Cust. Svc.

[Anonymous Poster]

Does anyone know of any sort of Corporate Customer Service number, address or web site for Kubota?

I have not had any satisfaction from Kevin Smith of Backyard Power in Woodbine, Maryland. They damaged my driveway and won't even return phone calls. I wanted to let Kubota know about the extremely pool to non-existant customer service of one of their dealers.

Thanks, Tim

 

[Anonymous Poster]

http://www.kubota.com

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I'd go after this on both sides...

First, I'd use a Small Claims Court Notice to the dealer to "wake" him up and to have him take care of the damage done.

Remember the damage was done by the dealer... not by Kubota, but you're right, just let corporate know the score... I'm sure corp. will send a rep to his place...

Good luck...

 

[Bird]

Tim, in that situation, I'd start by writing a letter to the Better Business Bureau with copies to the dealer and to Kubota's headquarters in California.

Bird

 

[Anonymous Poster]

BBB is only a mediator and can be dragged out for a long as the dealer wants...

Small Claims Court works quickly... in most cases, the complaint will get resolved by the dealer before it ends up on the court docket.

The dealer can ignore and not return phone calls and jerk the BBB around from now till forever... I guarantee they won't ignore a court notice to appear and a possible suit of say $4000. for damages.../w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

 

[Knight9]

Tim,

Just wondering if you have gone to see the Manager or Owner at the dealership in person. Think I would try that before I threatened to "see them in court". Especially if there are no or few other Kubota dealers in your area. Could make "future relations" a little strained (to say the least!).

Kevin

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Kevin,

It was my understanding, the owner of the dealership actually came out to his property to inspect the damage and had the attitude of "what's the big deal and I'll get back to you...and never did"...

Maybe I'm confused with a different situation/thread... I would use court only as a last resort, but I think Tim jumped through multiple hoops and hurdles up to this point...

Correct me if I'm wrong Tim...

 

[Knight9]

Holy cow!!! The guy came out there and still wouldn't get it fixed??? Ouch. In that case...sounds like Tim's due diligence has been done!!!

Kevin

 

[Bird]

John, I'd be the first to agree that the BBB is a "do nothing paper tiger" but I've found that it will get a response from a lot of companies (even worked with Kubota when I did it), and then if you do go to court, you have evidence that you tried everything else first; helps your case in court.

Bird

 

[ScottieM]

Tim before you take the dealer to small claims court make sure the court has the power to enforce the verdict. I know here in Michigan if you "win" in small claims there is no real enforcement to make the "loser" pay the judgement. My dad sued a guy and won,has yet to see the money been 4months, now he' s going to the next higher level, think circuit court not sure on that though.

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Tim,

This is a post by Mr. Kerr awhile back. I liked it a lot and thought it might help here. It was offerred by Kerr to help resolve a problem with an unresponsive dealer on a repair job that had gone on way to long.


<font color=blue>Get ya a pocket full of tools and go visit the dealership.Find a unit the same as yuors,pop the hood,go ta looking around in there kinda talking to yourself,pull out a screw driver and go ta pulling the sending unit off.If someone hasnt come out ta greet ya by than,pull the sucker!Fuel is gonna run so stay back!If someone greets ya before you get to the units,have a ****fit on em!!Still not happy,dont make payments for awhile and tell em why.I would call every 800 no.to kubota i could find.Try calling another dealership"nice now,treat folks the way they treat you for sure" tell him the deal and your patience being taken for stupidity.Screw em,throw em in the creek any way you can.</font color=blue>

Al (Hope you don't mind Kerr, I sure don't want to get thrown in the creek)

 

[r0GuE]

I'd document everything to let kubota know what happened but the big thing is to obtain satisfaction through the courts.
first step is a registered letter from an attorney. That letter should state the resolution ($$$) you are suggesting.
I have a freind who does this (actually rather often).
It ALWAYS works for him.
Good luck and "let us know"

Rogue

 

[kokopelli2]

tim,
i had a similar problem with kevin. for me he, he didnt want to sell me a tractor! it seems becuase my last name is lopez. i went to fredrick kubota and dropped twice what i would have at backyard. kevin had really ruined a business that mr. richardson built up. in fact kevin had made a poor name for himself in the kubota community. you can always go to fredrick, college park, gaithersburg or timonium dealers! its really a shame that kevin owns the place now. you can also look up Mr. richardson and talk to him. he might force kevin to fix it. if you have any questions feel free to contact me. i live right down the road from backyard. here is my e-mail. slopez@hunterfan.com

 

[Anonymous Poster]

John is right.... the guy actually did come out to the house, AFTER putting me off and setting up times and then never showing. He came with a camera and a tape measure, he was very aloof, and saying he didn't know how his truck could have done it. But I have pictures thjat show the tire treads backing up the the very spot they dropped the tractor. He said his rollback does not have any rollers on it. That is unusual in itself because I have never seen a rollback without some sort of roller in the back, but I asked if there was anything else on the rollback that he had to take off first to get mine off, he would not answer.

It's like night and day, the way this dealership used to be, and the way it is now with the "new" ownership. If this is how they treat their customers, I'd be surprised if they are in business much longer.

The tractor came from there, the loader came from there, all my parts are ordered from there, and all my service work has been done there. It adds up. But you can bet that I will NEVER use them again... for anything!

Thanks all.... Tim

 

[skent]

Backyard Power is without a doubt headed for big problems if they continue to treat customers the way you and Tim have been treated. I too have had big problems just obtaining parts. Usually go to Finch Services in Hanover PA. Much farther tha BYP, but you won't spend an hour waiting for a parts man who knows his job. A dealership can only stay around so long treating people like this. Kevin and group will soon have pleanty of time on their hands. . . . .

Steve

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Steve,

Hey thanks! Do you have any idea how to locate Bill Richardson? I thought he was comp[letely out of the picture. What power does he still hold to be able to get Kevin to make things right? Is he still part owner or something?

I'd love to talk to Bill and let him know what an A**hole Kevin is and how he is ruining the business.

If you have any info, such as a phone numbre, or where Mr. Richardson lives, it would help greatly.

Thanks again.... Tim

 

[kokopelli2]

tim,
mr. richardson must surely know what kind of person kevin is. i saw mr. richardson at the roy rogers in Mt. airy just before i bought my 2410 from fredrick kubota, he is the one that sent me there! mr. richardson has started another tractor bus. with his brother. i am not sure of the name but i bet he can/ will influence kevin. i believe mr. richardson still lives in glenlg. if i can scroung up his # i will!
steve