Ms-Ashely's Daycare & Preschool

RE:  Revdex.com Complaint ID# [redacted]To whom it may concern:In response to this complaint, I would first like to say that Farm & Fuel greatly values all customers, and that we strive to provide the best service possible to everyone.  Customer service is among our highest priorities therefore...

we try to make sure that all of our customers enjoy a positive experience with us.  There are times however, such as this, that customers do not feel satisfied.  In fact, this particular customer became so angry that he felt the need to harass our staff on more than one occasion, using profane language on the telephone with more than one employee, which I may add is against the law in the Commonwealth of Virginia (§18.2-427).  He demonstrates his constant use of profanity in the complaint he filed, and this can be seen where a Revdex.com representative had to redact the profanities out of what he wrote in his complaint.  This customer has also made several posts on [redacted] bashing the abilities and the competency of our employees.  These same posts included other slanderous allegations – some with no basis whatsoever and others from unreliable hearsay. Some were just general bashing that had nothing to do with his mower at all.  His written complaint contained a misrepresentation of the facts, was totally unsupported, and lacking in specifics rendering his comments as self-serving rhetoric.  This was completely uncalled for and very inappropriate.  It not only damages our reputation, but it also cost us a potential sale:  in a comment below his, another individual made a remark that implied she was going to buy a string trimmer here, but was now afraid to buy it for fear of being ripped off.  This by definition is actionable defamation of character in the Commonwealth of Virginia (§8.01-49.1).After reading the comments he made on [redacted], we thought it would be best that he come pick up his mower and have it worked on elsewhere if he did not feel that we could do the job properly. We did not charge him a penny for the time spent working on his mower.  This customer made mention of a flat tire on the mower that was brought to the shop; we have no record of this flat tire, and neither technician has any recollection of it.  Even if the tire was indeed flat, the customer had already been asked to pick up the mower and was not charged anything for the work done.  The mower would have been very hard to load on the trailer with a flat tire; considering it was not noticed or mentioned at the time makes this very unlikely.  Along with this, the customer claimed that he was lied to three times, but never specified what these lies were.  These are tall allegations to make with no proof of such events taking place.The customer also mentioned that we took twelve weeks to work on his mower.  If you will see the dates he provided as well as the dates we have on record, his mower was only on the premises for about six weeks.  The customer was also specifically informed when he dropped off his mower that we were backed up, and in our busiest time of year, hence it would be a while before his mower could be worked on.  This mower is also a competitive model in relation to what we sell.  Customers that buy their equipment here get first priority in our shop so that we can better serve our core customers.  While this may be an inconvenience to this particular customer, that is our policy.  Servicing what we sell is of utmost priority.  We accept some jobs for other brands of equipment, but they come second to what we sell.In regard to the complaint about the gas that seemed to disappear from his tank and his mower being hydro-locked, this is all due to gas running straight through his carburetor, which appears to have been his biggest problem with the mower from the start and is most definitely not the mechanic’s fault.  The work order that was created when he dropped off the mower states that his reason for having it worked on was because of the engine missing and getting worse after it runs for a while; these are common symptoms of fuel system issues, and the carburetor is a primary component of the fuel system.  With that being said, the technician on duty still filled his tank back up with gas in an attempt to satisfy the customer.Another complaint was made by this customer in reference to scuff marks on his lawn mower hood.  The customer alleges that these marks were made by something laid on his hood.  I have no reason to believe this to be true.  Keep in mind the mower (Model # 13AC762F755) is a 2007 model.  It would seem unlikely for a nine year old piece of outdoor equipment to not have a scratch on it. Although I find it unlikely, if something had been placed on top of the mower, it would have had to move around in order to scuff it, and I cannot even think up a hypothetical scenario in which this would be the case.On another note, the customer also took issue with not having direct phone access to the owner.  This is because I, the store manager handle customer service; it’s not the owner’s duty to handle that because it has been assigned to me.  I was prepared to award some sort of small remedy such as a tire tube or carburetor kit out of good faith simply to make the customer happy.  This was taken off the table when the customer called and gruffly informed an employee that he was getting an attorney to handle this matter.  After that, with his threat in mind, I ceased communication, and pulled the offer from the table.All things considered, it’s best that we part ways.  The customer is generally unhappy with our services, and has made that clear with an additional [redacted] post on Farm & Fuel Auto Shop’s page once again alleging that our technicians are incompetent.  As I mentioned in the beginning, we work hard to provide quality service to our customers.  We would like to make every last one of them happy, but there will always be a few people whom we are just not going to please.  We at Farm & Fuel wish this customer nothing but the best of luck with his future endeavors; however they will not involve this company.  Our technicians performed their jobs competently in accordance with their training and their instructions from management.  I understand the customer has a broken mower and this likely frustrates that person, but that does not mean my technicians or any employee of this company is at fault or deserves any form of verbal abuse from the customer.  He was not charged anything for the services rendered, which would seem to be more than fair, and that is as far as we will go.  I regret that we could not accommodate the customer in a way that suits him better, but the facts are the facts, and this is our position.  Thank you for your time and the opportunity to respond to these allegations.Regards,[redacted]Store ManagerCovington Farm & Fuel, LLC[redacted]