[humble1]

Wondering if this has happened to anyone else.

Last year I got a quote in my email from one of JDL's fert comp.
The quote was quite a bit less on the gallon Bifentherin and $3-4 per bag less on the fert. The fert was Lebanon proscape so it was great stuff. I know some people will believe JDL is the best but the reality is that someone is the best someone the worst and the rest fall in between. Not all fert is the best.

Anyway I questioned the (regional manager up in MA) on the price and he told me to buy all my stuff at the other guys place from now on. I couldnt believe the attitude, I mean it isn't his place to turn customers away like that is it. He doesnt own the store. The same guy has done this to a few other customers as well. One of them is a 2 truck load per round guy that bought a PG magnum and had a major problem within hours. He basically told him to screw and never come back. He also would not sell round 2 to another big buyer because the guy bought first round else where.

Great service John Deere Landscapes you can be proud to have such a regional manager that turns away buisness...

Turns out I saved about $8 grand after switching over to another company mid year. Just like insurance you should shop around.

 

[turf hokie]

WOW is all I have to say, JDL/Lesco lost my biz for a while and did all they could to get it back and when they did they have been nothing but gold to me.

I cant believe MESA was that much cheaper than JDL, good for you, because the MESA I priced out was 3-4 per bag MORE than SCU.

All of my vendors are glad to have my business whether I spend $5 or $5000. They understand we have businesses to run and sometimes need/want to go elsewhere to check/purchase.

I actually like/try to give my business to various vendors because I like to stay in the loop with them and not put all my eggs into one basket in case something does happen. Like when one of my vendors closed the store locally and I was not able to purchase from them anymore....

That guy will be out of a job or the store will be closed if that is the case, my suggestion is to call the Regional or corporate if you can, they will skin that store manager without a second thought. Although, after being treated like that it probably wont matter, I wouldnt shop there any more no matter what.

Crap, just re-read that it was the regional that told you to pound salt.....oh well, go pound salt and pretty soon they wont be selling anything and looking for you to come back

 

[Landrus2]

Wondering if this has happened to anyone else.

Last year I got a quote in my email from one of JDL's fert comp.
The quote was quite a bit less on the gallon Bifentherin and $3-4 per bag less on the fert. The fert was Lebanon proscape so it was great stuff. I know some people will believe JDL is the best but the reality is that someone is the best someone the worst and the rest fall in between. Not all fert is the best.

Anyway I questioned the (regional manager up in MA) on the price and he told me to buy all my stuff at the other guys place from now on. I couldnt believe the attitude, I mean it isn't his place to turn customers away like that is it. He doesnt own the store. The same guy has done this to a few other customers as well. One of them is a 2 truck load per round guy that bought a PG magnum and had a major problem within hours. He basically told him to screw and never come back. He also would not sell round 2 to another big buyer because the guy bought first round else where.

Great service John Deere Landscapes you can be proud to have such a regional manager that turns away buisness...

Turns out I saved about $8 grand after switching over to another company mid year. Just like insurance you should shop around.

Come on what did you tell him you not telling us :laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

[humble1]

He was charging me $62 per gallon on bifentherin, I said I could get it for $48 per gallon at xyz competitor, he said yeah well we are giving you a grat deal on fert, I said actually your not, xyz comp is 3 plus cheaper per bag. He said then buy there then, I said dont you want to take a look at their price, nope buy there from now on...

 

[turf hokie]

He was charging me $62 per gallon on bifentherin, I said I could get it for $48 per gallon at xyz competitor, he said yeah well we are giving you a grat deal on fert, I said actually your not, xyz comp is 3 plus cheaper per bag. He said then buy there then, I said dont you want to take a look at their price, nope buy there from now on...

that is NOT the lesco way, lesco will almost always match or beat pricing. that is a BIG difference on both products.

What did you do to peeve him off? had to be more than just a competetive quote unless you only buy 3 bags from him, which I am sure you dont.....

 

[GreenI.A.]

Which distributor in MA are you buying from now?

 

[Turf Dawg]

Man I guess I'm lucky because I am very small time and my JDL/Lesco treats me great. Both the guys there are super nice and seem like they actually care. I did get some very good prices from other companies this year and when I e-mailed them and gave them the competitors prices they lowered theirs to just about the same as the others.

 

[twcw5804]

I would have reported him on up the ladder. Big companies look highly on website feedback or 1800 complaints. So what if someone came to us and said TruGreen is doing our yard for $20 why are you at $50. You should have something better than that to say if your product is more expensive, I may pay more for your product BUT AT LEAST TELL ME WHY.

For instance I'm in the wireless industry I sell Verizon, not the cheapest company and I can't adjust monthly prices. So I have to SELL our service over cheaper companies.

That guy was a prick and I wouldn't give them another dime until he's out on his can. I haven't been back to Taco hell since the sign said 99cents for my 5layer burrito and the kid charged me $1.29 in the drive through and his only answer was "sometime the signs wrong".

 

[jose85]

not true when i started my owe business i went to lesco because thats what the companys i worked for used, well i walk in ask for prices and they where to much so i went to 2 other shops ESTES and Agrium estes was about 15 dollars cheaper then lesco and lesco wouldnt go down and then agrium price was cheaper then estes and they PRICE much everything, and they are pretty kewl people,

that is NOT the lesco way, lesco will almost always match or beat pricing. that is a BIG difference on both products.

What did you do to peeve him off? had to be more than just a competetive quote unless you only buy 3 bags from him, which I am sure you dont.....

 

[GreenI.A.]

All the stores are different. Some Managers fallow eactly what the bosses say and do everything exactly by the book. Other stores do manythings off the book, for example if the bosses wont aprove giving the customer another 5% off, then the store manager might give the customer 5% of their bags for free and write them up as broken bags thrown away. That managers is doing something he can be fired for, but is helping the customer out and of course the more customers he has and the more he sells throughout the year ups his chance of a bonus. It all depends on which store manager, which regional manager, which vice president your store falls under.

 

[jrmikka]

wow thats amazing btw who is xyz? on ma

 

[humble1]

that is NOT the lesco way, lesco will almost always match or beat pricing. that is a BIG difference on both products.

What did you do to peeve him off? had to be more than just a competetive quote unless you only buy 3 bags from him, which I am sure you dont.....

well I saved around 8 grand by going else where so I am not a few pallet guy.

Why does everyone think I peeved him off, I gave 2 other examples of this guy throwing his weight around and telling two other guys to pound sand. To me he is the one with the personality defect.

 

[humble1]

Man I guess I'm lucky because I am very small time and my JDL/Lesco treats me great. Both the guys there are super nice and seem like they actually care. I did get some very good prices from other companies this year and when I e-mailed them and gave them the competitors prices they lowered theirs to just about the same as the others.

to me they lower their price when they get caught sticking it to you, funny how people feel loyal to a company that porks you until you can get a better price, then they say oh buddy i can come down, why not give you their best price the first time around. I hate buying new trucks playing that game. I always go to the dealers with the price is the price on the window, no haggle.

 

[ReddensLawnCare]

wow thats amazing btw who is xyz? on ma

Really. Think about that for a minute
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[Jason Rose]

The JDL I was forced to shop at after Lesco sold out to them has lost most of my business as of last fall. Lesco used to be a great place to go into and actually SHOP. I could get what I was after plus pick up a few "oh yeah I do need some of that" stuff while I was there. Since they moved to the JDL location they don't have that ability at all now. The operate out of a SHACK. Can't stock near the product they need to and used to. I deal with the same salesman, who when he worked for Lesco was always a great guy, friendly, helpful, would stay a little late to get a load in a truck or to finish your paperwork on a sale. Now, none of that. I even call ahead and try to see what I can get for product and all i hear is what he has in stock, which as I said, is very limited now. Need some single app rate dimension a little late in the spring? F off!

Straw that broke it was last fall, I was BUSY and finally got enough time to make the 45 minute trip over there, in my 1 ton dump truck, to get 2 pallets of fell fert. I pull in the drive at about 4:25 pm and discover they are closing!?!!? Yeah, new hours, they close at 4:30 now! Caught the fert guy walking out of the building. "yup, sorry come back tomorrow". Ummm, what? He knows I drove 45+ minutes! And since when did they close at 4:30? Said he couldn't load me up because the computers were shut down. Well in the past he would have loaded me up and I would have been on the road and he would have just ran my card # the next morning or sent me a bill. Not anymore.

I was pissed, to say the least.

 

[sweetjetskier]

In CT,MA,RI area there are many other professional fertilzer suppliers.

It amazes me that guys will say, if not JDL / Lesco than who?

You need to do a little searching, there are some fert suppliers out of state that can deliver me product in CT, when I need it and I have saved upwards of $6 a bag!! ( Buying mutiple pallets )

Trade shows are a great way to find suppliers.

I attended the Mass winter landscape show, there were 4 other fert suppliers there, all based in new england area.

The particular supplier Humble speaks of was there, great products and no pricing BS and they would be considered a small supplier.

At one time Lesco was the school yard bully, had you backed in a corner.

In my opinion the lost focus, ticked off far to many customers with pricing games,not having product in stock, I always loved this one- managers stocking product THEY wanted, not what customers actually use.

Do some homework, results will be well worth it!
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[turf hokie]

well I saved around 8 grand by going else where so I am not a few pallet guy.

Why does everyone think I peeved him off, I gave 2 other examples of this guy throwing his weight around and telling two other guys to pound sand. To me he is the one with the personality defect.

I am just stunned that a regional manager would show you the door for getting a competetive quote, it is the polar opposite of what I am used to.

Also, sounds like you use about as much material as I do because what you saved is what the my difference in MESA vs Lesco was, but you know what, those vendors understood when they couldnt get their prices close enough to get my biz. They also continue to try and I keep the lines of communication open in case I need anything from them.

As far as Lesco pricing, it seems like everyone else feels that they are high and only come down with a competetive quote. I honestly got my Lesco quote first just to check the theory, I told them i didnt have any comparable quotes yet. Their first price was over a dollar cheaper than anywhere else, so I am not sure what is going on elsewhere but my guys take care of me the first time thru and dont play games.

 

[JWTurfguy]

Humble1, what part of MA are you in?

 

[Hissing Cobra]

Wondering if this has happened to anyone else.

Last year I got a quote in my email from one of JDL's fert comp.
The quote was quite a bit less on the gallon Bifentherin and $3-4 per bag less on the fert. The fert was Lebanon proscape so it was great stuff. I know some people will believe JDL is the best but the reality is that someone is the best someone the worst and the rest fall in between. Not all fert is the best.

Anyway I questioned the (regional manager up in MA) on the price and he told me to buy all my stuff at the other guys place from now on. I couldnt believe the attitude, I mean it isn't his place to turn customers away like that is it. He doesnt own the store. The same guy has done this to a few other customers as well. One of them is a 2 truck load per round guy that bought a PG magnum and had a major problem within hours. He basically told him to screw and never come back. He also would not sell round 2 to another big buyer because the guy bought first round else where.

Great service John Deere Landscapes you can be proud to have such a regional manager that turns away buisness...

Turns out I saved about $8 grand after switching over to another company mid year. Just like insurance you should shop around.

Humble1,

With all due respect, didn't this take place last November, 3-1/2 to 4 months ago? If so, why do you feel the need to post this now?

I have PM's from you dating back to 11/4/10 when this first came to light and back then I sympathized with your plight and advised you the best that I could. I also gave you a list of five other locations in your area and the names of the manager's that run those locations, so that you may be able to purchase your materials from one of them instead. Did you contact anyone of those five people? Have you gotten any kind of pricing from any of them?

John Deere Landscapes is a great distributor of its landscaping products and I know that all of the people that I work with, both in my branch and the surrounding branches, are committed to providing honest pricing and excellent service. We are not in our jobs to drive people away or to drive business away. It's unfortunate that sometimes these things arise but keep in mind that there are ways to change things and communication is key.

 

[sweetjetskier]

Why would he go to another store if the regoinal manager is the same?

He will get the same answers,comments and usually the same brush off,doesn't matter which store you go to.
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