Another Kioti Dealer Gone

[gboudreau]

Just got notice in the mail yesterday my local Kioti dealer who was great to deal with will be losing the Kioti lineup effective the end of the month. Now the closest dealer is almost 2hrs away. Not very happy with Kioti right now, as by the letter the dealer sent it was not his choice as he has been dealing Kioti for I would guess close to 10 years.

 

[VTFireftr]

What dealer is clsong? And where are they located?

I use Upper Valley Tractor in Enfield, and they have been great!

MArc

 

[gboudreau]

Batchelder Sales in Lebenon Maine. Upper valley will now be my closest deal I believe but it is 2 hrs away.

 

[DieselEngineer]

There's a new Kioti dealer in Conway, NH. Profile Powersports. They just started in the tractor game, though they've been established in the ATV and lawncare market for a long time. Upper Valley (KiotiDave) is 5-paw certified, though. My wife and I got our tractor and service from him.

 

[Dmace]

I thought I saw someone else mention this before but never really thought twice about it. Batchelder's is where I got my tractor from as well. I don't understand what Kioti is doing here dropping long time dealers but letting brand new shops open up all around...

I wonder if Batchelder will still carry the Kioti line at the Hampton store?

I'm not too worried since my tractor as only seen the dealer once for the 50-hr service and I can get parts anywhere plus Profile Powersports is closer.

 

[Batche33]

Nope, not in North Hampton either, sorry.
Kioti is pulling our tractors effective March 26th.

We mailed out a letter to our customers this past Monday. If you don't get a letter from us PLEASE call the office and talk to Dick or Judy. We are not going anywhere. We will continue to be here in Lebanon and North Hampton for service and will be able to get parts. Plus we'll continue to sell our other lines and ???

Warranties however, will have to be done by an authorized Kioti dealer.
* Jon Park's Tractor in Lancaster, NH * Upper Valley Tractor in Enfield, NH * Whittemore & Sons in Skowhegan, Me * are all excellent people to work with. :thumbsup:

The reasons we were given last Friday are:
"we no longer fit Kioti's coorporate image" and
"we have over saturated the market"
This was not our choice and still has us a little baffled.

We will continue to be loyal to our customers and please DO NOT hestitate to contact us for anything.
Keep an eye out for our customer appreciation day coming soon. Sometime after mud season

 

[Dmace]

The reasons we were given last Friday are:
"we no longer fit Kioti's coorporate image" and
"we have over saturated the market"
This was not our choice and still has us a little baffled.

Sorry to hear. I kind of understand the "corporate image" since it seems like the small shops (e.g. yours and Wallace) are losing the line but these gigantic shops with no tractor experience are picking it up...
Personally, I would rather go to a small garage with a top notch mechanic rather than a 10-bay warehouse with a marble floor waiting room and in-experienced mechanics...

"Over-saturated the market"? That just doesn't make sense. Just ask any Ford fan, they think that selling the most trucks makes them the best. :laughing:

 

[bearhawk]

We will continue to be loyal to our customers and please DO NOT hesitate to contact us for anything.
Keep an eye out for our customer appreciation day coming soon. Sometime after mud season

I'll be there !

 

[sweettractors]

I think all us Kentucky Kioti dealers quit a few years ago. They were very slow moving tractors and they would not let us market across state lines or advertise competitively without giving us a lot of hoops to jump through. I am glad we don't have them. We felt like they thought they are one of the "majors". Ken Sweet

 

[buford36]

I bought a Kioti based on 2 friends who had them. When I asked them what they liked about Kioti, the said "the dealer, Dick Batchelder". Dick doesn't fit their image? Let me see, he's honest, fair , not only sells tractors but HE can
repair and maintain what he sells. I wonder what image they are looking for.
I'M MAD AS **** !!!

 

[TheGoose]

#1 reason why I never even gave Kioti any consideration when buying. No dealer close and no history.

 

[Ductape]

Keep an eye out for our customer appreciation day coming soon. Sometime after mud season

I'd like to see some mention of this well ahead of time here on TBN. I'm not currently a customer of yours, but I love poking around at open houses as much as any tractor owner. I've heard only good things about your operation. :thumbsup:

 

[wallace]

Nope, not in North Hampton either, sorry.
Kioti is pulling our tractors effective March 26th.

We mailed out a letter to our customers this past Monday. If you don't get a letter from us PLEASE call the office and talk to Dick or Judy. We are not going anywhere. We will continue to be here in Lebanon and North Hampton for service and will be able to get parts. Plus we'll continue to sell our other lines and ???

Warranties however, will have to be done by an authorized Kioti dealer.
* Jon Park's Tractor in Lancaster, NH * Upper Valley Tractor in Enfield, NH * Whittemore & Sons in Skowhegan, Me * are all excellent people to work with. :thumbsup:

The reasons we were given last Friday are:
"we no longer fit Kioti's coorporate image" and
"we have over saturated the market"
This was not our choice and still has us a little baffled.

We will continue to be loyal to our customers and please DO NOT hestitate to contact us for anything.
Keep an eye out for our customer appreciation day coming soon. Sometime after mud season

Geeezzz....Seems like the same exact time I got my BS letter from Kioti last year!
Not sure what their thinking is?????????

 

[TripleR]

I believe Kioti makes good tractors, but because of dealers popping up and going under, I have never given them serious consideration.

Maybe these are just growing pains as I remember a time I wouldn't consider a Kubota either.

 

[Coyote machine]

"..oversaturated the market"??!!
That is about the most absurd thing I've read recently- so let's see, Kioti means that the dealer's who they are closing out have sold too MANY tractors?!
Like others have already said I'd much rather go to a dealer who has been in the business of selling and maintaining tractors than a glorified lawn and garden center, or ATV motorcycle shop or combo of both. (no slam on the ATV or motorcycle shop but tractors are a different ballgame, for both sales and maintenance). What's next, Home Depot and Lowes watered down Kiotis to sell next to the Deere lawn tractors? And no offense to Deere or H. D., but lets recognize the products sold at big box stores are not the same machines sold by tractor specific dealers, and for good reason.

I didn't go to my local TSC's yard to look at Kiotis; I went directly to my local dealer and bought from him for the second time in a year. Isn't that what Kioti ought to want- repeat customers- LOYAL to their dealer customers!?
That is what I want as a consumer- to know who I buy from is going to be there for me when I need something done, or when I decide to trade up, etc.
This type of micromanagement on the part of some companies is exactly what leads to big time problems, the head not knowing what the body is doing until too late in the game. Screwing with something that works until its broken is the height of abject stupidity
IMHO!!:confused2:

 

[Ductape]

"..oversaturated the market"??!!
That is about the most absurd thing I've read recently- so let's see, Kioti means that the dealer's who they are closing out have sold too MANY tractors?!
Like others have already said I'd much rather go to a dealer who has been in the business of selling and maintaining tractors than a glorified lawn and garden center, or ATV motorcycle shop or combo of both. (no slam on the ATV or motorcycle shop but tractors are a different ballgame, for both sales and maintenance).

Purely a guess on my part, but I'm reading between the lines and coming up with this: You are oversaturating the market by also selling another brand alongside Kioti, and we don't like that ???

 

[RadarTech]

When I bought my kubota I tested a kioti.
I liked it but the dealer was the only one in 75 miles.
Everyone around me had bota or jd
Now that dealer is gone!
I just did a search and there are others but with what I have read in this thread I'm glad that I didn't go that route!

RT

 

[wallace]

Purely a guess on my part, but I'm reading between the lines and coming up with this: You are oversaturating the market by also selling another brand alongside Kioti, and we don't like that ???

If this was the case I blame that on Kioti...I think that you will find that not to be the case as Kioti back when they sent me up was looking for the mom and pop stores, but the last couple of years that I was with Kioti they had a change in the way they looked at prospective dealers.
They didn't want the new start up or the "little Guys" they wanted the bigger well established dealers weather it be the atv guys or the existing other line dealers....
Seems like if they made that statement, they would be the first fault, as they went around and tried to set up every NH dealer this year when the Boomer thing went down!

 

[stonechip]

Ductape, I don't think you are reading between the lines. I think you have interpreted correctly. JD has pushed this so why shouldn't other brands. I do not know the dealer or kioti but it seems to me that everyone always bashes the mfg in these cases without knowing any of the facts! Maybe they just plain didn't get along but I would think that there are two sides to this story just as every other one. It would be my guess that there is more to the reason some dealers are let go than what we hear and it should be kept between the dealer and the mfg. No doubt it is sad that this dealer is gone but bashing the mfg or dealer gets us nowhere. I have known dealers who have claimed no fault when closed and they get the public on there side feeling for them when actually it was there fault all along. They must pay their bills! They had even sold tractors and not paid for them. They would use the money for something else like vacations! I am not saying that the dealer in this thread has done any of this but that there are always things that we don't know and shouldn't know as the general public.

 

[sweettractors]

I went to Kioti.com and did a dealer search for KY and only came up with 1 dealer in the state at Smithfield, Ky. Kioti can't sell and support tractors, if they don't have dealers? Ken Sweet