difference in dealers

[MF294-4]

Wife wanted a mower of her own, she don't like mine, to big. Drove 30mi,close for me, to a town that has a JD,MF,and Case IH dealers. Thought this would be a good time since its not farming time yet and I know it's not a 100k tractor etc. Manager at the MF dealership shot the bs and give me a price on mower and a tiller and said he would take a 3pt hitch mower on trade, which wife mentioned that I didn't even think of, with just my description which I don't like to do. One man's junk is anothers teasure. He's always to high for me. Manager at JD told me he didn't want my mower on the property and started running down the MF dealers equipment , new and used which was JD. Case-IH only parts man but he did his best. Went back and bought from MF, didn't care what the price was. I like JD green but if he treats all his customers like that..I don't care what color it is. I know they like 100-200k customers better. Oh by the way, I was the only customer in all 3 stores. Some places don't want the little guy. Just a rant until it gets to where I can work outside.

 

[Goose]

I ran into the same problem at our local John Deere dealer.

I was talking to one of the parts men, who I know well, about a particular part and one of the service guys butted into the conversation and got so obnoxious with a "know-it-all" attitude that I walked out.

The way the place is laid out, the Parts Dept. and the showroom kind of intermix. When I was with Ford, we had a standing rule that service techs did NOT hang out in the showroom, unless they were off duty, cleaned up, and in street clothes.

 

[Anonymous-0]

We HAD a Deere dealer near here that sold tractors when there was nothing but steel wheels. Then a new high volume, mega-super-dealer moved in and put the pressure on Deere to close down the smaller, old fashioned dealer. Deere did that. I went into the BIG BOX Deere dealer tuesday to order a few parts for a planter. By the time I was done, I had vowed to get rid of anything green I own and take my business elsewhere.

Local Massey Ferguson dealer has been father-mother-son & daughter-in-law-daughter & son-in-law as the only employees for ages. They started off selling little grey Fergies. Still a low pressure, old fashioned, come on in and shoot the bull kind of dealer who has a very loyal customer base. Many don"t even ask "how much"? They wouldn"t buy any place else if they did get a better price. (And they usually give the best price anyway)

Deere builds a good piece of equipment. They take a back seat to no one in that regard. I wonder how long before some of their "new generation" of dealers bring the empire to its knees?

 

[Jack a]

Some Case dealers are the same way. I worked at a dealer that continually lobbied Case to shut down a small dealer 15 miles away. Small dealer has been gone for about 7 years now.

 

[Mike M]

I must be in a VERY good area ?

I have had mostly good experiences at all the local dealers. JD,Case IH,New Holland, MF,Kubota
You can also drive 30 min. or less in several directions and reach several of each of those dealers too.
Never had any problems getting them to price me NEW equipment. Even though I have yet to buy any. I buy used mainly.
I wish I could say the same of car dealers !

I did have one time when traveling farther from my area 1 hr. ? away I stopped at a Case IH dealer to inquire about a used JD compact sitting on the lot. Some smart mouthed parts counter person was running his mouth about JD not as good as IH yada yada. I hope he got fired eventualy.
Never run down today what you may have to sell tommorrow !

 

[rrlund]

Yup,I've ranted about this before. I'm not the smallest farmer around by any means,but the Agco (Massey) dealer is a family owned dealership. Owner sells,is usually in the shop if you are looking for him. Wife does the books,son is service manager,daughter in law runs the parts department. You just feel like family when you go in there. Always have to budget time for a good conversation. Deere dealer is just a branch,one of many,CaseIH,same way. "Gimme your money and get out". I think that's just the way it tends to be,the Agco dealers are more likely to be locally owned.

 

[Don-Wi]

Yup, our Massey dealer is family owned too. They are very large and sell lots of the big stuff, but at the same time I can walk in there, need just a $15 part or an oil filter, and they'll get it for me with a smile.

Same thing with the dealer I go to for Oliver parts. Again they sell Massey, but they used to be Oliver/White and have only been Massey for a few years. Best parts service around, and if you got a question on how to do something, just go on back to the shop and ask Ron about it, he'll probably know and be able to make you a copy from the service and parts manual.

The local Case IH dealer (Fox, Gehl, Cub Cadet) doesn't want to order anything for you, charges obseen prices, and doesn't like anybody except landscape companies anymore. With them we find it's much easier to just order directly from their suppliers for aftermarket, as we pay a little less and it comes right to our door.

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[Ray]

Our local massey dealer here in western ohio is just the opposite. He will charge you to ask a mechanic a question,charges more than list price for his parts,will ask thousands more for his used tractors than anyone else,then let them set.