Jonathon Tillman

Bad experience at Ace Hardware

Well, I'm sure its safe to say we have been loyal customers to ACE Hardware. We have bought several power tools from them in the two years we have moved to the area. I'm not sure but I think ACE hardware stores are probably franchises.

Anyway, we have bought a Lawn mower, a chain saw and a blower all brand new from ACE hardware.

I can tell you from experience that its difficult dealing with them because they have this rewards card that earns you points the more you spend. Well on the day we drove down to get a new $200 blower we didn't have the card and it was like root canal trying to get points added after the fact on the card.

In the rare times we have called the store's asking for help we have gotten a very bad attitude from the owner himself.

We have two ACE hardware stores near us and they both seem to be very disorganized and unfriendly after a sale is made.

Recently we brought our lawn mower in for service after owning it for a year. It needed it's yearly service which could be a DIY but the engine was not producing a spark which was odd for such a young machine.

Get this, we asked them not to perform any work on the machine until they call us and let us know what the problem was. We find out two weeks later after following up that they already performed a full service on the machine because that was the only way to determine why it was not producing a spark. It was all apart and open so why not go all the way with the service which is I guess understandable. I only wanted them to fix the spark problem and that was all.

They also fixed that little plastic foot catcher you know the one that prevents your foot from accidentally going under the rotating blade? It had ripped off from normal wear and tear. The staff claimed we must have ripped it off intentionally. In short they did replace it under warranty after a little argument over the whole thing and we got them down from a $80 bill to $60. They said it would have been even higher if they charged us for individual parts.

Going back to the original time of bringing it in they noticed on our original sales receipt that we bought a 6 pack of synthetic oil for the machine and that if we didn't bring some down they would have to charge us. After all that was argued over the price for the service we just payed the $60 and forgot about giving the oil in for a discount.

All this for a one year old lawn mower. I have never had such trouble with my previous mowers which all were made by Toro as was this with a B&S engine.

So we get the mower home and the gas tank is about half full. The mower starts after about 4 or five pulls (Claims to start on the 1st or 2nd pull) and 3 pumps of the primer.

The mower starts and I begin cutting the grass. Shortly after ignition and going over a couple of swipes I begin to hear a metal on metal clanging. I figured that they didn't put it back together and just continued cutting the grass because it really needed it.

This past weekend I broke out the lawn mower again and fired it up to cut the grass. Still again I'm getting that clanging. I'm thinking we are going to have to bring this to another place to have it put back together right.

On a hunch I decide to bring the lawn mower back in the garage and check the oil. The lawn mower had about 5% oil in the pan. It's whats left of whatever they drained out. I could not believe they didn't put any oil in but managed to put some gas in it.

I am so lucky the engine didn't cease on me. I added oil and brought it up to the proper level. Finally getting a reading on the dipstick and started the mower again. The clanging subsided a great deal but can still be heard faintly. I'm not sure if the engine has suffered any real damage.

In the warranty as you might have guessed does not cover damage due to insufficient oil grade, shavings or the level.

I guess it goes to show you that no matter how much you trust someone to do a job that you paid for it always pays to go over things that might be obvious like checking the oil.

Of course this probably is a lose lose situation here but what if someone as innocent as can be knows nothing about the mechanics of the machine but just how to use it. They pay to have the mower serviced and expect everything is ready to go and the mower shop fails to put oil in the machine?

Who is liable for the damage? Assuming the owner of the machine just knows how to put gas in it?

I emailed Toro about the problem and they basically blew me off and told me to bring my machine back to the dealer to have it checked out. We all agree we don't want anyone from there touching it.

I'm not a stickler by any means but man what a bunch of idiots that work there.

Mort Corey

Re: Bad experience at Ace Hardware

I think since you've run the machine and then added oil that you're out of luck on saying that the repair was faulty. Had it seized right after you picked it up I think things might have actually turned out better. Anyway, lawnmower engines are pretty tough. As long as the clanging has subsided it'll probably keep working for many years (assuming it doesn't smoke badly).

I bought a Honda mower about nine years ago and mean to change the oil and air filter one of these days. (Ought to sharpen the blade too I guess) However, at this point, I don't know if doing routine maintenance will reveal problems I'd rather not address.....ignorance can be bliss. Either way, I figure I've got my moneys' worth.

Mort

Jay H

Re: Bad experience at Ace Hardware

The real problem is finding somebody at Toro that can help you, i.e. isn't just an ordinary CSR who can't help you with anything other than order part XX.XX.XX.XX for you. Probably never get one via email so you really have to call and take notes of who you talk to and how you got there and then eventually find somebody that can help you.

As far as lawn mowers, I grew up about 30 years cutting the lawn for my family's 1/4 acre and we never sharpened the blade. The running joke was that we were bludgeoning the grass to death. But we had a cheap Craftsman that lasted forever, pull start, front wheel drive.

Jay

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