Hudson's Hardware & Outdoor Equipment

Hudson's picked 4/8/15 & delivered my riding mower on 4/29/15 & they cleaned out water in the fuel. However, I decided no to change the driving belts.On April 4/8/15, Hudson's Hardware picked my riding mower ([redacted], Model = [redacted], Serial No.[redacted]) because they were so issues with the unit (idles fast). After 2 weeks, Mr.[redacted] told me that they found water in the fuel and they had to clean the carburator. Also, he tld me that the driving belts (2) had to be changed soon. I asked him how soon I had to change them and also the cost. He replied that the cost is between $170-180 and he could not tell me when the belts will fail. I told him that I lost my job a month ago and I could not do everything at this time. So, I decided to clean the carburator for $47.95. He was agreed on my decision and we will do the belts sometime this year. They delivered (5/1/15) the riding mower on June 1 outside of my garage. Few days later, I went to start the mower and I could not start because it was not fuel in the tank. So, I went to nut fuel and I started the riding mower by cutting the front grass without any mechanical issues. On May 8, I started the riding mower and it was not to start and I was smoke coming out from the engine. I called the [redacted] protection plan and also the service provider (BTTW- Mr. [redacted]) who told me that she will call Hudson's Hardware to pick up the riding mower to be checked. Few minutes later, she called back and she informed me that Hudson's Hardware did not want pick up the mower because they believe that that the driving belts were broken. I told her that I will paid with my CC the expenses but they had to pick up the mower without additional charged (it was in warranty from Hudson after the clean out of the carburator). I called and I discussed the issue with Mr.[redacted] (Manager) and he was telling me that I had to paid for the pick up and deliver of the riding mower. I told him that I will be happy to paid one way ($25) and he will cover the deliver. His answered was not and he was not friendly with me. To solve this issue, I would ke to receive the $50 for pickup and deliver plus $47.95 which is a total of $97.95. I wont be doing additional business with this Hardware store in the future. Desired SettlementI would like to receive my money for pickup and deliver ($50) to be used for the next services and also the repair for $47.95. The total amount is $97.95.Business Response On 4/8/15 we were sent a service request by a third party warranty company. The warranty company then paid us for pick up and delivery. We contacted the customer and picked up the customers mower on 4/8/15 with the complaint of (will not start, customer had battery load tested and it tested ok, customer also stated that the belt is loose and that the unit idles fast). When we picked up the mower our delivery driver spoke with the customer and confirmed the mower wouldn't start and belt was loose as well. After our technician looked at the unit we found there was water in the fuel and the drive belts needed to be replaced. The service manager called the customer with an estimate of 170-180 dollars to clean the fuel system and to replace the drive belts and that the repairs would not be covered under warranty due to not being a manufacture defect. After speaking with the customer he only wanted to get the unit running and he didn't want to replace the belts. We cleaned the fuel system only, as the customer requested, totaling $47.95. The customer paid for just the repair on 4/29/15 and we delivered the customers mower on 5/1/15. On 5/8/15 the third party warranty company contacted us and said the customers mower had stopped moving and was smoking under the mower. We discussed that we had just advised the customer that he needed the drive belts replaced and that was more than likely the cause. They also said they would not cover pickup and delivery again as the customer was advised that the drive belts needed to be replaced and he chose to not have the repairs completed. We explained that we would not pickup and deliver the mower at no charge due to the same reasons. They called the customer after speaking with us and explained that he would have to pay for the pick up and delivery as well as the repairs, due to him declining the repair the first time. Later that day the service manager spoke with the customer many times, the customer said the mower would start and run but would not move. We explained that he would have to pay for the repairs and pickup and delivery. The customer stated that he was not told that the belts needed to be replaced, then he said he was not told that they were bad enough to be replaced and then he said he did not trust us and that he wanted us to pick up his mower free of charge and that he wanted to watch us do the repair to make sure that we did the repair. After the last statement, we explained if he felt this way it would be best for the customer to take the mower to a different shop if he did not trust us. It was only after an hour of discussion that the customer offered to pay half of the pick up and delivery and we cover the other half. We explained that he would have to pay the whole amount due to declining the repair. After a few more minutes of discussion we explained to the customer that he needed to take the mower to another shop. We have since been told by the third party warranty company that the customer had the mower at another shop and they found that the mower ran fine it just needed the drive belts replaced, as was explained in our original estimate.In conclusion we gave the customer an estimate, he chose to only do part of the repair, when the parts failed that we advised him to replace. He wants us cover the pick up and delivery and watch us repair the unit as he does not trust us. After many hours of discussion we refused to work on the customers mower. Now the customer wants to us to refund him for the repair that we completed as we were asked and correctly as well as refund him the pick up and delivery fee that the customer did not even pay, but was paid by the warranty company. We gave an honest and accurate estimate that was denied by the customer. We were honest and professional throughout this transaction.Consumer Response Hudson's Hardware & Outdoor Equipment (Manager): You performed a repair on my riding mower that means a warranty of a minimum for 1 month is allowed to the customer. I lost my job in March 2015 and I was not ready to pay the estimate repair of $170-$180 to replace both drive belts. I asked many times if I can wait for few months to replace the belts and your answer was "I can nor predict it". Also, I was trying to figure if my [redacted] protection plans can pay for some of the maintenance expenses. They paid for my deck replaced last year 2014. I paid a lot of money for the [redacted] Protection Plan. I was not happy that it took 2 weeks for you to deliver the issue for the riding mower and then when you delivered the mower (after repair) it was not fuel in the fuel tank. Also, as you mentioned I offered to split the expenses for pick up and deliver the equipment, your answered was no. Here is the key for all this issue and I will move forward (legal action) if Revdex.com can not get a positive solution of my case. Your company customer satisfaction is one of the worst that I have been face for many years in this country. Customer satisfaction is a marketing that measure how services supplied by a company meet or surpass a customer's expectation. I told you on the phone that customer satisfaction was important because it provides a business owners with a metric that you can use to manage and improve your businesses.You killed the customer lifetime value, it reduces negative word of mouth (I lived in garner for many years and I know the manager for that store) it is cheaper to retain customers than acquire new ones and finally customer satisfaction is an indicator of consumer loyalty. My position is to get the money than I am requesting from your company. Final Business Response We believe our previous response is both appropriate and adequate. We have nothing else to add.