WARNING!!! Horrible service by incredibly incompetent employees!!!
My pressure washer worked great for the last several years. I only use it a couple times a year, and I've never used the soap injector - always just water. Recently, I needed to use the soap injector and discovered it wasn't working. I took it to Dalco Pressure Washers in Mount Vernon on Thursday, 5/29/25 for inspection and quote to fix the soap injector.
I received a call the following Wednesday, 6/4/25 saying that it had been repaired and my total was $166.74. The explanation was that there was debris from the manufacturer inside the pump, clogging the injector. There was no estimate given prior to the work being done, but that's fine. If that had been the estimate, I would've asked them to move forward with the repair anyway. I was glad it was fixed, picked it up that afternoon, paid my bill, and took it home.
When I tried to start pressure washing the following Saturday, 6/7/25, it still wasn't working. Same issue as before - the soap injector wouldn't draw soap. Dalco's not open on weekends, so I had to wait until the following Tuesday, 6/10/25, to call and explain that it still wasn't working. I brought it back to the store that afternoon.
One of the two employees took it apart in the parking lot and explained that there was still debris clogging the injector - he didn't get it all the first time (his words). After several minutes of trying unsuccessfully to remove the rest of the debris and getting frustrated, he explained that that particular kind of pump (AAA) was difficult to work on and recommended a secondary soap injector attached to the machine. I wasn't thrilled about that, but I agreed. I was less thrilled that he charged me another $59.98 to add it. Seemed odd to me - I brought the machine in to have the soap injector fixed, was charged $166.74 already, and then was charged more money for him to really fix it, I guess. I'm almost up to the cost of new pressure washer at this point. Whatever - I politely paid the additional fee, loaded up the machine, and took it back home.
The following Saturday, 6/14/25, I attempted to start the pressure washer again. As soon as I started it, the brass fitting from the original soap injector flew off the machine and water was pouring out of the pump. Now the pressure washer doesn't work at all (not just the soap injector). When I found the brass fitting in the yard, I could see that it was broken and the threaded half of the fitting was still stuck in the pump.
I called Dalco again the following Monday, 6/16/25 and brought it back to the store again - third trip, 20 miles out of my way. The other employee extracted the broken piece of the fitting, installed a bolt to replace the fitting, and then told me it was going to cost another four-something (almost $5.) Obviously, the amount wasn't an issue, but I couldn't believe I was being charged again. Visibly frustrated, I said I wasn't going to pay for it - this was my 3rd trip up there and 3rd time having to pay them to fix the soap injector that I initially brought to them 2 1/2 weeks earlier. At that time, the other employee returned to join the argument and said I watched him "hand tighten" the fitting when I was there the last time and that it wasn't broken when it left there. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I actually watched him reef on those fittings with a crescent wrench (so much so that the edges were rolled over), and the fitting flew off the machine the first time I tried to start it. So it had to have been broken (or severely weakened) when it left there. They couldn't understand why I didn't want to keep giving them more money for their mistakes every time I had to bring the machine back. The $5 was more important to them than satisfying a frustrated customer who'd brought a machine to them 3 times just to fix the soap injector. Dumbfounded, I dropped a $5 bill on the counter, grabbed my pressure washer, and left. I haven't had a chance to start the pressure washer again after picking it up, but I'm not at all confident that it's going to work without any issues. read more