1997 - Volume #21, Issue #1, Page #01
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Farmer Wins lawsuit Over Lemon Baler
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Buhr spent two years trying to get the baler fixed before filing suit in March, 1995. Last November the jury awarded Buhr $28,992 in damages for the defective baler.
Buhr apparently had a lot of credibility with the jury because he is a long-time Deere customer who had owned a Deere 535 baler before. "It was a good ma-chine. That's why I bought another one," he says.
But he claims his new 535 never worked properly. "The bales were too small and uneven and the belts continually wore out because they wouldn't track properly within the machine. The gauges never did work right, and the surface wrap would catch and get sucked into the machine. I lost more than half of my customers because they were not happy with the work I did, and I couldn't blame them," says Buhr.
He had troubles with the baler from day one. Re-pairs in two years totalled more than $10,000 and he made less than 3,000 bales.
He took the baler back to the dealer he bought it from, and then to four other dealers. None of them could fix it. He also contacted Deere & Company direct trying to get them to correct the situation. At one point, an observer suggested he sell the baler as far away from his hometown as he could get. But Buhr rejected that idea, saying he didn't want to dump his problems onto someone else.
Finally, after two years, he tried to trade the baler back to the dealer where he bought it but he says the dealer didn't want it because he knew about the machine's defects. That's when he decided he would have to sue.
"I had a $30,000 piece of junk. I couldn't use it and I couldn't trade it in. Filing a lawsuit was the only option left," says Buhr. But he learned that filing suit against a big manufacturer is not easy. "I got an expensive education in how the legal system works. If I had to do it again, I think I could save a lot of time and money, now that I have a better idea of how the system works."
One lesson he learned is that you have to be able to document your problems and bring in others who will corroborate your story. He also discovered that many buyers of new farm machinery sign contracts that limit their rights if they later have a problem.
In Buhr's case, he signed Deere's standard buyer's contract which frees the company from any responsibility for lawyer's fees or lost business due to problems with its equipment. That meant he could only recover damages for the cost of repairing or replacing the baler. That's why he only won back the cost of the baler even though his losses totalled more than three times the amount of the award.
"My advice is to spend $100 to have your attorney look over any contract you sign when buying equipment and change any wording that could hurt you later," says Buhr. "Most farmers just trust the dealer and sign without reading but if you ever have a problem, you'll find there's not much you can do."
Buhr sought out Lawrence Crosby, a farm-raised attorney from St. Paul, Minn.
Crosby urges all farmers with problem equipment to first work with their dealer to solve any problems. "Very few of these types of lawsuits have ever been filed and even fewer have been won. Of course, that's because most dealers take care of any problems that come up to keep their customers happy. But it's also a result of the fact that most companies have standard contracts that exempt themselves from most of the responsibility if anything goes wrong."
Crosby has seen contracts from other machinery companies and says they're much the same as Deere's. He thinks farmer-buyers should think twice before signing them. "Chances are you'll never have a problem but if you do, your rights can be severely limited by contracts."
He notes that Deere’s contract is particularly
favorable to its dealers. The dealer
Buhr bought his baler from was dismissed
from the case early on, thanks to the wording
on the contract Buhr had signed. That
forced him to deal directly with Deere &
Company and their team of lawyers.
As his case wound its way through the
courts, Buhr bought a New Holland 664
round baler to use in his business. He’s
happy with the baler but says he wouldn’t
hesitate to buy another Deere round baler
once his legal problems are over. “I’m convinced
these problems are only related to
my particular baler. I believe that either
something went wrong at the factory, or it
was damaged in transport,” notes Buhr.
“I lost more than $100,000 in business
and out-of-pocket expenses trying to repair
the baler and in lawyer fees,” says Buhr,
whose legal fees alone totaled nearly
$50,000. But he says it was still satisfying
to get his day in court and get a jury to agree
with his side of the story.
In order to prevail, he had to bring in
customers to testify to the poor quality of
bales produced by the baler. They also testified
that Buhr had previously done a good
job with the Deere 535 baler he owned before.
Crosby says Buhr was particularly lucky
to have a great expert witness, an equipment
dealer who sells Deere balers. He told the
jury the 535 is a great baler but that there
was clearly something wrong with Buhr’s
baler. He also entertained the jury by suggesting
that the baler “may have been made
on a Monday or a Friday, or else it had fallen
off the transport truck.”
Deere had 90 days from the date of the
verdict to appeal the ruling. No decision
had yet been announced when this issue
went to press.
Deere spokesman Al Higley told FARM
SHOW the company does not normally
comment on legal matters. However, he
stressed that the company will always be
committed to customer satisfaction.
“It’s unfortunate that this matter could
not be resolved outside the courtroom, but
Deere and Company is willing to abide by
the court’s decision.”
Buhr says he’d be happy to explain his
case in more detail to anyone who finds
themselves in a similar situation.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup,
Melroy Buhr, 13727 Howard Ave., Elma,
Iowa 50628 (ph 515 393-2675).
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