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I purchased a mower from Lowes at the beginning of the summer and after 5 or 6 uses it failed. We took very good care of the new mower but after only 3 uses the self propelled feature stopped working.

The next time we cut it was very difficult to crank and finally it completly locked up. We brought it out of the shed to cut and the pull cord was siezed up. We purchased the mower 65 days before it locked up and we had also purchased the extended warranty. I called the 800# and was told to take it into the store and they would send it off to an authorized service center for repair at no charge to me.

When I got to the store they started asking me questions about the gas like where I purchased it and if I drained it after each use or left it in. Seriously... WHO DRAINS $4 A GALLON GAS OUT OF THEIR MOWER? I immediately told them that gas had nothing to do with the self propelled option or the motor locking up.

They continued to tell me that 95% of the mowers that come in have issues because of ethanol in the gas and that if that was the case it would not be covered under warranty. I was then asked to sign a paper authorizing up to $90 for the repair and when I questioned the form I was told that I would not actually be charged anything because it was a new mower and still under warranty. The mower was to be sent to the shop in 2 days and returned within 2 weeks. After 2 weeks I called to see if it was ready for pick up and I was told that it had just gone out the day before.

It sat in the store for 2 weeks! I spoke to a store manager because I desprately needed my mower and they apologized for the inconvenience and admitted that they had made a mistake. I was then told that the repair shop was going to put a rush on my mower and it should be back in 3 days. 2 MORE WEEKS LATER.....

I got a phone call that my mower was ready for pick up and that the charge was $60!!! The gentleman on the phone informed me that he had personally worked on my mower instead of immediately sending it out and that he found gas in the oil and something else with the filter and that was what the charge was for! I WAS LIVID!!!! They never should have touched my mower and no way was there gas in the oil!

I am not an *** and neither is my husband and neither of us had put gas in the oil. He said that he drained everything and refilled everything before sending it to the repair shop to have them fix the self propelled issue and motor lock up issue. When I got irate with him, he said "well you signed a release form authorizing up to $90 for the repairs". He then informed me that it was their standard practice to troubleshoot before sending the mowers off incase there was something they could repair for a minimal charge rather than sending it out of house.

Again..... my issues were self propelled not working and motor was locked up. Both of these items are fully covered under warranty so how did they help me exactly? Seems to me like a scam to fill their own pockets!

I immediately requested to speak to a manager and the charges were waived but this was completly unprofessional! They lied to me in order to get me to sign a release, I waited a month for a repair because they failed to send it in to the shop and then they tried to squeeze $60 out of me for bogus issues. Through ALL of this, I had SEVERAL employees tell me how bad ethanol is for a lawn mower and how they see so many mowers each day because of ethanol. This was not what was wrong with my mower but they still tried to charge me.

I wonder how many people have paid the $60.

For that matter.... where does it say "do not use the gas that you buy at the gas station in your lawn mower or it will not be covered under warranty." What exactly are we supposed to fill them up with if not gas?

Location: Laurel Hill, Florida

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Guest

I purchased two Bolen's lawn mower from Lowe's with in six months or less they both manfuntion. Then I got the run around from the manufacturer.

Guest

I purchased two Bolen's lawern mower from Lowe's both manfuntion with six month.

Guest

Jacqueline Davis

Guest

You ever hear of anything called a paragraph? Reading that was like taking an eye exam.

Guest

Okay as a former employee of Lowe's of over 7 years and having worked at more than 1 store, I can tell you that the way they handled that all around was incorrect. There is a place or was at any rate in the out for repair form on the computer that asks for the epp plan # that would have been printed on the paper that had your plan details, having input that there would have been zero cost to you. Period.

Further more the mower should have been sent out promptly and it is NOT Lowe's policy to have anyone in the store attempt to repair any equipment once it has been entered into the Out For Repair log. Employees should only attempt to troubleshoot a piece of equipment if asked for help from a customer, most times the customer will simply be instructed to return the malfunctioning equipment if it's under warranty and get a new one to replace it.

While the associate was correct that ethanol in gas does cause problems in small engines, it to my knowledge does not void ANY warranty (not even manufacturers warranties and some of them are very specific about what kind of oil and even what brand that you can use) let alone the extended protection plans Lowe's offers which allows you to replace it under pretty much any circumstance. Nor do I think your lawn mower would have suffered from ethanol after a mere 65 days. But ethanol breaks down overtime and causes a build up that gums up the internal workings so I'd recommend either purchasing ethanol free gas (gas stations will advertise ethanol free gas very visibly otherwise assume it contains Ethanol) for your small engines or using engine cleaners designed for use with ethanol gas on a regular basis as part of your maintenance, and as part of your EPP you get money back from certain kinds of purchases that relate to maintaining your power equipment when you send in your receipts. (My suggestion, save them and send them all in at the same time at the end of the year).

I do wonder though, you didn't mention what brand it was, but by the sound of it I'd lay odds on it being a Bolens or a Troy-bilt. Those two are made by the same manufacturer and Lowe's gets more returns on those two brands than on any other brand with the Bolens being the worst offender. Troy-Bilt isn't horrible but it is a mid-grade brand with Bolens being entry level. If your mower is a John Deere or a Husqvarna I'll say that's bad luck because over all those two are far more reliable and much less prone to returns due to malfunctions - in fact most of the few returns on these are due to owner misuse. Which doesn't sound the case in this instance.

I would urge you very strongly, don't complain here where it doesn't do any good. Make sure you contact the Lowe's customer support center and tell them what happened to you. That will be reviewed by corporate officials and will make it's way back to the store in question, Corporate will want to know why that happened and make sure that it doesn't happen again. You can do that by going to the Lowe's website and scrolling to the bottom of the page, you'll find a category down there that's entitled customer care and a link just below it that says contact us, on the contact us page there is a category called Store Experience and to the right are some links, click on how can I provide feedback about my store experience and either fill out the form or give them a call. The form is quicker and you can pretty much just copy and paste everything you said here.

Lowe's tries very hard to make it's customers happy but it relies on it's associates to do that. It's up to the customers to let Lowe's know when they're doing a good job as well as a bad job.

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