dealers taking too long

[AielLandscaping]

i took my honda into the dealer that i always have gone to so i could get my rpms cranked up... i have to leave my mower in their shop for 3 weeks before they will get to it...:blob2: it's a dang good thing i have a back up mower or i'd be screwed.. just wanted to complain..

[Rhett]

Would find a new dealer!

[Tony Harrell]

Rhett, I used to live on P'cola beach. My favorite place was on the bay side of the bridge (Ft.Walton/Destin) in that shallow blue water. We'd run the boat up the intra coastal and throw the anchor out along with several hundred others and jump into the waist high water and drink beer. Very nice place. I remember Destin when I was at Eglin in the late '70's, it was a lot less commercial.

[TFL]

Find a new dealer. I've made it clear with dealers that they put mine onthe list first because if i lose money they will lose money;)

[agrostis palustris]

I'm sorry, I just find it interesting that every post I have read on here about dealers is that each of you deserves to be put first on the list because you lose money... blah blah blah. If you have to be first, and so does the next guy, and the next guy and so on and so forth. Who is second? Who is last? What happens when somebody brings in a machine with a busted gasket that will take a while to fix? I'm sorry, it's just that I know my dealers pretty well. They get to me pretty much right away if I need them to because I do work for the family. However that is if it's something minor. If it is major I just leave it there. I tell them to take their time because while I may be losing money, I also know that by nagging and nagging and nagging some more that just pisses them off. I have known these people for a while and can safely say that they are NUTS. If you piss them off they have and will kick you out of the store along with your equipment in a not so nice way. It's a double standard here. Most of us have a nice size customer list. And I am sure that most of your customers think that you only work for them. Try reversing that role to where you are the customer and the dealer is you. Please have some patience.

[Rhett]

Maybe I jumped the gun. If the service was consistently that slow I would definetly be looking elsewhere. Or in my case if the dealer cannot get me in I have a friendly repair shop in town that may be a few dollars more but will ussually have commercial equipment back by the next day. Tony you are right. Crab Island (actually just a sand bar) is still a popular place on the weekends to drop anchor with several hundred other boats, stand in the water and drink the refresment of your choice. They even have and ice cream boat and a floating resteraunt with a band this year.

[TFL]

Another that shows you it is a good dealer is if the mower has to be kept a while then he has another machine on your trailer.

The dealer i go to deals in Farm machinery and since Grasshoppers and New Hollands have became popular he has 5 mechanics for serving comercial mowing and getting the job done quik. All his others are trained to service the machines so they can help get us back on the road.

Hope in the next 2 years to add a full time mechanic to my staff so i don' have to deal with dealers at all.

[Alan Bechard]

The question in my mind is what do you mean by adjust. My dealer, who I bought my mowers from, if I call him and arrange a time for him to look at it (that day or the next) and it is something straight forward, like a governer spring adjustment or such, does it in the parking lot or pulls it into the shop and knocks it out. That is why he is my dealer now.

One of my former dealers, who forgot to put on a pulley guard and it munched the pulley two days after I bought the machine, then said it would be three weeks before I could get my mower because it had to fit into the shop schedule, Is now as I stated, my FORMER dealer.

You have to have a good dealer, I consider myself a fair enough mechanic (FAA Airframe and General licenced) and fabricator, but sometimes you need parts, sometimes you need help and sometimes you just do not feel like fooling with the dang things! Your dealer, who you spend a fair amount of money with, should be willing to at least move you a LCO to the front of the line in front of the Homeowenrs and if it is something they can knock out in 10 minutes or less do it right as soon as you bring it in, or, as someone else said, you should get an extended demo ride of the new model.

Al B

[agrostis palustris]

I hear you there Alan. But what about all the other contractors that are ahead of you???

[Ax Man]

I bought a new mower in the fall. In the spring after a couple weeks of use, the battery started to lose charge. I checked it with my meter, and discovered the regulator was only putting out 10v.
Called the dealer, "sure bring it in, we'll push it right through!"
So my day is going better.
When I get there I find out that the desk and the shop apparently aren't communicating, and the demo for lcos with over 24hr turnover is out of commission.
It took 4 days to tighten the screw on the ground wire to the voltage regulator.
What did I do?
Bought my own service manual.
Works for me.

[Tony Harrell]

The local dealer has a laid back attitude. "Whatta ya gonna do!" He says backordered is a fact of life and the distributor (Carswell) nor manufacturer (Ransomes/Bob-Cat) really cares about customer service and I should know that. Maybe we should all just go down to the lake barefoot with Andy and Opie and just while away the time waiting on parts to come in. For goodness sake, I've ordered electronics from Japan that took no more than 4 days. Thank goodness for the aftermarket companies and other dealers/brands. When you're the only show in town, everyone comes to see and you can do what you want. From now on, I'm holding everyone to a specific timetable and then I'm going somewhere else. If they say 4-5 days, I'm tellng them that I'll be back in 4-5 days for one or the other. The parts or my money. Maybe if everyone did this, the chain would tighten up.

[brucec32]

Funny, I'm considering a move to the area so I read the Destin Log frequently. Apparently there are so many guys drinking beer there, and there's no bathrooms, so guess where they relieve themselves? The article was on somebody's fears that there could be high bacteria levels in the water there due to the yellow river created, ha! They're testing it on busy days to make sure it's "safe".

Don't fish wizz in the water too?

[brucec32]

Hey Rhett, can you do me a favor and answer a few questions? I'm considering moving to Navarre in a few years and may decide to mow a few lawns to keep from getting bored. My questions:

1. What are the primary lawn types there? (st. Augustine?, others?)

2. How long is your mowing season? Any details you could provide would be helpful.

3. Do you discharge, bag, or mulch on the lawns you do? I'd hate to have to bag on every customer's lawn if I can avoid it.

What kind of market do you cater to? I'd be interested in hearing how it is mowing in a coastal region.

Thanks.

[2tall]

I'm glad I have a dealer that works on the equiptment the same day or he gives you a loaner. I had a broken pulley on the mower deck. Took it in, 2 hrs later I was out cutting again!

[Rhett]

Hey Bruce,

1. The sod of choice seems to be St Agustine. Also alot of Cenipede and unfortunately Bahia

2. The season is 9.5 monthes give or take. We are in lower Alabama so the weather is alot different than our friends in southern Florida.

3. Very little bagging. Perfer to mulch. Do use a snapper high vac on one small property. But that is mainly to keep the old gal happy and I like the way it looks when it is done.

There seems to be a wide varity of markets here. Alot of retirees on fixed incomes to the absentee home owner. I like the gated communities that are popping up all over with homes starting in the 300,000s or so. Just getting started so got my foot in the door hoping for more. Good luck in what ever you decide to do.

Rhett