BIG purchase LITTLE response

[plowman]

I am from Minnesota and went to a local dealership to purchase 2 new mowers. An Exmark Lazer 48 inch and a new 48 inch w/b. Total price to equal $12,700. I set up a time to met with the dealer to pay for the mowers. 6pm on Friday. I had to rush to make the appointment. When I get there the guy decided to leave for the day but didn't bother to call and tell me. In my eyes this does not reflect on the dealer or the product very well. To be honest I'm not sure I want these mowers now if it is a hint of bad things to come. Anyone have any thoughts on this. Keep in mind this is my first dealing with Exmark EVER!!!!!!

[65hoss]

Unfortunately its your dealings with a dealer, that makes a reflection on eXmark. Have you found out from the dealer why he left? Maybe he had an emergency? Maybe not, but you need to find out all the info beforehand.

Dealers are always a concern to eXmark and any mfg for that matter. They need to know these types of things. Maybe Terry, Dustin or Fred can help out.

[eXmark]

Plowman,

You’re probably right it doesn't reflect well on the dealer or the Exmark product line very well and I'd probably be a little upset too. On the other hand there may be a reasonable explanation. You may want to call the dealership and talk to the gentleman you had set the appointment up with before making any decisions. I doubt that you made the decision to spend $12,000 based on one fact, conversation or incident. You probably did your homework, studied the various brands, dealer representation and solicited opinions from others. I don't know that I would change my mind based on one incident unless you’re absolutely certain it is justified.

The other thing to consider is this. The dealership is made up of people. Each person has talents and abilities that help them do their job. Just because the salesman, manager or even owner may have let your appointment slip his mind doesn't mean that the shop doesn't offer great service. If the truth were known I can be pretty absent minded my self once in a while. It's a good thing my 5 year old knows where everything is in the kitchen cuz otherwise I'd be eating cereal a lot more.

Send me an e-mail to terry.eckert@exmark.com with your name and information as well as the name of the dealership and I'll make sure that someone contacts you.

Thanks

Terry

[John Gamba]

GET A DIFFERENT DEALER!!!!!!!!The mowers are great, dont let this dealer make you mow with anything less.
JOHN

[plowman]

Sorry I forgot to say he did call and leave a message on my voicemail saying that he was wondering when we could get together to pay for the items but never said anything about the missed appointment. In my eyes very unprofessional

[AGL]

Plowman,

My experience with two dealers in SW PA is similar to yours.

Purchased a 2003 52" HP last Spring. It was delivered with a steering problem (slight - probably just needs adjustment). I called the dealer a couple of times within the first month of purchase to have someone look at it and have gotten zero return calls.

I lived with it last Summer figuring I'd get it taken care of from another dealer in the Spring. Sent an email to the service department of the second dealer about three weeks ago asking that someone contact me to arrange a service call for my Z. Couple of days go by - no call. So I call them. Let me take your phone number and someone will get back to you in a day or so. 2 weeks later - nothing.

Sent an e-mail to Exmark service two days ago - nothing. However it has only been two days.

I've got to say that I like my Exmark a lot. But, before purchasing you really have to decide whether the lack of service in some areas is worth the premium price you pay for an Exmark.

Many people rant & rave about the quality of Emarks service, so there must be a lot of happy customers. I personally think the quality of their product is great - they just need to work on their dealer program.

REGARDS...Allen

[Kelly's Landscaping]

I went though much worse then that plowman when I made my purchase and it was 21,000. Delays, check cashing problems they couldn’t verify our checks with the new service they had we had to write something like 11 checks they couldn’t take one over 2,000 dollars that day I mean you name it. To this day the fear me and rightfully so after that I don’t even get asked to verify checks. Its now first name and what ever I want gets their full attention because they know I am serious. Bottom line was I was buying the product and I'm very happy with that the dealer has since realized my value probably the 33,000 Iv spent there this year and I am now treated as I expect to be treated and thus they have kept my business.

[eXmark]

AGL,

Sorry to here no one has gotten back you. Give me a call at 800-667-5296. You can ask for me or simply ask for the service department and one of the tech guys will take care of you ASAP! I'll put our service team up against anyone’s. It's possible they dropped the ball a little bit but that would be extremely rare. You can also shoot me an e-mail to terry.eckert@exmark.com

Heck I learned most of what I know from Paul, Tim, Chris, Harold, Lenny and Dustin (still learning too). I didn't learn a darn thing from Fred though.........just kidding Freddy it's just that most of what I learned from you is illegal in all but a few foreign countries.

Thanks

Terry

[65hoss]

Originally posted by eXmark
AGL,

Sorry to here no one has gotten back you. Give me a call at 800-667-5296. You can ask for me or simply ask for the service department and one of the tech guys will take care of you ASAP! I'll put our service team up against anyone’s. It's possible they dropped the ball a little bit but that would be extremely rare. You can also shoot me an e-mail to terry.eckert@exmark.com

Heck I learned most of what I know from Paul, Tim, Chris, Harold, Lenny and Dustin (still learning too). I didn't learn a darn thing from Fred though.........just kidding Freddy it's just that most of what I learned from you is illegal in all but a few foreign countries.

Thanks

Terry

Better watch out Terry, you never know what invention Fred is working on right now.

[zero_turn_mowers]

I would find another dealer that will treat you better.

Tim

[brucec32]

Unfortunately that sort of attitude is all too commonplace these days. Somewhere along the line there is a logical disconnect where some people don't understand that they have to do more than the minimum. I've had situations where I was spending $25,000 and got the same attitude as if I were buying a happy meal at a drive thru.

But just on general principle, I would find another dealer and let them make the profit/commission on the sale. If you can't get their attention where you're BUYING $12,000 worth of gear, imagine what you'd get when you're coming back for warranty work or a $100 repair.

If we whine about it but never vote with our dollars, we can't expect it to get better. I'd even pay MORE elsewhere after treatment like that. And I'd be sure to let the guy know WHY you went elsewhere. A nice photo of you and your new mowers with a letter explaining your dissatisfaction would leave a lasting impression. He might just learn a lesson that would be worth more to him in life than what he'd make on that sale. But going ahead and buying them after a quick complaint would probably be soon forgotten.

[Phishook]

I usually have to pay for my equipment when I pick it up.

[KKEES]

Sadly I too just had a similar experience with the local exmark dealer. I went in to inquire about pricing on a Metro HP or TTHP. If the guy would have given me a decent price and acted like he wanted to sell a mower I would have bought one that day.........now I don't know if I will go exmark...I'm looking for other dealers in TN. The sales guy acted as if I was bothering him....and he was not busy with snow falling outside! These guys are clueless about sales or how to treat perspective customers.......unfortunately for them my money works just the same at another dealership!

[eXmark]

Guys,

I'll jump in here again. When buying equipment you must consider dealer service. If you can't get service the best machine in the world isn't going to be nearly as valuable to you as it could be.

That being said I would recommend evaluating the service department independent from the sales department.

In this day and age everyone’s busy. There's not enough time to get all the grass cut or all the phone calls made.

When a dealer gets busy he/she will often take care of the customers he/she already has first and the potential customers after. Often the dealer that is the last to get back to you on a sale is the one that takes the best care of you if you do buy from him/her.

Like I said it may be a good idea to evaluate the service department separate from the sales department and if you unsure. Ask a few of your competitors that buy from them.

Thanks,

Terry

[AGL]

Terry,

I disagree strongly with this statement:

>>>Often the dealer that is the last to get back to you on a sale is the one that takes the best care of you if you do buy from him/her.<<<<

My personal experience over the 49 years of my life, and 20 years as a business owner is.... You are never treated better by a company than when you still have your money in your pocket. If a company is not motivated to treat you well BEFORE they get your money and earn your business; WHY would they suddenly treat you well after the sale? Where is the motivation? Obviously you are the kind of person that responds well to poor treatment. The customers that insist on being treated well have already moved on to a different company.

How many times have you had someone treat you poorly before you became a customer, and then recognized your true worth and supprised you with great service?

Exmark has a great product. You probably have quite a few great dealers. You also have some not so great dealers.

REGARDS...AGL

[eXmark]

AGL,

I guess I go back to my original point. When you make a decision to purchase something of this magnitude from a dealer, any dealer you will generally make that decision based on several things. Should you throw all that out the window over what could be noting more than a misunderstanding or you caught someone on a bad day. I have a lot of bad days, some might even call me cranky but I hope that I still provide a valuable service to Exmark and their customers.

Point well taken.

Thanks

Terry

[KKEES]

Terry - I have read a ton of your posts on this forum and there is no doubt in my mind you do whatever you can to resolve issues that guys bring up and play a role in keeping the gears of exmark greased and running smoothly. Frankly, reading your responses made me want to go with exmark equipment for my future purchases because of the "support".

It is evident that you have the company's best intrest in mind in these situations, which makes me wonder why on this post it sounds like you are making excuses for obviously poor customer service "out front" (i.e. sales guys not the service dept.)

Maybe there is nothing else that can be done....I know you can't tell dealers how to act.......and you are certainly not responsible for it.......it just doesn't sound like you.



Kris

[AGL]

Terry,

Lets agree to disagree.

My experience is that more than one bad day has occurred at more than one dealer.

Your comments of:
>>>Often the dealer that is the last to get back to you on a sale is the one that takes the best care of you if you do buy from him/her.<<<<
and
>>>>>>Should you throw all that out the window over what could be noting more than a misunderstanding or you caught someone on a bad day.<<<<<

Attempts to trivialize the problem and may be part of the problem with your dealers attitudes. If the corporate philosophy towards dealer sales and lack of customer service is to dismiss it all to "a bad day", there is little hope of improvement.

REGARDS...AGL

[eXmark]

Guys,

It's not my intention to make excuses. I guess one point I failed to make is this. 99% of the time these things come down to a communication break down. I don't know of any dealer that is so successful he can intentionally blow off customers.

Shoot me an e-mail to terry.eckert@exmark.com and I'll do some checking.

As always just let me know if I can be of any assistance. Usually we can find a way to work things out.

Thanks,

Terry

[AGL]

Terry,

I agree with Kris Kees. One of the reasons I bought Exmark was because of this forum and your responses to customer service problems.

Perhaps that is part of my frustration with your responses in this thread.

Let's start again. I have spoken to your service department (Lenny)and they are "attempting" to find a dealer that will service my equipment, or at least return a phone call. I spoke to Lenny on Tuesday. Yesterday (Wednesday) Lenny called me to confirm that I had received a call from the dealer. I had not. He said he would call the dealer again and ask him to give me a call. As of 1:45 PM EST on Thursday - no call.

>>>>99% of the time these things come down to a communication break down<<<<

I am an Authorized Dealer for a large national corporation. While I am an independent business, it is definitely in my best interest to respond to customer complaints made to the national corp.

If the local dealers are not responding to YOUR request, how do you think they are handling ours?

REGARDS...AGL

[eXmark]

AGL,

We can probably fix this real easy. E-mail me at terry.eckert@exmark.com and let me know if you have a dealer preference. You can also let me know if you would like the unit picked up or if you would prefer to take it to the dealer yourself. Most dealers do charge pick up and delivery however.

Thanks,

Terry

[eXmark]

Kees & Kelley,

You both make good points. One of the things that has made us so successful has been service after the sale and simply trying to treat all customers fairly at all times.

Most of the time when a customer comes into a dealership they are treated with respect and dignity as they should be. Does this happen always............Unfortunately it does not.

When things don't go well with your dealer call me, e-mail me or post it here on LS. We will do our best to help resolve any issue whether equipment related, dealer related or just about anything else.

Thanks,

Terry

[Kelly's Landscaping]

Terry on a lighter subject my family is from the part of Ireland that spells the name with out the extra E so its just Kelly. Hope to hear from you soon on the message I sent you today about my dealer well ex dealer.

[brucec32]

I have to agree with the other guys here. Part of the problem is that "having a bad day" seems to be way too common and acceptance of it by those who have the power to give these dealers "attitude adjustments" . Exmark is certainly not alone in having dealership letdowns. But Exmark should take a look at companies known for excellence for inspiration on how to solve these problems.

For example, UPS drivers who have "bad days" don't work there long. In contrast, employees at your local DMV have "bad days" more than they have "good days" yet they never get fired for it. Which organization would you choose to provide a service if they both were in the same field?

Lexus can charge $35,000 for a gussied up $25,000 Camry. They are renowned for their commitment to customer satisfaction. There is certainly value in adopting their attitude of "no excuses whatsoever". This attitude can only come from the top down. Letting each dealer set his own standards only weakens the brand, so if they have a problem dealership that dealer doesn't have a Lexus franchise long.

Some people only respond when you put the fear of god into them. I don't know what kind of dealership agreements you have with these people, and what you can legally do, but if you find out someone needs "adjusting" there are always subtle ways to do that. Such as cutting off their supply of mowers to sell, for starters. Or at least putting them at the end of the line. Without consequences to their actions, they're not likely to change for the better. And it's just human nature that whenever a problem encounter is investigated, the dealer/employee will always claim the customer was just unreasonable or at fault.

Here's another example in another line of work. We arranged for movers through my wife's company months ago. Someone came over and inventoried and estimated the job. Yesterday, the movers show up, but nobody had been sent to box up our belongings. "communication breakdown". I got the crew that was there to agree to go get boxes and do that. They move my stuff, but leave many things, even though my instructions were "take it all". I filled a pickup truck with what they forgot. Again, a "communication breakdown". These contractors work for a company that is under the umbrella of a major name in the moving business.

Now, what are the odds I will ever use them again? Or that once my wife reports this to her company's HR department, they will ever use them again either? They cut corners and saved an hour's work. But this was a $6,000 move contract. Penny wise, pound foolish.

My point is that it's the company's job to make SURE things are understood and clear, NOT the customer's. People used to know that just as common sense. Also, the misdeeds and disorganization of the people at a low level cost the higher organization in ways they will never know, since there is no line on an income statement that shows "people who never came by to buy anything again".

My experience over 12 years has been that almost every dealership of every brand could use coaching in how to be more organized and effective. Some are absolutely terrible. Some just need some objective constructive criticism. Maybe it would be in Exmark's best interest to consult with dealerships on service and test them with anonymous "customers" who can check to see how they handle various situations, then offer feedback on how they're doing, especially in situations where the boss isn't looking over their shoulder. I've found that in poorly run organizations, things degrade badly when the person with a financial stake in the business is gone.

[IndyPropertyCare]

Are there any more dealers in the area you can deal with? That is the main thing. Exmark has THE BEST product out there in my opinion. We are lucky to have a great dealer, but i do know the frustration of bad service from a sales person.

Don't judge the book by it's cover, the service department might be outstanding! Then when you buy more equipment later on....buy from another salesman in the store. That will prove your point. I don't put any stock in sales people....wait, I do sales...oh well!

You have to look at product and service. My dealer has several sales people I can talk to. If one ever does me wrong I'll just deal with someone else, because I know the service there is awesome and Exmark just simply rocks!

Good luck! Maybe ask to deal with another sales person if this happens in the future.

Steve
www.indypropertycare.com
www.indysnowplowers.com

[Mataman]

Originally posted by plowman
I am from Minnesota and went to a local dealership to purchase 2 new mowers. An Exmark Lazer 48 inch and a new 48 inch w/b. Total price to equal $12,700. I set up a time to met with the dealer to pay for the mowers. 6pm on Friday. I had to rush to make the appointment. When I get there the guy decided to leave for the day but didn't bother to call and tell me. In my eyes this does not reflect on the dealer or the product very well. To be honest I'm not sure I want these mowers now if it is a hint of bad things to come. Anyone have any thoughts on this. Keep in mind this is my first dealing with Exmark EVER!!!!!!

Sorry I forgot to say he did call and leave a message on my voicemail saying that he was wondering when we could get together to pay for the items but never said anything about the missed appointment. In my eyes very unprofessional


oh come on now,,,
You're bangin exmark because a dealer missed your appt. but then he called and left a message. Did you ever find out why he missed your appt? Wasn't there anybody else there that could have helpped you? Have you ever been late to a job and not called ahead, maybe missed an appt with a customer for an estimate? I bet as soon as you get your mowers going, you'll forget about the oversight of this dealer and focus on the quality service and productivity your getting out of your mowers. Terry has just come shy of begging you to email him so he can find an answer for you.

why don't you post an update about what happened with the dealer and how he reconciled this situation, if he did at all. This way we'll know if Exmark has an issue with their dealers or if this is more of an isolated incident. I'm sure if you emailed Terry, I'm sure he contacted your local store and they took care of business.

Let us know.

[plowman]

Ok, So here is the outcome of this......

The salesman I dealt with wasnt in the day I called back to get this taken care of. I spoke with the manager of sales and explained the problem. He told me he wanted to talk to the sales rep and call me back. 20 min later the phone rang and it was the mangager. No excuses just apologies. Said he realizes how this reflects on there product and company. He seemed very sincere so I figured after all the good feedback from all the peeople on this site I will give it one more shot........
Went back to the dealership and dealt directly with the manager. Even purchased some other items from the dealer at a discount price. Not exmark items but trimmers.
After it is all said and done I hope this turn out as good all the reviews I have read. Thank you everyone for your support and hope to have many years of great use of these machines.
Terry thanks for all of your willingness to get the problem resolved but this was something I felt I needed to do myself..... but it is good to know the support is there if another problem does arise
Thanks Ryan

[eXmark]

Plowman,

Just let me know if there is anything I can do.

Thanks,

Terry

[pwarren4]

Originally posted by KKEES
Sadly I too just had a similar experience with the local exmark dealer. I went in to inquire about pricing on a Metro HP or TTHP. If the guy would have given me a decent price and acted like he wanted to sell a mower I would have bought one that day.........now I don't know if I will go exmark...I'm looking for other dealers in TN. The sales guy acted as if I was bothering him....and he was not busy with snow falling outside! These guys are clueless about sales or how to treat perspective customers.......unfortunately for them my money works just the same at another dealership!

Kees, I know it's been awile since you posted this and I'm curious if you found a way to buy and/or get service on eXmark products in the Mid-TN area.

I am very much a newbie to this arena. I purchased my Metro 48 fixed deck today (3-31-04) from Franklin Kubota. It's being delivered tomorrow (I hope) and I am anxious to try it out.

Anyway, you did not mention which dealer you had the bad experience with, but I would like to recommend talking to Ames Krebs at Franklin Kubota. While my purchase was probably very small in comparison to the majority of their equipoment sales, I do not feel like I was treated as such.

As I said, I am very anxious to get to play with my new toy and while I hope eXmark lives up to their reputation, if I do require service from the dealer I have been given the impression I found a dealer that values my business.

Time will tell, I'm sure. I may be here in a month totally reversing my first impression. I hope not.

P Warren

[knuckshemi]

Terry, once again I must throw in my two cents worth. I just landed a large contract and I am going to be in the market for several new machines. Our local Exmark Dealer is the pits, but I am willing to drive an hour away where there is a GREAT dealer beacuse of your attitude and the way you respond to people.

I know that not all dealers are going to be first rate, and you never know what might have happened on any day. For example if the dealer has been really good and then one day it all falls apart, cut him some slack, he may have just gotten a phone call and his whole world may have just fell in.

But if it is a dealer like ours here, that you by to see four of five time and can not even get a price on a machine, Exmark does have a problem.

But once again, I beleive all in all that the dealers will follow the lead of the factory, and that is why I would buy Exmark, is because of people like Terry. I bet you get your tail chewed on a lot for things that the dealer does, but you still beleive in your product and it shows.

Keep up the good work.