MCDONALD EQUIPMENT COMPANY

A totally unprofessional and overpriced organization! AVOID, AVOID! My generator stopped running the day NE Ohio lost power (9/14/08). I called MEC and requested on-site service as MEC advertised. Service manager stated that my best bet would be to bring in the unit for repair. I purchased loading ramps (made a bit more challenging due to the power outage) and brought the unit to MEC. While I was offloading the unit the service manager made some rather unprofessional comments, crude attempt at humor. He told me that the carburetor was likely varnished with old gas and that it is more cost effective for MEC to replace the carburetor than to try to clean it. I agreed stating that I want a reliable unit in the event of future power outages. He said it could be one day to two weeks for repair. I called four days later to get an update, I left a voice mail message. He called back and told me that he had taken care of the carburetor and that he was waiting on a part to install a new air cleaner. I called eleven days after leaving the unit and left a VM. His VM back to me stated that the unit was ready and that he had called me over a week ago to tell me to pick the unit up, not true. He had only contacted me in response to VM I left him asking for updates. When I arrived to pick up the unit (two weeks after dropping it off and one week after the service manager claimed that he had told me that the unit was ready for pick-up) there was no paperwork completed. The service manager filled out the details, (unit serial number, etc.) and alleged repair work performed, on the work order as I was standing there waiting to load the unit. He told me the unit had been load tested for one hour. It had not been tested as claimed as the battery was still almost fully discharged from my attempts to get the unit running during the power outage. When I got the unit home I started the unit with the manual pull (battery too discharged) and ran it for about one hour; the battery was charged up during that period. Also the carburetor had not been replaced, but "cleaned" which was the more expensive option as the service manager had told me when I dropped off the unit and the "air cleaner part" was actually just an air filter. I had two new filters at home and could have replaced that myself if the service manger had been accurate with regard to the work he was claiming would be done. The total cost of repair was almost $220 which at $85/hr is over 2.5 hours of repair. I seriously doubt that a competent technician would have taken 2.5 hours to repair this unit. Also no detailed (or any) billing information was on the work order/invoice. The document just has the alleged work performed with no documentation of the charges associated with the work. The service manager also stated that an add-on oil filter kit is not available for the unit. Not true, the owner s manual for the unit shows the part numbers and details of how to install it.