Volvo closed my account

[Muz]

After 20 odd years trading with Volvo .. and 30 odd machines purchased ... I went to buy some spares and was told I didnt have an account anymore ....no communication to say why from them ? ... A call to their head office responded by saying I didnt pay quick enough... and didnt use my account often enough .. I replied... I'd paid my account the same way ... without a problem for the last 20 years which was within the construction industry terms ...


**** off was the reply ......

Good luck lads ... you wont fecking see me on your dealer forecourt ever again .. tell your accounts department pricks to live in the real world

[245dlc]

Jeez! Stuck up pieces of shit how much Volvo equipment do you have Muz?

[Muz]

I'm down to my last 4 bits of kit now .. having traded and moved on the rest as what were inferior products, with sky high parts prices.

Recent ones were .. the pin that goes through the top of the tipping (bucket) link and holds each banana link together was quoted me at £120 for a pin thats about 8 inches long and 45mm diameter musta been made of gold

The bit I was looking for recently was a bottom rubber rad hose for a 1 tonne mini ... about 8 inches long by about 1.5 inch diameter .. £35 $64 to you guys

[245dlc]

Yeesh! That is ridiculous! You have some Kubota equipment don't you? How are they for parts pricing I've heard they can be kinda expensive when it comes to stuff to do with their tractors but that their quality is still quite good.

[Muz]

Kubotas stuff isnt too bad .. some bits are expensive, but others surprise me at how reasonable they are but you wont need much whereas .. with Volvo ... your jaw drops at everything, and some of the stuff is breathtaking .. £120 for a pin ? and I should say .. all those prices mentioned have 20% VAT still to be added

[selectcase]

well that's Volvo off my list then.

[Muz]

well that's Volvo off my list then.

Funny you should say that, and I'd forgotten about this thread .. I went to buy a door lock barrel the other day and a gas strut for the dead mans console, and they were about £14/£18 each item ? ... I was expecting each to be about double that .. maybe they've had a change of heart ?


I know Kubota have just had a massive restructure of prices, some parts like a track motor used to be astronomical, like £3k for a complete unit, but I'd heard lately, that sort of item had been revised to about £1200 ?

[245dlc]

Maybe the Chinese equipment that's coming in is forcing them to rethink their sales strategy?.....At least one can only hope.

[Muz]

Maybe the Chinese equipment that's coming in is forcing them to rethink their sales strategy?.....At least one can only hope.

I think you might have a point .. and its not as if its all sub standard quality .. some of it is very good indeed. Having been in this business for 25 years .. there are brands of excavator, from the far east Ive never even heard of ? which is hard to believe.. and it takes a huge plant show, like BAUMA to expose them. I had my eyes opened last time a was at it. I dont know if its trade agreements and things like that, which stops them getting exported, or dominance from the big manufacturers having markets sewn up elsewhere that prevents these guys breaking in, but its a shame we don't see more of them. The big guys have had it their own way too long.

Heres an example ... Ive never heard of this lot ....

http://www.lonkinggroup.com/product/...vator_text.htm

[Stock]

I think you might have a point ..I dont know if its trade agreements and things like that, which stops them getting exported, or dominance from the big manufacturers having markets sewn up elsewhere that prevents these guys breaking in, but its a shame we don't see more of them. The big guys have had it their own way too long.

Here's an example ... I've never heard of this lot ....

http://www.lonkinggroup.com/product/...vator_text.htm

I think it the perception that everything of poor quality, know a lad that worked in China for a long period of time and he was in quality. His take on the whole thing was that in Germany or the west the specification was the minimum standard, but in China it was the optimum standard to be reached.
I remember when Toyota first launched here, their car spec was significantly higher than the local brands like Ford, Opel, Vauxhall, and BL
One got heaters as standard cloth seats, built in radio (no cassette), heated rear windows, but the rotted absolutely fell apart even worse than Fiats. The K30 was a great seller but I doubt it if any made it to their 7/8 birthday. Absolutely great mechanically.
So very quickly Toyota and Datsun improved their paint and steel processes which enabled them to offer a 60000 mile warranty on the drive train and 100,000 on the bodies with the end result that Toyota has been the number one seller here until recently when it lost out to VW.
Too many poor quality Chinese machinery items have been brought in to Europe, a share have sold but when the importer has gone tits up it leaves no backup no spare parts.

I recall the IMT tractors being sold here as MF 35 replacements, soft as putty and the parts were not interchangable with each other. A lot of them wound up being recycled as you couldn't give them away.

No one want to spend money on an item that will have no resale value or that will spent much of its time sitting waiting for bits. Sany has moved in to the US and is now manufacturing their as well so maybe in time when there is no longer copyright or patent issues we will see more kit from the PRC on sale all be it as part of a JV.............................

[245dlc]

I haven't had to operate any Chinese equipment yet though I did try a Chinese skid-steer at the big Ritchie Bros. auction yard in Nisku, Alberta last year and thought the controls a lot nicer than many of the Bobcat models I've been on over the years. I can't recall what brand it was but if it had a better dealer network and parts support I would consider buying Chinese. The only shortcoming I found was that it was on tires which I much prefer tracks.
This spring I was on the lookout for a small gasoline water pump. I already had a 2" pump but it was usually over kill for what I needed, so I looked at what Honda wanted for a 1" pump and it was about $450.00 CAD taxes included, then I looked at a couple places in the U.S. and even after bringing it across the border and paying off customs it was going to be close to the same. I then got a flyer in the mail from a tool place I frequent and they had a Chinese Honda knock off for close to half the price and even after buying some fittings and a suction hose I still came under the original Honda price. As for how well it operated? I added the recommended oil, some gasoline, turned on the gas valve, closed the choke, put the throttle to start/run, pulled the cord a couple times and it worked very well and helped me with my spring flooding problem caused by my neighbour's ignorance and shitty landscaping. Only thing I would of liked was a bigger fuel tank so it could run for a couple hours flat out on a tank. But all in all it always started very well for me as I continued to use it throughout the summer for watering our garden from our 1,000 litre rain tank.

[Muz]

Too many poor quality Chinese machinery items have been brought in to Europe, a share have sold but when the importer has gone tits up it leaves no backup no spare parts.

I can't recall what brand it was but if it had a better dealer network and parts support I would consider buying Chinese.

I think that's it right there .... Even today .... some well known japanese kit such as Takeuchi, still gets a low interest because of its dealer support, despite it being very good kit. Infact they were the originators of the mini excavator concept 30 years ago if I remember correctly

[245dlc]

Takeuchi was also first with the tracked skid-steers and still seem to be very popular with them.