My husband inherited a snow blower from his father, and wanted to give it to my dad last Christmas .. lo and behold, however, he could not get it running. He tried chasing down the shop where his dad had originally bought it, hoping to get it looked at; however, between being closed due to COVID and not at all close to our home, he eventually abandoned that idea and came across a listing for A to Z. The location sure was right and the first time I called, I was answered immediately and by an actual human being .. now that was an auspicious start!
Bao listened to my situation and quickly and clearly got down to talking turkey. He explained the assessment process (i.e., you bring your item in for a diagnostic, which is a separate $30 charge from any subsequent work; if your problem can be fixed, you'll be advised the cost for parts and labour at that time, and make the call on whether or not you want to proceed.)
I had my husband load up the snow blower and I brought it over. They're quite accessible off Weston Road and located in a plaza clearly marked with the address (blessing! What is it the GTA in general has against clearly marked addresses?) They have a few designated parking areas and the unit was easy to find. Bao remembered talking to me as soon as I came in, and he came out to assist with unloading the snow blower.
My husband had forgotten about the key; however, it turned out they did have one that worked for this model. (It turned out later that they can easily order new ones if you need one.) Bao made notes as I gave a description of what was (not) going on and he advised that busy season had already started for him so - he estimated he'd need up to 2 business days to be able to complete the diagnostic and get back to me. I liked very much that he preferred to under promise and over deliver. That's my idea of setting customer expectations well. Indeed we did receive a call back within the 2 business days. He explained what he found wrong and what it would take to fix it. My husband okayed the work and within another 2 days, we got the call that it was all done and ready to go home! He also let us know that the store has had to enforce their policy of picking up any item within 30 days as they just don't have any excess storage space (and apparently, people would rather just abandon things there sometimes.) No problem - I came back to pick it up and once again, Bao helped with loading it back up in the car. Before he did that, he invited me into the area behind the shop where it was sitting, to start it up and let me see that it was working properly. He also let me get an idea of what is different about our model compared to some others, and gave some tips on making sure to keep it running well.
Bao and his partner Ken back their work with a 90 day guarantee so that, if you happen to experience the same problem again within that time, they will take it back and look at it again with no further charge for the same problem.
I certainly hope that won't happen and in the meantime, I would bring back any small engine item (not just snow blowers but lawn mowers, etc.) here for service. Fantastic experience, 100% recommend. read more