These new smartasses at John Deere are destroying all the loyalty the company has built over the last century. I know a lot of guys who are true John Deere loyalists. They grew up with Deere tractors, have never owned anything but a Deere tractor, hell, they just about bleed John Deere green if you cut them. They have little models of John Deere tractors all over their homes and John Deere books on their shelves. My best friend owns seven John Deere tractors, one of them from the 1930s.
Something has happened. The people calling the shots now at John Deere don’t seem to give a damn about any of that. They want as much money as they can get right now and everything else can go hang. They’re actually willing to cause financial harm to their customers if it will put another hundred dollars in their pocket. “Oh, you can pay us $130,000 for a tractor but, guess what? As far as we’re concerned you will never actually own it! What’s that? Your starter has gone out? Pay us to come fix it. Or sit there and watch your crop rot. Either way is fine with us.”
John Deere has been infected and if it doesn’t get cured it will end up as just another company that went the way of the dodo.
$130,000? Most of the ones I see are base priced at over $250,000!