ComplaintsforRandy's Small Engine Repair

• Initial Complaint

  09/28/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Dropped my mower off for Warranty work on August 12. I was told their would be a $25.00 diagnostic fee. I said why would I need to pay this fee if it is warranty work? The lady said because their could be water in the gas or a dirty carb. which the warranty will not cover. I informed her I had six other mowers with the same gas in them and no problems. She said the $25.00 will be refunded if it is covered services by the warranty. I paid the $25.00. Then on Sept. 28 I get a call informing my mower is ready and the total will be $128.75. I said, it was supposed to be warranty work and the lady tells me there is nothing noted on here for warranty work. I said okay I didn't get a call asking if I wanted the work completed or not? She said well they just go ahead and fix the mowers when they are looking at them. I said well I didn't give permission to fix the mower other than the diagnostic fee. She said oh it is in the contract you signed. I said that was permission to diagnose.

  Business response

  11/12/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2021/10/04) */ 1st of all the unit was not in this name "******* *******", it was here under the name of ***** *******. 2nd,, I did give him a discount of the $25.00 because he was so mad about that on the phone so his bill was $103.75 NOT $128.75 as listed on complaint. The reason I am not willing to give a refund is because there was water in the carburetor as well as in the gas tank of this mower which is not covered by warranty. I advised Mr. ******* to call ********* and see what they say and call me back. I did not hear back from him. Fuel related issues are not a warranty item, neither ******************* nor ********* will pay any warranty's on units with water and or dirt in the fuel system. Mr. ******* also was okay with us initialing the contract (due to covid) where it states its okay you repair mower on contract. We ask for middle initials because the authorization is in first and last name. He gave permission to initial. Also there was never a receipt for warranty provided to file a warranty, nor anything noted on paperwork about warranty when it was checked in. Consumer Response /* (3000, 10, 2021/10/04) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Plain and simple I brought the mower in for warranty work. Owner can look at his many cameras and see this was this first thing I said was WARRANTY WORK. Then I was told it would be a $25.00 fee to look and see what was wrong with the mower. I never gave my permission to go ahead and do the work. I was not contacted and informed what was wrong with the mower. You don't charge a diagnostic fee and then not tell the customer what is wrong and how much it is going to cost. I have six other mowers and used the same gas and no problems. Even if it was bad gas or dirty carb the business should have called and informed me how much it was going to cost to repair. I had to spend $106.86 plus $25.00 to repair a mower I purchased for $299.00 at Lowes. If I were given the chance NO I WOULD NOT HAVE HAD THE REPAIRS DONE KNOWING IT WAS GOING TO COST HALF AS MUCH AS THE MOWER COST. I am not the only person who has been treated this way by this business. This is not how you conduct business. Don't use Covid as a way to cheat people by having your wife read a whole list of confusing items because I thought she said I was giving permission for you to give me an estimate not give you permission to do whatever you wanted and charge me whatever you like. After I argued and told this business I was going to post of social media how they are doing business he took $25.00 off my bill. I still paid $131.86 total. I was told by his workers that it was convenient for them to go ahead and do the work while they were doing the diagnostic tests. So in order to make it easier for them the customer gets shafted. This is not how you run a business. Until I get a refund I am going to post my experience all over the internet. You can put $131.86 back on my charge card and conduct your business with someone else. ********* will be notified of these poor business practices and I will urge them to send their repairs to a reputable business. As for the owners comments stating ****** created the Diagnostic Fee for warranty work he is incorrect. ****** does not charge anything to look at warranty work and they do call the customer to let them know what needs to be fixed before doing the work. Business Response /* (4000, 12, 2021/10/06) */ You were refunded that $25.00 so lets let go off that, you paid $103.00, IF you will call ME and lets see what we can work out. The mower is running and working well, I would think you should have to pay something don't you ? I also think that if we get together and talk as we did a few weeks ago and if you remember I asked you to go to ********* about this and if they did not give you a free repair then come back to me and we would see what we could do to help each other, instead you went this direction. Again, IF you want to get any form of refund we MUST talk in person, that's how business should be. I have been doing this since 1976 and yes I have some others that don't like to pay the bills either however to damage someone over this amount is in my head is silly. You folks don't have any idea how bad it hurts me personally to hear you slam my business when I am here trying to make a honest life and living. IF YOU WANT TO SALVE THIS CALL "ME". Consumer Response /* (4200, 14, 2021/10/08) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) First of all I paid the $25.00 which you refunded. Then you charged $106.86 not $103.00 because you charge a fee if I don't pay by cash and you don't accept check. As for calling ********* I was going to call them to let them know you were charging a fee to even look at a mower which may or may not require warranty work. Why would I call them to see if they would pay for mower work which you claim was fuel related and they don't cover? At this point I am not going to be happy unless I am refunded the full amount I was charged. Because if I would have been told what it was going to cost before the work was completed I would have said please don't do the work because I don't want to invest anymore money in the mower. As for the comments about warranty work... When I brought the mower in the FIRST WORDS out of my mouth was I was bringing it there for WARRANTY WORK. I informed your wife the mower had a two year warranty and the mower had the date on it if you looked at the MFG date sticker on it. The mower was still shiny and new looking too. The bottom line is you should let people know the $25.00 is not a fee to look at the mower and then let them know if it is covered under warranty and how much it is going to cost them. As you said maybe you needed to get back with your lawyers and reword this. Every person who comes in your business is under the impression the $25.00 fee is to look at the equipment and then let them know how much it is going to cost them to fix it. As your wife told me the fee was because people would bring the equipment in, you would look at it and then if the cost were too much your customers would say NO THANKS DON'T FIX IT. So you would get paid $25.00 for looking at the equipment. So regardless of your $25.00 FEE being refunded I should have been given the choice to have my mower fixed and charged $106.86. I don't wish to talk to you by phone and if you want my complaint to go away you can refund my credit card the $106.86 or send me a check. Otherwise my complaint still stands. I would suggest you change your business practices and maybe take a few of those signs down inside your business. There are so many signs inside your business a customer can't keep up with them and quite frankly they are scary and confusing. I understand Covid but by building a wooden barrier and your wife handing a customer credit cards and paperwork with a grabber behind a window might just be a little too much. But to each his own. This is just my thoughts about it and everyone has their own.

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