What would you do

[Chief 83]

I bought a new tractor just over 6 months ago. Didn't want to afford a cabbed tractor so bought an open station. The deal included a canopy. Dealer didn't have one in stock so order it in. I knew it was an aftermarket but they looked ok. I paid cash for the tractor and took delivery. The top came in about 3 weeks later and the salesman delivered it to my house. He didn't have time to install but it appeared simple enough, so I could do it myself (with the help of a couple friends). Well, the brackets/ubolts to install it didn't fit the rops. Talked to the salesman and he said they usually have to some field mods to make them work. OK as long as it doesn't look like crap. The issue was turned over the the service manager. No problem, nice guy. Had new ubolts made. They were too small also. No problem he had more made. They did fit, however the holes in the original plates don' line up with the new ubolts. No problem he will have the plates modified so the new ubolts will fit. Service guy picks up the plates while he was at my place servicing my baler and confirms they don't work. A couple of weeks later I receive the bracket via UPS. They had been modified with a cut-off wheel. The cuts were far from a finish grade, no paint etc. I however attempted to install the modified brackets and the of course didn't fit. The ubolts would go in the "slots" but you could not adjust the canopy to anywhere near horizontal. Called the service manager and he appeared at my house about a week later. Confirmed that they didn't work and took the parts with him again to have "new plates made". 3 weeks go by and I call to check the status. The phone is answered by the "operations manager". I asked to speak with the service manager and am told that he is no longer with the company. I explain my situation to the operations manager who indicates there are parts that I'm describing in the floor, and he wondered what they were all about. After some discussion I find that these are the original modified parts and that new parts had apparently not been made. Operations manager indicates that they will take care of the problem, have some new plates made and have a tech come and install them. Great, finally. The next day I get a call from the original salesman, who indicates that they are not willing to do anything more with the canopy/brackets and I can either keep the parts and figure it out, or they will refund my money and pick up the top and brackets. I asked about a refund 3 months ago and was assured by the no longer there service manager that they would take care of the problem. I have had the tractor for 6 months and 10 days. I have made 17 phone calls in reference to the canopy. Paid $40,000 for the tractor including the canopy and here I sit on a wet tractor seat. Since the tractor included the canopy in the purchase price I don't exactly know how much the top cost. I'm pretty sure I was told at the time of purchase it was $650. So far the offer was to reimburse $450. Later in the conversation the number was $500. In any case I can't buy a canopy that will for sure fit the tractor for less than about $1100 not including shipping. Super frustrated. Paid cash for the tractor (as I said I would do). Paid cash for the baler service work (as I said I would do). I'm not trying to be difficult, trying to maintain a positive relationship as I may need their services in the future. The dealership owns most of the stores in many hundreds of miles surrounding me so switching dealers is really not an option. I've deliberately left out the dealership name and the brand of tractor, leaving room for what I hope is for them to do the right thing. Sorry for the long post. What would you do?

 

[JDIH]

I would find that unacceptable. Make sure everything is well documented. I would contact your states attorney General. I'll bet when they get a letter from the AG they suddenly become much easier to work with

 

[RCP]

I bought a new tractor just over 6 months ago. Didn't want to afford a cabbed tractor so bought an open station. The deal included a canopy. Dealer didn't have one in stock so order it in. I knew it was an aftermarket but they looked ok. I paid cash for the tractor and took delivery. The top came in about 3 weeks later and the salesman delivered it to my house. He didn't have time to install but it appeared simple enough, so I could do it myself (with the help of a couple friends). Well, the brackets/ubolts to install it didn't fit the rops. Talked to the salesman and he said they usually have to some field mods to make them work. OK as long as it doesn't look like crap. The issue was turned over the the service manager. No problem, nice guy. Had new ubolts made. They were too small also. No problem he had more made. They did fit, however the holes in the original plates don' line up with the new ubolts. No problem he will have the plates modified so the new ubolts will fit. Service guy picks up the plates while he was at my place servicing my baler and confirms they don't work. A couple of weeks later I receive the bracket via UPS. They had been modified with a cut-off wheel. The cuts were far from a finish grade, no paint etc. I however attempted to install the modified brackets and the of course didn't fit. The ubolts would go in the "slots" but you could not adjust the canopy to anywhere near horizontal. Called the service manager and he appeared at my house about a week later. Confirmed that they didn't work and took the parts with him again to have "new plates made". 3 weeks go by and I call to check the status. The phone is answered by the "operations manager". I asked to speak with the service manager and am told that he is no longer with the company. I explain my situation to the operations manager who indicates there are parts that I'm describing in the floor, and he wondered what they were all about. After some discussion I find that these are the original modified parts and that new parts had apparently not been made. Operations manager indicates that they will take care of the problem, have some new plates made and have a tech come and install them. Great, finally. The next day I get a call from the original salesman, who indicates that they are not willing to do anything more with the canopy/brackets and I can either keep the parts and figure it out, or they will refund my money and pick up the top and brackets. I asked about a refund 3 months ago and was assured by the no longer there service manager that they would take care of the problem. I have had the tractor for 6 months and 10 days. I have made 17 phone calls in reference to the canopy. Paid $40,000 for the tractor including the canopy and here I sit on a wet tractor seat. Since the tractor included the canopy in the purchase price I don't exactly know how much the top cost. I'm pretty sure I was told at the time of purchase it was $650. So far the offer was to reimburse $450. Later in the conversation the number was $500. In any case I can't buy a canopy that will for sure fit the tractor for less than about $1100 not including shipping. Super frustrated. Paid cash for the tractor (as I said I would do). Paid cash for the baler service work (as I said I would do). I'm not trying to be difficult, trying to maintain a positive relationship as I may need their services in the future. The dealership owns most of the stores in many hundreds of miles surrounding me so switching dealers is really not an option. I've deliberately left out the dealership name and the brand of tractor, leaving room for what I hope is for them to do the right thing. Sorry for the long post. What would you do?

I would tell the dealer that a refund of $1,100 is required to buy the appropriate canopy. If they refuse file a claim in small claims court.

 

[Brown David]

Sorry for the long post. What would you do?

First I'd separate my paragraphs so a long post could be much more easily read.

Yeah, you got a raw deal there, hound them until you're satisfied.

 

[moresmoke]

Work your way up the food chain. If it is a large dealer group, the local store is just trying to make you go away. You might get a better response out of the head office. Or not, but its worth a try.

 

[MM-TX]

Your post is a pretty good start on documentation to use as you “work your way up the food chain “. Follow up any phone conversations with writing. Someone’s boss will not like the way that all played out.

 

[flying belgian]

I bought a new tractor just over 6 months ago. Didn't want to afford a cabbed tractor so bought an open station. The deal included a canopy. Dealer didn't have one in stock so order it in. I knew it was an aftermarket but they looked ok. I paid cash for the tractor and took delivery. The top came in about 3 weeks later and the salesman delivered it to my house. He didn't have time to install but it appeared simple enough, so I could do it myself (with the help of a couple friends). Well, the brackets/ubolts to install it didn't fit the rops. Talked to the salesman and he said they usually have to some field mods to make them work. OK as long as it doesn't look like crap. The issue was turned over the the service manager. No problem, nice guy. Had new ubolts made. They were too small also. No problem he had more made. They did fit, however the holes in the original plates don' line up with the new ubolts. No problem he will have the plates modified so the new ubolts will fit. Service guy picks up the plates while he was at my place servicing my baler and confirms they don't work. A couple of weeks later I receive the bracket via UPS. They had been modified with a cut-off wheel. The cuts were far from a finish grade, no paint etc. I however attempted to install the modified brackets and the of course didn't fit. The ubolts would go in the "slots" but you could not adjust the canopy to anywhere near horizontal. Called the service manager and he appeared at my house about a week later. Confirmed that they didn't work and took the parts with him again to have "new plates made". 3 weeks go by and I call to check the status. The phone is answered by the "operations manager". I asked to speak with the service manager and am told that he is no longer with the company. I explain my situation to the operations manager who indicates there are parts that I'm describing in the floor, and he wondered what they were all about. After some discussion I find that these are the original modified parts and that new parts had apparently not been made. Operations manager indicates that they will take care of the problem, have some new plates made and have a tech come and install them. Great, finally. The next day I get a call from the original salesman, who indicates that they are not willing to do anything more with the canopy/brackets and I can either keep the parts and figure it out, or they will refund my money and pick up the top and brackets. I asked about a refund 3 months ago and was assured by the no longer there service manager that they would take care of the problem. I have had the tractor for 6 months and 10 days. I have made 17 phone calls in reference to the canopy. Paid $40,000 for the tractor including the canopy and here I sit on a wet tractor seat. Since the tractor included the canopy in the purchase price I don't exactly know how much the top cost. I'm pretty sure I was told at the time of purchase it was $650. So far the offer was to reimburse $450. Later in the conversation the number was $500. In any case I can't buy a canopy that will for sure fit the tractor for less than about $1100 not including shipping. Super frustrated. Paid cash for the tractor (as I said I would do). Paid cash for the baler service work (as I said I would do). I'm not trying to be difficult, trying to maintain a positive relationship as I may need their services in the future. The dealership owns most of the stores in many hundreds of miles surrounding me so switching dealers is really not an option. I've deliberately left out the dealership name and the brand of tractor, leaving room for what I hope is for them to do the right thing. Sorry for the long post. What would you do?

I had a similar problem with a Caseih tractor I bought new several years ago. I was getting no satisfaction from the dealer for my problem. I finally bypassed them and made a phone call to Caseih corporate. Things started happening immediately.

 

[ss55]

I bought a new tractor just over 6 months ago. Didn't want to afford a cabbed tractor so bought an open station. The deal included a canopy. Dealer didn't have one in stock so order it in. I knew it was an aftermarket but they looked ok. I paid cash for the tractor and took delivery. The top came in about 3 weeks later and the salesman delivered it to my house. He didn't have time to install but it appeared simple enough, so I could do it myself (with the help of a couple friends). Well, the brackets/ubolts to install it didn't fit the rops. Talked to the salesman and he said they usually have to some field mods to make them work. OK as long as it doesn't look like crap. The issue was turned over the the service manager. No problem, nice guy. Had new ubolts made. They were too small also. No problem he had more made. They did fit, however the holes in the original plates don' line up with the new ubolts. No problem he will have the plates modified so the new ubolts will fit. Service guy picks up the plates while he was at my place servicing my baler and confirms they don't work. A couple of weeks later I receive the bracket via UPS. They had been modified with a cut-off wheel. The cuts were far from a finish grade, no paint etc. I however attempted to install the modified brackets and the of course didn't fit. The ubolts would go in the "slots" but you could not adjust the canopy to anywhere near horizontal. Called the service manager and he appeared at my house about a week later. Confirmed that they didn't work and took the parts with him again to have "new plates made". 3 weeks go by and I call to check the status. The phone is answered by the "operations manager". I asked to speak with the service manager and am told that he is no longer with the company. I explain my situation to the operations manager who indicates there are parts that I'm describing in the floor, and he wondered what they were all about. After some discussion I find that these are the original modified parts and that new parts had apparently not been made. Operations manager indicates that they will take care of the problem, have some new plates made and have a tech come and install them. Great, finally. The next day I get a call from the original salesman, who indicates that they are not willing to do anything more with the canopy/brackets and I can either keep the parts and figure it out, or they will refund my money and pick up the top and brackets. I asked about a refund 3 months ago and was assured by the no longer there service manager that they would take care of the problem. I have had the tractor for 6 months and 10 days. I have made 17 phone calls in reference to the canopy. Paid $40,000 for the tractor including the canopy and here I sit on a wet tractor seat. Since the tractor included the canopy in the purchase price I don't exactly know how much the top cost. I'm pretty sure I was told at the time of purchase it was $650. So far the offer was to reimburse $450. Later in the conversation the number was $500. In any case I can't buy a canopy that will for sure fit the tractor for less than about $1100 not including shipping. Super frustrated. Paid cash for the tractor (as I said I would do). Paid cash for the baler service work (as I said I would do). I'm not trying to be difficult, trying to maintain a positive relationship as I may need their services in the future. The dealership owns most of the stores in many hundreds of miles surrounding me so switching dealers is really not an option. I've deliberately left out the dealership name and the brand of tractor, leaving room for what I hope is for them to do the right thing. Sorry for the long post. What would you do?

If the original deal was to have the canopy installed before delivery, I would offer to haul the tractor back to the dealer and let them install it in their shop (your mowing business has a trailer?).

That may seem like a compromise on your part, and it is, actually it is a compromise on both parts. Hauling the tractor is an inconvenience to you. Trying to install the canopy after someone else has been working on it and maybe modifying it for several months is an inconvenience for the dealer. Working with a brand new product would be much easier for the dealer, they will spend several hours sorting through a pile of parts and verifying that all the parts are still there. Packing all the parts back into the original packaging might help them out.

 

[Ray,IN]

Keep dated/time personal records of every contact with the selling dealer, for future reference and litigation. Hand-written notes are accepted as fact in most cases. A copy of the sales contract should be notated the canopy is part of the tractor sale.
I agree, first contact the home office of the tractor brand, assuming you bought from a certified dealer for that brand. Next your states AG office.

 

[Steve in VA]

I bought a new tractor just over 6 months ago. Didn't want to afford a cabbed tractor so bought an open station. The deal included a canopy. Dealer didn't have one in stock so order it in. I knew it was an aftermarket but they looked ok. I paid cash for the tractor and took delivery. The top came in about 3 weeks later and the salesman delivered it to my house. He didn't have time to install but it appeared simple enough, so I could do it myself (with the help of a couple friends). Well, the brackets/ubolts to install it didn't fit the rops. Talked to the salesman and he said they usually have to some field mods to make them work. OK as long as it doesn't look like crap. The issue was turned over the the service manager. No problem, nice guy. Had new ubolts made. They were too small also. No problem he had more made. They did fit, however the holes in the original plates don' line up with the new ubolts. No problem he will have the plates modified so the new ubolts will fit. Service guy picks up the plates while he was at my place servicing my baler and confirms they don't work. A couple of weeks later I receive the bracket via UPS. They had been modified with a cut-off wheel. The cuts were far from a finish grade, no paint etc. I however attempted to install the modified brackets and the of course didn't fit. The ubolts would go in the "slots" but you could not adjust the canopy to anywhere near horizontal. Called the service manager and he appeared at my house about a week later. Confirmed that they didn't work and took the parts with him again to have "new plates made". 3 weeks go by and I call to check the status. The phone is answered by the "operations manager". I asked to speak with the service manager and am told that he is no longer with the company. I explain my situation to the operations manager who indicates there are parts that I'm describing in the floor, and he wondered what they were all about. After some discussion I find that these are the original modified parts and that new parts had apparently not been made. Operations manager indicates that they will take care of the problem, have some new plates made and have a tech come and install them. Great, finally. The next day I get a call from the original salesman, who indicates that they are not willing to do anything more with the canopy/brackets and I can either keep the parts and figure it out, or they will refund my money and pick up the top and brackets. I asked about a refund 3 months ago and was assured by the no longer there service manager that they would take care of the problem. I have had the tractor for 6 months and 10 days. I have made 17 phone calls in reference to the canopy. Paid $40,000 for the tractor including the canopy and here I sit on a wet tractor seat. Since the tractor included the canopy in the purchase price I don't exactly know how much the top cost. I'm pretty sure I was told at the time of purchase it was $650. So far the offer was to reimburse $450. Later in the conversation the number was $500. In any case I can't buy a canopy that will for sure fit the tractor for less than about $1100 not including shipping. Super frustrated. Paid cash for the tractor (as I said I would do). Paid cash for the baler service work (as I said I would do). I'm not trying to be difficult, trying to maintain a positive relationship as I may need their services in the future. The dealership owns most of the stores in many hundreds of miles surrounding me so switching dealers is really not an option. I've deliberately left out the dealership name and the brand of tractor, leaving room for what I hope is for them to do the right thing. Sorry for the long post. What would you do?

I bought a new tractor that developed hydraulic leaks at the controls with 16 hours. Went round and round with dealer. Finally went to different dealer for same brand and got it fixed. Of course I got s bill from them. I took my tale and committed it to paper and sent a physical letter to the home office. I guess I was just lucky but the company had their annual meeting of dealer networks. My letter was introduced for the session on customer services. Two days later I get a call and they couldn't act fast enough to make me happy [ second dealer]. First dealer called to complain I hadn't given them a chance to resolve it [ over 1 month] and my response can't be printed here.

Short version is go right to the top with a letter; no call, no email.

Good luck

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

This is a bit different take from most, but it sounds like you bought a "will fit" canopy. Meant to fit many tractors, with modifications. I would have simply made the modifications necessary to make the canopy fit the tractor myself, and moved on with life, tickled pink that I saved $500.

Even this $1100 canopy you're looking at won't "for sure" fit. It will require modifications, because it's made to fit many tractors. The only canopy that will "for sure" fit the tractor is the OEM canopy.

Been here done this. Bought a canopy that listed a range of ROPS widths that it fit. My ROPS measured at the largest width. The canopy needed 3" of spacers added to fit.

 

[Welding man]

I sell the universal canopies that you describe. I keep one in stock. I have never put one on any tractor that was a direct fit. You have to modify something, but I own a welding and machine shop. it would be very difficult to make one fit if the tractor was miles away. They should have come and picked the tractor up and installed it and returned the tractor to you.

 

[JOCCO]

Others have covered it to a point. Go to the top manager or whatever and complain. File suit in small claims court. Sounds like dealership is going through help and changes. Sounds like none of them can fabricate metal. Other option due it yourself or hire a welder/fabricator. Take the refund if you go this route.

 

[Jim.ME]

Was it purchased/sold as a canopy or a ROPS? If it was a ROPS, I don't believe field modifications would be allowed ( or the details of allowed modification would be well documented in installation instructions). A canopy is not under the same restrictions as a ROPS.

 

[fusion1]

I would not go to the attorney General. office yet
all that does is open a can of worms
go and talk to the owner of the dealership he may not know anything about this problem
ask for a refund of what you paid and then go from there .

 

[RedMF40]

I agree with going to the higher-ups. May be a good opportunity to get on a first-name basis with the owner. Short-term solution for the wet seat: a trash bag works wonders, easily slips on and off.

 

[1948CaseVAI]

I bought a new tractor just over 6 months ago. Didn't want to afford a cabbed tractor so bought an open station. The deal included a canopy. Dealer didn't have one in stock so order it in. I knew it was an aftermarket but they looked ok. I paid cash for the tractor and took delivery. The top came in about 3 weeks later and the salesman delivered it to my house. He didn't have time to install but it appeared simple enough, so I could do it myself (with the help of a couple friends). Well, the brackets/ubolts to install it didn't fit the rops. Talked to the salesman and he said they usually have to some field mods to make them work. OK as long as it doesn't look like crap. The issue was turned over the the service manager. No problem, nice guy. Had new ubolts made. They were too small also. No problem he had more made. They did fit, however the holes in the original plates don' line up with the new ubolts. No problem he will have the plates modified so the new ubolts will fit. Service guy picks up the plates while he was at my place servicing my baler and confirms they don't work. A couple of weeks later I receive the bracket via UPS. They had been modified with a cut-off wheel. The cuts were far from a finish grade, no paint etc. I however attempted to install the modified brackets and the of course didn't fit. The ubolts would go in the "slots" but you could not adjust the canopy to anywhere near horizontal. Called the service manager and he appeared at my house about a week later. Confirmed that they didn't work and took the parts with him again to have "new plates made". 3 weeks go by and I call to check the status. The phone is answered by the "operations manager". I asked to speak with the service manager and am told that he is no longer with the company. I explain my situation to the operations manager who indicates there are parts that I'm describing in the floor, and he wondered what they were all about. After some discussion I find that these are the original modified parts and that new parts had apparently not been made. Operations manager indicates that they will take care of the problem, have some new plates made and have a tech come and install them. Great, finally. The next day I get a call from the original salesman, who indicates that they are not willing to do anything more with the canopy/brackets and I can either keep the parts and figure it out, or they will refund my money and pick up the top and brackets. I asked about a refund 3 months ago and was assured by the no longer there service manager that they would take care of the problem. I have had the tractor for 6 months and 10 days. I have made 17 phone calls in reference to the canopy. Paid $40,000 for the tractor including the canopy and here I sit on a wet tractor seat. Since the tractor included the canopy in the purchase price I don't exactly know how much the top cost. I'm pretty sure I was told at the time of purchase it was $650. So far the offer was to reimburse $450. Later in the conversation the number was $500. In any case I can't buy a canopy that will for sure fit the tractor for less than about $1100 not including shipping. Super frustrated. Paid cash for the tractor (as I said I would do). Paid cash for the baler service work (as I said I would do). I'm not trying to be difficult, trying to maintain a positive relationship as I may need their services in the future. The dealership owns most of the stores in many hundreds of miles surrounding me so switching dealers is really not an option. I've deliberately left out the dealership name and the brand of tractor, leaving room for what I hope is for them to do the right thing. Sorry for the long post. What would you do?

Sorry but this is on you since you chose the cheap route. If OEM was not avaialble for your model you should have bought a model that had OEM aailable canopy available or bit the bullet and bought a cab model. Sounds like your dealer has gone above and beyond to please a customer that was pinching penniies to start with.

 

[JDIH]

Sorry but this is on you since you chose the cheap route. If OEM was not avaialble for your model you should have bought a model that had OEM aailable canopy available or bit the bullet and bought a cab model. Sounds like your dealer has gone above and beyond to please a customer that was pinching penniies to start with.

They shouldn't have sold a canopy for it if it wasn't going to fit. The guy spent $40k in cash and they don't have time to install it, just drop it off and run. That's unacceptable to me.

 

[Phill Tibbetts]

Tractor dealers are just like car dealers now. All they want to do is sell new tractors and and make thousands then never see you again. Service after the sale is a thing of the past unless you want to pay them $200 an hour plus plus plus any other costs they can hit you with.

 

[flying belgian]

I bought an aftermarket canopy for 2 tractors I bought new. One a CaseIH 65 and the other a JD 5067. I did not buy them through dealer but bought them direct from canopy dealer. Both fit perfectly.

In a former life I worked in development for Hiniker Co. They built aftermarket cans for many different models of tractors. We did not put them into production until they fit the tractor perfectly.

It blows me away that these aftermarket canopies don't just bolt right on.