MIKE'S OUTDOOR POWER , LLC

When we called, they said they would have the wood chipper completed over the weekend. When we got there a couple of days later on Sept. 14, we were told that there was a couple of week delay before someone could take a look. We were OK with that because we were not in a big hurry. Today is Dec. 1 and we still do not have our wood chipper back. A month or so ago, we got an email response promising that it would be looked at the next day. Our last email has gone unanswered for more than 2 weeks. We have no idea when we are getting our wood chipper back. And it has been there all of this time with no work completed, as far as we know. UPDATE 2/27/2013: After posting this review, we finally got a response from Mike letting us know that our chipper was repaired. When we went to pick it up, we weren't sure if it was just a coincidence that it was ready right after this review was posted or if acted as a catalyst. Our suspicions were confirmed when he asked us to remove the negative review after we had loaded the chipper into the vehcile. We politely refused (as everything we posted here is true -- he tried blaming everyone and their brother for the delay but there really was no reason for it to take that long) but promised to update if the chipper worked well. It does. It starts up the first try, every time. But the length of time it took to complete negates any good will or "wow" factor for the end result.

After over a week went by with no response on the status of equipment, had to call to ask for an update on repair progress. I was informed equipment hadn't been looked at yet. At this point I asked when it could be looked at and what approximate cost would be, because I didn't want to spend so much on repairs that it might have been better to have just bought new equipment instead. 5 days later, I was notified my equipment was ready. Services were completed to the equipment, but the problem was not fixed, and now I am told I will have to take it to some other specialist for repair. Bottom line, I left my equipment with the mechanic for two weeks and paid $75 ~ to be told he couldn't fix my equipment. Now that is money I won't have to put towards the eventual actual repair that is still going to be needed. Very disappointing experience.

He said he would do a minimal service on the mower, and would likely swap in a used blower housing (which contains the recoil / starter), and get it running for about $75. He said it would take about a week. I took it in on Tuesday, and Mike called back on Thursday, and said that he did feel that he could fix it, but due to the age, he wanted to collect a $75 deposit via credit card over the phone to authorize the work. I agreed. End of day Thursday, Carol called to say it was fixed, and the total would be $81. I said that was great, I would pick it up Monday. Monday, when I got it, Mike started it up and verified that it was working great (and it was super clean at this point!). I thanked him, took it home, and mowed the lawn, and it worked great. I am glad that I took it to Mike and that he was able to fix it so I can get some more years out of it. He replaced the air filter, spark plug, changed oil, adjusted the overhead valves, removed, cleaned and soaked the carburetor, and installed a good, used blower housing / recoil unit.

This was the second machine that we have had work done on and we are still thrilled! Our lawn tractor's safety switches were getting tripped at odd times and the battery kept dying. Mike's not only tracked down and fixed the problem, they did it within the time that they had quoted and they also included a blade sharpening. The pick-up and delivery charge was very reasonable, which was a huge bonus for us because we would have had to borrow a trailer.

This is a reputable company and they are very knowledgeable about fixing equipment like my lawn mower. It is convenient that they pick up the mower, fix it and bring it back. My only concern is that they do get backed up occasionally, so it is not always easy to get an appointment.