Gerlach Outdoor Power Equipment Inc

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/08/20) */
When a customer brings in a unit for repair we fill out a work order and have them sign it after going over it. The work order states that there is a $45.00 estimate fee and or minimum $45.00 shop fee if mower is not repaired and or is not a...

warranty issue. The customer was informed and signed the work order. The mechanic put it on his bench and started it with no problem, customer stated was hard starting. When unit first started was not at full rpm's. Mechanic left it run for about 30 seconds and it cleared it self out. Mechanic then took mower out and mowed with it to see if he could duplicate customers drive issue and rattle noise. Nothing could be noticed that stood out as far a the machine itself. The next day the mechanic started and shut down unit 4 times and could not get to duplicate issue. This mower was not purchased from us and or is not sold by us, so warranty is a issue that is set by manufacturer of mower. No manufacturer will pay a warranty on a unit without a manufacturer defect. She was explained this twice, once by the counter person and by the owner of the business. The customer still did not understand that the mechanic still had time into mower even if there was nothing to do to repair. The fuel could have had something pass through carburetor to cause this, no way to know for sure. Ethanol causes dryness out of the air and could cause issues. We do not know what gas grade was used and at the time of repair, no issue was detected. Sorry this customer is upset about her bill, but the store customer purchased it from and or manufacture is not going to pay us. I suggest customer contacts store that it was purchased from and or manufacture of the unit.
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/08/24) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Prior to bringing my mower to this establishment, I did contact the store were I purchased it and they directed me to their website where I could find a list of Companies that would service my unit per the warranty. This is were I found Gerlach. I struggled with this mower every single time I used it. I never once had a time during the 3 months I had the unit that I mowed that this unit did not kill on multiple occasions, had a very loud rattle and idled like it was going to die at any moment and I should also note it was fueled numerous times using premium gasoline only. When I spoke with Mike the counter person and I would also like to note that Mike the counter person was the only person I ever spoke with at Gerlach so the response from the business about the counter person and the owner of the business telling me twice about the warranty company not paying for non defects is a lie. Mike stated when I asked him what non warranty issues would be he gave examples such as using the incorrect gas, no oil in unit, basically operator error issues. That being said I find it hard to believe that they are basically stating it was most likely a gas issue that "might" have been my issue and that they never checked the grade of the gasoline when trouble shooting. Seems to me that if they are blaming it on gas they would have checked the gasoline in the unit. Also I have mowed lawn on several occasions since receiving this unit back and it has not killed once, the rattle is completely gone, and it has started every time. How does a piece of equipment that I didn't do anything to and Gerlach did not do anything to fix itself after having 3 months of trouble? I'll tell you how someone fixed something. I may not know about how to fix machines, but I am no it but I know things do not fix themselves. I do understand everything that was explained by the counter person Mike that the $45 fee was for time into the unit, however that time was used to obviously fix the mower and those repairs should have been submitted to the warranty company and I should have never been charged anything.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/08/27) */
This unit was dropped off and the customer was told if there was not a warrant-able failure (which there was nothing that could be brought to the manufacturer of the unit) that there would be a minimum charge of $45.00 and was told that our service department was over 2 weeks out (complaint of 9 days). The customer agreed and signed to these conditions. On the aspect of testing fuel our service department does not have the means or equipment to chemically test fuel, if we were to send the fuel out for testing at a lab there would be a very expensive fee for the testing. We can perform warranty work on most small engine and power equipment due to the brands we carry but we do not even carry this brand of lawn mower (we are just a servicing center for Briggs and Stratton Engines). Furthermore if this repair could be warrantied it would have been. The counter person was harassed and yelled at, would our company do this if they could be paid under warranty? The customer did talk to an owner of the company who then in turn passed the phone to the counter person that had been working with the customer as they had more information. To give an example from my personal life I have a service plan for the appliances in my home and was told by them directly that if they came out to look at my water heater (in this instance) that was not heating water and they found a setting set too low or something not wrong with the unit there would at the minimum be a charge of the service call. As a dealer we had technician's time into the unit to test and try to find a warrant-able failure and could not, once again I would like to state if we can warranty something we would rather do that and have a happy customer. We would like to help in this instance but now we have the technician time of half hour of time and the answering of these letters twice. The customer is once again suggested to contact the place of purchase and/or manufacturer of the mower. Please see page 10 of the attached PDF which should be the same as the manual the customer should have gotten with their unit, it states-
"Briggs & Stratton warrants that, during the warranty period specified below, it will repair or replace, free of charge, any part that is defective in material or workmanship or
both. Transportation charges on product submitted for repair or replacement under this warranty must be borne by purchaser. This warranty is effective for and is subject to
the time periods and conditions stated below. For warranty service, find the nearest Authorized Service Dealer in our dealer locator map at BRIGGSandSTRATTON.COM.
The purchaser must contact the Authorized Service Dealer, and then make the product available to the Authorized Service Dealer for inspection and testing."
Bottom line if there was a warrantable failure the engine manufacture would have been charged accordingly but there were no failures found by the technician. The only resolution the customer would like is their $45.00 dollars back (which they agreed to upon signing the repair order) effectively making our service department work for non payment.