Should He Pay the Dealer?

[Steevo]

Totally off topic but friend had a sucker cow calve recently and was off colour so called out vet, young vet came out couple of jabs 'be right in a couple of days'. No better in a couple of days so gets vet out again, another young vet puts had in the cow and says its not cleansed so pulls it out etc.
Still no better in a couple more days so gets vet out again, one of the partners comes out puts his had in the cow and says there is another calf in the cow but its to late and puts the cow down
Would you pay???

Least all the vets were looking in the right place....

 

[Tarw Coch]

If it were me I’d go and have a quiet chat with the dealer, I’d start with whoever I knew/got on best with, quite possibly the salesman and explain the issue. I’d be expecting at least a heavily discounted bill. If they insisted the full amount was owing I’d pay them and walk away, they wouldn’t see any more buisness from me.

 

[spin cycle]

Totally off topic but friend had a sucker cow calve recently and was off colour so called out vet, young vet came out couple of jabs 'be right in a couple of days'. No better in a couple of days so gets vet out again, another young vet puts had in the cow and says its not cleansed so pulls it out etc.
Still no better in a couple more days so gets vet out again, one of the partners comes out puts his had in the cow and says there is another calf in the cow but its to late and puts the cow down
Would you pay???

no

 

[tepapa]

The customer did call the dealer to look at the tractor so at the very least pay a callout and 1 hrs diagnostics. Its not his fault the technician was not adequately trained to deal with the situation so shouldn't have to pay for his mistakes.

 

[C&Cows]

Has the customer actually had a bill from the dealer yet or is this 6 pages of if my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle type ramblings?

Best message on this thread by a mile!!

 

[trev7530]

Think the farmer will need to pay something, call out and maybe a couple hours.
Who did the fitter call to get the second lad out, surely it would of been the workshop manager and at that point they should of sent out someone with some experience, the young lad could of learnt, the tractor would be fixed and no need for a second opinion.

 

[Dry Rot]

The trouble is, if you engage a mechanic or any other sort of tradesman, by implication, you agree to pay his reasonable fees for work done. If he turns out to be incompetent, you've obviously made a bad choice. Caveat emptor and all that. Tough. I am posing this as a general question and not about this particular thread.

But I believe there is an accepted workaround. Isn't it possible to pay a certain amount into court, what you as the customer feels is reasonable, to be held in good faith to show that you are not refusing to pay but just disputing the amount? In that case, if the contractor won't accept that in full payment, the court can look at the situation and decide what is reasonable to both parties?

 

[james ds]

No way would I anything for that call out , they did more harm than good , I’d send them a bill for repairing the harm they did , those lads had very little experience , that’s not the first time those wires got wore away on that model, an experienced mechanic would have sorted it in half an hour , which is the case after the other clowns made a mess of it , he then had to clean up the mess after them which they should pay for.

 

[bumkin]

This is when customers should be happy to pay high hourly rates for a good fitter and a dealer that sends a good fitter to do the job, everyone is happy and ud be tempted to deal with them in future. The op's situation is a very common occurrence, incapable people sent to do a job, get charged a fortune to do the job incorrectly then when you dispute the bill they make you out to be the villan and label you as a bad payer. I'm not blaming the young chaps but I don't like them experimenting/training on my time

the big problem is when they need to work things out, now because they rely on their laptop if it doesn't give them the correct answer they are fudged their is a chap near here who is a farmers son and he can fix anything on electrics he is sh!t hot he can locate a problem in minutes with basicly is a light bulb on a wire,unfortunately he doesnt work in the trade any more and its very difficult to get him what i will say for him he is intelligent he can work things out its a shame he has never had an apprentice he could have taught them logick

 

[john432]

Honnesty and straight talking is my philosophy... If it was my tractor..I would talk to the workshop manager , or branch boss, explain what happened, how his boys had failed.. and as I needed the tractor working got @Phil P in for a look , and he due to his experience quickly fixed it. And in the spirit of TFF, I would suggest that @Phil P would speak to the main dealers mechanics, share the photos of the repair, and tell them the method be found the broken wire so quickly. Evryone makes mistakes and evryone needs to learn...

 

[seedman stains]

Perfect reply to the situation too many people jumping off the deep end.No body ever made a mistake every day is a learning day no matter how old you are

 

[bumkin]

I’m doubtful he’ll will have had the bill yet, however knowing most dealers I’m sure one will arrive shortly. I’ll probably give him a call in the morning see how he’s got on?
Before I go to pick some parts up from the dealer?

i think it would be best to have a chat before they wrote the bill, just nice and pleasant like

 

[tepapa]

Perfect reply to the situation too many people jumping off the deep end.No body ever made a mistake every day is a learning day no matter how old you are

Making a mistake is one thing, but expecting someone else to pay£1500-£2000k bill because of it is another.
(16hrs so far +4 to fix and replace @£75-100/hr)

 

[D14]

Surely, calling a dealer and saying "My tractor won't start, can you send someone to look at it?" it's implied that you want it restored to working order? Otherwise, why call them?

You go to hospital and say "A cow kicked me, can you have a look" it's implied that they treat you, not just say to you "Yeah that looks painful, bye"

I agree but it was his decision to ring the dealer. He obviously has stopped using he dealer previously for a reason so gluton for punishment maybe?

 

[Phil P]

*UPDATE*

Ok, spoke to my customer this morning and he hasn’t contacted the dealer as yet and hadn’t heard from them.
I was going for parts this morning so said I’d have a word with the service manager, I know him quite well anyway.
So, I’ve explained the situation and told them what I found and the state of the cab! Explained my diagnosis and told them what the problem was so they can “hopefully” pass the information on to the lads involved.
We agreed that something would be sorted In relationships to the bill but I’ve left it as they will contact the customer, nothing was stated as to whether he will get a bill or not so will just have to wait and see.
Hopefully this will lead to an amicable solution without anyone falling out ?

 

[shumungus]

Totally off topic but friend had a sucker cow calve recently and was off colour so called out vet, young vet came out couple of jabs 'be right in a couple of days'. No better in a couple of days so gets vet out again, another young vet puts had in the cow and says its not cleansed so pulls it out etc.
Still no better in a couple more days so gets vet out again, one of the partners comes out puts his had in the cow and says there is another calf in the cow but its to late and puts the cow down
Would you pay???

It is my understanding that Vets have insurance for this scenario.

 

[Extreme Optimist]

Goodwill should count for something. The customer is much more likely to coninue to give his business to the dealer if said dealer admits there has been a cock up and waives the bill. The alternative is that the customer loses all confidence in the dealer and walks away. You sometimes need to feel that you are going to be looked after properly and a bit of goodwill from the dealer will probably guarantee that he retains his customers business.

 

[Chae1]

*UPDATE*

Ok, spoke to my customer this morning and he hasn’t contacted the dealer as yet and hadn’t heard from them.
I was going for parts this morning so said I’d have a word with the service manager, I know him quite well anyway.
So, I’ve explained the situation and told them what I found and the state of the cab! Explained my diagnosis and told them what the problem was so they can “hopefully” pass the information on to the lads involved.
We agreed that something would be sorted In relationships to the bill but I’ve left it as they will contact the customer, nothing was stated as to whether he will get a bill or not so will just have to wait and see.
Hopefully this will lead to an amicable solution without anyone falling out ?

That was very decent of you. Hope the customer appreciates it.

 

[Farmer Fin]

It is my understanding that Vets have insurance for this scenario.

You are right for things that are deemed incompetent. The test of which is would a reasonable proportion of vets have done the same thing. However there are often cases where things don’t go to insurance a reduction in bill will occur as a goodwill gesture. Often this is the best way to sort an issue and retain a client.

 

[Phil P]

That was very decent of you. Hope the customer appreciates it.

I think I’ll probably carry a little more weight with the dealer, mainly in the respect that I could explain exactly what the fault was and how it was/should have been diagnosed. That something my customer would probably have struggled to do and make the point that the dealer lads should have gone about it differently. The dealer would have just tried to baffle him with bull poo, something that doesn’t wash with me.
But yes, it was much appreciated by my customer and he’s a decent chap so I don’t mind helping to find a resolution.