I went to Walker Small Engine Repair in early May of 2016.  I have a Bolens Lawn Tractor/Mower that was about 3 years old, which had a fuel leak.  I live near Walker’s, and drive by it often, so I put the Bolens on my trailer and drove it up there on a Saturday morning.

I met the owner, who took a quick look, and told me he was confident it was just a gasket.  He told me he has worked on these quite a bit, and this is a known issue.  He charged me $68 in advance, and told me it should be ready by the following weekend.  I left my cell number and awaited his call.

Now, after I dropped off the mower, I suddenly heard a LOT of feedback about Walker’s, and none of it good.  But he had my lawn mower, so I figured I would just let him fix it and be done with it.

About a week and a half later I get a phone call.  Seems that the problem isn’t a gasket, but there is a “needle” in my carburetor that’s not doing its job, so I need a new carburetor kit to fix it up.  Parts plus labor?  $191.75.  The woman on the phone tells me that the $68 I already paid would be taken out of that total.  Plus it would be another week or so.  Fine, I said, go ahead.  Mostly because I was at work at my new job, and didn’t have the time or ability to discuss it in more detail.

Now, keep in mind that this lawn mower actually ran perfectly.  It only had a fuel leak.

So I get the call that it is complete, and I go to pick it up.  This marks 2 weeks since I dropped it off.  I get there, and I am required to pay for it before I can even see it.  The woman charges me the full $191.75 and when I mention the previous $68, she tells me that’s not included because they did try to change the gasket first so those parts and labor were used.  Fine.  I paid it, wanting now just to take my working mower home and  be done.  I was pretty ticked off.  This mower only cost me $750 brand new, and here I had now already paid more than 1/3 of the price for a small fuel leak.

I walked outside to see my mower.  He has it all the way in the back, sitting outside (while he has plenty of overhangs it would be under) with just a tarp over which (which had blown off, so it was soaking wet from the rain.  I kept it in my garage since I owned it).

So, he goes to start it and it wont start.  I had JUST put a brand new battery in it.  He apologized and grabs something to jump it with.  Then starts it up.  The fuel starts POURING out of the same place, now more than it ever had before.

I show him the he scratches his head.  “Wow, I’m sorry”, he said, “I’ll make this right”.

So I leave, without my lawn mower, so he can “make it right”.

I get a call during the week telling me it was ready again.  There was something wrong with the “needle” in the new carb kit, so it just made the problem worse, so they had to order another carb kit.  The issue was now solved, and I could come get my mower.

So I go in there to get my mower.  The owner sends me to the office where a third bill, this one for $147.50 awaits me.  I ask why am I getting a bill?  Because we had to order a new carb kit for it, and we only charged you for half of the labor.

What?!  I told her that with all due respect, if there was something with the carb kit, then I should not have to pay for it.  The people who sold HER the kit should have to supply one for free as a replacement.  This lady told me:

“Our relationship with our dealer is between us and our dealer.  If we get a new kit for $1 or for $100 is our business.  This one costs you full price.”

So, they would return the first one I got, but I still had to pay for it.  I could not believe it.

I’ll make this long story short.  I walked out of there ANOTHER $147.50 poorer, or they would have kept my mower.

After the fact, I went and looked these people up online.  They have a D+ rating with the BBB, and all reviews on google plus are negative (even the mistaken soul how gave them 5 stars had this to say “Company is a huge rip off. stay away…you are better off buying new mower“).

To recap:  I spent a total of $407.25 on a small fuel leak on a lawn mower that cost me $750 brand new.

Stay away from these people.  Stay very far away.

Explanation of ratings:

Cleanliness:  This place is not clean.  Not at all.  It’s a trailer and a couple of little sheds behind another building.

Politeness:  They were VERY polite the first time I was there.  After that, they were confrontational, hence the 1.5 stars.

Knowledge:  He seemed quite knowledgeable at the beginning, but it now appears to me the only thing they are knowledgeable about is how to rip you off.

Value:  None.  I paid more than half of the price of my lawn mower for a fuel leak.  I was made to pay twice for a carburetor kit because the first was defective (while the company probably got it replaced for free).

Integrity.  I wish I could give this a lower score.  No integrity whatsoever.