East Coast Home & Garden

When I took them in on 5/1/2009 I asked that a limit of $50 be placed on the trimmer and $100 on the mower as the trimmer was probably 10 years old and was not an expensive one to start with. The mower was one year old and was only about $179 when purchased new. I was told they would take 3 weeks to repair. Good news was they called me back in 2 weeks to tell me they were repaired, the bad news is they exceeded my repair limits without authorization. When I picked up a week later and complained they said that their policy det limits of $100 and $150 before they call for authorization. This was not policy was not explained when I dropped the equipment off nor was there any objection to my lower limits. They gladly took a deposit of $25 & $45 to look at them. Final tab on the repair was $96.22 for the trimmer! A new one of the same make is $125. I have no problem with the $14.99 for the bulb and the 1/2 hour (generous allowance) of labor it would take to do the repair, I'd even be OK with the full hour they charged. I objected to the $15 in "Junk Fees" charged in addition to the $60/hour labor rate charged. These fees were $5 for EPA Compliance, $5 in shop supplies and and $5 for gas! These fees not disclosed when I dropped off the equipment. If they were, I would not have left the equipment for repair as it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was going to be $75 for them to even look at it, much less do any repair. As for the mower, the bill was $100.19 and the description of work performed was cleaned carburetor with AMSOIL power foam. Only problem I have with this repair is the undisclosed junk fees that were charged on this repair as well. When I asked about running over the limits I had set, the man (owner?) said that those limits were lower than their policy. I also asked about the junk fees that were charged on both repairs, he said that was "the way we do it" and that is charged on every repair. He was not only no help but developed an attitude of "how dare you complain". I will NEVER purchase any good or service from them again. I had previously had a problem (several years ago) when they overcharged for bulk mulch and was willing to give them a try since they are close by. I will drive twice as far to deal with someone who will be upfront & honest.