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Unofficial Home of Old Simplicity & Allis-Chalmers Garden Tractors

No General "Dealer-Bashing" Messages, Please!


Kent

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The dealers are the lifeblood of the products we enjoy so much. The AC and Simplicity tractors were manufactured to a sound standard, but it is the dealers - their parts, their service, their flow of new and used products that make it all possible for us to all to have fun with these great tractors and implements.
Dealers - I / WE SALUTE YOU. Keep up the good work.
Tuffy.
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All,

There's been a few postings lately that concern me, from an objective viewpoint.... I just wanted to publicly ask that we refrain publicly from "beating up the dealers" based upon our individual experiences with poor ones or when we've been quoted unexpectedly high prices. This is for several reasons:

1) We've likely all encountered unethical or unhelpful service/support before (not necessarily related to garden tractors). The best way to deal with that when it occurs is simply to NOT give that specific business any more of our business.... and to tell our friends about that individual incident....

2) But, that doesn't mean that the one incident applies to ALL others who are in a similar line of business. They are NOT all alike. I simply "shop around" until I find someone who wants my business enough to give me the assistance that I need and treats me the way that I want to be treated....

3) Several dealers are very active in this forum and the club, and are VERY helpful in sharing their time, knowledge and information. While they may be the exception (and I personally think they ARE exceptional, by the way), it is not fair to them to "paint them with the same brush" that we would use when describing our bad experiences....

4) I've found that overall the "lawn and garden" business is made up of ethical, hardworking and fair businessmen -- or they would not remain in business for very long.... Unlike perhaps the "high volume" big city auto dealers, these small local-area businessmen depend upon relatively small profit margins, parts/service customers and repeat business to remain in business. They are not "ripoff artists" or they will shortly be out of business....

5) The prices they must charge are largely a reflection of the prices they must pay for the items that they resell to us -- they don't build them, they just buy and resell them.... The small profit margins that they add on are what allows them to 1) be there, year in and year out, including the "off seasons" -- and this is a very seasonal business -- and 2) have at least some parts available in stock when we need them on short notice....

6) This is a relatively low volume business, and even more so for these OLD units that we're talking about. You don't see "mega-dealers" for this type of equipment, like you do for automobiles. This equipment, especially these great old Simplicity's, last and last -- and people overall, people don't buy them as a reflection of their personality and lifestyle -- perhaps with the exception of green & yellow equipment, or another shade of oriental orange. These tractors are bought for "utility" and kept for a long, long time. People don't generally trade every 2-3 years, as they do with their cars....

7) And with my "webmaster hat" on, it's the paid ads from some of these dealers/suppliers that make this all possible....

Sorry for the long-winded post. But, I wanted to go on "record" saying that I think some of these dealers are absolutely great.... And if you think parts are expensive or hard to find for your 25-30 year old garden tractor, just go to your neighborhood car dealer and try to buy OEM parts for a 1965 Mustang or a 1969 Camaro...

Kent
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6-21-99 @ 22:29

I agree! My friendly Allis/Simplicity has been a usefulhelpful
friend for over 20 years. They have helped me keep my
B-1 running all this time.

Thanks Kent.

Roy
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Here-here. I second the motion. I felt exactly the same way when I read the bashing. Our dealer club members ARE exceptional and greatly appreciated! In fact, I was just thinking we could write a pretty good book from all the technical information that has been posted in this discussion board this year.

Please, let's have respect for each other and understand that, even unintentionally, it's easy to hurt someone's feelings when negative comments are posted to the world.

Greg
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I, too, have found power equipment dealers to be generally satisfactory and honest, especially Simplicity dealers. (Does Simplicity specifically encourage this, dealers?) Even the "green" guys are usually good (but often very tough on prices).
I also want to thank those dealers who have chosen to help support this site, while absolutely not criticizing any who have not. It is, and must be, a business decision based on hard economics. And even just the contribution of technical knowledge and experience is most welcome.
Fred
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