A Machinehead Small Engine Repair

He advised me that he would have to clean the gas tank before doing anywork, but then fixed the carborator. Then he advised me that he did not actually do anything with the gas tank. He kept changing his story and I feel as if he was not being honest with me about the situation and pricing. He still has my lawn mower and is telling me that I owe him $65.00 for even looking at the lawn mower. I would not recommend this company.

Because John Deere desires $$$ up front and can take up to a month to obtain parts; many machine shops face the dilemma of informing the customer to prepay for parts (special order items). *** With limited income - I am a stickler for precise estimates; not once, not even twice - to have an incomplete estimate third time; to finally obtain factual estimate on the FOURTH go round. The first two times had fallen on deaf ears with no valuable information. To have a workable relationship - open HONEST COMMUNICATION is a MUST !!!! And with our piece of equipment in shop over three weeks; we have gone from costs per day to costs per hour. With the person who actually does the work on my lawn with MY EQUIPMENT and hubby dropping the equipment off - witnessed a returned customer (alleges with NON-WORKING lawn mower which was picked up the just day before). Please do not get me wrong - Owner/Mechanic is very knowledgeable. And if a 'simple' repair is required - customers can await for their repair. It seems he can repair anything with small motor/engine. This family owned business has that touch of what family pride means; and is critical NOWADAYS. Lessons learned from this experience - thus far, one should always have BACK-UP plan for equipment failure, and one should be an EDUCATED consumer. If I had any idea that my LAWN MOWER would be down for 5-6 weeks; I would have not put the $$$ into the JOHN DEERE and purchased a DR mower/trimmer machine with accessories {as that is how much $$ has gone out the door for back up machine (motor-less lawn mower that cuts TOUGH GRASS, high end tune up parts with installation into JD, the repair billing for JD at this shop, and the outside landscaping services to fill in while our machine is down)}. This has been a BUYER - BE AWARE LESSON; that I will NOT repeat. We have received JD 'BEAST' mower back - with very good sound advice in the operation and care of the machine. It is in bad shape for a a machine (RUSTING BADLY) that is garage stored and only 3.5 years old. And from what I have researched - JOHN DEERE PUSH LAWN MOWERS are not highly rated, while the riders are !!! We are having Dale and his staff to check out other mowers/machines; making recommendations to our friends. We are, also, looking to following Dale's recommendation(s) for future equipment purchases necessary maintain our yard. THEIR SHOP is an ACTIVE WORKROOM !!! They even offer a pick up/delivery service of large equipment for a nominal fee. Thank you for your courtesy, Respectfully, KB