Dealer Bad Dealer Experience.

[keeney]

I am sorry to report on my bad experience shopping at a dealer here in town. I won't mention names - they will know who they are and perhaps all the dealerships can learn from this story.

As is evident from some of my previous posts, I am looking at purchasing a small backhoe for my JD 4100. I was considering a Wallenstein GX600 and the Wallenstein distributor sent me over to a JD dealer as the actual retail dealer who could help me out the best because they would know my tractor, etc.

I also thought it would be good to at least take a look at the JD backhoe and see if there was a quality difference that would justify what I figured would be a fairly hefty price difference. I had just looked at the Wallenstein unit in stock at the distributor, and I drove over to the JD dealer to look at a 46 Backhoe for my JD.

#1 disappointment - the JD dealerr had no backhoes to demo. Not even any similar models like a 47 or 48.

#2 disappointment - the JD literature on backhoes sucks. They have all sorts of features and benefits stuff on the internal dealer website that he briefly showed me on the screen, but the public website and the take-home printed stuff was very brief with no good pictures and very little details. I would rather take the stuff home or have it on my own computer to study at my leisure. Its almost like they don;t think their customers are smart enough to read the sale literature or they don;t want them to know more about what they are buying than the salesman.

#3 disappointment - the dealer spent the whole time pitching the JD hoe even though the Wallenstein dealer had obviously called ahead and asked his buddy at the dealership to take care of me.

#4 disappointment - the dealer did not offer anything better than list price on the Wallenstein unit, but came down significantly from list on the JD trying to get low enough to be the same price. The other way he got down close was to leave off the ROPs upgrade, assembly, prep, and installation.

#5 disappointment - when I asked why the JD was worth more money, the explanation was that the JD would be more prestigous, look better on my tractor, and hold its resale value better. However, when I asked what he could give me on trade-in on a near-mint-condition front-mount JD snowblower that I had bought and never used, he said they were really not interested - maybe $400 or $500 for something I paid over $2000 for.

#6 disappointment - When I pushed again for their best price on the Wallenstein, they didn't move a penny. I was later able to get some prices from other non-JD dealers for the same unit that were at least 10% off of list.


There were a couple of things they did do right:

#1 got-it-right - they did have familiarity with the 46 backhoe which has been a mystery to some other JD dealers I have called.

#2 got-it-right - a couple of things they said about the JD backhoe were actually good selling points - like easy parts availability and the sub-frame mount.

#3 got-it-right - they did validate my paperwork for the chair give-away.

Bottom line:

1. Unless they somehow change my first impression, I don't think I will ever buy anything from that dealership - JD or non-JD. That leaves me with about 3 other local JD dealerships at about the same driving distance from my house for any JD purchases I may make in the future.

2. I wish that it was possible to just order some of this kind of stuff off of the web and not pay for markups at the distributor and dealership level.

3. I am still looking for the right backhoe to buy and the right seller to sell it to me at the right price. I have another 6 - 8 weeks before the ground thaws around here to make my decision and purchase.

- Rick

 

[Egon]

Don't want to sound confrontational but is this perhaps a case of not getting what one wants at the price one wants.

Egon

 

[mwood]

I'm not sure if Egon is on track or not. However, I think the point about not having any models to demo is a very good one. I have gone to three JD dealers around here. Two of them didn't have any units marked for demonstration. They had lots of units, but none that they wanted me to test drive.

The third dealer, (and the one I will give business to if I do decide to go Green) was very helpful, let me drive a couple of units and even let me test out the I-Match hitch with implements to demonstrate the ease of use. Now I'm not saying that the other two dealers were bad (one offered to start up a tractor for me so I could hear it, but he made it clear that it wouldn't move in any way, shape, or form) but if I can't try out something, why would I want to buy it?

Dealers need to realize that there is compitition out there. They need to sell potental buyers by proving that their product is the way to go. And the only way to prove this is to demonstrate what their products can do.

Sorry this turned into a bit of a rant, but I really think it's important to test drive before you buy. (It's saved me from making multiple bad descisions!)

 

[keeney]

<font color="green"> Don't want to sound confrontational but is this perhaps a case of not getting what one wants at the price one wants. </font>

It was more like a case of them not working on selling me what I wanted and asked for and instead spending all their effort and my time selling what is good for them.

I understand that what I want may be expensive. The problem I had was the way that one model could come down over $1000 off of list and the other didn't move a penny at the same dealer.

If they had been willing to make the same percentage deal on both units, I would probably not be unhappy I wasted my time there now.

They didn't have any backhoes to look at, demo or new, period.

- Rick

 

[shvl73]

Could it be that the dealers discount off list is different on the two brands? In my line of work, some items are sold close to or at list price out of necessity & some items have so much discount off list that 50% off sales are are considered a running joke. Just a thought.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

As to finding one of these hoes in stock. I bet you will be hard pressed to find a dealer that does stock them. It has been noted before that tbn folk have a lot higher frequency of backhoe ownership than the usual cut owners. I bought mine sight unseen, and believe that i am not in a minority.

After owning a backhoe I am even more convinced that i would stick with the Deere on a Deere. There's just too much that can happen to be stuck in a finger pointing match. (course, I have no idea what price difference we're talking, but I was able to get my 47 for less than the aftermarket hoes i looked at....)

 

[zuiko]

The difference off list is not surprising to me at all. Dealers have different margins on different items, different vendors, etc. I know I pretty much pay list on any non-deere stuff I buy (though I haven't bought anything as expensive as a BH).

I also would have to say I have never seen a CUT BH at any dealer, except the small TLB tractors. I don't think they sell very many of them compared to other implements and also very expensive.

 

[keeney]

I understand that no dealer can have a demo of every possible item that they sell, but its hard to sell something the customer cannot see!

The best price on the JD 46 I have been quoted is still over $6000.

The best price on a comparable third-party brand I like that I have found is about $4000.

The best used I saw so far was a fairly rusty-looking as-is, where-is unit on ebay for about $1700.

My tractor was purchased used, no longer under warranty, so there is no real issue - if something on the tractopr breaks, its my nickle. If something on the backhoe breaks, then maybe the backhoe has a warranty, either JD or third-party, probably both about the same.

The only real advantage I see to the JD is that if it does break, parts will be easier to get.

- Rick

 

[yellowsocks93]

Yup. We have a lot of implements that sit outside for quite some time before they get sold so they get faded and run down. Then nobody wants to buy that implement because it looks like crap. If we were to go stocking backhoes then they would sit there forever and in my 2 years at the dealer I have never seen a backhoe on a compact tractor. Old mowers are also hard to sell. If we had a canopy for all of our equipment I could see us stocking more new and keeping the used in better shape but I don't believe a lot of dealer have this like a big indoor used equipment center.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I won't buy another John Deere product until our local dealership changes ownership!!!

I have several pieces of JD lawn equipment that were purchased from various dealerships over the years PRIOR to moving out to the property I currently live at. Now if I try to have it serviced at my local dealership he treats me like I have 2 heads and flew in on an alien spacecraft.

Despite that grief, when I was shopping for another tractor last summer I walked in with a checkbook in hand. I was prepared to buy a tractor and pay for it in full. What I found was a dealership with sales reps who didn't give a rat's rear end if they even talked to me, let alone answered my questions. In fact, it was a struggle to just get anyone to show me one of the half dozen tractors they had sitting outside.

Pardon me, but it wasn't a price isssue, it was rude and horrible customer service and I will never be treated that way again and I will gladly tell my story to EVERYONE in and around the town I live in and anywhere else that I have a voice. The people were at best jerks, and I could say a lot worse.