Dealership Rant

[KKS]

I'm so tired of dealerships not ever having parts on hand. I drive into the city which is an hour one way. I place my order with the parts guy and you guessed it, THEY DONT HAVE THE PART IN STOCK!!!! They can tell me it's in Kansas and will take 3 days to arrive, but that does me no good at all. They used to have a "recommended parts list" for the dealer for every piece of equipment made. That dealer would order it, 9 times out of 10 it would cover what you need. Now the manager looks good to the owner because they do not have parts sitting on the shelf and their part turn over is high, but totally screwing over the customer that pays 400% mark up price. If this is the new "lean" way of doing business, they should have an overnight guarantee! Not 3 days to a week!

[perfecho]

Totally agree.....with this situation, we should be able to order from factory and keep the 50% markup....

[kato]

We never leave the yard without phoning first. Other than the odd belt, we have come to expect the part will not be there. It's gotten to where its a big surprise if they have it.

[grassfarmer]

Can't say this issue affects me too often as we run minimal machinery but I must say I'm surprised at the short hours they work here in MB even compared to Alberta. So many of them only open 8or9am to 5pm five days a week even during the summer. Don't know how that is supposed to serve farm customer's needs.

[15444]

Lots of producers here keep their own supply of parts on hand that would rival a small dealer's inventory. Just a way of life here not to rely on dealers, so you either adapt or wait for parts. John Deere dealer doesn't keep more than 200k of parts in stock (won't even keep drive belts for the most common riding lawnmowers in stock) and orders take a minimum of a week to arrive. I order almost all parts through US dealers and dropship to US address for pickup. Speed and price difference would make your head spin.

[may-be]

Can't say this issue affects me too often as we run minimal machinery but I must say I'm surprised at the short hours they work here in MB even compared to Alberta. So many of them only open 8or9am to 5pm five days a week even during the summer. Don't know how that is supposed to serve farm customer's needs.

Better service in my part of MB. Only problem is the people shipping or dropping of on the other end.

A cousin of mine that is a Forman for a diamond drilling company was telling me about getting simple parts like a bolt when he was in Sweden. He said if you got there when coffee break started you waited that half hour until they were all done. Same with lunch hour.

[AllisWD45]

Not even discussed is price. My Cub cadet commmercial mower takes 3 blades. Total cost is 140$. Usually make one season. Local NH dealer does not stock them but has to order usually a week or so and they are made in China.
I found them on Amazon stamped made in USA. All 3 blades total of 38$. Believe it or not shipped from Tipperary Ireland by Air Express i had them in a week in my mailbox. Did i mention cost was over 25$ so free shipping too. Needless to say i ordered another set to have on hand.
Maybe more of this stuff will start to happen in parts in agriculture.

[smcgrath76]

We are pretty lucky here with some fantastic parts people and great parts inventories on hand (Except for one shade of Red). Usually shipping if needed is free if you are willing to wait for a regularly scheduled order.
We are definitely seeing the use of the net to shop around on machine purchases though. I am not sure how some items can be valued 30+% higher at a local dealer than I can purchase one in better shape elsewhere.