What is the service and warranty policy?

[jcmseven]

I have been a long-time John Deere owner and supporter of a dealer with whom a long-time friend of mine is a sales manager. When I moved about 10 years ago to a location 2 hours away, I continued to buy equipment and parts at this same dealership. In part, due to the issues occurring at my local dealership and in part due to my loyalty to my original dealer. I have purchased a LOT of equipment from them, all through my friend, and have referred at least three of my friends to them for their needs also. Since my move, this dealership which is a larger one, was brought by a larger management company that owns a number of JD dealerships in our area. I have perceived since that time a decline in service and general morale at the dealer, but nothing of significant note. My question revolves around JD and dealer support of the products they sell and what JD officially says is the dealer role in this. One reason that I buy JD is for the company support of the products they sell. Aside from the purchases I have made (more on this in a minute) I have referred three friends to my friend's dealership; one for a purchase of a 3520 with 4/1 bucket and 448 BH, one for a dual wheel kit and ballast kit and front blade for a 1435 (not cheap) and one for a Gator 825 XUVi purchase. Each bought the machine or attachment in question and with the exception of the 1435 kit (which my friend priced fairly but had forgotten a component of the package, making it more expensive) each was given a competitive--though not outstanding--price and made the buy. My friend/coworker with the 3520 had a problem with his hydraulic line to his 4/1 bucket. His machine had less than 20 hours at the time, but there was some question about whether it was "operator error" or a poorly routed line. My other friend, with the Gator, had a belt issue in which his machine would not go either direction--with 9 hours. In both cases, my perception was that the dealer did not want to come get the machines to repair them, though there was some eagerness to sell them. Instead, I was asked to "bring them down" when I came there (my parents still live in the area so I visit often) on my trailer. In one case (the Gator) I agreed simply to get it done (it is not yet completed), but I declined to bring the tractor down as its combined weight with backhoe was higher than my tag weight on my trailer and I did not want to accept the liability in case of an accident and for safety reasons. It took several days of back and forth at that time and dealer did ultimately send a truck for the machine to do an "on-site" but my friend was dissatisfied with this perceived lack of service on a nearly $40K machine. I currently have a Gator XUV which is having an issue with the front differential, but with my work schedule I have been unable to get it to the dealer. I have offered to pay for delivery but to this point it still is in the garage (it has 110 hours). My perception is that my dealer, who has been a friend of mine for many years, is not wanting to incur the cost and trouble to come get machines which are in need of repair or service and has come to depend on me to deliver the machines (whether mine or not) to them for service. This reflects poorly on me, as I have referred these and other friends to this dealer because he would "take care of them" on service and feel personally that either due to distance or cost-containment efforts from within or from the management group, this has not happened as hoped. I realize the distance involved but given my loyalty to this dealer over the years and the fact that we are not talking about an L100 priced machine but high dollar machines, I have expected more and am frankly tired of being expected to be the default delivery guy for machines in need of warranty service. I am at a point where I would like to sit down and discuss this with my dealer/friend, but I wanted to ask other with more experience than I specifically have they (if dealers) or how their dealers handle customer support, both from a transport and a timely of service aspect. This person has been a friend of mine for years and I want to make sure when we discuss this that I am not speaking out of turn and to be fair with him. For the record because I think it does matter, I have bought from this dealer: 485, 335, 595, 720, 4310, 3720, 4520, 2320 (which I have now), 360, 850d Gator, 620 Gator, 825i Gator (times three), 14 Stihl 660 blowers, about 20 line trimmers and 5 chainsaws, and an 18' tandem trailer; not including the other people I have referred. Does this qualify me as a good customer? Thanks for the insight and opinions.

John M

 

[jcmseven]

I should also mention that it is my goal to resolve this issue such that those that I have referred to my friend's dealership receive quality post sales care. I should mention that I have had no issues whatever with the results of service; just being able to arrange getting equipment in. For me personally, though it would be nice to have delivery I can transport my own equipment. I just do not enjoy the feeling of having to explain why is seems so hard to have a warranty repair done or to be placed in the position of having to transport the equipment myself to pitch in. Every now and then is OK, but it is becoming more regular than I would like. I want to be able to refer my friend's business new referrals without reservation in the future and want to know how best to do that.

John

 

[CBW1999]

A couple of thoughts.. You said they were bought out by a larger dealer group and perhaps this is part of the problem. The dollar is the bottom line. Maybe they do not have a "budget" for transports that long. Perhaps an area identified that was "costing" too much. New owners, new rules.......bigger profits.

As for your friends needing to get their tractor serviced- that should be between them and the dealership. Neither one of them should put you in the middle. Just because you referred them doesn't mean you are responsible- They still made their decision on their own.

All details should have been sorted out before purchase.

 

[murphy1244]

My dealer charges 100.00$ for pick-up and delivery and I live about 10 miles from his place.

 

[meburdick]

The dealers are under no obligation by Deere to cover the cost of transport, and Deere does not reimburse the dealers for this expense either. I don't like it, I think it's bad business, and I feel that every single potential tractor owner should fight this and appeal to Deere to get this changed for warranty services.

If you were able to get transport covered in the past, that's great. Unless you have a contract from the selling dealer that states that transport will be covered for you for warranty repairs, you're out of luck.

Conversely... You said they were bought by a company that owns dealers that are closer to you... Could you work something out for them to transport it to a closer dealer for repair?

 

[johnwilldo]

Hi,

I do not know of any dealers that will pick up a unit on a warranty service claim in the tractor business or the RV business or even offer on site warranty service. The manufacturers do not include field service in their reimbursement policy so that dealers are reluctant to come out to your location and provide free field service since it is not covered by the warranties. They will occasionally bend and do it for a customer who is in their service area, but only after the customer has picketed the front of the dealership and phoned him every ten minutes. I understand your loyalty to a particular dealer, but when you are not in his service area, I would not expect them to send a service vehicle or mechanic out to your site without an additional charge. With the distances you mentioned, there would be a round trip day's travel which would cost the dealer at least $150 on fuel, loss of the delivery vehicle for the day, and loss of the mechanic in an unrecoverable cost. All warranty reimbursements are calculated on a flat rate so if the repair is rated at one hour and the dealer spends eight hours, the mechanic and the dealer will be very reluctant to cover that expense, regardless of your loyalty or your referral record.

 

[meburdick]

Hi,

I do not know of any dealers that will pick up a unit on a warranty service claim in the tractor business or the RV business or even offer on site warranty service. The manufacturers do not include field service in their reimbursement policy so that dealers are reluctant to come out to your location and provide free field service since it is not covered by the warranties. They will occasionally bend and do it for a customer who is in their service area, but only after the customer has picketed the front of the dealership and phoned him every ten minutes. I understand your loyalty to a particular dealer, but when you are not in his service area, I would not expect them to send a service vehicle or mechanic out to your site without an additional charge. With the distances you mentioned, there would be a round trip day's travel which would cost the dealer at least $150 on fuel, loss of the delivery vehicle for the day, and loss of the mechanic in an unrecoverable cost. All warranty reimbursements are calculated on a flat rate so if the repair is rated at one hour and the dealer spends eight hours, the mechanic and the dealer will be very reluctant to cover that expense, regardless of your loyalty or your referral record.

My dealer picks up and delivers at no charge to me. I'm about a 20-25 minute drive on 30MPH roads from him. I'm extremely fortunate and I know it...

Compare this to the auto industry where the manufacturer covers ALL necessary costs for warranty work, including towing if the vehicle is disabled.

Conversely, many "warranty" items are the result of dealers not installing or adjusting things correctly in the first place. Maybe the transport should be covered, but at the dealer's expense (or majority expense) since they are doing a lot of the "final assembly". As a consumer / owner, *I* should not be bearing the costs to have things fixed that should have been right from start. The dealers should have to bear at least the transport costs associated with warranty adjustments and such while Deere should be bearing the costs for failed parts like the OPs'.

 

[jeffster]

I have a 3520 that I bought at one dealer that was local but I am no longer a fan of. When I bought my tiller I bought from a dealer about an hour or so from here. I was happy with the transaction, so when I wanted a lawn mower I bought my X300 from them. About 6 months later I get a recall notice in the mail from Deere for the engine fan assembly. Well, it wasn't mowing season so I just left it alone as I didn't want to have to load it on the trailer and drive all the way out there. Well, a few weeks later I get a call from the selling dealership asking me if I want to have the recall service done and they would come out and do it. All they asked is that I work with them on a date/time so that they could maximize the trip and hit other people needing service, which I was happy to do. Guy came out and worked on it an hour or so and that was that. Said they could come out and do the same thing if I never needed warranty or service on my 3520. So it all depends on the dealer ownership regarding what they will do for their customers. Like mentioned above, I would guess their attitude is a direct result of their current ownership. It sucks too because often the service manager is stuck in the middle.

 

[jenkinsph]

I should also mention that it is my goal to resolve this issue such that those that I have referred to my friend's dealership receive quality post sales care. I should mention that I have had no issues whatever with the results of service; just being able to arrange getting equipment in. For me personally, though it would be nice to have delivery I can transport my own equipment. I just do not enjoy the feeling of having to explain why is seems so hard to have a warranty repair done or to be placed in the position of having to transport the equipment myself to pitch in. Every now and then is OK, but it is becoming more regular than I would like. I want to be able to refer my friend's business new referrals without reservation in the future and want to know how best to do that.




John

I think it is nice that you wan't to help out and are concerned that the people you recommended the dealership to are taken care of. I would not get involved in hauling their equipment out of a sense of duty, a wise person makes recommendations with some reservations. Do not obligate yourself to move other peoples equipment.

 

[Tx Jim]

As far back as I can remember JD company did not reimburse dealer for pickup/delivery or service calls on new equipment that required repair. Dealer I worked for made 1 free(courtesy) service call/pickup if required after that customer paid. This was back in the 70's-80's.