customer services frustration

[HighTwelve]

A few years back I saw a post here or another tractor website looking for a value on a low time Kubota L3010. Since I was in the market for a tractor I talked back and forth to the guy. He was an accountant charged with liquidating the equipment for a bankrupt horseback riding academy. I flew down to TN to see the tractor and we cut a deal for the Kubby (325 hours) and three implements.

Next I went to UShip.com and found a hauler to get it to PA.

Last step (couple of years later) was to take it in for maintenance to a Kubby dealer to solve an intermittent glow plug problem. The dealer not only treated me right but commented that I got a great deal on the tractor.

I reciprocated by buying a back blade from him and the folding ROPS to fit in my low overhead barn. I wouldn’t buy Kubby parts anywhere else.

I had called another (actually closer) Kubby dealer to price the folding ROPS. He gave me BS that replacement ROPS were not available but that they would gladly take my L3010 in trade for a new tractor. Complete BS. I have never bought so much as a bolt from him.

 

[5030]

All hinges on the dealer. I bought my open station M9 via Tractor House used, 400 miles from here. Hauled it home on my tri axle goose neck, well hauled it to my dealer and had them go through it and fix any issues. Was never an issue and they treat it like I bought it there. Paid 15 grand for it and put another 5 in it for needed repairs. Worth about 30 today, maybe more. Not for sale either though my dealer has offered me 30 for it. Hard to come by and getting harder every day.

 

[HayFarmer]

My old Ford tractor dealer was sold, and then closed. Next NH was further away and not very nice to deal with. A new NH opened near where my old dealer was. Owner not customer friendly. Messick's always has my back. I guess if I ever need pros to fix something, I'll have to haul it there. They couldn't sell me Kubota DMC, because I'm out of their area (Kubota rules) but they don't punish me for buying elsewhere, and they know I did.

 

[MBTRAC]

Received the same parts customer 'attitude' from the local JD dealer when I purchased s/h JD elsewhere (because no suitable sized new or s/h machines available locally) - later invited by the same dealership to a demo day when ready to purchase new 150HP+ tractors, during the day gave great feedback on the demo machines to the dealer sales manage & attending JD State rep, they also quoted a great special price on the demo tractors knowing I was ready to purchase - then I shared that contracting around the State & based on my parts experience with the dealer, it's unfortunate I can no longer rely on JD dealers around the state for support on units they didn't retail so will now be buying other brands - the combined looks of the dealer sales manager & JD State rep were priceless....

 

[Jchonline]

I bought parts from the dealer I bought from and every part they sold me was wrong. I had to give them the part numbers to order…. And then before they sent them to me I made them text me photos to ensure they were correct…. And judging from @Jchonline location and brand, I am using that same “exceptional” dealer…

Where are you located because you don't have it in your avatar.
Fort Collins WTC is hot garbage. I use the Longmont location, they have been amazing for me.

 

[Bavarian]

I didn't read all the comments.
I just recently talked to a person who worked once at our JD dealer. He said: "the first machine is sold by the sales person. The second machine will be sold by the parts and service department".
The way your dealer acts is unreasonable. I'd like to talk to somebody higher up when you return your filters.

 

[bgr]

The closer dealer has told you they have only 1 parts person and he/she gave you the wrong filters, a really easy part to match. They have an incompetent parts person, they lied to you. What else do you need to know? Good dealers have a good parts department. Replacement dealer parts are expensive and have a big markup. Any good dealer(They are pretty common) has a parts department happy to sell the right part to as many people as possible, many even deliver the parts. They earn more money with every part they sell. I am sure that people who DO buy tractors from this dealer get the same poor service and wrong parts. Imagine getting them to do warranty service. There will always be a problem getting to working on your tractor with them.

You found a good way to test them and they failed. It is not your fault, and you are lucky to find them out on something which does not cost much.

 

[JDAOWNER]

THERE IS A GOOD VIDEO ABOUT DEALERS AND SERVICE/WARRANTY ON "TRACTOR MIKES" YOU-TUBE-SITE.

 

[Torvy]

Good point that I didn't consider...

It never cross my mind they would do such thing...

thanks for your perspective.

Cross reference question would be the serial number. Did you buy it from us is not about which part, it is about which tier of service they provide. Steer clear.

 

[piper184]

Where I worked a typical call from a large customer would be:
This is Jack from XYZ, I need a hydraulic filter for unit #17
Put customer name and unit number in system. Pull up details about "as shipped" and transfer S/N to parts look up screen. Compare multitude of choices and narrow down to proper filter.
OR:
This is Jack from XYZ, I need a #1234567 and bill it to unit #17
Done, boom, 90 seconds later someone is retrieving the filter from the shelf.


Typical small customer or new customer:
I want a filter for an ABC model.
Which filter?
Hydraulic.
Do you know your serial number?
No, they are all the same, just get me a filter
Did you buy it here? I can probably look up the S/N, we really need it to get the right part.
No, they are all the same, don't you know what you are doing?
Pull up the diagram for model ABC, Go to filters and show the screen that lists 3 different hydraulic filters to the customer.
Customer pulls out cell phone and calls home. I need the s/n from the ABC because these guys don't know what they are doing.

Alternative scenario after the second "no, they are all the same" response:
Parts person sells the customer a random filter that is at best an educated guess. Then moves on to the next customer in the queue.
Customer usually returns with the "wrong filter" and either the number off of the old filter or the S/N while yelling that the people here don't know anything.

Oh, and for customers with an account, we always tried to collect as much info about a new (to us) machine and add that one to the database. Not possible for cash customers.

Sheesh, I'm glad I am retired....

 

[5030]

I don't have that issue as both my units are in my dealer's data base so if I require something, they look and it gets delivered to the farm.

 

[Torvy]

Typical small customer or new customer:
I want a filter for an ABC model.
Which filter?
Hydraulic.
Do you know your serial number?
No, they are all the same, just get me a filter
Did you buy it here? I can probably look up the S/N, we really need it to get the right part.

This is the better sequence of questions. You needed the S/N and tried to find an alternate get to get that info. That is a different thing than starting the interaction with the 'did you buy it from us' approach.

I feel you on customers. Worked in Tech support managing a call center. People paid $2500 for a computer with no knowledge of how to run it. When they broke it, they wanted a replacement as if it were a toaster. Many of the 'stories' you here are true. I listened to many calls and was truly surprised how some people made it to adulthood.

 

[piper184]

I feel you on customers. Worked in Tech support managing a call center. People paid $2500 for a computer with no knowledge of how to run it. When they broke it, they wanted a replacement as if it were a toaster. Many of the 'stories' you here are true. I listened to many calls and was truly surprised how some people made it to adulthood.

Yup. I spent many more years in IT support than at the parts counter.
I bought a new computer and let my kid use it, now it is full of viruses, how much to fix. Aprox $500 worth of time. What? I didn't pay that much for the PC< you're ripping me off. Fix it yourself...
PICNIC (problem in chair, not in computer

 

[Eagle1]

ID 10 T error.......

 

[Rockbadchild]

Where I worked a typical call from a large customer would be:
This is Jack from XYZ, I need a hydraulic filter for unit #17
Put customer name and unit number in system. Pull up details about "as shipped" and transfer S/N to parts look up screen. Compare multitude of choices and narrow down to proper filter.
OR:
This is Jack from XYZ, I need a #1234567 and bill it to unit #17
Done, boom, 90 seconds later someone is retrieving the filter from the shelf.


Typical small customer or new customer:
I want a filter for an ABC model.
Which filter?
Hydraulic.
Do you know your serial number?
No, they are all the same, just get me a filter
Did you buy it here? I can probably look up the S/N, we really need it to get the right part.
No, they are all the same, don't you know what you are doing?
Pull up the diagram for model ABC, Go to filters and show the screen that lists 3 different hydraulic filters to the customer.
Customer pulls out cell phone and calls home. I need the s/n from the ABC because these guys don't know what they are doing.

Alternative scenario after the second "no, they are all the same" response:
Parts person sells the customer a random filter that is at best an educated guess. Then moves on to the next customer in the queue.
Customer usually returns with the "wrong filter" and either the number off of the old filter or the S/N while yelling that the people here don't know anything.

Oh, and for customers with an account, we always tried to collect as much info about a new (to us) machine and add that one to the database. Not possible for cash customers.

Sheesh, I'm glad I am retired....

Your typical scenario doesn't work here because they didn't ask me these questions

when I called I said ''Hi I am ''Jack'', I looking to buy some filters for this specific tractor for this year.''
they ask which filters.
I said ''all the filters you have for this tractor, Air, engine, fuel and hydraulics filters and there is three hydraulic filters I want all 3 ''...
there is my credit card number and address please ship to address.

Received the engine oil filter, two air filters (outer and inner filters), the fuel filters, ONLY two hydraulic filters, one of them my tractor wasnt equip with it for some reason, the other (the sump filter) was the wrong one ( it had a hole in the cover but mine doesn't) and the third they simply didn't give it to me.

I would've rather if they would've follow your logic and just clear the shelf and send me 4 hydraulic filters or ask for my serial number like you probably would've ... I am sorry that I don't know the filters sin number the first time I order them, but next time I order it once I have the right filters I will know and use that information and if the manufacture would have these sin numbers in the owners manual it wouldn't happen and it would make your past job easer and maybe you would've liked your job a bit more...

I get it is hard to have a job in customer service but see I can handle the public so I don't have a job in customer service and when I do deal with customer service peoples I try to make it as easy as possible but I expect the same in return.

 

[piper184]

One last story:
Guy comes in and sits down in front of the top counterman and says he needs such and such shaft for his XYZ baler model 123. Not in stock so ordered from manufacturer as we are a dealer for XYZ.
Part comes in, picked up and paid for. Returns it to me and says it is the wrong part. I looked it up and confirmed it was the proper number, but sometimes parts get marked wrong. Apologized and ordered another one. Comes in and he picks it up.
Next day he is back with new part that is still "wrong" and the old part as proof. Checked dimensions and sure enough they don't match. Conferred with top counterman and he has me call XYZ parts technical support. Long hold, leave message, get call back. Tech guy looks up the part (there is only one possible part) and confirms part number. Then he pulls up factory spec data sheets (paper book as it was a 25 year old baler) and we start going through the dimensions. Both new parts match the specs perfectly. Old part is different.

Tech guy says to get the s/n as something is fishy. Finally got customer to give S/N all the while complaining that that part is the same in every baler and we are ALL idiots. Called tech guy back and he looked up the S/N. Didn't exist. NOT VALID. He said that number doesn't even follow our sequence but it does look like one from FGH brand (our competitor).

I called the parts guy down the street and said is this a good S/N for you? Told him the story and he said you must be dealing with so and so! Yes that's the name.

Turns out that the customer had tried to buy the shaft from the correct dealer but it was discontinued and no longer available, but the the customer "knew" that the same company made balers for both manufacturers he took it on himself to declare that "they are all the same". Knowing we couldn't look up FGH parts he flat out lied about what he had and put everyone through a totally futile attempt to "get it right". The shaft and bearings were spec'ed differently from the different brands and the plant made them accordingly.

In computer parlance: garbage in, garbage out. Some customers you are better off without.

 

[piper184]

if the manufacture would have these sin numbers in the owners manual it wouldn't happen and it would make your past job easer and maybe you would've liked your job a bit more...

Exactly! I don't know about all manufacturers but the ones I dealt with were terrible at the most simple and common parts. Shame on them.
Even my 25 year old el-cheapo garden tractor has a sticker under the hood that lists the OEM part numbers for the filters, belts and mower blades.
A 50 cent sticker would make things simple for many people for many years, but it would cost 50 cents....

 

[Rockbadchild]

One last story:
Guy comes in and sits down in front of the top counterman and says he needs such and such shaft for his XYZ baler model 123. Not in stock so ordered from manufacturer as we are a dealer for XYZ.
Part comes in, picked up and paid for. Returns it to me and says it is the wrong part. I looked it up and confirmed it was the proper number, but sometimes parts get marked wrong. Apologized and ordered another one. Comes in and he picks it up.
Next day he is back with new part that is still "wrong" and the old part as proof. Checked dimensions and sure enough they don't match. Conferred with top counterman and he has me call XYZ parts technical support. Long hold, leave message, get call back. Tech guy looks up the part (there is only one possible part) and confirms part number. Then he pulls up factory spec data sheets (paper book as it was a 25 year old baler) and we start going through the dimensions. Both new parts match the specs perfectly. Old part is different.

Tech guy says to get the s/n as something is fishy. Finally got customer to give S/N all the while complaining that that part is the same in every baler and we are ALL idiots. Called tech guy back and he looked up the S/N. Didn't exist. NOT VALID. He said that number doesn't even follow our sequence but it does look like one from FGH brand (our competitor).

I called the parts guy down the street and said is this a good S/N for you? Told him the story and he said you must be dealing with so and so! Yes that's the name.

Turns out that the customer had tried to buy the shaft from the correct dealer but it was discontinued and no longer available, but the the customer "knew" that the same company made balers for both manufacturers he took it on himself to declare that "they are all the same". Knowing we couldn't look up FGH parts he flat out lied about what he had and put everyone through a totally futile attempt to "get it right". The shaft and bearings were spec'ed differently from the different brands and the plant made them accordingly.

In computer parlance: garbage in, garbage out. Some customers you are better off without.

that's brutal... I agree with your last statement at 100% and they have the right to refuse business to anyone its a private dealer ... I know that's not what you are saying but this doesn't apply to me I tried to make their job as easy as possible and never been a pain for them, other then being out of town and didn't purchase my tractor there.

 

[stevem5215]

Brutal and if I was that dealer I'd ask the guy to never come back. What a waste of time.

 

[piper184]

Yup, but too many owners see salesmen as money makers and parts and service people as expenses. But that is a totally different discussion.
I was only trying to show the "other side of the counter".

To the OP, None of my ranting was pointed at you as I believe you found a truly bad dealer, best to avoid in the future. Best wishes in finding a parts solution that works for you.

And from the owner's perspective: Lots of people want jobs but none of them want to work. Also sad but true.

It's a dog eat dog world and it is best to go around without "ALPO" written on your forehead.