How dealers loose business to BB stores 101...........

I'm venting again........
Was looking at chain harrows, some of you folks said they'd do what I want so I decided to get one. Have an equipment dealer/F&F nearby so decided to see if they could get me one. Got on the internet and printed a picture, turned out to be an aftermarket brand that they carry so I wrote the article number down. Went to the store (been dealing with them 11 years) and nothing there, one of the floor guys called someone and told me that the thing didn't exist with the folks they deal with. Sent me to the machinery guy. Went to the office and was talking to the owner and his wife til the guy finished with a customer. Showed him my picture and asked if he could offer anything like it, first thing out of his mouth was "where do you come from?" asked him if it would effect the service I got and he started asking what I wanted it for, what I'd be using it with, and how I would transport it. Told him that we could worry about all that after he found out if he could get me one. He called someone else up and they took me in an office and showed me a catalog with everything except what I asked for and told me the one I found wouldn't work for me. I said OK. Went to a BB store that carries the same aftermarket brand of stuff, they called and I'll pick up the harrow Friday.

I'll be sure to show the owners of the dealer the labels and run down my experience with their salesman...........

Done now,

Dave

Sometimes-salespeople are well meaning and don't want to sell you something that won't work for you, sometimes-salespeople want you to know HOW SMART THEY ARE, I say sell me what I want, If it doesen't work, thats my bad. gobble

Loose???? LIKE screw LOOSE??

I hate when you get idiot's that do everything they can NOT to sell you something when you know they can get it. It's a waste of your time. But on a positive note, I had to get a bearing that was pressed into a cast piece for an old Hesston self propelled windrower. I called a dealer who was an hour away but the closest one. I had the part number and he looked it up and told me it was an obsolete part. But he did some further checking and was able to check the inventory of all the dealers and found three left in the whole USA. He told me he could order it, but they would tack on handling charges so he just gave me the number of the dealers who had the part so I could save $10-20. That service there makes me think of them first whenever I would need something they carry.

The rest of the store is OK except for 1 guy. we had a come to Jesus talk one day and he walks a little softer now, just won't be buying any equipment from them. Get better service from ebay...........

and, for braveheart furow, I can spell just fine, just was in a hurry I guess. Thanks for the constructive input though.


Dave

I had a similar experience with local lumber yard
recently, they had some nice little sheds out front,
but the doors were to narrow for our lawn tractor.
Went in to see if they could get me a wider door,
seemed like it would be impossible! Called Menards,
the guy asked how wide, how high, what color,ok,
picked it up in 10 days! I can't wait until the new
store is open in Bemidji!

There are often things below the surface. I worked for a farm supply outlet for several years. Issues I can think of include crappy product (despite fancy brochure) that company does not back (or fights you tooth and nail), the company never makes promised delivery date or is very poor on parts availability. It's no fun being caught between the manufacturer and the customer.
Issues I've seen with a store chain are buyer for said product has deal with manufacturer includes buying in volume (XXX dollars per order) so you receive nothing till the minimum in the contract is filled, deal with carrier that will not pick up at factory till you have truck or rail car full. At worst the buyer has arrangement with manufacturer for personal incentive. Why turn in order for 5000 dollars when order for 10000 dollars will kick in a kick back of cash or some other reward.
More than one time I circumvented our corporate plan to help a customer out. Made sure both the store and corporate saw good money on the deal only to be taken out back of the wood shed for not doing things "by the book."
This is of course no excuse if the salesperson is plainly rude or arrogant.

Same issue, but on a smaller scale. Was working on the engines of a friends boat. One gas line leaking at the carb. Took the line into a local parts store and the guy at the counter couldn"t say NO fast enough. Nope they don"t make gas lines, nope they don"t sell the fittings, Nope they are not a repair shop. This was a standard size gas (or brake) line. I guess with an hour till closing on a Friday he was in a hurry to clock out. We went a 1/4 mile down the road to Napa. The older fellow there took the line out of my hand walked straight to his bin and we were out the door with what we needed in minuets.

at the risk of being slammed once again for my opinion on this board: I cannot speak for the salesman but just as a thought, on why the product was not in the book but the others were... Companies that build products such as yours may contract with distributors who sell to the dealer. I know this as most of my life is involved in running my own motorcycle shop, and I have learned that company X can sell to distributor A, B, and C and each one carries a little different product selection from company X and if its not on the contract you can't even special order through your distributor. There are even several OEM's that i can think of that do not always set dealers up full line, whether the OEM's choice or the dealers. I don't know if this is what happend to you but I wouldn't be surprised if some chain stores have exclusive contracts on some parts. I know this doesn't help how you were treated but its some insight if nothing else.

You live in Germany, right? Sounds like any other small town in the world where everyone thinks they know your business and has no hesitation to tell you what you ought to do. I always thank them profusely as I leave their store with my checkbook still in my pocket.

Dave,
just had similar experience to heyseeds and yours last week with a golf cart dealer. Needed a ball stud for throttle linkage. Had the mfr p/n and found it online for $2 + $8 shipping. But, also online, found local dealer where it was $4 but drivable distance (25 miles). Had the picture of the part with p/n in local dealer's online catalog. Called them up, lady checked gave her the p/n and said "yup, I've got ONE left". Next day, called before I drove out and she said "yup, it's still here on the counter". Drove over. It was a DIFFERENT length threaded stud AND a different p/n. Told her it was the wrong one than what I had asked for as I had also seen IT in their catalog. She insisted it was the part for that brand of cart. Together we rummaged through a parts bin that had ball studs in it and I found the right part. She STILL insisted it was WRONG as she was writing up the sale and her attitude was that I didn't know what I was talking about but SHE did because she was the AUTHORIZED distributor. Took it home and it was identical to the original and fit perfectly. No harm done, other than a less than positive customer experience with that dealer. Will probably go elsewhere next time.

To me it is about good service. The owner of the feed store where my brother works. Treats eveyone the same. If someone needs feed loaded and his people are busy. He will be out there loading feed. If someone is not sure something will work for what they need. He will tell them to take it with them and try it. If it doesn't work bring it back.I have seen him talk people into buying a product with a cheaper price. If he thinks it is the same as the more expensive product. On Saturdays you have to get there early to get in line to the yard. Looks like a parking lot at Wal-Mart. The other store in town can barely keep the doors open.

I see that often regarding tools at HM, Menard"s, WM, others in the same town- each carries a slightly different numbered product in the same line, so each can claim to have the lowest price, and not honor another"s price, since the product is different. EX: last DeWalt grinder I bought turned out to have a slide switch, which I dislike, instead of a paddle switch- noticed it after getting it home.

Just got back from Memphis (50 miles one-way); carried the wife's car (Cadillac CTS) in for oil change/service; it's still under warranty and they're persnickity. She had a blown turn signal bulb and I asked the service manager to replace it (woulda done it myself, but I knew I was getting it serviced today) In about 20 minutes, he comes into the waiting area and said that the socket was corroded and also needing replacing........$75.00. Told him to fix it. About 2 minutes later, I thought how can the socket be corroded; it's all sealed up. Went out to the shop and asked to see old socket; he handed it to me and followed me out into the sunlight; it looked BRAND NEW. I showed it to him and just looked at him........told him I'd been a farmer/mechanic for better than 50 years. He said that based on their experience, a new bulb would fail within a week if the socket wasn't replaced; told him just to put the old one back; (it just snaps in) he said, well, that'll be $60.00. I said how much is the bulb; $30.00. $30.00 FOR A PARKING LIGHT BULB???? Well, it's actually only $10.00. Said he would discount the labor. Told him I wasn't happy; just put the thing back together and let me leave. He said, well, actually it's ready to go (hood was down and technician had walked off. The oil/filter/service price was the same as always; he charged me $26.00 for the bulb/socket and labor. Never heard so many different stories out of anyone's mouth.

Ya know, maybe you should qualify your posts by saying when something happens in Germany. A lot of folks reading your posts will naturally think you're describing incidents in the US. I have many German colleagues with whom I've become good friends, but the German reputation for stubbornness is not entirely undeserved.

Dave Be careful. Just talking to a friend that was unloading chain harrows from his pickup and had one tine go THROUGH his foot top to bottom Not nice

had same deal on parts told my boy they could not get it when, i called and asked if they were still a dealer for this manufacture they said yes and would get it right away for me after a talked bad to him.i drive 20 miles to do business now this place will leave my parts out for after hours pickup or meet half way

Similar but on a tiny scale. We wanted a new
plastic chest cooler. I saw an ad in the paper at
the local mom n pop hdwe store. Went in and bought
it. We brought it home and talked about it and
decided a bigger one of a different shape would be
better. I returned it and got royaly bi@$hed out by
the "mom" because, "How could a cooler be wrong??
!!!" I left and went to a big box store and bought
one. Mom and pop store be dammed.

(quoted from post at 16:27:42 04/13/10) Ya know, maybe you should qualify your posts by saying when something happens in Germany. A lot of folks reading your posts will naturally think you're describing incidents in the US. I have many German colleagues with whom I've become good friends, but the German reputation for stubbornness is not entirely undeserved.

Click to expand...

I use modern view and it shows where I'm at. Makes no difference anyway.

Dave

You can tell a german but you can never tell a german!

I remember going in to a shall be unnamed John Deere service dealer and having them tell me that the part I was looking for didn't exist and never did exist and John Deere never made that product.

So what in the hell did I have behind my tractor, then!? :roll: