John Deere Faces Second Class Action For Monopolizing Repair

from the here-we-go-again dept

John Deere is facing a second class action lawsuit for its ongoing, ham-fisted effort to monopolize tractor repair and drive up costs for its customers. The latest lawsuit was filed in mid-May in the Northern District of Illinois against John Deere by Christy Webber Landscaping of Chicago, which alleges that the company actively makes it harder to get needed tools, manuals, and parts for repairing equipment, in order to drive customers to more expensive dealership repairs.

From the lawsuit:

“Deere abuses its monopoly power in that market to force Deere C&F equipment owners to use a Deere Dealer for many key repairs, and through those repairs, also forces those equipment owners to purchase replacement parts sold by Deere. In so doing,Deere and the Deere Dealers eliminate competition from all Deere C&F equipment owners who wish to repair their own equipment, as well as from repair services offered by independent repair providers (“IRPs”). As a result of this conduct, Deere and the Deere Dealers completely control the market for Restricted Deere C&F Repairs, thereby coercing Deere C&F equipment owners to purchase labor and parts at artificially inflated prices.”

So, more of the same, then.

This latest lawsuit comes directly on the heels of John Deere paying $99 million to settle a different class action also accusing the company of monopolizing repair, driving competing repair shops out of business (or acquiring them), making parts, tools, and manuals hard to find, and engaging in stuff like “parts pairing” — requiring owners and independent repair shops buy a collection of costly parts and assemblages if they want to repair a single, smaller part.

The company is also facing an ongoing lawsuit by the FTC, but the bones of the case were built under the Lina Khan FTC, and as we saw with the Trump administration’s cozy backroom deal with Ticketmaster, there are concerns the Trump administration will somehow let the company off the hook.

John Deere executives have repeatedly promised to do better, then turned right around and continued engaging in anticompetitive and anti-consumer behavior. Bipartisan annoyance at the company’s aggressive monopolistic actions have been the driving motivational force behind the push for state “right to repair laws.” Eight states have passed such laws, but not one has yet to actually enforce them, despite no shortage of corporate abuse on this front.

Around 2023, after facing increased criticism for its monopolistic behavior, Deere struck a “memorandum of understanding” with the American Farm Bureau Federation promising that the company will make sure farmers have the right to repair their own farm equipment or go to an independent technician. But the promise wound up being largely performative, and was designed primarily to get the AFBF to promise they wouldn’t support new state level right to repair reforms.

Filed Under: class action, ftc, independent repair shops, manuals, monopoly, repair, right to repair, software, tractors

Companies: john deere