For Clermont Equipment Co...
I developed severe Arthritis and could no longer walk. I decided to buy a riding mower to do my yard... I went to the Amelia location and bought a Troy Bilt LT rider... it was delivered and dropped off in the driveway... keys left in the ignition and available... and as I watched, the fellow had trouble backing it off the trailer. It hung up on something on the way out. He did take it down the driveway and back up again... so it did run... But about an hour later I went out to mow the yard and it made it through the front, scalping the ground on one side only... and quit before finishing the back yard. The blades stopped moving and the belt started to smoke... so I turned it off and it seemed to have a grass clog so I cleared it... restarted it and finished the rear yard, but it was shaking so bad I could hardly hang on. I put it in the garage and called them and they were supposed to call me back... not a word for the rest of the day... The following morning I went to the store... They opened 45 minutes late... so while waiting I went to the bank with the hope that two days later I could still stop payment on the check... I could... so I did... when I got back another fellow was waiting and very unhappy too... He drove off... They finally opened late and I went inside and spoke with the salesman.... he went and got his dad who is service manager... His dad called me ""childish"" asking me when I was going to grow up... and then asked me who told me I could stop payment on the check? I didn't know I had to get his permission to stop payment for a defective piece of equipment... I am so sorry. But I had enough cash in my pocket to pay for it and would have struck a deal with him if he had been reasonable and at least a little polite.
He told me I was acting unprofessional ??? I didn't know I was a professional customer... I thought he was the professional... was I ever wrong there !!!
They picked up the mower and didn't give me a receipt for it... took it to their Milford location and repaired it without calling me with an estimate... or authorization... Then they sent me a bill for $192.92 and didn't even replace all they said was broken when I was there... They claim I hit a sewer lid in my yard and broke the blade. the blade shaft, and burnt the belt up...
Problem is... there is no sewer lid in the yard anywhere... I've lived here for 22 years and I know where things are... I mowed for 5 years with a Honda walk behind and before that with an old Lawn Boy I had as a kid... Now they keep calling me to pay to repair this thing, but I think it was defective when I started mowing that day, because of the way it was scalping the ground on one side only... at minimum, it wasn't prep'd properly for sure... and just held together until I was in the back in the tall grass... It also could have been broken when the delivery fellow backed it off the trailer and it hung-up on the tailgate...
I went up that morning to settle up but they were so insulting and even told me I had used the ""F"" word on the phone... all while calling them to come and look at the thing... which they didn't do... until they were ready... made no difference how much trouble they were causing me...
Now, I find out Troy Built rider mowers are built by MTD like a Murray... the company that makes most of the garbage at the Big Box Stores... OK... swell, but if I am going to have a Murray I sure don't feel like paying the price for a Trade name product...especially when I wasn't informed it was nothing better than a piece of Big Box junk... ( my opinion)...
In all fairness, I had a Troy Bilt ( a Rototiller ) in the past and it was a super piece of equipment... so I expected this mower to be built by that same company and be every bit as good... what a letdown. My investigation has revealed most home grade riding mowers are Mtd {not all} built units. sad !
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