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oldron
USA
2732 Posts |
 Posted - 08/14/2010 : 22:49:50
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I broke the deck belt on my Craftsman mower today,no big deal I thought.I will make the 75mi round trip to Sears and get one,took the belt number from the chart on the tractor hood thinking this will be easy.The kid at the store tried to find the number on the computer,no luck so he said this is an old number will cross check.Ten minutes later he came up with a belt.I said I trust everyone but lets check it agnist the old belt,10 in to long,he says is the right one and must be that I had lost part of the old belt.I showed him that the broken ends matched,he got a supervisor and she said the same thing but if I had the model number of the tractor they could find the right belt.I told her I had the right belt number but she said that was the only way she could find it.I went home mad,in two minutes on line I found the belt,in 5 minutes had it ordered,paid for and will be here in a week.I don't think I will ever go back to Sears.
Ron |
 'Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain!' |
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 08/14/2010 : 23:07:06
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| That is the way all the stores are getting. If they can't find something they try to substitute and when you say that isn't right They make something up or try to tell you that you must be mistaken. I love it when I go to a store to buy something I have bought there before and I can't find it. I finally corner someone and ask them if they still carry "xyz", so they go to the row where I was looking and stand there looking the same as I was, then say "oh, we don't carry that anymore." Thinking that can't be right I keep looking and find what I am looking for on another isle or just a few feet down (Home Depot) |
  Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
Edited by - skunkhome on 08/14/2010 23:15:11 |
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BRAD1975
Canada
1562 Posts |
Posted - 08/14/2010 : 23:22:05
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| no car parts or farm supply stores there?...with the old belt in hand they should have been able to crossover to a gates power rated belt |
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 08/15/2010 : 07:47:07
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quote:
Originally posted by BRAD1975
no car parts or farm supply stores there?...with the old belt in hand they should have been able to crossover to a gates power rated belt
my statement above applies to some of the auto parts stores as well. I believe it was CarQuest that couldn't look up a belt by any method except telling the make and model of car. Even the NAPA here could not find any belts for my 3414s. I had to direct him using my iPhone web browser. The same was true when trying to find a voltage regulator. I ordered the regulator on line that they would have been able to supply if they had had the ability to reference. |
Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
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1014211
USA
2317 Posts |
Posted - 08/15/2010 : 08:13:33
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| IMO it is like giving people calculators and not bothering to teach them math. We are losing everyone with the "real knowledge" of these products (cars, tractors, plumbing, etc..) and companies have purchased expensive software and cheapened the labor with a less knowledgeable base. However, if you try asking the question in the middle of their software's help questions, they are lost. I have certain hardware/automotive stores I frequent because they cost a little more but I always get the right part quickly. And they are all mom and pop type stores. Not a coincedence. |
Jon
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 08/15/2010 : 08:52:06
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| Many of the mom and pop stores are great....I have one lumberyard I like to deal with but they are on the other side of town so are not handy most of the time. The problem is that I don't think they can compete in the long run even if their prices are comparable to Lowe's and HD because they deal in smaller volume and don't have the profit margins that the big stores have. |
Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
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ATF
USA
1892 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2010 : 00:24:14
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| Don't get me started, but the lemmings need to start running off the cliff and quit procreating. The girl at the gas station gave me the wrong change for a 50, and then she said, "sorry I thought you gave me a 40". I turned to the guy next to me and just shook my head. Sometimes I don't think it should be a crime to scam people that stupid. |
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acb10_64
USA
801 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2010 : 09:59:59
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I know exactly what you guys mean.
I'm glad my local Agco dealer is a mom and pop shop. When i give them a part number they go straight to the hand written card catalog, not the computer. And they usually have what i need, gaskets, bearings, belts and such.
Thank god for mom and pop shops!  |
Wes
2 1964 Allis Chalmers B-10's
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2010 : 20:20:46
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quote:
Originally posted by acb10_64
I know exactly what you guys mean.
I'm glad my local Agco dealer is a mom and pop shop. When i give them a part number they go straight to the hand written card catalog, not the computer. And they usually have what i need, gaskets, bearings, belts and such.
Thank god for mom and pop shops!
AGCO will be no more after this year. Seems the Germans don't think there is any profit in selling orange tractors in the U.S. MF and Challenger only...and most of the orange dealers will just cease to be. |
Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
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ATF
USA
1892 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2010 : 22:00:12
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| My local Simplicity dealer is three generations of mental midgets. Grandpa started the business in the 60's, Dad came around 1980, the kid showed up a few years ago and he is one chronosome away from slobbering, 3 weeks and stil no rubber gas tank straps, they still keep ordering belts. they actually told me to twist some baling wire around it. they have a hired hand that the runs the repair shop side and I swear, this guy is a combination of Mr. Haney and demented old circus monkey. He worked on my buddys ZTR and he used a nail as a cotter pin, and put 2 3/8 inch belts on a double 5/8 inch sheave, guess how long those belts lasted. |
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acb10_64
USA
801 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2010 : 22:26:48
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quote:
Originally posted by skunkhome
quote:
Originally posted by acb10_64
I know exactly what you guys mean.
I'm glad my local Agco dealer is a mom and pop shop. When i give them a part number they go straight to the hand written card catalog, not the computer. And they usually have what i need, gaskets, bearings, belts and such.
Thank god for mom and pop shops!
AGCO will be no more after this year. Seems the Germans don't think there is any profit in selling orange tractors in the U.S. MF and Challenger only...and most of the orange dealers will just cease to be.
I hope my dealer sticks around. They may just go to all Bobcat, which they are part of currently. |
Wes
2 1964 Allis Chalmers B-10's
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simplelife
USA
1385 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 07:37:41
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While I prefer to buy locally, sometimes ya just gotta walk away scratching your head and swear not to drink the same water that the parts people did. 
That's why it is refreshing to deal with people like Brenda at Sandy Lake Implement. http://www.sandylakeimp.com/ Very knowledgeable on new AND older stuff. Quick on shipping also. Wish every town had a dealer like that.
We had a great Simplicity dealer here, but a death in the Family led to it's closing. Luckily their main parts guy now works at the NAPA store, so for many of the common items I can just go in and ask to talk to Don. He can usually get me going unless it is a part specific to Simplicity or A-C.
p.s. Phil: Is that your picture in their photo gallery with Brenda at the GOTO in Tennessee this year? |
Edited by - simplelife on 08/17/2010 07:48:31 |
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skunkhome
USA
12824 Posts |
Posted - 08/17/2010 : 07:55:13
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| Not sure what is going to to happen to Sandy Lake when the AGCO tractors go away in 2011. They can't switch to another AGCO Brand even though they have been an AC dealer since the beginning of time. It is a darn shame that the Germans don't know what the acronym "AGCO" stands for. |
Phil
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty."
Benjamin Franklin |
Edited by - skunkhome on 08/17/2010 07:59:31 |
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Topic |
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Frustration
