. Even then the work has to be "satisfactory" to some sort of standard. Theres where things get nebulous and subject to matters of opinion.

TractorLegend · May 21, 2006

I believe it unreasonable Kioti would expect the tractor dealer to be a metalworking/ fab shop to boot---
what does Jon DePratt think? if you were asked to do the fix as requested by the factory? (WWJD?) :~)
I think this type of welding repair is beyond the "scope" of a dealers expectations. If Kioti paid the dealer to farm out the work to a local welder/ fabshop then maybe the repair would be proper, and I as a customer in that situation, would have more confidence. Even then the work has to be "satisfactory" to some sort of standard. Theres where things get nebulous and subject to matters of opinion.

CBB · May 21, 2006

Great points by everyone. Interesting due to this post (good jo HB), more owners are checking and finding a problem.
Clearly, to me anyhow, this is a recall item. Welding is what I do to fix old equipment on the farm, not design flaws. I would expect a reinforced design fix and an extended warranty on this item for the life of the tractor.

Recall Infinity and their first recall. Instead of being head in the sand about it, they preemptively called the customers, asked them to come in, filled their gas tanks for free and changed the oil for free while they fixed THEIR messup. It became a business model for appropriate and effective handling of manufacturing screw ups. Kioti decision makers-do your homework on properly handling the situation and you will WIN customers and elevate the product to a higher level...mis-handle it and relegate the company to second class status. Just my 2 cents. Let's see how the resolution upfolds!

CBB · May 21, 2006

Great points by everyone. Interesting due to this post (good jo HB), more owners are checking and finding a problem.
Clearly, to me anyhow, this is a recall item. Welding is what I do to fix old equipment on the farm, not design flaws. I would expect a reinforced design fix and an extended warranty on this item for the life of the tractor.

Recall Infinity and their first recall. Instead of being head in the sand about it, they preemptively called the customers, asked them to come in, filled their gas tanks for free and changed the oil for free while they fixed THEIR messup. It became a business model for appropriate and effective handling of manufacturing screw ups. Kioti decision makers-do your homework on properly handling the situation and you will WIN customers and elevate the product to a higher level...mis-handle it and relegate the company to second class status. Just my 2 cents. Let's see how the resolution upfolds!

IslandTractor · May 21, 2006

<font color="blue"> Let's be fair here. TBN is not in the Kioti network of dealers.... It is not the job of anyone at Kioti to monitor this forum....
</font>

John, If this is true then perhaps it is the President of Kioti who needs a little talking to in order to bring him into the 21st century. Kioti is selling more tractors because of TBN than through any individual dealer. It is just plain stupid of them if they do not monitor the "buzz" on TBN. I have no problem with the notion that they don't post official messages here or participate directly. That would be a mess. But to say that they don't monitor the largest on line community of tractor users for information that could be of importance to their company is pure business negligence. Period.

Again, I disagree with your assertion that they might not know. They know about the loader cracks because they have already paid for a number (??how many) of repairs. I am confused about the apparent absence of a service bulletin on the subject (my assumption as Highbeam's dealer certainly did not follow it). Maybe Kioti has issued such a bulletin in which case Highbeam should fire his dealer but if Kioti has not published a service bulletin then the problem (from my perspective) is still in the Kioti company court.

I'll go on record as being one owner with a cracked FEL who does not expect a replacement. A competent welding repair (or even directions) and a supplemental radius piece to prevent further cracking would make me a happy and loyal Kioti owner. Ignoring the problem or failing to give dealers appropriate direction on what constitutes an acceptable repair is not reasonable if indeed that is the case.

Ed

IslandTractor · May 21, 2006

<font color="blue"> Let's be fair here. TBN is not in the Kioti network of dealers.... It is not the job of anyone at Kioti to monitor this forum....
</font>

John, If this is true then perhaps it is the President of Kioti who needs a little talking to in order to bring him into the 21st century. Kioti is selling more tractors because of TBN than through any individual dealer. It is just plain stupid of them if they do not monitor the "buzz" on TBN. I have no problem with the notion that they don't post official messages here or participate directly. That would be a mess. But to say that they don't monitor the largest on line community of tractor users for information that could be of importance to their company is pure business negligence. Period.

Again, I disagree with your assertion that they might not know. They know about the loader cracks because they have already paid for a number (??how many) of repairs. I am confused about the apparent absence of a service bulletin on the subject (my assumption as Highbeam's dealer certainly did not follow it). Maybe Kioti has issued such a bulletin in which case Highbeam should fire his dealer but if Kioti has not published a service bulletin then the problem (from my perspective) is still in the Kioti company court.

I'll go on record as being one owner with a cracked FEL who does not expect a replacement. A competent welding repair (or even directions) and a supplemental radius piece to prevent further cracking would make me a happy and loyal Kioti owner. Ignoring the problem or failing to give dealers appropriate direction on what constitutes an acceptable repair is not reasonable if indeed that is the case.

Ed