Reasonable service charge?

[hillfarm]

I'm a first time tractor owner with a Massey subcompact. At about 20 hours, it wouldn't start -- just clicked as though the PTO or the transmission was engaged. I messed with the levers back and forth repeatedly, did some other sanity checks, and called the dealer, as recommended by the troubleshooting manual.

On the phone I walked through some diagnostics, but nothing helped. So the mechanic came to my place, spent 10-15 minutes on it. Confirmed that I wasn't an idiot, but found the PTO safety switch was stuck.

Charged me $195. What do you think? Chalk it up to being a newbie and the cost of learning how to fix my own machine? Or is it an expensive slap in the face for a buyer who just paid $17K for a brand new tractor that was faulty?

 

[mjncad]

That sounds like it should have been a warranty item. Call the dealer as I don't think you should have to pay for it. If the dealer blows you off, go to the manufacturer.

Good luck.

 

[johnk]

I agree with mjncad. If you paid the mechanic on site you should get your money back. It has to be covered by warranty. Let us know how you make out.

 

[john_bud]

I'm a first time tractor owner with a Massey subcompact. At about 20 hours, it wouldn't start -- just clicked as though the PTO or the transmission was engaged. I messed with the levers back and forth repeatedly, did some other sanity checks, and called the dealer, as recommended by the troubleshooting manual.

On the phone I walked through some diagnostics, but nothing helped. So the mechanic came to my place, spent 10-15 minutes on it. Confirmed that I wasn't an idiot, but found the PTO safety switch was stuck.

Charged me $195. What do you think? Chalk it up to being a newbie and the cost of learning how to fix my own machine? Or is it an expensive slap in the face for a buyer who just paid $17K for a brand new tractor that was faulty?

Let's see now....

You put the PTO lever into the engage position. The tractor won't start with the PTO lever in that position. It's DESIGNED to not start with the PTO lever engaged. You didn't realize that and had a service call to fix a broken tractor - but the tractor was not broken. It was operating as designed. No fault of Massy or of you dealer. I am willing to bet that in your owners manual there is a check of the operation of the safety switches where you make sure the machine WON'T start with the PTO engaged, HST peddle down, etc. Had you fully read and understood the manual....

I would chalk it up to a learning experience - suck it up like a man and move on, wiser than you were before.

jb

 

[BTDT]

but found the PTO safety switch was stuck.

It was a bad switch, he should get his money back.

 

[schmism]

Let's see now....

You put the PTO lever into the engage position. The tractor won't start with the PTO lever in that position. jb

RTFP!

should have been a warntee issue. My guess is youll never get the cash back, but you might wind up with a credit at your dealer.....

 

[ODT]

Could the charge have to do with the field visit, not the repair?

I don't know how Massey does things, but New Holland does not cover travel time/field visit under warranty.

Perhaps the dealer has a policy that it costs XXX amount to send the tech out in the field, regardless of the repair outcome.

Not saying that you don't still have a beef with your dealer, but it could be over something other than what the board is assuming.

But then I could also be wrong.

 

[Bird]

Charged me $195. What do you think?

I agree with ODT. It does sound as if a bad switch should have been under warranty, parts and labor if you had taken the tractor to the dealer. But if the dealer had to send the mechanic to you, it's hard to say whether the price was reasonable or not. How far did he have to go and how much more time did he spend than he would have spent doing the job in their shop? When you get to be my age, everything seems to be terribly high priced, but I'm inclined to suspect that your price in this case was not unreasonable.

 

[BTDT]

Maybe he should have clarified over the phone whether he was going to be charged and how much. He said it took the guy 10 to 15 minutes to fix, I'm thinking he was overcharged.

 

[Bird]

Maybe he should have clarified over the phone whether he was going to be charged and how much. He said it took the guy 10 to 15 minutes to fix, I'm thinking he was overcharged.

10 or 15 minutes to fix, but how long to drive there and back and/or to diagnose? Now I certainly agree that it seems expensive, but I have a brother in the "on site" RV repair business. He lives in an RV in an RV park, so he works on lots of RVs right there, but he charges $70 an hour with a one hour minimum. If he has to leave that park and go to the customer, which he does very frequently, in addition to the $70 an hour, he charges $2 per mile one way to the customer's location. Now that seems terribly high to me, but he doesn't get any complaints. Maybe that's because, unlike the dealer in this thread, my brother tells the customers in advance what the charges are going to be, and then he guarantees his work.