Taylor & Messick, Inc.

Since talking with John Deere, Taylor & Messick, Inc. has agreed to perform the warranty work on Mr. [redacted]'s 4720 John Deere tractor. Taylor & Messick, Inc. has even picked Mr. [redacted]'s tractor up and brought it back to our dealership at no charge to Mr. [redacted]. After this warranty work is completed, Taylor & Messick, Inc. agreeswith Mr. [redacted]'s statement that Taylor & Messick, Inc. will no longer be doing business with Mr. [redacted], Advantage Lawn Care & Landscaping , and Shore Professional Services, LLC.Taylor & Messick, Inc. stands behind their first response to this matter.

This letter is in reference to Mr. [redacted] complaint against Taylor & Messick. Inc.  On March 24, 2014 Mr. [redacted] brought his 1600 John Deere Wide area mower up to the dealership because the PTO would not engage. Mr. [redacted] did talk to the service department and told them want he had...

done.  We followed the proper diagnostic procedure to correct the problem.   We also found a problem with the electric system causing the PTO not to work. Even though the customer told us what he hadJune, we had to start fresh because how were we to know that the customer did the diagnostic steps properly.  The total bill came to $1,140.75.  Mr. [redacted] said that he did not agree with the bill and said he was over charged. Mr. [redacted] requested to see the copy of the time cards, and since we had nothing to hide, we emailed him the copies.  He still was not happy with the bill and only paid $940.75.  This is a difference of $200.00. Since Mr. [redacted] only paid what he thought the job should have been we at Taylor & Messick sent him a certified letter on September 18, 2014 stating that we no longer want to have a business relationship with him or any of his companies.Mr. [redacted] had his employees bring a 4720 John Deere tractor to our dealership the week of August 10, 2015 and we informed them about the situation and had them take the tractor home. This 4720 tractor was not purchased from our dealership.John Deere is aware of the situation, and said that we have the right as a John Deere dealer to refuse to do work on a customers John Deere equipment.  John Deere also asked why the customer is coming to our dealership when he goes by two other John Deere dealers to get to Taylor & Messick.Please feel free to call me at the dealership for any further questions about this situation.  [redacted]

The customer was called and informed that there needed to be a good battery connection before we could complete any further diagnosis. The customer was also informed that the current cables for the battery were corroded severely and needed to be replaced. He agreed to this but it was only the...

beginning of the repair. When you are looking for a short or lack of charging in anelectrical system, you have to have a known voltage and then go from there to see where it islost. This has to be done in order to find where the problem is. The entire electrical system and components on this machine were corroded and had to have all the connections taken apart, cleaned, and reassembled. Once all of the connectors had been cleaned and put back together the machine was working properly. This is when the customer was notified that the unit was complete. An electrical short is not comparable to an oil change and filter. The problem must be found and repaired. Then the unit has to be checked for further problems possibly caused by this shortage. All of these actions take a reasonable amount of time as explained to the customer when the unit was picked up. The customer was shown the tech book and the steps that were required to complete the repair. As the service manager, I did my best to explain what was needed to make the repair and how it was completed. Customer service is our main priority and we hope to resolve this matter to our best ability.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Enclosed is the information in regards to the 1600 issue.  As you can see by the letter it wasn’t addressed to the correct company, none the less according to their response they stated they wish to stop business with All my companies, that isn’t in there.  However you can see by the time cards that we were overcharged they did send me their time bill sheet which is also attached.  As I stated we checked all components but we didn’t check any grounds, we checked as stated all solenoids, fuses, relays, seat switch, deck safety switches.  What strikes me is the conversation [redacted] had with me saying I was unprofitable with the parts sales, when we just spent thousands on new equipment
As you can see by the last two emails we tried to buy the 4720 from this dealer, when in fact he said he could get it then he couldn’t, stating that the dealer sold it.  He couldn’t find one anywhere in his region so I located the machine on my own.  He was giving the chance, but the warranty info was assigned to his dealership. 
In regards to us passing other dealerships, [redacted] was made aware why we don’t do business with Atlantic Tractor and with these issues at his dealership after this warranty work, he will also be added to that list.  We simply as a business can’t be taken advantage of and what Mr. [redacted] is failing to see is the fact the proof is there that they over charged us and when we brought that too their attention we get the knife.  If this is his business practice I’m sure in time other clients will find out and make the same complaint.  He has also stated he can refuse service, but in speaking to John Deere, that topic has never came up, in fact he sent his role back down to pick up the tractor to take to his shop to repair after I contacted John Deere customer service directly.  So in regards to his response it is basic and he is attempting to bend the facts and cover himself, but the truth is in black and white

Review: My small farm tractor was having trouble starting sometimesBeing an aircraft mechanic and working on my own vehicles for years, I started looking at some things that I could fixI removed the battery and had it tested at a reputable auto parts storeBattery was dead, but after charging, they said it was still goodI reinstalled the battery and looked at the alternatorThe connector that connectors the alternator to the main wire harness was damaged (melted)I replaced the connector with any typical auto connectorOn Monday, March 2nd it still had trouble starting so I took it to the dealerI told them what the problem was and what I did to try to fix itWhen I showed them the connector, I asked them to replace it with a factory connector
They called me on Wednesday, March 4th at 10:The technician that I spoke with, said that my battery cables were severely corroded and recommended replacementI inquired the price and his response was about $for parts and one hour of labor ($shop labor rate)I said that was fine and to go ahead with the repairHe said that the parts would have to be ordered, but the unit would be ready early the next weekI called Monday and they said the tractor was ready
I picked the unit up at around pm on the 9thWhen I went to check out, the bill was extremely inaccurateThere was a charge for labor in the amount of $1,038, which came out to about hourshours ($952) more that I was quotedThere was also a charge for a new battery in the amount of $Neither of these charges were told to me at any point in timeWhen I asked about them, they responded that they were cleaning dirty connectors and the battery was bad, so they just replace the batteryI told them I was very displeased with the charges and asked them to fix the bill in some way, but they refusedI asked to speak with the manager, but they said the individual that I was speaking with was the service managerFeeling cornered and left with no other options, I paid the bill and left
I had a vacation (out of country) scheduled immediately after that dayWhen I got back from my vacation (March 31st), I called the dealership and asked to speak with the general managerThey took my number and I received a phone call the next day from the general managerHe said that he would look into it and call me backThe next phone call I received was from the same service manager that I spoke with before and he proceeded to say that there was nothing that they were going to do
They did not at any point in time receive authorization from me to do 11+ hours of labor, nor did I authorize them to charge me for a batteryThey never asked to make these charges to my bill and I think this should be fixed by them.Desired Settlement: I think that what they did to me is business practice for themI feel very wronged by this company and I don't want anybody else to be taken like thisI would like to see a policy change in the store to address excessive hourly charging without notifying the customer
I would also like to receive some of the unauthorized labor charges returned to meI do not wish to be unreasonable, however, I don't think that they should be eitherAt the very least, I believe I should receive an apology
Business
Response:
The customer was called and informed that there needed to be a good battery connection before we could complete any further diagnosisThe customer was also informed that the current cables for the battery were corroded severely and needed to be replacedHe agreed to this but it was only the beginning of the repairWhen you are looking for a short or lack of charging in anelectrical system, you have to have a known voltage and then go from there to see where it islostThis has to be done in order to find where the problem isThe entire electrical system and components on this machine were corroded and had to have all the connections taken apart, cleaned, and reassembledOnce all of the connectors had been cleaned and put back together the machine was working properlyThis is when the customer was notified that the unit was completeAn electrical short is not comparable to an oil change and filterThe problem must be found and repairedThen the unit has to be checked for further problems possibly caused by this shortageAll of these actions take a reasonable amount of time as explained to the customer when the unit was picked upThe customer was shown the tech book and the steps that were required to complete the repairAs the service manager, I did my best to explain what was needed to make the repair and how it was completedCustomer service is our main priority and we hope to resolve this matter to our best ability

Review: On or about March 2014 I sent a machine to the above location to have service work done to it, as the machine a John Deere 1600 WAM was not engaging its blades, I instructed the Service tech what we had done so far to attempt to diagnose the problem, later after the machine was fixed and I reviewed the bill I had issues with it. I contested it as I was overcharged and charged for work that was already done, and by reviewing their time cards I saw I was over charged. I contacted them and requested documents after I reviewed them I saw issues. I advised them of them and basically they were rounding the time worked on the machine up, which costed more money around $257.55 more. I refused to pay it. After emails back and forth and a phone conversation with [redacted], Jr. he basically said ok we will just accept it, later in the mail I get a certified letter stating they no longer want to do business with me. Now we had just purchased new equipment from there and I spoke to Mr. [redacted] on the phone and said wait you have to honor warranty, and he stated yes. Last week I had a tractor that he could not find me I bought from another dealer in FL and had it shipped here which in under warranty from the MFG, while I was out of town I had a tractor taken there only to find out it was rejected and Mr. [redacted] was arrogant with my employee and refused to work on the product.Desired Settlement: We are requesting our John Deere Warranty item be repaired and they at their expense pick up out machine and return it to our location

Business

Response:

This letter is in reference to Mr. [redacted] complaint against Taylor & Messick. Inc. On March 24, 2014 Mr. [redacted] brought his 1600 John Deere Wide area mower up to the dealership because the PTO would not engage. Mr. [redacted] did talk to the service department and told them want he had done. We followed the proper diagnostic procedure to correct the problem. We also found a problem with the electric system causing the PTO not to work. Even though the customer told us what he hadJune, we had to start fresh because how were we to know that the customer did the diagnostic steps properly. The total bill came to $1,140.75. Mr. [redacted] said that he did not agree with the bill and said he was over charged. Mr. [redacted] requested to see the copy of the time cards, and since we had nothing to hide, we emailed him the copies. He still was not happy with the bill and only paid $940.75. This is a difference of $200.00. Since Mr. [redacted] only paid what he thought the job should have been we at Taylor & Messick sent him a certified letter on September 18, 2014 stating that we no longer want to have a business relationship with him or any of his companies.Mr. [redacted] had his employees bring a 4720 John Deere tractor to our dealership the week of August 10, 2015 and we informed them about the situation and had them take the tractor home. This 4720 tractor was not purchased from our dealership.John Deere is aware of the situation, and said that we have the right as a John Deere dealer to refuse to do work on a customers John Deere equipment. John Deere also asked why the customer is coming to our dealership when he goes by two other John Deere dealers to get to Taylor & Messick.Please feel free to call me at the dealership for any further questions about this situation. [redacted]