My walk behind lawn mower had stopped working, and wouldn't start, no matter what I did. I saw…read moregreat reviews for Neighborhood Lawnmower Repair and decided to give them a try.
I made the 30 minute drive with my mower to the repair shop. The man I dropped off the lawnmower to was friendly, knowledgeable, and provided me a time frame of at least 3 weeks, which was perfectly understandable. He gave me an estimate of $127-187, mainly from the tune up. He said he would contact me before he added on any parts, which would raise the price.
30 days had passed, and I had left a few messages with him (about day 26-30). Unfortunately, I did not receive a return call.
Day 40 arrived and I was getting worried because I could not reach someone at Neighborhood Lawnmower Repair. By this time, I had payed a business to service our lawn about 3-4 times. I called the repair shop and finally received a call back. I was told the mower had received a tune-up and a new carburetor. I did not receive a call about the added part, which would have helped in deciding whether to keep the mower or not.
I stopped by to get the mower, and when he tested it, it did work.
He apologized, I accepted and left. Although I disliked wasting time and fuel, I also realized he could have just let me leave with a non-functioning lawn mower. The next week, he told me what he did to get it running again, and it would be ready for pick up. I returned and he started up the mower for me.
It worked, sounded good and was ready for mowing. That's when I received the hardest hit...$222 and change. That was a HUGE hit, especially when I wasn't informed it would be that high. I payed, took my mower and went on my way. I had did the math: The repair's total was $222 + $180 for lawn service, which equals $402...the price of a good electric mower.
The good: Neighborhood Lawn Care knows how to repair, tune-up and recommend lawn mowers. They are an honest company, when it comes to releasing a working/repaired mower. They could have let me leave with a non working mower the first time, but didn't.
The bad: Neighborhood Lawn Care suffers from poor communication with customers regarding almost every step of the process. I understand business can be overwhelming, especially when there is a lot to work on. However, good communication will keep people coming back. I didn't know what was going on with my mower for 40 days -- no call and couldn't reach anyone. I was told one price as a variable estimate, only to have a sizably large price increase. When I asked for a possible discount for the non-communication, wasted trip, extremely long wait and sticker shock, I was told that was a discounted price.
If you have the time to wait over a month with no communication and the large amount of money to spend on your mower, this is the place for you.
They do know how to fix mowers. However, (for me), this just wasn't worth the wasted time, fuel and money.