I went into the Cat dealer in Kamloops bc with a drive belt today to try and swap it for the one i actally need, they are the same price and he had the one i needed but there was no way he would help me out. I told him I would pay somthing for his time.... like a restock fee but he told me he had lots of the belt i had and i could buy the one i needed or get lost. Anyway i just thought people might want to be carefull, i mean how hard would it have been to charge me 20 bucks or somthing and swap me?
bad experience with Kamloops BC cat dealer
- Thread starter sledcrazzy
- Start date
Did you buy the belt from them initially, if not then I can't blame them.
if he has lots of those belts you wanted to trade in,he gets the twenty bucks,gives you a popular belt that costs him 90,now he is out 70 bucks,and then because the belt is popular that he gives ya he has to buy a replacement...
now he is out 160 bucks...but oh joy for him,he can sit on your unpopular belt for years and sell it in a garage sale for ten bucks..
Actually the belt i wanted to get rid of is a M8 standard belt 046 and he would have no trouble selling it, but oh well i guess i might as well give it to someone for a gift. Not going to give to some dealer that was rude and unhelpfull nor will i give him any more of my business.
Agreed. Speaking from experience, if you bought the parts originally from that dealer then shame on them. If not, our policy usually didn't involve taking in a part purchased from another dealer in exchange for parts off our shelf. It's nothing personal to the customer, just think about it in a business sense 'No money going in, and money potentially going out the door?'..............Not a good business plan.
Obviously he didn't by his last reply, he never answered that question. I don't see it as a bad experience like the thread is titled, I see it as someone who wanted something for free and didn't get it...how is that the dealers fault???
If I wanted the business, I would sell ya the new belt for half price. That way most of my cost is paid for, and I have another belt to sell. Add that I also prob got a customer now too. Considering I did what others wouldn't(judging by this thread) and creating a postive atmosphere, I think I'd see this customer back in the shop time and time again. Even if he was out of town. That's how I landed customers 500 miles away when I ran a po-dunk BRP shop in the Cariboo. Infact I had customers from as far north as Telegraph Creek and as far south as the lower mainland and the Kootenays. And I was sending them parts, belts, and oil like it was going out of style! Customer service goes along way still, people are begging for it.
who would expect any business to take in a part they didn't sell??? seems silly to me, and then doing a post like this, wow. just shows how some people just don't have any idea what it means to run a business... i've found over the years there's a lot more terrible customers than bad business's!!!
G
geo
Well-known member
Also,, which belt did you want??
Was it the BO'd PC belt?
Reeb. If you had only a few belts left for your new model customers and the weekend was coming would you really be giving one to a non-customer?
Do you really have a PC belts on the wall? If you do, post it up. you'll have a few internet customers.
IMO, Reeb as a local boy, your post showed very poor manners. You know no one at Leading Edge would tell some one to "get lost" or "take a hike". You've been there and that is not their personalities or business model.
I think you should have re- read in the morning and used your experience to read between the lines.
Was it the BO'd PC belt?
Reeb. If you had only a few belts left for your new model customers and the weekend was coming would you really be giving one to a non-customer?
Do you really have a PC belts on the wall? If you do, post it up. you'll have a few internet customers.
IMO, Reeb as a local boy, your post showed very poor manners. You know no one at Leading Edge would tell some one to "get lost" or "take a hike". You've been there and that is not their personalities or business model.
I think you should have re- read in the morning and used your experience to read between the lines.
I had the exact same experience last July.
I bought a gallon of 2% milk at Sams Club.
I forgot about it in the car for a couple weeks, then put it into the fridge.
Well it turns out I was supposed to get skim milk.
So I took it back to our local grocery store to exchange for skim & they didn't even want to do the swap!!!!
I like..."WTF?!"
It's like they didn't even want my business!
Really, 2% is very popular & they would've had no problem re-selling it.
Simply unreasonable.
How can someone even make a business go when totally lacking in service like that?
I bought a gallon of 2% milk at Sams Club.
I forgot about it in the car for a couple weeks, then put it into the fridge.
Well it turns out I was supposed to get skim milk.
So I took it back to our local grocery store to exchange for skim & they didn't even want to do the swap!!!!
I like..."WTF?!"
It's like they didn't even want my business!
Really, 2% is very popular & they would've had no problem re-selling it.
Simply unreasonable.
How can someone even make a business go when totally lacking in service like that?
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brings back the old saying.."i don;t know the secret to success,but the secret to failure is trying to please everyone"
I can see what most of you are saying.... but if he sells both belts and the one is still in "new" condition- What is he really out?? Trade the belt, charge him $20 bucks for the effort, and keep a customer. I know that the customer is not always right.... but you can try to work with people.
I wouldn't have mad a stink about it, and put the business on here- but,, the last sled i bought i paid $400 more for from a dealer that would go out of his way to help,,,, when i could have got it for less from a dealer that couldn't be bothered.
I wouldn't have mad a stink about it, and put the business on here- but,, the last sled i bought i paid $400 more for from a dealer that would go out of his way to help,,,, when i could have got it for less from a dealer that couldn't be bothered.
To say that giving in to the request could bring the person back as a repeat customer is really a coin toss. I have met way too many people that are only in it to get the best deal they can and move on to the next sucker. On both sides it is clear that this is a 'first impression' type of situation. OPs first impression is that the dealer is unwilling to make a deal, and should be bashed for not making a deal on the belt. Dealers first impression is the 'customer' wants something for basically nothing, and could potentially add to the inventory without making a profit. I can't say if it was the OPs first visit to said dealership, but if it was, this outcome will happen more often then not.
I stand behind my earlier comment.
Of course I do not believe ANYONE said "get lost" to the guy, but that's how he interpreted the conversation. All I read into it with, is the guy is miffed. But did anyone say "get lost"? doubtful. I can see past that, don't get hung up on the words themselves geo.
The barista at Starbucks didn't say she "wanted me" per se, but her body language and eyes told me she did. But I'm gonna go tell my friends "she was begging me to take her home"
And to add to that, sometimes I get offended when I'm in Leading Edge, but that's the parts counters humour in there. I have to think about that once in awhile too......
I do know the staff at Leading Edge and they are GREAT to me. Hell, 3 staff members watched me grow up(literally on a day to day basis for YEARS) and a fourth I went to school with.
That's not to say I haven't heard negativity, and likewise I know there's negativity coming my way. I offered my experience and what I would have done(without knowing the circumstances)
With that being said, I have sold, and done this very transaction during the epic failure of 2008 for BRP. I had torn into every single crate and was sharing belts with 3 other dealerships to satisfy our demands.
The downfall for me? A weekend I wasn't riding my new demo, and some words with my boss who didn't agree with taking belts out of crated sleds. But I had also sold all of our 288 belts for the race sleds that he'd had since before my time, so a win there(double win if you consider only 2 of those belts came back in pieces)
Not only did I sell 3 of my last ten belts to out-of-towners that left me worried about the weekend, I also gained 3 new sled buyers for the next two seasons I was working at the dealership. To my knowledge they continue to buy from the shop every year. It's not because they liked my smile......Some of my best customers came from out of town simply because I treated everyone equally.(to the best of their knowledge)
Wilford - total crap-shoot as to whether they come back or not. That comes from first impression like you said, that's also the reason I'm sure there's negativity rolling around the province about me. I may have offered a similar ultimatum to the customer if he came in "expecting" what I wasn't about to give him. Again we know nothing of the circumstances nor the conversation that took place. Hence the grain of salt that must be applied when reading threads like this.
Can't win em all, but putting your best foot forward doesn't mean going broke either.
geo - Please do not try to "put me in my place" like your reply reads.....instead consider my experience as someone who's run dealerships for years and who grew up on that side of the counter for many years before that. BTW - I'm fairly certain I have been told to "take a hike" and "get lost" but with heavy sarcasm implied. My step-brother owns a Cat dealership, yet I continue to spend more than my fair share at Leading Edge BECAUSE of the people. don't "read into" my reply as anything else.
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