My father brought a 12-year-old leaf blower in to this shop. He had installed all new parts himself and informed them as such. The new parts didn't do the trick so he brought it to Merit. He goes back in a few days later after leaving the blower and a $20 deposit. He was told that they replaced all the parts he had newly installed himself - and charged him for all those parts that were brand new already! They also charged $45 for what they quoted as two hours of labor. Two hours of labor to basically adjust a leaf blower! The grand total was $75! For that, he could have purchased a new blower! When he argued with them regarding the gouging, the nasty owner said to take $5 off the price. Absolutely a scam - you want to go local and support local but with these prices like this, who can afford that? Never again. (And you shouldn't go either!) read more

Very Rude, quoted one price and then came back and it was almost triple (reason was apparently it was a busy time) FYI October 15th for a snow blower tune up....No Masks...Talked Down To...The list goes on. If anyone is in the area check out the place on Whitehall street instead. read more

DO NOT GO HERE! If I could give this company 0 stars I would. They are disingenuous, unprofessional & rude. I contacted this company for a power washer repair. They quoted a price for the repair & based on their quote, I authorized them to repair my power washer. After the work was done, they attempted to increase the price by $150. I disputed this with the owner Rich but he was rude, wouldn't do anything and my machine was not repaired. They are unable to conduct business & can care less about their customers concerns. Avoid this company at all cost!!! read more

For years i avoided this place because of the horrible customer service and attitude of the owners, however i was forced to return back to the store after i received a lawn mower as a gift for fathers day that was purchased from this store. Well, i know now once again why i will not go back to this place. GF purchased me a brand new lawn mover for fathers day in May. This past weekend, it started smoking like crazy from everywhere and stalled. It would not start so i brought back my "brand new lawnmower". I called 3 days to check the status and was told, "we are really busy i will have to call you back" and then he promptly hung up the phone! Of course i never received a call back or did a receive a call when it was repaired! I happened to go check in on my repair. It was complete, the man said i know a lot of people want warranty, but this is not covered under warranty, it is routine maintenance. Hello, this was just purchased 3 months ago for $300. I questioned how often i should "maintain" and and how. The answer was "didn't you receive a manual with the mower, you will have to read it". are you kidding me? do you have any clue about what you sell!!!! So, i huffed and puffed a few times but kept my mouth closed to avoid losing it and stooping down to his level. i paid $100 for a repair of a brand new mower. The guy could care less. As we try to keep business local for our vendors, you would expect at least a LITTLE bit extra customer service!!!.. this was NOT the case..actually it never was and my past thoughts are reconfirmed. NEVER AGAIN. read more

I have been working retail since the 70's and was self employed for 20 years. I have learned from experience what good customer service means. I treat my customers the same way I would like to be treated if I am on the other side of the counter. Apparently the owner of Merit never learned the first thing about good customer service. I have to give them credit for fixing my snowblower in a timely manner, I appreciated that. When I put my snowblower in I explained that the auger cable snapped and needed replacement.upon picking the machine up I asked if they tested the machine to see that it works the owner's response was all you asked me was to replace the cable if you would like to take it out on the sidewalk and tested be my guest. He added I am not looking for any extra work right now.if I had such an independent attitude as he, I would have been out of business along time ago. I guess he can pull that off because he seems to be the only game in town. read more

I purchased a snow blower on Monday the 26th at 6pm, I tried it (but it was getting dark out) around my home, it worked for about 20 minutes and then stopped working. First the shoot where the snow comes out fell off then the machine stopped running. When I went back to the store on Tuesday morning they told me that They don't take returns. The owner was rude and nasty said something like "if i took everyone's blower back after a storm" he was very sarcastic. I told him i wanted to return or a new machine he told me no we don't take returns I said its not stated on the receipt. He then pointed to the wall and told me its on the wall. I still didn't see it. The owner said they would fix it. They took it in the back of the shop and worked on it for about 1/2 hour then brought it out front to show me it worked. At first they had a problem starting it and then when it started it was putting and wouldn't stay running. They refused to give me my money back or a new machine. So they kept the machine to fix it . After spending $1100 I did not want the snow blower fixed, I wanted my money back or a new machine. We just had a very large snowfall and I needed the machine for Tuesday. We had customers set up to snowplow their homes, neighbors that are elderly, neighbors that are nurses that needed to be plowed out and we had no snow blower. They called us on Tuesday at 4:30 to pick up the machine but the day was already gone, what do we do now??? I placed a buyer beware on Facebook sites and i must have at least 200 hits of different people saying the owners not a good person and similar things happen with them and that store! read more

Brought my Echo back pack blower in for repair, work was done, received a call when it was ready. Went, picked it up, reasonably priced, working like it's brand new. This was not my first time here and when I picked up the blower I dropped off a rotor tiller for repair. read more

Apparently the list of customers that had bad service does not matter to this owner. If you ever go there, make sure you call the day before to see if they are open. The owner opens and close at his own will even though the internet states his business hours... Like a few other people he also hung up the phone on me! I will be looking else where to service my snowblower. read more

After 3 years of servicing my snowblower, this year Merit Power Equipment failed to put gas in the unit (or any appreciable amount of gas) as they had done previously. I discovered this issue when I tried to power up the machine last Saturday during our first snowfall. When I brought this matter to the attention of the people at Merit Power Equipment, they first suggested that the gas they had put in evaporated -- 75 days after servicing? Then they proceeded to say they don't add more than what is needed to test it. This isn't true as I always received a full tank of gas when I had annual servicing done previously. They could have offered to fill up the snowblower or fill up a gallon of gas in a gas can. Instead they begrudgingly said they were sorry. For $5 they could have had a satisfied customer. Instead, they now have a former customer. I will not use them again. Beware. read more

the owner, Rich, an older guy who should retire. He is very nasty , always has been. Been going here for years, the only reason is they will pick up your machine and bring back to you. If you have the means to bring your machine on your own,,go to another shop. Horrible customer service!! read more

The owner Rich is rude and obnoxious. Not only did they harass me every day after my snowblower was repaired to pick it up,(I dropped it off on a Saturday, it was ready Tuesday, they called me 5 times!!!!) when I went to pick it up he basically ignored me and made disparaging remarks because I didnt bring my claim ticket with me. I will drive 100 miles out of my way to another repair shop just not to give my money to that jerk!!!!!! read more

This must be the worst place to bring anything to be fixed I brought my snowblower in because it wouldn't go into all the gears he told me he'll fix it and it'll be a certain price by the time I picked up not only it wasn't fixed, price doubled when I told the old man I am not paying for it and that he did not fix it he started to argue he said I gave it a tuneup there was nothing wrong with the motor just the gear box I gave them $100 for his time not $450 which he wanted . This place should be closed and put out of business ,do yourself a favor do not bring anything to this place . read more

Their customer service and full disclosure on their work is below par. We have been going there for years to have a few machines worked on tune ups etc. But this April we brought our lawn mower in and work was done which was listed on the invoice so we the customer can see what was actually done to the machine. The machine wasn't working and it was returned with the original invoice from April that shows was was replaced etc. The owner didn't want to see it even though my husband stressed that they take a copy of it and work off the list. Long story short the machine was worked on but no list of itemized work was shown. The owner of Merit couldn't give my husband a straight answe no the maintenance man. Take our advice take your business somewhere else. The owner doesn't desire anyone's business. read more

I ordered a snow blower through a chain store with free delivery by Merit. When the snow blower arrived, I did not know how to operate the snow blower and the driver got it to run. Unfortunately I did not notice until after the driver left that the headlamp on the handlebars did not work and both reverse gears actually drove the blower forward. I called Merit and I was told by very unhappy individual that he was too busy to deal with me because he had snow blowers with "real problems" and I should call him back when he is less busy. I also informed the store i bought it from about this. read more

I've been at this place when it was a real family business. This guy has been a grumpy old bag for years!!! He'll hang up on you non stop, get a $200 bill for a part that costs $25. He used to be the only game in town. Now their is one in oceanside. I would drive to California before ever bringing a machine to him! read more

Brought my snowblower here for a fix. They came out to the car helped get it out and did a quick fix curbside. No charge for fixing it just for a part. Helpfully and friendly. read more

Please proceed with caution. This repair shop is the worst business I have ever experienced. My story. I brought my Echo hedge trimmer in for service. I gave them my name, telephone number and address. They charged me a service fee of $30. Which I put on my American Express credit card. They said because of the pending holiday it would take several days for repair. I waited for two weeks without a word from them. I telephoned them, to my surprise, they notified me that the unit was picked up and paid for. They sold my echo hedge trimmer for the $90 repair bill. They then accused me of fraud, stating I had someone pick it up. However as stated on the claim check, no equipment returned without a claim check. I was forced to buy a new hedge trimmer from them, and only credited half of my original purchase price. They are crooks who will manipulate you into buying equipment, never trust this place or their employees. read more

i bought a brand new $1,200 snowblower. After I started it every couple of weeks for a month and a half it wouldnt start. Went back to Merit to get it picked up for warranty service. The owner did everything but call me an idiot to my face. Told me 9 out of 10 times the customer does something stupid. Asked me if I ran it out of gas. Asked why I was even trying to start it because it wasnt even snowing out. Said it was demonstrated that it was working when I bought it so how was it not working now. Finally they came to pick it up. The guy picking it up tried to get it going and said it wasnt me that something was wrong. After a week I called to get a status. I was told they dont give status that if I didnt get a call then it wasnt fixed. The owner has no business being in business. If I was a manufacturer I wouldnt sell him goods he is one of the most obnoxious, rude smucks I have ever met! read more

Despite reading the bad reviews on Google and Yelp, I got sucked into get my lawn mower serviced from Merit Power Equipment. After finding a few lawn mower service places, Merit gave me the cheapest estimates and when I called and spoke to the person over the phone, she told me that it will cost me $45 / hr for labor plus parts to get the lawn mower serviced. I mentioned to her about all the negative reviews to which she responded that we have been in business for over 25 years, there are going to be some customers that are not going to be happy with us and only the unhappy ones write reviews. Listening to her reason, I decided to give this place a shot. I dropped off the lawn mower and paid a $30 deposit. After couple of days when I went to pick it up, I got a $100 bill. Labor was charged at $75 / hr + $17 for parts + tax. When I tried to reason with the owner Rich he really got nasty and started to argue with me relentlessly. I told him about the price I was told over the phone, he did not budge from what was on the invoice. Long story short, I had to pay $100 and as I was arguing on the price which I think is my right as we were in a business deal, he stooped down to the level and asked me, "oh by the way, where are you from?" I am of an Indian decent (South Asian). To which I asked him, "where are you from?" and he replied, "I am American." And I told him, "so am I, we all got to this country as immigrants." People have disagreements all the time in business deals, but Rich is a nasty, racist guy. I don't think I will be going to him again and if you do, make sure you ask the price and have it written on the invoice while giving the deposit. read more