Almost two years ago I purchased a Stihl line trimmer from a store near the Dayton Airport (they are no longer there or I would have returned to that store). I bought it there because no one else had the particular model I wanted. I love it, and it has been a great trimmer. About two weeks ago, the carburetor stopped feeding gas from the tank, and I elected to take it to WM Beck and Sons to be repaired because it was much closer to my home.
I was told by that the repairs would take ""about a week to a week and a half"", and that it ""wouldn't be too expensive"".
At the one week point, I called to check on it's status. I was told that they ""were busy"" and that the repairman ""hadn't gotten around to repair it yet"". I politely asked when it would be done, and was told ""a couple of days"". A couple of days went by and I called again. Still not done. I waited another day, and drove by to see if it was finished. ""No... not yet"" should be a couple more days. OK.
A couple more days passed and I stopped by again only to be told ""I've been busy"" and that there were ""other important things he had to get done"".
They called a short time later that day to say it was finished. The not-so-expensive repairs to a line trimmer that cost about $200 new was over $56! I asked what possibly could have been so expensive and was told that the ""bench fee"" alone was $35, and the part was almost $14. Then they tacked on another $4 for a ""shop fee"".
Bottom line: They charged me $56 for a 30 min repair that took them over two weeks to finish. I will never patronize their establishment ever again, and will advise my friends to go somewhere else as well. The only reason I gave them a single star was that was the minimum to publish my review.
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