HIGH POINT, N.C. — Motaz Madi is not afraid of hard work. He is often on the tractor or working the fields on his Jamestown farm.
“If we have the work, we do things from sunrise to sunset,” Madi said.
The seven-acre farm does not lack work. The land needs tilling, seeds need planting, crops need pulling and the list goes on and on. Madi also has several horses and goats. It’s a life he chose and wouldn’t trade for a desk job.
“The best thing ever,” Madi said.
If you work on a farm there are several pieces of machinery, you’ll need. Madi has a Bobcat and a tractor and uses both almost every day.
“The tractor is like the heart of the farm, everything we do is through the tractor,” Madi said.
Late last year Madi decided to invest in a newer, nicer tractor that offered more than the one he currently has. He did some research and eventually ended up buying a brand-new tractor for around $32,000.
“It was not cheap,” Madi said.
A few days after purchasing the tractor Madi was using it for the first time. He had it out on the fields when he quickly noticed something wasn’t right.
“After 30 minutes, the hydraulics got stuck,” Madi said.
The next week Madi contacted the dealership to see what could be done. A technician with the company agreed it was an issue with the hydraulic and ordered a new part. The replacement part arrived a couple of months later but did not work.
The dealership ordered a second replacement part and told Madi it should arrive in six to eight weeks. Madi called the dealership back every month for about eight months and was told the same thing. The dealership said the part was on back-order and there was a supply chain problem.
“It had been almost a year and I still didn’t have my tractor working,” Madi said.
Madi had asked for a refund, but the dealership would not refund the money telling him it was not their fault the part was on back-order. Madi decided to contact our Call for Action Team in hopes of getting some resolution. Our team reached out to the local dealership and contacted the manufacturer. We sent several emails back and forth with the corporate office about the situation. A representative with the company told us a resolution team was investigating the situation.
About a month after we got involved the manufacturer reached out to Madi and offered a 20-percent refund on the tractor and extended his warranty an entire year.
“I feel good, I feel really good,” Madi said. “It’s good to have people like you (News 2) in the community to help us,” Madi said.
The new part arrived a few weeks later and the tractor is working again. This means more work on the schedule but a quicker path to completion.