Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

...buying curtain rods for the living room (just had it painted...in fact, we're having just about the whole house (inside) painted...I'd do it but I just don't have the time)  and on the way out, I hear another customer arguing with one of the employees.  He had just bought a new snowblower (Troy Bilt (MTD ) 8.5 HP, $798).  Apparently, the cashier had neglected to charge the $25.00 assembly fee which the Lowes Employee was attempting to recover.  The "discussion" went on for aboutt ten minutes until the customer finally cancelled the whole deal and walked out.

On the way out, I mentioned to him that (1) it was good that he didn't pay the assembly fee since it wasn't assembled correctly (or at least not adjusted).  The scraper bar was riding on the floor while the skid shoes were raised almost an inch.  With the first use, the scraper woudl have been ruined and the edges of the housing certinaly scraped up if not bent...and open to premature rusting, and (2) he'd probalby be better off with a dealer but with 10" to 16" of snow predicted for tomorrow (which meand I'll get to use the Toro again, bringing the cost down to about $333 per use), he wanted to take one home last night (9:00 P.M.) so (3) I sent him to Home Depot down the block and told him to get the Ariens 8526 as it's a better machine and with the current Home Depot promotion, about the same price.  Also, I happened to have a Lowes 10% new mover's coupon in my pocket which I gave to him (I printed an extra to use at HD), telling him HD would honor it.

I used to prefer Lowes to HD but at least at this particluar store, it seems that service is a thing of the past.

LL

Totally agree! You can buy a snow blower from a dealer for $1200.00 and will be put together properly and had a run in, and you can be guranteed great service and support! As soon as you start shopping at the big stores, you forgo all of that! In our day of age, there are not many local retailers left. And that does worry me. I don't want to be stuck buying my parts online! I rather go to my local dealer and order threw them.

One time I bought a preasure washer from Home Depot and I spent $1000.00 for it. Well, I realised I was not going to get any service a support for it unless I found a Honda Dealer around here somwhere. But that did not matter to me because I was only going to use this preasure washer for a while and then sell it. I needed a presure washer for a while with a very high preasure rate to do heavy duty jobs. But once I was done, was not going to use it anymore. Renting would have cost me alot of money too. See this way, I sold the preasure washer for $1000.00 dollars minus tax. I would have spent way over 100 to rent one of this type for that long! But I digress.

I believe in supporting my local dealer no matter what I buy. I believe that buy supporting them, I am actually helping them stay alive. We don't want to let our service dealers die out!

There is a point that you have to consider the money. The Ariens 8526LE lists for $1150 but HD is selling it for $750 and if you have a 10% coupon the price is $675 and if you buy it in Delaware, you save even more. No tax. You just have to be handy and put it together CORRECTLY yourself.  

Another thing, in North Jersey they use a lot of cheap (South of the border) help at my OPE. My 2 SBs that I purchased from my local OPE needed some minor tweeking after they were assembled and serviced. I watched them assemble 2 Ariens machines. They assembled them blower mouth down on concrete. I would not buy either one after the damage they caused to the paint.  Cheap help is not cheap sometimes and sometimes you are better off doing the job yourself.  

newjerseybt wrote:
I totaly agree! In our day of age, people don't care about you, only themselves. So, if we want something done right, we have to do it ourselves. For instance... The local dealer I go to is family run. However, there youngest sun, does crappy jobs putting things together. But, his dad and others do a great job. So, if I need any service done, I request that one of them do it besides his sun.

LL, I see your point, but even with an assembled machine the user should adjust the skid shoes and scaper bar to their conditions before the first use. That was good advice steering him toward the Ariens.