In response to Complaint # [redacted] made by [redacted] Ms. [redacted] purchased a [redacted] zero turn lawn mower from us on August 4th, 2015. During her visit with us she explained that she had never owned a zero turn mower and was interested in upgrading from an...
older riding mower that she currently was using. She was not going to be using the mower commercially, and therefore we directed her toward the homeowner models. At that time [redacted] made two series of homeowner models. The [redacted] 1 model retailed between $3000 and $3500 and the [redacted] 2 model which is the next level up which retailed between $4000 and $4500. Both models come with 3 year manufacturer warranties. After going over features and pricing, our salesperson and Ms. [redacted] decided that the [redacted] 1 model should fit her needs and her budget. We had several [redacted] 1 mowers that were holdover units with significant discounts because they were holdovers. Ms. [redacted] decided to purchase a 2013 holdover, with a 42” deck and [redacted] and [redacted] engine. After the discount it was $2299 plus tax for a total of $2425. It is important to note that we did show her the machine before she purchased it. It did have some small cosmetic imperfections as it had been displayed outside daily for a couple of summers. We also offered her the opportunity to test the unit on our lawn area here to make sure she would like the machine. She elected not to do that and to purchase without trying it. On September 1st [redacted] brought the mower back to us. It was having an issue running. It was loosing power. We found that there was water in her fuel system and the carburetor. We drained the carb and the fuel system. Got the unit running well and had it ready to go for her the next day. We did not charge for this service since she had just purchased the unit, even though water in the fuel system is not normally covered by manufacturer warranty. Three weeks later [redacted] again had an issue with the mower. The deck belt broke. We inspected the unit to see if there was an issue with the deck that could have caused the belt to have broken. We did not find anything wrong with the deck. We replaced the belt and tested the operation of the machine. It ran beautifully. Again, deck belts are not normally covered by manufacturer warranty unless something else fails to cause them to break. Normally if a belt breaks it is due to either mowing grass that is to high, mowing grass that is wet or heavy, or that the belt is just old and worn out. In this case the machine was brand new, not many hours on the belt so since there was seemingly no issue with the deck we believe that the break most likely was due to mowing heavy grass, either too long or too wet for what this unit can handle. There is really no way to determine the exact cause of failure in this case. That being said, we charged [redacted] just the cost of the belt and did not charge for any labor to install the new one and inspect the unit. In April of 2016,we completely serviced her mower. Changed fluids, greased, changed spark plug, etc. We installed a new fuel filter and again found water in her fuel system. Drained the system, etc. Normal service type work for preseason service. On May 18th, [redacted] again had a belt issue with her mower. The belt had come off the unit and got into the pulleys. We went out and picked up her unit and brought it back to our store. We found the belt guards bent, which allowed the belt to come off and get damaged. These are metal guards that can only be bent by force. Typically from mowing rough terrain and the deck bouncing. We again replaced the belt, bent the guards back into the correct shape and got the unit correct again. We did not charge [redacted] anything for this work. We did not charge for pickup either. After a couple weeks the mower was still at our location and had not been picked up. Our service manager called [redacted] to find out why she had not picked her mower up. At that point she advised him that she did not want the mower back and that she would like us to purchase it back from her. Since then I have spoken with [redacted]. She has explained that she does not want the unit any longer. I understood that she was not happy with the mower. I offered a couple of options to try to help her with her situation. I offered number one to try to sell her mower for her to try to get her out from underneath the loan. I also offered to take it in trade towards a higher level mower that would be better for the lawn she was mowing. I also contacted [redacted] and they were willing to give a rebate on a new mower if she wanted to trade. [redacted] was adamant that she did not want to trade for a new [redacted]. She said we could could try to sell it for her but what she really wanted was for us to purchase the unit back from her for what she still owed on it. I explained that we were not willing to purchase it back. We would be willing to take it in trade or try to sell it for her. At that point it was clear that we were not going to come to an agreement that both sides could be happy with. I apologized to her for the inconvenience that she has experienced and assured her that we would continue to back the mower that she currently has. It has 2 more years of warranty still remaining. At this point the mower is still here at our location as [redacted] has not picked it up. Both the trade offer and the offer to sell the unit for her still stand.
In response to Complaint # [redacted] made by [redacted] Ms. [redacted] purchased a [redacted] zero turn lawn mower from us on August 4th, 2015. During her visit with us she explained that she had never owned a zero turn mower and was interested in upgrading from an...
older riding mower that she currently was using. She was not going to be using the mower commercially, and therefore we directed her toward the homeowner models. At that time [redacted] made two series of homeowner models. The [redacted] 1 model retailed between $3000 and $3500 and the [redacted] 2 model which is the next level up which retailed between $4000 and $4500. Both models come with 3 year manufacturer warranties. After going over features and pricing, our salesperson and Ms. [redacted] decided that the [redacted] 1 model should fit her needs and her budget. We had several [redacted] 1 mowers that were holdover units with significant discounts because they were holdovers. Ms. [redacted] decided to purchase a 2013 holdover, with a 42” deck and [redacted] and [redacted] engine. After the discount it was $2299 plus tax for a total of $2425. It is important to note that we did show her the machine before she purchased it. It did have some small cosmetic imperfections as it had been displayed outside daily for a couple of summers. We also offered her the opportunity to test the unit on our lawn area here to make sure she would like the machine. She elected not to do that and to purchase without trying it. On September 1st [redacted] brought the mower back to us. It was having an issue running. It was loosing power. We found that there was water in her fuel system and the carburetor. We drained the carb and the fuel system. Got the unit running well and had it ready to go for her the next day. We did not charge for this service since she had just purchased the unit, even though water in the fuel system is not normally covered by manufacturer warranty. Three weeks later [redacted] again had an issue with the mower. The deck belt broke. We inspected the unit to see if there was an issue with the deck that could have caused the belt to have broken. We did not find anything wrong with the deck. We replaced the belt and tested the operation of the machine. It ran beautifully. Again, deck belts are not normally covered by manufacturer warranty unless something else fails to cause them to break. Normally if a belt breaks it is due to either mowing grass that is to high, mowing grass that is wet or heavy, or that the belt is just old and worn out. In this case the machine was brand new, not many hours on the belt so since there was seemingly no issue with the deck we believe that the break most likely was due to mowing heavy grass, either too long or too wet for what this unit can handle. There is really no way to determine the exact cause of failure in this case. That being said, we charged [redacted] just the cost of the belt and did not charge for any labor to install the new one and inspect the unit. In April of 2016,we completely serviced her mower. Changed fluids, greased, changed spark plug, etc. We installed a new fuel filter and again found water in her fuel system. Drained the system, etc. Normal service type work for preseason service. On May 18th, [redacted] again had a belt issue with her mower. The belt had come off the unit and got into the pulleys. We went out and picked up her unit and brought it back to our store. We found the belt guards bent, which allowed the belt to come off and get damaged. These are metal guards that can only be bent by force. Typically from mowing rough terrain and the deck bouncing. We again replaced the belt, bent the guards back into the correct shape and got the unit correct again. We did not charge [redacted] anything for this work. We did not charge for pickup either. After a couple weeks the mower was still at our location and had not been picked up. Our service manager called [redacted] to find out why she had not picked her mower up. At that point she advised him that she did not want the mower back and that she would like us to purchase it back from her. Since then I have spoken with [redacted]. She has explained that she does not want the unit any longer. I understood that she was not happy with the mower. I offered a couple of options to try to help her with her situation. I offered number one to try to sell her mower for her to try to get her out from underneath the loan. I also offered to take it in trade towards a higher level mower that would be better for the lawn she was mowing. I also contacted [redacted] and they were willing to give a rebate on a new mower if she wanted to trade. [redacted] was adamant that she did not want to trade for a new [redacted]. She said we could could try to sell it for her but what she really wanted was for us to purchase the unit back from her for what she still owed on it. I explained that we were not willing to purchase it back. We would be willing to take it in trade or try to sell it for her. At that point it was clear that we were not going to come to an agreement that both sides could be happy with. I apologized to her for the inconvenience that she has experienced and assured her that we would continue to back the mower that she currently has. It has 2 more years of warranty still remaining. At this point the mower is still here at our location as [redacted] has not picked it up. Both the trade offer and the offer to sell the unit for her still stand.