Rotary Cutter Slooow Bush Hog Delivery

drivadesl · Aug 15, 2008

So I ordered a BH 287 back on 7/17/08. I placed the order after having to haggle the price since the dealer quoted an additonal $600 over what he quoted 2 weeks earlier. First he explained there was a price increase, but when I called him on it, he backed off telling me BH would apply the increase at the end of the month so if I ordered before that I would get the original quoted price. So I order it right there. Dealer says 2-3 weeks for delivery. After 3 weeks without hearing anything I call and the dealer says he'll check. He calls bush hog, tells me he will call me back and doesn't. Couple days later they say they BH havs it ready, and will put on the next truck coming out to NYS. I'm a little peaved since its now late, but no biggy. Sales guy says he will call me back, they should have by weeks end. A couple days go by, no call back so I call again and I'm told it hasn't left the factory. Now I'm annoyed its going on a month. Sales guy doesn't call me back with update. (I wanted the unit by 8/8 to get started on food plots.) My next available w/e is 8/19 so I call the owner to see whats up. To shorten the story after a couple of no call backs, I finally get an estimated delivery for the week of 8/25 thats when they have a full truck to come out this way. Dedicated truck is $150 if I want it, but I have to pay since the dealer claims they're not making any money on the sale due to they were charged the price increase by BH. I'm thinking the dealer forgot to order this when they said they did, and got hit with the price increase. In any case while all this is going on, I found an equivalent Land Pride, at another local dealer in stock. Its gonna cost me $300 more, but its got dual tail wheels vs one, and chain guards, vs the plastic guards on the BH. I told my dealer about it, they said they don't blame me for cancelling, so given my time frame, and no guarantees for delivery, I'm going with the LP. Not my first choice, but its in stock and I've read mostly good reviews on it. Sorry for the long winded post.

Farmwithjunk · Aug 15, 2008

I've bought a number of mowers from Bush Hog. I'd just about bet that the delay was a result of the conditions of delivery requested by the dealer rather than on Bush Hog's end. I've got mowers from BH in 3 days after ordering. They NORMALLY ship per request of seller (dealer) If the dealer wants a good price on freight, they ship with next load going towards that dealer rather than a "hot shot" shipment. A single mower requested at a specific time would require EITHER that dedicated shipment OR pure coincidence of having a truck headed your way on short notice. Dealer probably left open the option of "first truck headed this way" or was waiting for a stock order.

Back in early March, I ordered two 2715L batwings from Bush Hog (through a local dealer). Order went in on a monday afternoon. Mowers were sitting in dealers lot on thursday afternoon, my yard on friday.

firefighter9208 · Aug 15, 2008

You know Bushhogs is made in L.A. (lower Alabama that is)

Seriously though, they are made in Selma, Alabama. I bet the dealer told them to put it on the next truck coming your way. It's a long way to New York to deliver one cutter. I also, bet he messed up when he priced the cutter (with price increases and fuel surcharges). He's probably willing to loose a sale over loosing money.

Chris

john_bud · Aug 15, 2008

Sounds like you were patient enough. Your dealer is probably the bad actor in this play, so don't hold it against BH.

I would write a short factual account of the interaction including date, time and number of calls to the sales guy and send it to the owner of the dealership. No emotion, just the facts ending with you disappointed with the dealership and your buying a unit from his competitor. It will help him with the sales force as he may not know that a the sales guy is weak.

drivadesl · Aug 15, 2008

Thanks. So it appears theres a happy ending. Went into work this AM, and found a message from the sales guy. He spoke with "upper" management at BH and explained I will buy a competitors machine and they will loose the sale. BH told him they will pick up the full shipping costs and it will ship today no charge to anyone. Should be in NYS on mon/tues. This is great news and I have to thank my dealer (Chambers Ford) for putting in the effort to speak to the right people, and of course BH for recognizing and repsonding as they did. Had I gone with the landpride, it would have cost me more, and more importantly I would have been soured on both the dealer and BH. Some of the conjecture about the transaction makes sense, but not knowing for sure would not have sat well with me. Now my faith in both companies is renewed, and I can move on. I consider this a win for all parties. I hope it helps anyone on TBN with any decisions on equipment purchases. And thanks guys, for your interest and replies.

Farmwithjunk · Aug 15, 2008

drivadesl said:
Thanks. So it appears theres a happy ending. Went into work this AM, and found a message from the sales guy. He spoke with "upper" management at BH and explained I will buy a competitors machine and they will loose the sale. BH told him they will pick up the full shipping costs and it will ship today no charge to anyone. Should be in NYS on mon/tues. This is great news and I have to thank my dealer (Chambers Ford) for putting in the effort to speak to the right people, and of course BH for recognizing and repsonding as they did. Had I gone with the landpride, it would have cost me more, and more importantly I would have been soured on both the dealer and BH. Some of the conjecture about the transaction makes sense, but not knowing for sure would not have sat well with me. Now my faith in both companies is renewed, and I can move on. I consider this a win for all parties. I hope it helps anyone on TBN with any decisions on equipment purchases. And thanks guys, for your interest and replies.

Now THAT sounds more like Bush Hog I've come to enjoy doing business with. They're very customer oriented in most cases. It sure doesn't hurt that they build a quality product to boot!

Glad things turned out good for you like they did.

Glowplug · Aug 15, 2008

I'm glad there seems to be a happy ending to this story. From what I've read and heard I believe you'll be very happy with the BH 287, not that Landpride makes a bad product at all. Do keep us posted though and let us know about the actual delivery. Who knows? That thing may actually show up with chains and dual tailwheels!!

wolc123 · Aug 15, 2008

I would say that the Bush Hog is definitely worth the wait in the long run. No one else builds a cutter of comparable quality in my opinion and I have tried quite a few. The rest of them are all still trying to figure out how to make a cutter leave a neat cut behind, while Bush Hog figured that out long ago. Some of the others look good on the showroom floor, but the job they do leaves a lot to be desired.