What has happened to customer support?

[Vetech63]

Its getting beyond ridiculous.
NONAME CAT- If you have less than 20 pieces of equipment, don't bother calling field service if your machine breaks down and you need it quick. 7-10 days out if your lucky, but the BIG company with 150 pieces on one job gets next day field service!?
-A parts person that don't know what an engine lifter is? I constantly get wrong parts unless I ask for someone there that's been there for 30+ years. Just aggravating!
-When your machine runs out of its original warranty, your FKD if you think you will get any assistance on any premature failure. C9 Tier 4 engine failure (oil pump coming loose/breaking at 2800 hours?.....when there are service bulletins on this very pump being a problem on some of these exact engines? WTF?

This next dealer I have NO problem naming because they are absolutely WORTHLESS......
JD Dealer Yellowhouse Machinery-
-Don't bother calling field service, they don't EVER answer the phone. Don't leave a message there either because you will have lost several breaths of your life. They don't return calls and just don't GAF.
- Don't bother asking for any service information. They cant print off electrical schematics because "their computer system wont let them.?" BS The dealer in OKC has no issue getting me whatever I ask for and have been more than helpful.

I have a lot more examples but the more I type here, the more aggravated I get. I deal with many different customers, some even county government.......same scenario.

Now, is it just me getting picked on? Are other dealers this horrible with service? or did I just wake up in a bitching mood?

 

[thepumpguysc]

Probably not just u..
the place I worked at.. there was ONLY 1 PARTS GUY that could/would help you.. out of 4..
& EVERYBODY asked for HIM..
If he was an octopus, he wouldn't have as many arms he needed, to answer the phone calls he got EVERY DAY..
Poor bastar*.. Even the other parts guys would just give him THEIR calls..
It's gotten so bad there, that the phone rings directly to HIS LINE.. the others just sit there & collect a check !!!!!!!!! ITS SICKENING.. I had to leave..

 

[thepumpguysc]

OH> I had 1 guy call ME up & complain about the "others"..
I told him to call back & ring extension# ** & tell HIM the story.. {president}
The guy calls me back about 30 minutes later & tells me the PRESIDENT TOLD HIM>
"what do you want me to do about it?"..
The guy said he started the conversation by saying> " I have a problem w/ your parts dept"..
The very next words out of the presidents mouth was> "HA>> STAND IN LINE"..
How's THAT for customer service..???

 

[kshansen]

-A parts person that don't know what an engine lifter is? I constantly get wrong parts unless I ask for someone there that's been there for 30+ years. Just aggravating!

I have to say around here 80% of the parts people are good, with some I would put down to being amazing!

Shout out to Annette Tom and Berry at the Cat dealer, well Berry has retired now but was a shop mechanic at the dealer before moving over to parts. If you wanted to know something special he was my go to guy. "Hey Berry, can I remove the governor off the back of this sleeve metering pump on a 3306?" He would give you a detailed set of instructions on how to do it and what to watch for to know the flyweights were in the right place on the riser so engine would not explode on start-up!

Then there is Carol at our local NAPA dealer she could find things in the NAPA system that no one else could!

One guy who is also probably retired now is "Chuck" at the local Cummins dealer. He could sound so nasty when he answered the phone you might want to hang up! "YA! what do your WANT?" Know many who tried their best to not deal with him. But I learned the trick on day, I believe I mentioned it here before, just like that mean snarling dog, call him by his name! "Chuck this is Ken from......I need a gasket for this oddball thermostat housing that isn't shown in parts book. It has a casting number of 1789923 on it think you can do anything with that number?" "Give me a few minutes I have some other thing going right now, if I don't call back in an hour call me!" Within the hour you could be sure to know when to expect the gasket in the mail!

Not saying that I never had a "brain dead" parts person to deal with but have fond memories of the very good ones!

 

[Hobbytime]

I guess alot is based on location, if your the only show in town the town revolves around you, move to a more populated area with plenty of competition and you have to up your game or noone will use your services....but customer service across the board in every industry or business has gone down hill and or your talking to some 3rd world customer service rep reading from a script....and its all $$$$ driven to save as much as you can, half the time it takes 15 minutes and pushing countless buttons on the phone just to speak to a human and not a recording...and it aint getting better..

 

[wornout wrench]

We have Kenworth, Westernstar, Cat, Volvo/Madil, John Deere (construction not ag) Komatsu in town.
Service is hit and miss at best. Volvo and Deere are hopeless, call and make an appointment in 2 weeks if your lucky. We don't have any Komatsu equipment but will buy an undercarriage package off them if best price on a quote.
We quit sending trucks to the Star dealer because they are also useless
We only use KW for parts and they are good

Cat is another story. They show up when called, have not a bad track record of repairs, but the price..... Oh lord the price.

I'm pretty good figuring out what parts I need, have got Cat SIS and the Daimler site for the Stars figured out (90% of my night) I can leave a parts list for my warehouse guy and will pretty much get what I need.

We have a NAPA in town but they are pretty much last resort. Good luck using them
Our main aftermarket supplier and automotive supplier is Lordco (Western Canadian company)
You need to talk to the right guy if you have any hope of getting what you want there. One maybe 2 guys have a clue, the rest are just taking up space.
I have gone in there to buy a product that I bought 2 days before and was told that they don't have it, have never had it and will probably never have it. Produced the invoice from the last time with the part number on it. Oh, when did we get that?

yup, it is a crap shoot no matter where you go.

 

[Jumbo]

Cat is another story. They show up when called, have not a bad track record of repairs, but the price..... Oh lord the price.

From my observations, this is common everywhere, good service is "gold plated, and proud of it." I guess it goes back to the old adage, you get what you pay for. Unfortunately, bad service is silver plated, cheaper, but not by much.

 

[boaterri]

I have had very good luck (service) from Nortrax in Miami and several others in Florida looking for parts for an old John Deere 450C. I told them that I was a "home hobby user" of the machine in the Bahamas and they still treated me very well and were generous with information.

Rick

 

[Truck Shop]

With big business/corporations it's become the american way, integrity-that went out the window along time ago. Why should they be truthful when they know they can lie
their way through it.

 

[apetad]

We get the majority of our business from Customers fed up with customer no-service. Started this business 24 years ago because of the poor service offered by the "Big Guys" and have been happily picking up their crumbs ever since. Even though we have to charge more for the parts on competitor machines, the turnaround time and quality of work brings em back every time!!! Sometimes the Customer IS happy to pay a little extra for good customer service. And most of the time we have better pricing anyway!!! (Also not having to have the work done two or three times to get it fixed right is appreciated...)

 

[Vetech63]

We get the majority of our business from Customers fed up with customer no-service. Started this business 24 years ago because of the poor service offered by the "Big Guys" and have been happily picking up their crumbs ever since. Even though we have to charge more for the parts on competitor machines, the turnaround time and quality of work brings em back every time!!! Sometimes the Customer IS happy to pay a little extra for good customer service. And most of the time we have better pricing anyway!!! (Also not having to have the work done two or three times to get it fixed right is appreciated...)

Been doing the same thing here since 1990. Keep it up!

 

[heymccall]

Must be a regional thing. Here in southwest PA, I can't complain, except for my Cat dealer's $120/hr + $3.80/mile just for the road call. Average road call starts at $800, then they get out of the truck.
Don't want to complain too loud, though, as it keeps me employed.
Oh, and Murphy tractor, on average, charges me 13% over list price for parts. Needless to say, unless I'm down, and they have it in stock, I utilize every other Deere dealer, including Deere green.