Caldwell Outdoor Equipment

At Caldwell Lawn Care, Incwe provide mowing services, lawn treatments, snow removal and other property management services We do not sell or service lawn mowers Mr [redacted] has confused Caldwell Lawn Care, Incwith Caldwell Outdoor Equipment Co., Inc.Being that I am the owner of both companies, I'll address his concerns here.Mr [redacted] brought his Gravely mower to us for repair The mower was very obviously damaged It had impact marks and a broken front axleBefore Mr [redacted] left the premises, it was explained to him fully that we'd charge a $diagnostic fee to take a thorough look at the mower and write up a detailed quote for the necessary extensive repairs Mr [redacted] agreed and left his mower Our technicians then diagnosed the repairs as requested and provided Mr [redacted] a detailed quote as promised Mr***'s mower is not under warranty The manufacturer's warranty against defects expired on 5-9-Even if this instance had occurred during the warranty time period, the obvious abuse to this mower would not have been considered a manufacturer's defect.We were open and honest with the customer though out the process We detailed the fees up front and provided a valuable service to himWe will not be issuing a refund

At Caldwell Lawn Care, Inc. we provide mowing services, lawn treatments, snow removal and other property management services.  We do not sell or service lawn mowers.  Mr. [redacted] has confused Caldwell Lawn Care, Inc. with Caldwell Outdoor Equipment Co., Inc.Being that I am the owner of both...

companies, I'll address his concerns here.Mr. [redacted] brought his Gravely mower to us for repair.  The mower was very obviously damaged.  It had impact marks and a broken front axle. Before Mr. [redacted] left the premises, it was explained to him fully that we'd charge a $79 diagnostic fee to take a thorough look at the mower and write up a detailed quote for the necessary extensive repairs.  Mr. [redacted] agreed and left his mower.  Our technicians then diagnosed the repairs as requested and provided Mr. [redacted] a detailed quote as promised.  Mr. [redacted]'s mower is not under warranty.  The manufacturer's warranty against defects expired on 5-9-15. Even if this instance had occurred during the warranty time period, the obvious abuse to this mower would not have been considered a manufacturer's defect.We were open and honest with the customer though out the process.  We detailed the fees up front and provided a valuable service to him. We will not be issuing a refund.

Mr. [redacted] arrived at our shop Thursday 8/18/16 and requested immediate service to his mower.  Our service manager quickly met Mr. [redacted] at his vehicle to determine if the mower in question had a problem that could be solved quickly or if it needed the attention of our skilled...

technicians.  He found the mower deck leaning forward in an awkward position and decided that a technician needed to thoroughly diagnose the cause of this problem so that it could be repaired correctly.  He then offered Mr. [redacted] an expedited service appointment on Monday 8/22/16.  Mr. [redacted] left without confirming his appointment.  On Monday 8/22/16 at 11:45am our service manager contacted Mr. [redacted] by phone to see if he would be bringing his mower to the appointment.  He indicated that no longer wanted us to fix his mower and that he'd fix it himself.  Since Mr. [redacted] has indicated that he no longer needs our help, we consider this issue resolved.  Hustler mowers are the number one selling zero turn nationwide.  Here at Caldwell Outdoor Equipment we've achieved Diamond level (retailing at least $1 million in new mowers in a year) with Hustler for the last two consecutive years.  We have literally thousands of loyal Hustler customers.  Occasionally repairs to machines need to be made under warranty.  Hustler is great about standing behind their products.  Our service staff repairs thousands of units (various brands of equipment) every year and are experts when it comes to warranty repairs on Hustler mowers.  If Mr. [redacted] ever needs our help with his Hustler mower in the future, we will be here for him.[redacted]President

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/24) */
Contact Name and Title: [redacted] Presiden
Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX
Contact Email: [redacted]@caldwellequipment.com
Ms. [redacted] brought to us a Cub Cadet LTX1050 mower (commonly sold at Home Depot) because her mower wouldn't drive. Our...

mechanics correctly diagnosed and repaired her transmission. We suggested to her that while her machine was in the shop it would be a good idea to have a complete service performed. Here is what we include in a complete service on a mower like Ms. [redacted]'s:

Complete Diagnostic; Check battery, clean battery terminals, change oil, and oil filter, replace spark plug, clean air filter or replace, replace fuel filter, check fuel system for debris, check gas cap, sharpen and balance blades, check belts and idlers, air up tires, level the deck, check/adjust throttle and choke cables/linkage, lube points, and grease fittings, check/adjust brakes, power wash and clean thoroughly, clean underside of deck, test run.

All of these items were completed flawlessly, with one possible exception:

We could have adjusted the deck height a litter higher, but we did not know that we should make adjustments (not made by the manufacturer) to attempt to raise the height of cut to the maximum possible. We now know that this mower has been poorly designed and many, many consumers have complained that it will not allow a cutting height above 2.75 inches. I'll expound on this point at the conclusion of this response.

Ms. [redacted] picked up her mower from this initial repair and service on 4-29-15.

We didn't hear from Ms. [redacted] again until 6-5-15 (37 days later). In Ms. [redacted]'s complaint, she claims to have only used the mower for an hour or an hour and a half during those 37 days. It should be noted that Ms. [redacted]'s lawn is approximately 5 acres and we have experienced one of the wettest springs on record.
The mower came to us this time with a broken center idler pulley, a deck belt that was now damaged from running on a broken pulley and all three blades completely worn out and unusable.

Ms. [redacted] felt that we had somehow caused these problems with her mower. She was irate, and yelled at several employees here (she later returned to the store and apologized for her behavior). We explained to her that the poor design and mowing too low was the cause of these problems. When the mower was further analyzed by the mechanic, he found a way to increase the mowing height slightly. We decided to make that adjustment at no charge. Also out of goodwill we gave Ms. [redacted] 3 new blades, a brand new pulley and a new deck belt. This repair bill totaled $215.95, but cost Ms. [redacted] absolutely nothing. This loss was not deducted from an employee's pay as Ms. [redacted] stated in her complaint.

She went away very happy.

In late June Ms. [redacted] called us again and let us know that the belt had come off of her deck and was again very angry and had decided that this was our fault. She demanded that we make an on-site service call (a service that we do not offer) because she shouldn't have to haul her mower in to our shop again. In an extreme gesture of kindness, one of our employees, on his own time, drove his personal vehicle to Ms. [redacted]'s residence to attempt to reinstall the belt for her. When he arrived, he found evidence of an impact on the mowing deck and a damaged center spindle and center idler pulley. He told her that it wouldn't do any good to reinstall the belt with the deck components in this condition, so she would need to get it to the shop for us to fully diagnose the damage and give her an estimate on a repair.

On 7-2-15 the mower was returned to our shop for the damage to be diagnosed. We provided an estimate for the repairs to Ms. [redacted], and she declined the work. Ms. [redacted] did not pay for the diagnostic time.

In conclusion: MTD (the parent company of Cub Cadet) builds inexpensive outdoor power equipment to sell at mass merchants. Their brands are well known to be poor in quality. Reviewers on consumeraffairs.com rate the Cub Cadet LTX1050 at 1.5 out of 5 stars. A quick google search will reveal many complaints on this model and most other MTD models in existence. Even on Cub Cadet's own website this machine has poor reviews and several complaints are about deck issues, and many are specifically with the height of cut problem.

As for the resolution, the best thing I can do for Ms. [redacted] at this point is to recommend to her that she replace this mower with a good quality mower sold by a reputable dealer and that she not purchase any more equipment from a box store. We will not be sending her any money for the repairs to her mower.

Another note: None of our technicians have been terminated as Ms. [redacted] stated.