Georgetown Small Engines

The experience was a disaster from the start. I knew nothing about the business but thought that it would be a good thing to give a local small business the work rather than a large chain store. First they estimated a 5-7 day turn around on the mower (they said business was slowing down). After a few days I called when I had not heard from them: they had no record of me and couldn't find my ride-on mower in their shop. After several days they found the mower and my name in their system misspelled. Then they ordered a common part which they said took a week to get. When they got that part, they said they ordered a second part (blades) -- wait another week. I asked why they didn't order both parts together to save time: the man on the phone appeared to be very annoyed and was curt. After almost three weeks they called and said they were ready to deliver the mower back to me, but only gave me two choices for delivery days (I am only 11 miles away) --- so I had to settle for 5 days later! On the 5th day, a Friday, I finally called at noon (I had been told they would call first thing in the morning on the 5th day) only to find out no one on duty knew anything about the delivery. At this point I asked to speak to the owner ("Jim") who I was told was in the shop -- the man taking the call tried very hard to discourage me from speaking with the owner. I insisted, but the owner refused to come to the phone. The shop told me that the owner promised to call me that evening. Of course he never called. Throughout these three weeks, the men (several) who spoke with me during 8-10 phone calls initiated by me appeared to be either confused or incompetent or lazy; one man was absolutely rude and tried to give me as little information as possible on two separate occasions. The lady that I spoke with (I was later told this was the sister of the owner) was the only person who was helpful and courteous. I finally got my mower back late Friday night by their driver who was kind enough to bring it to me on his own time. After a couple of weeks into this fiasco, I talked to several residents in Pawleys Island and a major business here and only then did I realize my situation wasn't very unique. My advice is, check a business out if you don't know their reputation. My situation resulted in a big inconvenience for me with house guests coming and the need to find and schedule and pay a landscaper to mow. Not to mention the frustration of dealing with a poorly managed business lacking greatly in customer service. There are other options in my area and I will use them the next time. I hope you all do too.