DEXTER dealer

[James2011]

First of all, sorry for dexter users...

I was frustrated today due to bad service from one of dexter local distributor(dealer).
what happened was I needed laundry carts, so called them and asked them whether or not they have stock, she said "yes, we have laundry cart in here!", so I drove 1 hour to get there(dexter distributor office-warehouse), then when I went there, she said, "no, we don't have nothing!" " The owner, he said we had, but actually NOthing!".
what a good service! I just waste my time and my gas. and she didn't say "I am sorry".
This is just one of many example about their bad services...

I have wascomat and continental, I don't have dexter machine, and I WILL not buy Dexter machine. and I am lucky because I don't have dexter machine.

[alesser738]

I want the 15 seconds of my life back that you just wasted.

[bodman]

I love my dexter distributor I would not be as successful without them . They have been nothing but great, Got new continentals this year (close out deal ) L and EMH series not sure if I like them as much. problems with 2 motors on 25, and the L 40 i have replaced 2 door actuators. I can say they do not get clothes stuck in door and leak as much as the dexters. dexters seem easier to work on.

[wdbgelaundromat]

hithere if you do not have dexter equipment and you will never buy Dexter equipment why have you had so many bad dealings with them? Also, singling out 1 distributor and saying Dexter has horrible service... Is like saying Ford is a horrible vehicle just because you had bad dealings with 1 car dealership.

[James2011]

just wanna express my bad feeling today...
maybe today is unlucky day....

[merlin3]

OK. This applies to "DEXTER" how again?

:rolleyes:

Just stirrin the pudin as usual is I see.

[Brett]

Pudin??? I want some.

[thinkclean]

for one cart I would have clicked onto nortonsupply and order one to be delivered to the door by UPS. two hours of driving is a lot for a $100 item.

[James2011]

no, I tried to buy 4 or 5 carts maybe...but nothing to buy there...

[Sudds]

Well your bad experience was based on the fact the distributor did not have the carts. I understand and I'm sorry for your waste of time and poor customer service.

Nevertheless you can't blame the equipment for the poor customer service. I have about 60 Dexter washers in both of my mats. Great machines!

[James2011]

I said " I won't buy dexter!", because the local dealer who gave me Sxxxx many times is the exclusive distributor in my area, so unless I move other city or state, I will encounter their bad service again if I buy dexter, even though Dexter machine itself could be nice, but I don't like their bad customer service here again...
if you like dexter, that's find, go for it...
but for me, no no no...

[Jefflange]

So sad.......

[bodman]

sounds to me like the distributor got tired of giving good free advice then getting abused by customer who took advice and went out and did what they said to do but just went cheaper somewhere else. one fellow around me got an idea at one of our monday luncheons from a distributor and used that info to get into a mat for nothing, then cut the distributor out of equipment sale for 20k. difference. he saved 70k in purchase price he should have showed some loyalty.

[Jefflange]

I have never seen a distributor have any loyalty to its customers.

[bodman]

sorry that you have had that experience. My guy changed my mind on retooling my 1st mat showed me it did not make economic good sense, 2nd stopped me from going wild with the # of machines to initally purchase in a retooling of another. 3rd calls me to see if a site he is looking at is too close to mine . 4th suggest repairing instead of buying new eqpt. 5th has helped me look at other mats to buy, spends hours doing that and does not get pissed when I change my mind ( ie wife tells me NO ) however she usually comes around as I wear her down, your distributor should be your ally not your advisary

[merlin3]

I have never seen a distributor have any loyalty to its customers.

That's a shame. The one I deal with has earned a life long customer. They go above and beyond the call of duty.

One of my mats is in a small town of about 20,000 with only one competitor. The other mat is also a Dexter store (non-express).

My distributor will not sell them Express machines in an effort to protect my niche. They will sell them the regular Dexter stuff (if they want) which is OK with me.

[thinkclean]

no, I tried to buy 4 or 5 carts maybe...but nothing to buy there...

the co-owner of my Dexter distributor personally delivered 4 new carts plus a few seating units, and stayed to assemble it along with the salesman.

[pressandclean]

Anyone with a distributor that takes good care of them should consider themselves very fortunate.

[Jefflange]

the co-owner of my Dexter distributor personally delivered 4 new carts plus a few seating units, and stayed to assemble it along with the salesman.

And if I call that distributor and tell him I want to open a laundromat 2 blocks from you he will ask me what day would I like the machines delivered.

[pressandclean]

When there is only one distributor of a certain brand in town, there isn't much incentive for them to give good service or be competitive on pricing!

[wizard]

At first I was going to leave this one alone, but I just have to ask:

1) What do you expect from your distributor(s)? And why?

2) Do you feel that YOU should have any loyalty to your distributor?

It certainly appears that some here have either had or are having bad experiences with distributors.

[Adamski]

... I just have to ask:

1) What do you expect from your distributor(s)? And why?

2) Do you feel that YOU should have any loyalty to your distributor?
...

Martin,

1. I expect my distributor to sell me quality equipment at reasonable (not cheap) prices. I expect him to handle all warranty issues on that equipment. I expect him to have a parts department with an available partsman who can supply me with any commonly requested part within a few days. I expect him to offer quick service at reasonable rates.

Beyond these basic expectations, I also expect him to not open any laundromats of his own anywhere. Since he's a distributor, he should only distribute equipment ... not own and operate equipment. If he should stumble upon a good site for a new laundromat that doesn't encroach on the territory of any good existing laundromat, he should approach local operators to see if they're interested in owning the site. If no one is interested, he could then work with a newbie who would operate the new site.

1A. The reason I expect my distributor to refrain from owning and operating any laundromats anywhere is because all distributors have an inherent advantage over all independent laundromat operators. All distributors can buy their equipment and parts wholesale. No independent operator can do that.

2. I use to be very loyal to a certain area distributor. I bought all my equipment (100s of washers and dryers) and all my parts from him for many years. I even called in his service department to rebuild Maytag toploaders when I didn't feel like working that hard. I rarely quibbled over his price quotes either. In return, he did not build any new laundromats within my multiple territories. He did sell new equipment to existing laundromats within my territories but I accepted that.

One day, my distributor sold out to a large, interstate distributor. This new distributor dropped some brands and is selling only Maytag and ADC equipment at this time. I gave him an opportunity to bid on some washers when I replaced some of my stuff about 2 years ago. I ended up buying the new washers from another area distributor though.

[wizard]

Larry,

I agree completely! That was my point, that loyalty is a two way street. What I see around here (every market is different) is existing owners that generally have no desire to retool or upgrade anything. When approached and they have NO interest, I think that changes the playing field.

The service rate (again) is going to vary from market to market. But is going to be a function of many components, direct payroll cost, overhead, vehicle overhead, insurance cost, office & whse overhead, etc. Generally this rate is going to be seen by most existing store owners as "to expensive". But the true question is what is the store owner comparing it to?

Parts are a completely seperate subject. What you want is not always possible. By this I mean, there are some national parts houses that offer a much wider and deeper selection of parts than I might. They also sell in much larger quanities (across the board) at lower prices than me or many other distributors. When a store owner looks at the difference, they think I'm high. I'm not. I'm selling parts at prices I need to based on my overhead. Thats fair. I'm also selling original equipment parts. In addition, some manufacturers sell parts direct, even when they have a local distributor.

I think that stores built on spec or bought and retooled is fine based on the fact others refuse to retool. These stores are then sold to new operators. I also think that holding these stores for up to 6 months or so is fine, until a new owner is found. Otherwise equipment sales could be few and far between.

Many times, folks are quick to blame the distributor for all the problems. I'm here to tell you that's NOT fair in many cases, but it's the easy thing to do. Are there going to be issues or problems? Yes. This is a very competitive business and as such the bad distributors (and store owners) will go away at some point.

Distributors and store owners need each other and should depend on each other, be loyal to each other, and deal fairly with each other.

[Jefflange]

I just buy from the cheapest.

[Laundry_Mike]

Most distributers around my area are nothing more than order takers, market oversaturators, a place to get gouged on parts, and sometimes a direct competitor. Loyalty? lol

[bodman]

I will pray for all you who have been sinned on by the EVIL distributor, Like the democrats say THOSE EVIL BUSINESS OWNERS. LETS GET THEM, THEY MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY. we need to redistribute the wealth. give to the poor the down trodden, the lazy they deserve it so they can take up space and produce CO2 to destroy this earth.

[Adamski]

Dale,

I've noticed that the Tax & Spend Democrats are more than living up to the name. I don't know how we'll ever get out of the the hole we've dug. I guess we're going to worry about that problem tomorrow.

[James2011]

I was not born in usa,
so, I am curious about this.

why there are so many lazy people in usa?
they have two legs and two arms, but they just stand between traffic lines and waiting some good man to donate some $$ into their basket, they are begging $$, they don't want to work...
There many people who can work, but who don't work, just receive free money and benefits from US Gov....

Why all other hard-working people's tax have to go those lazy people's pocket?

US gov gives free food stamp and $$ for them as well....

I don't understand....

[Adamski]

Newbie123,

I suggest you write your congressman and ask those questions. Perhaps he can explain why half the population is entitled to be supported by the other half.

[James2011]

Larry, can you answer it?
( I can write a letter to senator or congressman or Mr. Obama or Governor..., but I doubt no one will respond ...)

[STOUT]

Larry, can you answer it?
( I can write a letter to senator or congressman or Mr. Obama or Governor..., but I doubt no one will respond ...)


How about starting a new thread and see how many pages we can achieve on this!

[laundrychris]

"I have never seen a distributor have any loyalty to its customers."

Wow,what marketplace are you in where this can happen? In defense of distributors, of which i am one, i agree with some previous posts. Loyalty is 2 way street. I think that location, supply and demand, demographics, and community wealth have influance on a distributor's attitude towards their customers.
In my marketplace, there are 3 main laundry machinery distributors. Myself and the Wascomat dealer value our customers dearly. We are a small market. EVERY customer counts! The third distributor is cut from a different cloth and thus, does not sell many machines. My customers do not buy the brands i sell because of the brands. They buy machinery from ME. They rely on my honesty and expertise to allow them to make decisions for themselves. I sell the brands i do because i believe in them and stand behind them. I stand behind my customers as well. Most of my customer base have been with me for 10 years plus with many being with the company over 25 years. This is loyalty. Word of mouth travels fast. At least 90% of new clients i get come from word of mouth customer referals. I certainly understand that this may not happen everywhere which is why choosing a distributor is so important.
To the OP: Do not drag manufacturer's names into a conversation or issue that is clearly with the distributor and yourself.

[pressandclean]

Chris, these manufacturers have a responsibility to see to it that the local dealers are taking care of their area. They provide them with a monopoly on equipment sales, parts and service in most areas.

Perhaps this board, and others like it, will help put an end to the crap we have to put up with from manufacturers and distributors.