FarmTrac Troubles

[blueliner]

blueliner,

That was one of the word pairs that a dragon-lady English teacher beat into our heads 50 years ago. After nearly 900 dead serious posts in this thread, I thought a little lightening up might help. These guys have their reputations and life savings on the line. They deserve a break from the pressure once in a while.

I enjoy reading your articles, and hope your participation can help resolve this mess.

Calif.,

Dragon-lady, eh? Heh!
The mean, yard stick-totin' type, right? I'll never grow too old to forget such stuff. Ooh.

You're 100 percent right... a few lighthearted moments are welcome, considering all the pressure the dealers are under.

Like you, I hope to contribute something helpful.

--b

 

[taxpayer]

Hey everyone, haven't posted in a while, things are really coming down to the wire it seems. the latest fax from textron to the dealers indicates to me that something difinitive will probably occur between June 16 and July 1. I do not expect it to be good for the dealers, whatever it may be.really would like to hear from the people who bought tractors on the"less than zero program". I know us dealers are really absorbed by all we have endured up to this point and have not given as much of our attention to the injustice and outright fraud perpitrated on you by Farmtrac. you placed your trust in your dealer and Farmtrac's promise to you, only to find you were lied to by farmtrac and that your dealer could not help because they had also been ripped off by these crooks.it hurts deeply when a good and loyal customer, asks "what about my warranty or where is my rebate?"and the dealer can only answer "it no longer exists and I can't do anything about it".most have been very understanding of the dealers.my friends, your dealer, whomever they may be, values your trust and realises it is necessary in any sucsessful business.and to have been unable to prevent the violation of that trust by anyone in this industry is heartbreaking to any honest dealer. Please, let us hear from you, we value your comments good or bad. if we,dealers,customers and friends stick together, we may yet see something positive come out of this.thank you---------------Taxpayer

 

[SESS]

To all Farmtrac customers past, present and future: Taxpayer summed it up, plan and simple. You are stuck, we dealers are stuck. You customers are out rebate checks and warranty, we dealers are out our lively hood. To be self employed is a tremendous obstacle to say the least. To be self employed trying your darnedest to sell a product that you truely believe in, to only have the rug pulled out from underneath you SUCKS! This sucks that so many good people both the customers, employees and dealers were HAD by a bunch of greedy individuals with nothing in their site path except their own personal gain just makes us MAD AS HECK! We are fighting and we are fighting hard. We need all customers to get on board with us. Contact us by PM and we will get you pointed in the right direction which I believe is through your government officials and by law suit. You have every reason to file a suit against Farmtrac. Whether you will get anything out of it, is yet to be seen. But fight and do not give up. We dealers are certainly not giving up!

 

[case1570]

Came across a quote last night that I tought was appropriate.
"NOT GETTING CAUGHT IN A LIE IS NOT THE SAME AS TELLING THE TRUTH"
You can use your own judgement as to who this applies to.

Signed: A dealer doing their best to support our customers in bad situation.
Case

 

[taxpayer]

Thanks Sess, for the comments, I would to add that any parts issues,repairs needed and questions by customers should be directed to their dealer.the farmtrac dealers have and will remain loyal to their customers and will assist in anyway we can. thanks for your support.-------Taxpayer

 

[SESS]

Attention not even zero Farmtrac customers: I found a piece of extremely startling information in the Edgecombe County (Taroboro, NC) law suit that was filed by LS Cable vs Farmtrac(which is public record and anyone has access to the file to review!). The grand total of payments due to customers who purchased the "not even zero" program is $2,971,485.53----that is millions folks! I was shocked at the figure and could not believe that that rebate program had defrauded that many people of that much money. $2.9+ MILLION dollars is alot of money that was just flat out, down right and intentionally stolen from the customers. Appauling, absolutely appauling. If you have not gotten really mad at the money that was stolen from you-now is the time to be mad. Call your governor, your state representative, your senators, your newspaper companies-that is what those people were elected for-to help the American people out. That money was "stolen, misplaced, lost, wrongly invested" whatever you want to call it-it is fraud in every sense of the word! Send emails, send letters, make phone calls-but contact your government officials and get them involved and ask "WHERE IS MY MONEY!". I can tell you, that the money is not in the USA anymore!

 

[blueliner]

Hello everyone,

I received a note yesterday from REDNECKFORD, a forthright TBN reader and former dealer that contrary to his name, is *anything but* a redneck. Folks like RNFord don't end up with two Master's Degrees by accident -- but with hard work and ability. Good job, stud!

In addition, he has kindly provided permission to share information with all of you. On behalf of many, I extend tremendous gratitude to RNFord ... and all others that share information.

He is a veteran -- of the same dirty tricks Farmtrac dealers have experienced.

In his note, RNFord reinforced some beliefs many of us have held to be true.

I am not a Farmtrac Dealer. I was a Ford/New Holland dealer for nearly 20 years and went through the buy out of New Holland and Versitille, the merger with Fiat and the buy out of Case by New Holland.

When New Holland bought out Case they got nearly $980 million of worthless paper.

They made it hard on all the little dealers (3 million dollars or less), using all the tactics that Farmtrac dealers are facing today.

- They loaded up the dealers with inventory that they did not order.
- They cut programs and cut volume programs on the fly. They started pushing many costs down onto dealers.
- They rotated Territory Managers and other personnel, disrupting unwritten promises between dealers and previous personnel. New Territory Managers and others knew nothing them. Without the agreements in writing, they became unenforceable. The adage became, "Just pay for it."

Do these procedures sound familiar, dealers?

RNFord also had other insightful takes:

I agree with you... I have tried to motivate the dealers to solve problems themselves, because no White Knight was on the way to save them. The longer they wait, the larger the problem becomes for each of them.

Time *is* important ... something that will be scarce June 16th -- on T-Day.

Some [dealers] think that legal action can happen in a few weeks what many *DO NOT* understand is that legal action usually takes months -- and years -- and still will give them no relief. Been there done that.

The court of law is a last resort -- a slow, unsure one.
Corporations have bulked-up legal teams on retainer.
How can the working class citizenry compete with that?

What other court exists?
The court of public opinion.
Major corporations become uncomfortable with media scrutiny.

I am able to sound off on the web site because they have taken all I have and... what are they going to do to me?

Many dealers are afraid to talk or say any thing. I just hope you can get this issue before the larger general public.

That's the plan... with help from dealers and other informative readers.

Click here to e-mail information, questions or comments about "tractor loading" or any related topic.

Private messages or faxes are also accepted.

fax: (623) 687-9467
e-mail: bob_benedetti@hotmail.com

--blueliner

 

[case1570]

Thank You Blueliner, keep up the great work.
I think people should also know what I think; It was only a short time ago that Scat Trak dealers (a Textron Co.)were relentlesly pushed to take units or face cancilation. They took large amounts of units at full invoice price to keep the line, only to find out that some parts of the company were sold and that the dealers contract did not go along. They lost all programs, warranties and then found the exact same new model units that were left over at the factory for sale at auction. They then had to compete with these half price units. The majority of them went out of business because they could not pay the floorplan company (Textron) the difference when their new Scat Traks were worth half of the floorplan amount. Dealerships reputations were destroyed and most customers went without warranty, parts and the programs that they were promised. The story sounds familiar does it not?

Please call your state representatives and tell them what is happening. We need your help or it will happen again.
Case

 

[taxpayer]

To all you "less than zero victims" and those left without warranties. I spoke this morning with one of my customers caught up in this mess, he told me a call to tarboro got him the same thing he got with the program"LESS THAN ZERO".he readily agreed to talk to Bob Benedetti.if you want your voice to be heard,then give your story to Bob.you have scores of fellow victims out there, who need you to help them, let your voice be heard, contact Bob.-----Taxpayer

 

[Brad86]

please help!!!! I have a 8075 DT farmtrac i busted the back glass out of the cab and cant seem to find a replacement. The glass co. said they couldnt replace it because it was curved the only way would be to but lexan in it. He also said that the lexan would be really easy to scratch. I really would like to find a replacement if there is one out there. Ive called every dealer that i can find a number for, but now im here just in case i missed some. So if there is anybody that has one or has any ideas please let me know. bradleychilders@yahoo.com
Thanks

 

[blueliner]

Hello there.
Anyone home? Seems like an empty house, as of late.

A human interest story that lacks humans doesn't work so well... so I need some help, folks.

Who knows info about Farmtrac dealers that've gone out of business?

Please provide as much info as possible... but we'll take whatever you have.
The following would be ideal:

Defunct business information
1) Business name, city and state
2) Owner's name, city, state and/or phone number

Send it by e-mail or fax.
email: bob_benedetti@hotmail.com
or
fax: (623) 687-9467

Thanks,
--blueliner

 

[taxpayer]

wait about 10 more days Blueliner,should be an ample number of those you mentioned above.-----------Taxpayer

 

[taxpayer]

hey people,for some interesting reading google "eu-digest" read article dated dec 29,2007 by s. gurumurthy,click on link to hindu businessline for complete story. then google "the bretton woods formula" scrool down and find "bretton woods:1944-1971" article by paul stevens. it gives insight why this country is being flooded with cheap goods by other countries and why the people you elected don't care. my friends, Farmtrac dealers are not the only ones in peril of losing everything, we just got there a little sooner than the rest.---------------Taxpayer

 

[longtrman]

I've just sent the following email to:

escortsgroup@escortscorporate.com

and to Inlon in Australia and to a Dealer in Poland.

June 7, 2008
Mr. Rajan Nanda
Dear Mr. Nanda,
I have read the falsehoods disguised as a chairman message. In actual fact your management team at FARMTRAC, NA cut and ran at the very first sign of adversity leaving FARMTRAC,NA completely without funds and unable to file for bankruptcy. In fact they ran so fast that they did not take time to turn out the lights or tell the hourly workers to not report to work. Those hourly workers worked for days without pay and lost their accrued vacation pay. The FARMTRAC,NA dealers found out your conduct when Textron Financial placed the company in receivership. Your company did not even have the honor or moral fiber to tell anyone.
Please do not think that you will ever be allowed to do business again in the United States. We have already contacted the United States government. There is no way you can just retain ownership of the property and come back when the dollar is strong. You will find that 300 ex-FARMTRAC,NA dealers now are attempting to discover every falsehood, every unethical thing and every illegal action you or your company have ever done and will convey that information to every possible dealer in the world as well as all law enforcement authorities. At present we are sending information to English speaking FARMTRAC dealers in Poland, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland and will soon convey information to Indian dealers.
What your company has done is reprehensible and something that cannot be condoned by moral people anywhere. Your Not even Zero interest program is currently being looked at by the United States government as fraud. You and your people knew in advance you were not going to pay the consumer as you stated.
If you attempt to start new dealerships in the United States, do not be surprised to find ex-FARMTRAC,NA dealers with informational pickets outside the new dealerships.
Currently you should free up the process of allowing some new entity to take over the North American business. After the way you and your people have acted you have no right to expect anything but a maximum loss from the venture and absolutely no right to hold the North American dealers and consumers hostage to try to salvage one or two rupees.
In the day of the internet unscrupulous companies will be found out! We will tell the world!
Sincerely,
longtrman

 

[longtrman]

You can email your representative to congress by going to:

www.house.gov/writerep
choose state and fill in the blanks
you don't even need to know your rep's name the web site knows it

 

[blueliner]

wait about 10 more days Blueliner,should be an ample number of those you mentioned above.-----------Taxpayer

Gulp.
Point taken.

--b

 

[redneckford]

THE FEW THE PROUD THE BRAVE; The last of the true AMERICAN'S the others (very quite Dealers not shareing information) are something else something like mice among men!!!!! You reap what you sow take it and they will do it again!!!! Standup and be counted!!!!! At Least make them face the truth!!!!!

 

[blueliner]

THE FEW THE PROUD THE BRAVE; The last of the true AMERICAN'S the others (very quite Dealers not sharing information) are something else something like mice among men!

RNFord,

Your energy is a welcome sight.

Of three solid leads today, one stumbled and stiff-armed me, one soft pedaled it and one wanted to talk but seemed scared to lose his job.

You reap what you sow take it and they will do it again!!!! Standup and be counted!!!!! At Least make them face the truth!!!!!

Yep... it will happen again. The scumbags will strike again.

I'M DOING WHAT I CAN TO STOP THEM.
FOUR major media outlets have been contacted, others are in the works and a story is being compiled.

My Skillcraft is locked, loaded ... and itchin'.

--b

 

[longtrman]

hey people,for some interesting reading google "eu-digest" read article dated dec 29,2007 by s. gurumurthy,click on link to hindu businessline for complete story. then google "the bretton woods formula" scrool down and find "bretton woods:1944-1971" article by paul stevens. it gives insight why this country is being flooded with cheap goods by other countries and why the people you elected don't care. my friends, Farmtrac dealers are not the only ones in peril of losing everything, we just got there a little sooner than the rest.---------------Taxpayer

Taxpayer,
If it's not out of reason could I get you to expand somewhat and tell us what you think is important concerning Bretton Woods?
Thanks in advance, longtrman

 

[taxpayer]

Taxpayer,
If it's not out of reason could I get you to expand somewhat and tell us what you think is important concerning Bretton Woods?
Thanks in advance, longtrman

Longtrman, it would take far too long to give a thorough explaination on this forum.However I was refering to what is known as the bretton woods conference held in 1944 at a hotel located in a new england state. this once closed and abandoned hotel was remodeled and refitted especially for this meeting at a cost of several million post war dollars.the meeting was attended by financial representives of approx. 140 countries, it was considered at the time to be absolutely top secret.it was here that our government decided it would abandon the pure gold standard, which dictated that there must be one dollar in gold for every one dollar note printed.it opted for a system in which paper money itself became the standard.it enabled governments, primarily the USA, who became indebted to simply print more money, the value of each country's currency on the world market was tied directley to the amount of inports and exports each country was allowed.in short, in order to devalue the dollar and gain more exports for its country, many countries ,mainly china, india and middle eastern nations. began buying united states federal reserve notes.the american financial institutions hold only about 23% of these notes, with the rest in the hands of other countries. our elected officials, having allowed the USA to become hostage to these countrys, will do nothing to protect american interests against the very thing the farmtrac dealers are experencing .However as maddening as it is, we must not lose focus.anger towards Escorts LTD will not solve the imediate problem. we must deal with the textron problem first, if we are to survive in this industry.-----------taxpayer