FREE AGENT

[RickM]

Customer Care is the name of the game today

I would hope Arctic Cat Inc. will look at the entire situation and the time frame which all the responses were emailed and phoned in support of the
Arctic Cat Products and Oregon Trail Sports Dealer ship.

Arctic Cat is always aware of Market Share and they definitely can not stand to loose customers and Excellent Dealers over a belt sale.

Look at the Internet capabilities today, and just how it has changed in the
past 5 years. You can order items today and have it tomorrow across the
USA. No protected sales areas there.

Customer Service is the name of the game today. Everyone can sell stuff.
But it's the Dealer that can take care of the customers that will get the
reward of return customers.

Listen to your Customers Arctic Cat and you may see some reward of
repeat customers.

 

[POLZIN]

There was a LOT of blowback toward AC from the public and I guess it's gotten ugly; supposedly very harassing and verbally abusive contact from the public to AC.

.

yeah I think see does biz with the BCR peeps too!

 

[CO 2.0]

Cat is threatening to sue her for what? She's not the one "harassing" them. We are the ones sending all the emails and responses. We give an opinion and they take all our emails as harassment? There must have been a few bad apples in the bunch of those emails that set them off. Arctic Cat is a fvcking joke to me now. They are gonna lose hundreds if not thousands of sled sales in the future from the bad taste they are leaving in our mouths with this, and they seem to not care. Get over your ego Arctic Cat. WE ARE THE ONES WHO KEEP YOU IN BUSINESS.

 

[blindman]

shareholders

ever wonder if the shareholders know how this company is run???

 

[m8magicandmystery]

Talk about fanning the fire, why did Christopher send out a blanket PM?

As far as Michelle, I have dealt with her and she delivers great customer service. However, when you become a dealership for a major mfg., there are plenty of rules (ie; contract) to follow. Apparently, she crossed the line somewhere and got in hot water with A/C. This is between them and their lawyers and should never have been posted to all SW premium members. Shame on Christopher.......Again,,,,,

I strongly disagree, respectfully.

It appeared the issue could have been time sensitive to express positive views, and one assumed positive feedback would have been a helpful factor.

Obviously their were other factors that came into play that unfortunately stray into less then human acceptance of decency (lawyers).

Christopher was only attempting to do what all of us that emailed or called were trying to do, and that was simply just trying to help.

Yes I love to pick on Christopher every time he lets his guard down ,but
this time I am solidly behind his actions.

 

[CBX]

What a sad deal. Takes a minute to process it all.

F'ing people their lawyers. What a bunch of chumps.

If anyone should sue anyone, it's free agent and the dealer in ca.... a I think good case could be made for entrapment here.

 

[Scott]

yeah I think see does biz with the BCR peeps too!

Yeah, it doesn't matter which interweb you are on....it's all the same. Cat is playing games with a good dealer.

 

[geo]

The internet makes it easy to shop at home for the best place to spend your buck. That should be your right IMO but there are laws (here in Canada), contracts and franchise rules that try to prohibit that right and try force you to spend more than you have to.
What do you think?

Ease of internet shopping, low overhead, no price bickering has lead to thousands of people are being laid off at big box stores and replaced with computer terminals for people that still want to drive and shop. The future?
What do you think?

"Suggested List Price" The "sport" part of snowmobiling means it is not a necessity. Not many retail outlets. If my area has a outlet that decides to add 25% to suggested list to stay open do I have to buy from them? Can I force them to sell me that part at "suggested list"?
An example outside of our sport. I broke the taillight on my new Ford truck I phoned my dealer and it was expensive and a day away. Phoned the other dealer in town and it was cheaper and still a day away. Phoned the dealer in the town I was working and it was expensive and three days away.
If it was in stock at any of the places I phoned I would have bought it because the broken taillight bugged me. Phoned a small town dealer on my way home and it was a 100 bucks cheaper and in stock. I asked for a deal and got 10% off "SUGGESTED LIST".
What do you think?

Should we (in this day and age of internet searches) be going the Papa John's "one phone number for the whole country" business model to protect us from poor business people with enough family money to buy a dealership from over charging us lol. Or, does this step on the rights of the dealership and their contract?
What do you think?

 

[Norway]

Trans-Atlantic bad wibes...

Wow... This is going to be Cats loss.

Why on Gods green earth would you NOT want Michelle as one of your dealers??? I have not seen or heard everything in this case, granted. But that swings both ways, cuz now I just hear OTS is possibly loosing their dealership and it is not explained to me.

I dealt with Michelle ONCE, and I have never in 20 years of messing around in the sled biz met someone like her! It was such a positive and friendly experience, like we had been lifelong best friends or something. She was just bubbling with enthusiasm, I felt good for two days afterwards!!

When someone like that has cracked the code on good business, you want to go there again. Heck, I would buy from her at regular prices just for the pleasure of talking on the phone with Michelle.

Ok, I'll leave them be for now. BUT, it will of course be known wether she stays a dealer for AC or not. Maybe you could say that this is between OTS and AC, but I'm riding a pro now and if Thief River Falls wants to add "climb" to that they better have a good reason for cutting her of.

That is not just my $0,02. That's my $12,750,00 Proclimb M8000 MSRP!

 

[WileyCoyote]

X2 Norway. Michelle is the best.

 

[m8magicandmystery]

well why don't they just have a central warehouse...the only place where parts are available to order from,and if I order a part from them they take my address and figure out my regional dealer...send it to them for me to pick up and they give my dealer a percentage...

Then that's total easy control for them ...just the way they like it..

Heck then we can order the sleds the same way..

Heck then we will just be like the old Sears catalogue ordering and pick up at the Sears depot..

Who says history doesn't repeat itself..

 

[bholmlate]

I believe that at least one person in the middle of this mess now knows just what kind of impact her hard work and dedication to this industry has had on all of us who have had the pleasure of doing business with her in the past. Corporations are set up for one reason and one reason only. That is to make money for their shareholders They hide behind their rules, regulations and especially their lawyers with one goal to make money. When you break their rules the full force of the corporation will crack down on you for the sole purpose of protecting you guessed it their shareholders interest. As much as we all want to stand behind Michelle and lend her our support. The fact still remains that her company broke the rules. It is as simple as that. It doesn't matter to the corporation that she is a human being and that we humans make mistakes. It just matters that a rule has been broken and now there will be a price to pay for the infraction. Unfortunately I am guessing that there is more on the table here then just a dealership and we don't know the full impact of this infraction. I would also be willing to bet that there were more the a few colorful emails and phone calls made to ArcticCat in support of OTS if they are talking about suing for harassment, They have every right to sue if they feel that it gives them a stronger platform to argue their point of view in court . I am just hoping that the out pouring of support toward Michelle and OTS has not unintentionally hurt her position at the table. I think I am safe in saying that none of us had that intention here. I wish Michelle the best of luck in this fight she is in with Arctic cat I also believe there is something bigger going on here them we all realize. Thank you again Michelle for your dedication to the sport we all love

 

[Jay]

Well said.^^^ Maybe she'll start selling polaris?

 

[sled-fiend]

Well said.^^^ Maybe she'll start selling polaris?

She already does, Yamaha as well.

 

[Norway]

What's with the suing????

Can someone please explain to me how Cat can touch one hair on Michelles head in court because of an e-mail I send them???

I cannot for the life of me figure out how that computes unless she asked me to. We write and call to support her, some in respectful words and phrases, others not so much. But no matter how you slice this we can and do make our own choices about who we call/write and what kind of message we send. We are responsible.

To threaten HER with a lawsuit to punish HER for what I did?? That is effectively gagging someone and limiting freedom of speach, no?

Confused..

and pissed!

 

[CANNONMAN]

Been a CAT man all my life!!! Some on here will laugh at that. (Private Joke)
Michelle, if they drop you let us all know, I will stop with CAT and to show my support to you, I will buy whatever you are selling. You have been superb in my eyes and could not ask for a better dealer.

 

[TBird]

Been a CAT man all my life!!! Some on here will laugh at that. (Private Joke)
Michelle, if they drop you let us all know, I will stop with CAT and to show my support to you, I will buy whatever you are selling. You have been superb in my eyes and could not ask for a better dealer.

There ARE no better dealer anywhere in the world!
If Cat and OTS go seperate ways it's going to be Cat's loss more then anything else.
I have not shopped around for several years, i know the price i get from OTS is hard to beat, but most important, Michelle have the Best customer service in the world, i have said it many times before, and i say it again, wish more dealers was like her, she don't sell cars, computers, training equipment a.s.o, if she did i would buy all of that also from her.
I wish OTS and Michelle all the best.
Hope Cat get their head from their a** and stop destroying their reputation even more, they have to wake up and realize they can't afford it.

Skickat från min YP-G70 via Tapatalk 2

 

[bholmlate]

Harassment (/həˈræsmənt/ or /ˈhærəsmənt/) covers a wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature. It is commonly understood as intended to disturb or upset, and it is characteristically repetitive. In the legal sense, it is intentional behaviour which is found threatening or disturbing

Norway
I agree with what you are saying so dont get me wrong here, however you are looking at this as most of us do from your own point of view. One person one letter one opinion and you have every right to do so. In any other situation you would be correct. You forget that you were not the only person writing a letter and/or calling. I am sure most of the letters had the same theme of supporting Michelle and OTS an attorney could argue this as being collective and characteristically repetitive behaviour from a group as a whole. Now i am sure that most of the letters said something to the effect that if Arctic Cat does revoke Michelle dealership that Arctic Cat would in turn loose money because the person writting the letter would take their business else where. Again a good attorney could argue that this type of action could disturb or upset an exexutive that has the sole purpose of making sure the shareholders keep getting their high yeild on their investment. It could also be argued that this type of action could threaten or disturb the porcess of this compnay Arctic Cat doing business in the future

You sprinkle a few colorful emails on top of all of this that an executive might find offensive in nature (completely subjective in nature). you can see how a high priced attorney and most corperation have several on retainer could make the case. Do i agree with that? not really! Is it possible??? absolutely. Law is not really fair. It really comes down to who tells the better story and high priced attorneys can tell a dam good story if they are paid enough to do so

We have every right in the world to voice our opinion about how Arctic Cat is doing business as an individual customer. However as soon as we mention something in common with what someone else has said we can be lumbed into a group whether or not you wanted to be part of that group.

this is just a single persons point of view in which you may or may not agree with

 

[m8magicandmystery]

bholmlate,

yes you nailed it from a corporations stand point for the shareholders value..

But we must as well recognise the fact that many pensions and investments have and will be worthless because a corporation does NOT protect the shareholders value .

In what manner they fail is always in dispute and when the cookie crumbles is a relative unknown but with Yamaha onboard and with share value currently decent it still in my mind does not change the fact that the cookie is crumbling.

Taking a bite out of OTS will not save the cookie in the boardroom,they should have opted for a gentle nibble a few times .

Sure im certain the infringements on the rules have been creative by many dealers,but have enough humanistic reaction and decent time requirements really been extended to rectify issues ?? By boardroom standards possibly, but our recognition as consumers we will see it as a shortfall by the company because of our distinct differences in emotions and that does translate into purchasing.

Look it would be silly to think that this "one" whole issue is going to be a factor at all for Cat sales, but what it does infer is a trend obviously into the company's state of current thinking and actions and possibly paranoia and that overall is Cats walk to the thin edge of ever being relevant to our sport in the future in OUR views.

And that should be the shareholders concern....

 

[The Fourth Wolf]

I've never dealt with OTS but obviously from the unanimous support, they're a top notch dealership.

My assumption is because they are a great dealership they also move a lot of Arctic Cat product, which begs the question...
Why would they move to close one of their most reputable and profitable dealerships over a minor and honest mistake?

I totally get bholmlate's point about rules and the sometimes myopic way big companies enforce them but...given that AC is about profit, It doesn't make financial sense. And over a belt? They're just going to just throw away what I'm guessing is around $1 million in sales between sleds, ATVs, parts, and accessories over a $100 belt?? Seriously??

Common sense says OTS should receive a warning and maybe a probationary period but IMO, if AC pulls their line from OTS then there's something else afoot.

If another AC dealership opens soon after bet me the new owner has a personal connection to someone well placed in Thief River Falls.