We dealt with Andy, the owner of the business, on a deal to acquire some heavy equipment he was selling, an old loader that he wasn't using any longer. We communicated with him for a couple of weeks, test driving the machine, inspecting it closely, and asking a lot of questions about it. It had a lot of miles/hours on it, but we decided to purchase it fully aware and understanding the issues with it (leaky diesel tank, leaking air from the tires, yet the transmission was good). He was firm on his price, we felt he was being fair, and he spent a lot of time with us during the process.
On the day the check we wrote to him was approved by his bank, he had us come by to pick up the loader to take it home. Andy assured us that the batteries in the unit were good. Trusting his communication, we drove it off his property over 1 mile away to meet the flatbed truck delivering the loader to our Milwaukee address, and when we arrived at the meeting point, we shut the loader off awaiting the driver's arrival.
When the driver arrived, we proceeded to try and start the loader to drive it on the flatbed, but it would not start. After trying lots of different tricks, we couldn't get it started, and finally decided to drive a few miles to a farm supply store to purchase some batteries, which once installed, allowed the loader to fire right up! The batteries cost us an extra $275 + $150 for the driver's time just to get it home.
When we followed up with Andy via his cell phone leaving him 3 messages over the course of the week that followed, he would NOT return our phone calls. Before he had our check for the loader, he was VERY responsive. But upon calling to ask him about the batteries and the additional $$$ he cost us, he wouldn't respond. We were hopeful he would be understanding and share the costs which inconvenienced us following his comments that the batteries were good.
Not knowing Andy beyond this transaction, I question his desire to do the right thing, and thought others should know about it. Is this how he provides customer service to others? read more