Superior, Inc.

Review: Charged me a handling fee for equipment returned that did not perform its function. Unprofessional customer service. Poor equipment instruction.

Equipment was rented late on Saturday. Brought the equipment home and did not function properly. The aerator is supposed to pull slugs of grass out of the lawn. Equipment was only making indentations. After close inspection I could see the augur scoop inserts were worn down significantly. I called Superior Rental and received unfriendly customer service response. It was 4:30 so I immediately loaded the equipment back into my truck to get it back before close. They said the height adjustment was not at maximum depth. They demonstrated it in the dirt driveway. Given that it was late on Friday and I would not be able to come back again if it was still not working I told them I was not comfortable taking the equipment back and wanted to return for a full refund. The rental manager, [redacted] said I should take the equipment back and try again. I told him I was not comfortable doing this since if it still did not work, I would not be able to return it until Monday morning at which time I would have had a harder time claiming that the equipment did not work after I had it for over a day in my posession. I felt that taking this path I would have had a much harder time getting a refund. Mr. [redacted] then indicated that they were going to charge me a $15 handling fee. I was shocked. I had thus far received no benefit from this rental and a lot of work loading and unloading this heavy equipment into my truck. I told him I would not pay any handling fee. He said you read the contract and signed it. I did in fact read the contract as best I could but the print was so rediculously small that I had a hard time. I had even asked Mr [redacted] for a magnifying glass when I frist rented the equipment as I was having a difficult time reading. I did not see anything in the contract regarding a $15 handling fee. I told My [redacted] that I would not pay $15 handling fee. He indicated to me that he felt he was being more than fair and that he could have charged me for the entire rental. I could not believe what I was hearing. I should pay the full rental on a piece of equipment that was not working properly. He indicated to me that I could talke the equipment back and use it and there was nothing stopping me. He was rude and unprofessional. My only options were to load the equipment up again and try and pay the full rental or pay a $15 rental fee. I told him that I had just spend $500 on a new Stihl chain saw the week before and gave him the choice. Refund my $15 or I am going to return the chain saw and never set foot in their company again. He refused. I was angry and could not believe how poorly I was being treated as a customer. They just didn't care. All they wanted was my $15. And after I got home I scanned and zoomed in on the text of the rental agreement. I see nowhere that it says anything about a $15 handling fee. I asked Mr [redacted] who was in charge that I could talk to. He said he was. I asked him who the owner was. He said his father is the owner. I am in disbelief of the way I was treated and I will be sure to provide negative feedback to my neighbors and directly to Stihl if I do not receive $15 and an apology from Mr [redacted] for the poor and unprofessional customer service I received. By the way, I went to Home Depot down the street right after and rented an aeroator. Almost an identical unit from the same mfg. It was in much better condition and the augur bits were proper. It worked perfectly immediately. The difference was like night an day. I have pictures and paperwork to prove all that I am claiming here. In addition, I was told my the employee at the home depot rental department that they get a lot of people coming in after disatisfaction after renting from Superior Rental. No big surprise here.Desired Settlement: I want a refund of my $15 and an apology from Mr [redacted] or the complaint stays and a letter goes to Stihl regarding the poor service.

Business

Response:

Business Response /* (1000, 9, 2013/05/14) */

Contact Name and Title: [redacted], Exec. Asst.

Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX

Contact Email: [redacted]@superiornetwork.com

Mr. [redacted] spoke to Mr. [redacted] after this complaint was originally filed. We not only refunded the full amount, but the customer concluded the conversation by saying that he will do business with us again.

The tool Mr. [redacted] rented was tested and it was determined by our Service Team that it was and remains in excellent working order. Matter of fact, it has been out on rent several times since the customer's original rental. At Superior, we do take pride in standing behind our products and services as we have done for over 46 years. We do try to position ourselves in a fashion where all parties are satisfied, and I do believe we have accomplished that in this scenario.