PINEDALE LAWN MOWER CTR

I brought a never-used, 20-year-old Coleman generator to Pinedale Lawnmower Center for refurbishment on January 7, 2015, upon referral from Jensen & Pilegard in Clovis, which doesn't service Coleman products. I was given a claim stub, and sent on my way. A few days later, someone called--and without identifying himself or the business until asked--said he wanted to verify my name and phone number. This un-businesslike approach would become the model for my dealings with Pinedale Lawnmower Center. On about January 15, I called Pinedale Lawnmower Center for a status report, and was told that they would not have time to inspect or repair the generator until at least January 20. In early February I called again, and, after about 5 minutes on hold, was told that work was in progress, but no target date for completion was given. On Thursday, February 26, I called again, gave the my name and the claim number, and waited 4-1/2 minutes on hold while my work order was located. Once the man on the phone confirmed with me that he had the right document, he placed me on hold again. After 9 minutes, he came back on the line, saying that they were waiting for a new switch of some type. When I asked if he could tell me when the switch had been ordered and when they expected it to arrive, he offered to put me on hold again while he called the supplier. I declined, and asked him to call me back when he had the information. He never did. On Saturday, February 28, I went to Pinedale Lawnmower Center determined to pick up the generator--whether is was working or not--and to take it elsewhere, if necessary. No one was at the service desk when I entered the shop, and there was no bell to ring for service, so it took 2 or 3 minutes before anyone noticed my presence and came to help me. I identified myself, and stated my intention to take the generator elsewhere to complete the renovation. It took two people several minutes to locate my work order. Once they had it, the asked me to wait while they located the generator. A few minutes later, they called to me from the work area and asked me to join them there. The generator was on a workbench. The new switch had been installed, but gas was seeping from a joint between two parts. I was told that this was why it wasn't ready yet, but was promised that the problem could be fixed within an hour. When I reiterated my frustration about the length of time they had had the generator (I thought it was over two months), and their lack of communication with me, an older woman testily stated that they'd only had it for one month, and showed my the date on the work order: January 7. I pointed out to her that, since it was March 7 was only a week away, they had had it for 7 weeks. I agreed to return at 12:30, which gave them 15 minutes more than they had asked for to complete the repair. Two people were at the service desk when I returned, but neither greeted me or directly acknowledged my presence, although one asked the other whether "it" was ready. After about 5 minutes, I could hear the generator being fired up in the work area, and someone came to the desk to show me the faulty part that had caused the gas seepage. While the finale bill was being calculated, a younger man and woman brought the generator out, placed it on the tailgate of my truck, and demonstrated that it was working properly. I went back into the office, and paid the final bill. Throughout these two visits on Saturday, I was treated as though I was being rude and unreasonable. I found this, along with the previous string of unsatisfying attempts at communication, very unprofessional. During the my visit, I noticed a humorously-intended sign on the wall that said, "We always work fast--no matter how long it takes." I doubt the owners realize how ironic it is.

They left me on hold for a long time. The second lady was rude. She acted like she didn't want business.

They were fabulous.

I've been using Them 3 years now. The pricing was reasonable. They are very supportive and they did get the work done and fixed it.

Brought the lawnmower in for repair on October 13. Elderly woman at front counter. Not friendly at all. Acts like customer is an interruption to her day. She completes a work order form, tears off a stub and hands to me, and tells me that it should be ready around October 18. I return a week later on October 20 and hand her my stub. She goes through a stack of work orders and does not find mine, so she goes to another stack at the other end of the counter. She does not find it so she walks to another stack of work orders and does not find my work order. This "system" they have is one step above the Flinstones spike and rock tablet. She then walks to the back of the shop and disappears for several minutes. When she returns, she tells me that she had picked up the wrong stub off the counter, then picks up my stub and disappears to the back of the shop for several more minutes. When she returns, she tells me that the front wheels for my lawnmower have been ordered, but will probably not arrive until October 23. By the way, when I came in the first time on October 13, the owner was doing the same thing with another customer. He was going through stacks of work orders. The customer kept asking if his work order was lost. The owner kept repeating that he cannot say it is lost until he has gone through all of the stacks of work orders. I returned a week later (two weeks total from first dropping off lawnmower), gave the elderly women my stub again, and once again, she goes through several stacks of work orders and, once again, does not find mine. And once again, she disappears to the back of the shop for several minutes. When she re-appears, she says the same things as last week, "The part was ordered but it still hasn't come. We need to call the company but its Saturday." At this point, in frustration, I asked if I could have my lawnmower back. She says I can and disappears to the back of the shop again. I see through the window the owner scrambling to find my lawnmower in the parking lot. I can then see their son going through a small box on a shelf and pulling out wheels and running to the back. After 10 minutes, the elderly women is telling me that they are going to install another brand of wheels. I stand by the counter for 35 minutes waiting. In the mean time the elderly women asks if I would like to pay while I am waiting. I give her this "You gotta be kidding" look and say that I will wait until I can inspect the lawnmower. The owner finally brings out my lawnmower, I inspect it, and the owner explains that the lawnmower is set higher, but I am just anxious to get out of there. He apologizes, but I don't say anything as I rush to get out. When I go to pay, no one offers to do any service recovery. I will never return there and will make it known at any opportunity to not go there. This is a horribly run business. My suggestion to them is to hire someone with a business degree to run the business. For now, they need to get rid of the elderly woman in the front. I have a strong feeling that she was a big part of my problem. The owner told me as I was loading my lawnmower to my truck that he was not aware of the issue with my lawnmower. I don't think his employees, especially the elderly women, inform him on what's going on until the customer ism upset.