Farm machinery giant John Deere plows into two right-to-repair lawsuits
- Reference: 1643069884
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/01/25/john_deere_right_to_repair_lawsuits/
- Source link:
The first
[1]PDF
was filed on January 12 in Illinois on behalf of Forest River Farms, a farming business based in North Dakota; the second, was filed in Alabama last week on behalf of farmer Trinity Dale Wells[2]PDF
.The lawsuits each claim what right-to-repair advocates have been saying for years: that Deere & Co., maker of John Deere brand farming equipment, denies customers the ability to repair and maintain their own agricultural machinery.
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"Farmers have traditionally had the ability to repair and maintain their own tractors as needed, or else have had the option to bring their tractors to an independent mechanic," the Forest River Farms complaint says.
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"However, in newer generations of its agricultural equipment, Deere has deliberately monopolized the market for repair and maintenance services of its agricultural equipment with ECUs [engine control units] by making crucial software and repair tools inaccessible to farmers and independent repair shops."
Deere has deliberately monopolized the market for repair and maintenance services of its agricultural equipment ... by making crucial software and repair tools inaccessible to farmers and independent repair shops
The lawsuit contends Deere & Co. prevents farmers from repairing their equipment by requiring its network of dealerships to abide by agreements to not give farmers or repair shops access to proprietary company software and repair tools.
The complaint filed in Alabama presents similar allegations, borrowing some of the initial language of the Illinois case. But it focuses on a different farmer's circumstances. It argues that Deere & Co.'s alleged monopolization of the repair market has allowed the manufacturer to charge premium prices beyond what would be possible if there were real competition.
And it accuses a trade group representing Deere & Co. of failing to follow through on a 2018 commitment that Deere & Co. would make its software and tools available to customers by January, 2021.
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"The motive behind restricting access to [the proprietary software] is simple: Deere and its Dealerships did not want their revenue stream from service and repair—a far more lucrative business than original equipment sales—to end when the equipment is purchased, as it often did in the past when owners could perform their own repairs or rely on individual repair shops," the Alabama complaint says.
Both complaints contend Deere's repair business is three to six times more profitable than its equipment sales business. The Illinois complaint focuses on the company's efforts in recent years to consolidate and control the repair market for its products; the Alabama lawsuit makes similar allegations that stem from the personal experience of plaintiff Trinity (Trent) Dale Wells.
[7]Worst of CES Awards: The least private, least secure, least repairable, and least sustainable
[8]Biden to sign exec order calling for right-to-repair rules for farmers, maybe rest of us
[9]Tractors, not phones, will (maybe) get America a right-to-repair law at this rate: Bernie slams 'truly insane' situation
[10]US Copyright Office suggests 'right to repair' laws a good idea
In December, 2021, according to the Alabama complaint, a field hand operating Wells' John Deere 5105 tractor saw the stop engine light turn on and then stopped doing anything for fear of damaging the vehicle. Wells, it is claimed, called the only service and repair option available to him, authorized John Deere supplier TriGreen.
"A TriGreen representative would only dispatch a service technician to his farm if [Wells] provided his debit card information in advance of the service," the complaint explains. "Having no choice, he did so. However, Trent was provided with neither a repair estimate nor any assurance that he would be able to approve charges to his card before they were made.
"When the technician arrived, he hooked up an ECU diagnostic machine, pulled the cap off of an emission sensor, dried it out, and put it back on. He spoke with Wells for approximately 10 minutes about the weather and crops and then left.
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"About an hour later, Wells’ card was charged $615 for approximately 2 1/2 minutes of work," the complaint continues. "Due to John Deere and co-conspirator TriGreen’s practices, Wells has no alternative other than to submit himself to this kind of fleecing."
Wells’ card was charged $615 for approximately 2 1/2 minutes of work
Deere & Co. did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuits.
Coincidentally, Deere & Co. was recently [12]awarded two Worst in Show Awards , bestowed by right-to-repair activists as a commentary on repairability of tech products debuting at CES.
Eric J. Artrip, a partner at Huntsville, Alabama-based law firm Mastando & Artrip, told The Register in a phone interview, "Ultimately, our goal is to see some real and systemic change in the farming industry."
Artrip explained that farming profit margins are extremely small and depend upon factors outside of farmers' control like weather and commodity price fluctuations. The monopolistic behavior of Deere & Co., he said, has become a serious concern for farmers. ®
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[1] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.411542/gov.uscourts.ilnd.411542.1.0_2.pdf
[2] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.alnd.179950/gov.uscourts.alnd.179950.1.0.pdf
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ye@D-XzS2bw-2U448P2p@QAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ye@D-XzS2bw-2U448P2p@QAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ye@D-XzS2bw-2U448P2p@QAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ye@D-XzS2bw-2U448P2p@QAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/07/worst_of_ces/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/07/biden_right_to_repair_executive_order/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2019/05/06/bernie_sanders_repair/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2017/06/27/us_copyright_office_suggests_right_to_repair/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Ye@D-XzS2bw-2U448P2p@QAAAEM&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/07/worst_of_ces/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
While I agree with the sentiment, I suspect your numbers are a bit off in relation to hourly earnings. There's a call out fee included in that because farms tend to be out in the middle of nowhere. It takes time to get from one job to the next. And probably an hourly charge with a minimum of one hour.
On the other hand, as an IT field engineer, nice prices if you can get away with charging them! We certainly can't get anywhere near those prices without losing all our customers! Plumbers on the other hand...
Yep I thought something like that might come up (and my post was slightly tongue in cheek). So it’s maybe $15 for the work $600 call out fee. Doesn’t excuse the fact that the end user/other firms should be able to get the needed parts and software to make the needed repairs. Then the call out wouldn’t be necessary in the first place. Imagine if only Microsoft or their authorised agents were allowed to work on your computers. Even Apple aren’t that bad
[1] https://www.apple.com/uk/newsroom/2021/11/apple-announces-self-service-repair/
[1] https://www.apple.com/uk/newsroom/2021/11/apple-announces-self-service-repair/
Not all that bad.
As an IT consultant, I implemented a four hour minimum for on-site visits in (roughly) 1990, a couple years after I went solo. Double on weekends/holidays. A few clients balked at the new rate ... I simply told 'em "Don't call me unless you actually need me". Or, as I tell prospective new clients "It's my job to ensure we see as little of each other as possible".
A new issue arose. Convincing 'em to pay 4 hours for a one minute visit. The old TV repairman's maxim applied, "I'm not charging you for thumping your telly with a screwdriver. I'm charging you for knowing where and how hard to thump your telly, and for showing up to do it". The explanation seems to have worked ... although about four years ago a child CEO wondered why I'd need to thump a telly with a screwdriver.
This is NOT the reason for the lawsuits. The lawsuits are because Deere is a defacto monopoly, if your farm runs on Green.
John Deere is so bad that when attempting to restore a 55 year old tractor, the local dealership refused to sell me engine and transmission parts! Told me I was "stealing" from JD by having the gall to do my own work. So I called corporate to complain. They told me it was policy.
Needless to say, I have sold all my JD kit, and will never purchase anything from them again.
Farmers are the most practical and the most ingenious at getting thing to work when they need them to work. If you spend months growing a crop and have a few days of window to harvest it you get what you need to done. Knee-capping farmers with DRM is criminal. It affects the farmers who have the newest gear, but it has skyrocketed the resale price of older non DRMed machines, this affects small farmers, and really limits the export of even older gear to low income countries where it is sorely needed.
This case should have been filed years ago.
It doesn't help matters that many farmers are literally hundreds of miles away from a JD concession. You'd think that the purpose of remote diagnostics was to cut out time wasting technician visits rather than to mandate them.
Deere in the headlights? Good!
They have a well earned reputation for outrageously prized parts and service. I think a couple law suits won't change that at all. Likely they will raise prices to pay the lawyers.
Small farmers are a dying breed
And John Deere is helping to plow their graves.
By making the initial cost and the locked in maintenance more and more expensive small farmers are increasingly being forced to sell out to factory farms (which exist in grain as well as livestock). Soon they will only exist as "living museums" for school field trips.
Re: Small farmers are a dying breed
"And John Deere is helping to plow their graves."
Nah. We're still hanging in there. JD kit brings quite a bit as scrap if you don't feel like parting it out yourself, and there are plenty of other vendors who are happy to work will us little guys without screwing us over.
When we were farming in the 1970s, we didn't need all that electronic crap to plow, plant or harvest. You read the manual that came with your equipment and talked to you seed dealer to get things set just so. One nice thing about our Oliver 1750 and Case 770 both had caps in the center of the forward hood which made perfect sights for lining up with with row marks or other centering targets. (We used a huge buckeye tree in our one field to start our rows.) 90% of the repairs could be made in the field. We used to joke that our local Oliver mechanic only need three tools to keep Ollie running - a BFH, a BFW, and a blowtorch.
Why do you need GPS? Electronic seed counters? If you pay attention you can drop the seeds as accurately manually. Same goes for plowing, harrowing, combining, and baling. Oh, and all our tractors and combine had speed control and power steering. The only electronics on the rigs was the radio. And at 2-3 AM, it was worth its weight in platinum.
If John Deere has such a bad reputation, why did they buy their equiment instead of another brand? I live in farm country - there are is no shortage of non-Deere equipment around here, likely because of such bad practices.
"About an hour later, Wells’ card was charged $615 for approximately 2 1/2 minutes of work," the complaint continues.
Around the world lawyers and accountants having read that are thinking
“We’re not charging nearly enough.”
$14,760 an hour makes my accountant and lawyer look dirt cheap in comparison. That’s taking price gouging to a whole new level.