BENNINGTON SMALL ENGINE

I've used Bennington Small Engine repair for the past few years and have been an ongoing customer, purchasing other products from them. This year their service had tanked, which prompted this report. I brought them my mower this year and was told it would be up to 10 days to complete the service, which was fine. My wife called to get a status on day 10, and was told there was one mower in front of ours - and we might have it by the weekend. When this didn't happen, I called on day 14 to get a status and we were magically behind four mowers. When I asked how this could happen, the gentleman was incredibly rude, and told me "maybe you should have brought it in earlier in the season when we were standing around with nothing to do". I nicely/calmly requested that if it wasn't complete by the end of the week, could I please get a return call (my plan was to make a few calls and perhaps take it somewhere where the backlog was less) - and I was hung up on. Again, nicely/calmly - I called back thinking we were disconnected (which may have been the loudest disconnect of all time) but he hadn't confirmed he would call me if the work wasn't complete. I told him I believed we were disconnected, and I was merely requesting a return call if the service wasn't complete, so I could make alternative plans. He abruptly responded with "I THOUGHT OUR CONVERSATION WAS OVER - AND I SAID I'D CALL YOU BACK". Feeling like I shouldn't have to PAY to be treated this poorly, I went to the shop the next day planning to retrieve the mower and take it elsewhere. Upon entering the shop, I was greeted by a lady who was behind the counter, the gentleman behind the counter (who apparently recognized my unique/DJ voice) was obviously avoiding looking at me, and the lady offered to step back into the shop and determine the status of the mower. Being left with the gentleman, I took the opportunity to ask him if he was the person I had spoken with, and he confirmed that he was. I explained that I was merely looking for a status, and I didn't appreciate being hung up on. He again erupted with "I TOLD YOU I THOUGHT OUR CONVERSATION WAS OVER AND I ALSO TOLD YOU I'D CALL YOU BACK" and his Clint Eastwood like stare-down was in full-effect. The lady then returned to the front counter from the shop area and cordially told me they were indeed working on it, and it'd be done in an hour. The gentleman proceeded to give me the "stink eye" for the next few minutes as I told her I very much appreciated the update, and would return after an errand. About an hour later the lady did call me and confirm its completion, and she and the staff worker were very polite in ringing up my bill, and assisting me with bringing the mower to my vehicle. Hopefully the gentleman with anger control issues was off discovering yoga. Sadly I will not return based on principle (I would add, while calling around looking for other service providers prior to retrieving it - I discovered their prices are quite high compared to some of their competitors who had less wait time and seemed eager to earn a new customers business).

The work completed is fine. The communication and customer service are poor. Took in leaf blower and trimmer on April 10. At that time I was told to expect a 12 day turn around. I was not surprised since that is a busy time of year for this kind of work. After 18 days I had not heard from them, so I called. The leaf blower was already done. But parts for the trimmer had been ordered on April 23, and they were on back order. They had no idea when the parts would come in. My first frustration was that they didn't call me to let me know that the job, already past when they'd told me to expect completion, was dependent on parts for which they didn't know and arrival date. Could be 3 days, could be 6 weeks. I wish they would have called to inform me and ask if I wanted them to pursue. Next, when they told me about the back order I pressed the issue of how long I would likely wait. They wouldn't tell me anymore than, "It could be a little bit." I asked if the distributor could provide a more concrete answer, and I was told that they didn't want to "poke around" because that might annoy the distributor. It seems it's better to annoy the customer. I am done using them. I'll use Angie's List to find a better shop.

One small problem with the service. An employee broke a small piece off my mower by accident, and seemed to dismiss it (I think he hoped I hadn't noticed). But the results were good. The lawn mower had several parts replaced or repaired, while all three items were tuned up and cleaned. In the end, I am satisfied with their work and will likely use them again.