United Ag & Turf — Local services in Pembroke

In August 2017, I started checking various John Deere dealerships in and out of the area, both through the internet and in person, to see which one would offer the best deal on a tractor and attachments. I arrived at “North Country John Deere” on Route 106 in Pembroke, NH and met sales person “Marc Dupuis”, who I took an immediate liking to. After telling him what I was searching for, he went over all my options plus available discounts and came up with a fair price he did not believe I would beat at other dealers, but still encouraged me to look around. I did visit other dealerships and found that some had prices close, but none gave me the “feeling” I got with Marc at North Country. I did make a deal to purchase a 2038R Tractor equipped with 57” loader/bucket and a 72” mid mount mower, but unfortunately the mower deck needed to be ordered. After weeks of the dealership getting the “runaround” by the John Deere factory and the shipping date for my deck continually getting moved up, the collective efforts of my sales person “Marc”, the store manager “Kyle”, and the company’s owner “Bill Taranovich”, made it possible to get another dealer in Ohio (I live in NH) to release a 72” mower deck they had in stock. Finally the deck arrived at the dealer and I was given special attention and instructions by Marc and “Bob” (Service Department) as to the operation of the tractor, to include mounting and dismounting the attachments. Service and satisfaction even continued after the tractor setup was delivered to my home by “Jake”, who was very friendly, taking time to answer questions and providing more helpful information about my new tractor. When and if I had future questions and concerns, a simple call or email to my salesperson Marc, and my issues were addressed - This included a trip made to my home by their Service Technician “Eric” who came to make a necessary adjustment on the tractor and replace a part. Having read some negative reviews on line about the “Parts Department”, I thought I would include an experience I had with that department as well. It is clear this store does not have a receptionist and a call made to them might go to voice mail and you get a request to “Leave a message and your call will be returned” – Just leave a message and I’m sure someone WILL call you back! Or If you like, just contact the person or department you want via E-MAIL – That’s what I did. I sent an email to the parts department inquiring about an accessory part, whether they had it in stock or not, or if it could it be ordered and how much the cost would be. Almost immediately, I received a return e-mail from “Jon” (Parts Manager) who provided me with the information I needed and through email conversation, we agreed to have the part delivered to the store where I would pick it up at my leisure. Overall, I could not be happier with my purchase, but more important, I could not be happier with the service department, parts department, sales department, all the staff, including the owner “Bill Taranovich”, and especially with salesperson, Marc Dupuis. I believe Marc to be an honest, “standup guy” and it was because of my interaction with him, plus all his help and fairness that I decided on my John Deere tractor purchase. Since the day I agreed to the purchase and I am in the area, I do not hesitate to stop by and say hi, and I am always treated like "family". I already have, and will continue to recommend and refer others to stop by North Country Tractor in Pembroke, NH if they are looking to purchase any John...

Just when you think some places are able to change and improve for the better, you are sadly proven wrong again…

I visited this United Ag And Turf location a few years ago in my search for my first compact tractor. I was greeting by an older gentleman who sat behind his desk and did not get up from what he was doing to meet me at the door after standing there awkwardly for about 30 seconds. The sales men seem to be bothered that I had questions, it seemed like he didn’t think I was a customer capable of purchasing a tractor, and really didn’t give me the time of day when asked basic questions. I had even asked the basic question of what’s the difference in a smaller horsepower tractor versus a larger horsepower tractor and he could not answer it. I ended up purchasing my tractor at another location.

When I was in the market to upgrade my compact tractor this year, I went to this location after shopping around online and finding out that they had a far better price than the dealer I previously used. They also offered me far more trade-in value and equity for my previous tractor. When I physically went into the location, there were no sales reps there that day, and I was forced to work with the general manager.

The GM made me feel like a VIP and appreciated my business. One thing I will say about the GM, is that he was not very knowledgeable on John Deere’s current promotions, pricing, nor even the implements or attachments that they Currently sell. After the GM tried to sell me an older type of attachment, I explained to him, and we watched on YouTube on his computer about another type of snowblower that John Deere has now. This was the first red flag of this transaction. He explained that they did not have one and they would be able to order one and it would be available within a couple months. As most GM’s at most retail locations, once he had the sale in the bag, I was passed off to a sales rep to continue the transaction. This is where things got worse.

I dealt with the sales rep completely virtually via email and a brief phone call. I didn’t have an issue with this as I am very tech savvy and did not have any issues communicating but I did not appreciate how long it took to solicitor response from the sales rep, and it got very confusing very fast. I was able to complete all finance documents via the Internet and completed the sale transaction without ever even meeting the sales Rep in person. The tractor was delivered by the dealer a few days later to my home.

The main reason for this review is the complete lack of training from the top down from the general manager to the sales rep that I worked with. The apparent lack of training, experience, and knowledge at this location is apparent.

United Ag And Turf is really taking away from the neighborhood tractor suppliers and they are doing this by poorly taking care of customers treating them as individuals rather than just units moved.

John Deere has long been a strong American brand known for their quality and reliability. I am overall pleased with the tractor itself, but must point out that there was a production error in the machine on receiving my brand new 2024, 3046R, I noticed that the parking brake would not raise and set properly. Upon further inspection, I removed the left rear wheel, where the linkage is for the parking brake, and realized that John Deere had completely mounted the part on upside down, so that there was a mechanical stop on part of the tractor, rather than setting the brake. Quality is...

Parts department. Over the course of 6 months after moving into a farm nearby, I've called parts on several occasions for help. 1st experience was normal, and what I would expected; went in an purchased the parts I inquired about over the phone. Second time I called they recommended I go to the JDparts website. 6 months later - I now realize this does their job for them aka looking up the machine, identifying parts/ JD part # and subsequently accesses store inventory.

Long story short, when calling yesterday during lunch the service department transferred me three times to parts. On all occasions I received a voice-mail. I'll admit I didn't choose to leave a voice-mail as on the 3rd or 4th call I made to them (over the past 6 months) I did leave a message and never received a call back.

Having said all this, although they are the closest to me I will not be doing any business with them and will be sure to alert other farmers of my poor experience, so they do not benefit from large machine sales, service and parts orders. Truly disappointed with the level of "customer experience" and lack of enthusiasm I received. I'm sorry I'm calling you and asking you to do your job, aka; talk to customers, discussing machines, parts, shipping and prices over the phone. As I write this I even recall being spoken to condescendingly when I was in-store picking up parts... Best of...