LITTLE ENGINES

Took a perfectly good lawn mower to them and snow blower and came back with junk, not repaired and in worse shape than when I brought it in including missing parts.

After 3 weeks had passed, called shop and left claim ticket number on voice mail on Monday, April 17, at 10am. Did not receive any phone call from shop. Called again on Friday, April 21, at 3:45pm and left second message. On the morning of Saturday, April 22 (4 weeks after I dropped it off), I went into the shop and asked to check on the status of my claim ticket. A mechanic looked it up in the system, seemed confused about the nature of the service that it was awaiting, then confirmed that they had not worked on it yet and that it would be done by Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week (April 25, 26). After receiving no phone calls, returned to the shop on Saturday, April 29, and asked to check the status of my claim ticket again. Owner of shop responded dismissively "If it was done, they would have called you." He took the ticket and looked it up in the system, but seemed confused by what he saw and said that he needed to send me downstairs to the shop to look into it. I went downstairs, and a mechanic looked up my ticket and seemed similarly confused. He confirmed that they had my name in the system but no mower under it, and the claim ticket record itself was closed which meant that he no longer had access to any information about the record or it's history. We proceeded to walk around the shop attempting to find the mower. After more than 10 minutes of walking around the shop and two separate outdoor areas, on our second pass of the "junkyard" we found the mower. It had a sign taped to it that included the claim ticket number, and the description "Junk. Dipstick had no oil." He pulled the dipstick and showed me that there was only small amount of oil on the very end. When I asked if the mower still ran at all, he showed me that the cylinder heads weren't even attached, and instead were inside a plastic bag that had also been taped to the mower handle. I could also see that a vent cover on the side appeared to be partially detached as well. He pointed out that the sign indicating that the mower was junk was dated March 31, meaning it was sitting in the junk pile for: - 2 weeks before I called the first time - 2 weeks before I paid someone else to mow my lawn (when I could have just gone out and bought a new mower and saved money) - 3 weeks before the first time I went into the shop in person, where i was told they had not worked on it yet, and that it would still be a few more days - 4 weeks before the second time I went to the shop in person where the owner dismissively told me that if they had worked on it, they would have called me The mechanic said that he didn't want to put too much time into it for fear of driving up the cost of the total service, but agreed to put it back together and see if he could get it running. One hour later, he called me to let me know that he could not get the mower to start. At no point has anyone from the shop ever called me about anything, with the exception of the call from the mechanic to let me know that my mower was dead, approximately 5 weeks, 2 phone calls, and 2 in-person visits after I dropped off the mower for simple maintenance. Only after contacting the Better Business Bureau did they even reply to an email, and that was just to declare that I was an unreasonable liar.

I used Little Engines several years ago with only moderate success. All I remember about that long past experience was that it took them a month to tune-up my tiller in the middle of growing season. However, I've had worse experiences, so decided to test them again. It's hard to find a parking place because the lot is full of trucks that are there all of the time, and things are packed in tight making it hard to maneuver a truck. I was told all of those trucks belonged to the pawn shop next door. Nobody helped me unload my 2 mowers, so I did it and rolled them into the front door. The person at the desk didn't acknowledge me. He was busy talking to somebody else and answering calls. They clearly cater to to lawn professionals. After some time, they handed me some claim checks to fill out. I asked a simple question and could tell the guy was in no mood for questions. They told me to check back in 7 days. In 7 days, I was told that they meant 7 business days. I got a call about one mower that they said had a bad cylinder and should I have them recycle it. No proof.. Just had to trust them. After the 10th business day, I got a call on one other item that was ready. I asked about the other two items. Not ready. On the 12th business day, everything was ready and that my 6 month old leaf blower could not be repaired. It too had a bad cylinder, which of course I had to trust them on that too. I never got any proof. Prices weren't bad and both items run just fine now. You have to go around back to what looks like an automotive scrap yard to pick up mowers. They sent it out with some guy that looked to be 80 years old and 100 lbs. So, of course, I lifted my mower into my truck by myself, although he did offer to help. It seems like a lot to put up with to get things fixed. I will probably try somewhere else next time to see if anyone really wants my business