Brought a less than 1 year old push mower here on a Monday. After some Google searches, I was 90% sure the flywheel was shattered and I don't have the expertise to take apart a lawnmower even to replace a $2 part.
While the initial phone call was fine, the drop off was cold and full of disclaimers - it would be $25 to look at it, but the credit goes towards fixing it. If it's over $150, they will call to confirm you want to move forward, etc. Obviously for a shattered flywheel, I figured we'd be ok, so I left it there.
3 days later, as the weekend approached, I called to see when I might be able to pick up the mower. I mentioned that I dropped if off on Monday and the person on the line said "THIS Monday? I doubt if they even looked at it, yet." I started to get a bad feeling.
The following week I was out of town, so I figured I'd let them have some time. They finally called the following Thursday to tell me that it was finished - 10 days after I had dropped it off. I said I would pick it up on Tuesday.
When I arrived at the shop to pick up the mower, I was greeted with a $115 bill which was $140 (less than the $150 phone call threshold) minus the $25 I had already paid. I was told that the mower needed a new blade, spark plug and that the flywheel was broken. Keep in mind, I've only had this mower for a single summer, have probably used it 10 times and I keep it in the shed when not using it. Disgusted, I paid and waited behind my truck.
When the mower was brought to me, I was shown a rusty old blade that looked like it was used to mow a stone quarry, just so I could see how damaged it was. Needless to say, it wasn't mine.
Bottom line - be prepared to wait, be prepared to pay at least $140. I can't imagine if anything was actually wrong. read more
