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

Based on recommendations from this forum I purchased an Ariens 8526 in late December. The local dealer, at the time, did not have any in stock, so I bought it at Home Depot.

I read the manual and did the break in procedure. All seemed ok. With about five inches on the ground (I have a large driveway (triple wide garage) and live on a corner lot)), the 8526 traveled, in 1^st gear, about ten feet and then stopped. Wouldn’t move…

Rather than fix the machine, I brought it back to Home Depot and upgraded to the 11528LE (for about $100 more than the 8526).

I also did the break in procedure, and with eight inches of snow on the ground, with drifts up to 28 inches, it took about three minutes of operation before the impeller stopped turning. It squealed like a pig on crack.

I spent four hours going through the manual and checking everything, but couldn’t get it to work. So, I bypassed Home Depot (sick of changing machines), and called the local Ariens service dealer. They picked it up the following day (yesterday), and said that a washer/bolt broke internally but it should work from now on (the person relaying the info didn’t have the specifics, and I hope to track down exactly what the problem is at a later time).

They dropped it back at my house this morning, and I went home over lunch today and removed the snowdrifts that I couldn’t move on Saturday (back pain and ticked off). Today, the temp was about 38 degrees, the 11528 shot the heavy snow about 15-25 feet. I’m guessing this is normal performance for the conditions.

Home Depot, because of two machines not working at no fault of mine, is offering a $25 gift certificate (rather than give me the $$ difference between the price I paid for the 11528 last week and the now clearance price). They say it’s corporate policy to not honor recent purchases against clearance items (only sale items).

Snowblower gurus, what would you do…am I out for blood and needlessly taking on a big corporation by demanding the difference between the price I paid and the clearance price (about $190)? Or, take the $25 gift certificate and call it a lesson learned?

I would reporte them to airens or something. Reading your post even makes me angory! I know already that I am not happy with what has been going on with your situation.

I would calmly walk in to Home De-Pot and say I would like to return my snowblower.  Then buy one on sale 1 hour later, or wait for the dealer to have one in stock next summer.   

                                                    18 Degrees

did ariens dealer charge u to pick up and return? it was my understanding that ariens charges and toro does not in the warranty period.

if  HD has the 11528 still in stock, sure return yours and buy a new one.  isnt the difference aprox 325$. 25% of 1299?

Thats being to nice. I would never be that nice. I would create a comosion in the building which would bring the forman over, and when he asks what the problem is I will tell him. And because the forman does not want to have people looking over at me hering how I am upset with my purchase, he will gladly give me a 1500 dollar model for the same price I paid for the 1000 model.

    All,

Here in Dover Delaware,, there is not a blower to be bought!!

HD sold 87 blowers between last Friday and Saturday noon!!

                                                       Fred    

Thanks for the feedback. Solid suggestions…

 Home Depot (HD), at least, did not charge delivery to remove the 8526 and drop off the 11528 (after much debate). 

 I did tell HD I'm returning the recently fixed 11528 and buying another one on clearance (best option), but as jubol mentioned, they are completely out of stock, and said they probably won’t be getting more in.

 The local dealer, also, is out of stock (too bad, even if they couldn't match the HD clearance price). And, call me crazy, but I still think Ariens can be a good long-term investment.

I’d rather not hand it back to HD and not buy another one until more are available, since Minnesota gets the most snow in February/March. Or, does HD, or dealers, often replenish their stock of snow blowers in January, so that I can take the risk of not having a back savior for a while?

H-Depot put all their snowblowers on sale 1-2 weeks ago to get rid of 'em...  10-25% off...

I'd expect you'll only see additional ones there if they have them in stock... or maybe customer returns...
...doubt any new ones would be ordered/shipped in...

Snowblower manufacturing usually stops quite a bit before snow season...


Dave...

That sounds all to familiar to me.  I was looking for a Ariens snowthrower at Home Depot last year also.  I bought a 1128 LE, and had to go 60 miles to get it.  Meanwhile, we had a storm that completely run out of their stock.  I had to drive another 60 miles to get another one.  The trip was worth while because of a car show.  All this because of leaking oil on the first one.  The second had a bent auger housing.  Now I have the 926 DLE that seems about just right. 

I try not to deal with Home Depot.

But if you feel comfortable, you could treat them as they treat you. Just play by the corporate rules.

You need a gallon of paint, buy a five of custom mix, use a gallon, take the rest back. You know how paint dries and never looks the same in the light at your house.

Doing some trim work, those Paslodes are real nice, buy one use it. take it back. Make sure to return the nails and the empty canisters too. You know how those nails bent and the canisters leaked once you put them on.

Ect. Ect.

Or you can do as I do, Just Say No. To  Home Depot.

You buy from Home Depot or other big box stores and you get a good price with no service. The machines are assembled by inexperienced employees who  can't by any stretch of the imagination be called a technician or mechanic. They have a pretty liberal return policy but that to my way of thinking is no comfort. I want a machine to work properly the first time. I know that buying from an ope shop doesen't guarantee a trouble free experience but these numerous reports being posted here  about HDare a nightmare.Who would you want setting up your machine or trying to track down some gremlin that is infecting it-A tech like BUTTLINT or a nice polite young man who will be working in plumbing or electrical as soon as they are sold out of machines.

Finally ,you can't buy the top of the line machines from the big box stores. Not wanting to insult anyone but the difference in price between the LE and DLE models in the Ariens line is trivial when considering the cast iron gear box,limited slip differential etc.IMHO you are much better off researching which of the local ope shops enjoys a good reputation and doing business with them!

Marc

I can't get over all the snow blowers I read about that get returned to HD.  Where do you think those "defective" machines go after you return them? Back to the factory? Not a shot! Maybe they get the once over and a possible rube goldberg fix, but sooner or later they go right back on the sales floor to be bought by the next unsuspecting person.

I know it isn't always possible to buy from a dealer, their inventory is pretty limited, just remember, Buyer Beware!

well ...here i go.

im one of those guys that works at the shop that actually fixes the stuff from home depo or whereever.

we sell only the high end machines.we just dont feel good about selling the low buck stuff.

that being said we really do like the box stores because thats where most of our work comes from.

when they are under warranty we repair them and when they are a few years old we repair them some more.

i wont even tell you how many of the new mtd,s with the tiny gear box that i have piled up waiting for parts.

in my opinion you got a good quality machine ,im not sure about pricing.im from the frozen north so when i see the prices you guys pay i kinda drool.

it seems like you wont be able to return and replace it with a new one which you probably would have to take to the local shop anyway and have gone over .

so what do you do,i would go to the shop that repaired it for you with an extra coffee or 2 (around what you figure break time is) and ask the mechanic in his own opinion how he feels about your machine.

im betting he will have quite a bit to say.remember this is the guy that makes his living repairing other peoples mistakes.

bottom line is you have a top quality machine and now you know a dealer that can help you when you need it.

you should have many years service from it.

we call them lifetime units.

your kids will be trying to weasle it from you in 20 years.

later chris 

Snowshovelor is BACK !!!!!!!

                  I still shop at the box stores for screws nails or light bulbs ETC>>>>>.... but never never never  OPE ..... I got taken for a dishwasher at  LOW LOW LOWES once so anything that costs over 100.00  I try to buy from someone that can at very least stand good for it or fix it . As most know the box stores do get the lesser quality machines in many cases. then they have someone throw 50 of them together on a thursday night at 2am, not worth the hassle I'd rather see the dealers get some extra $$ and write it off as a good deal for some peace of mind ..  Quality dealers are priceless IMHO.....

             But lets face it people at the box stores need the work too. Heaven only knows where they worked before


           All in fun   Tom

sawme wrote:

colecacola,

Tell them to shove the $25 Gift Certificate and demand satisfaction. Talk to the store Manager and then go corporate.

I just made them cough up $900 for trying to F*ck me on a $3500 carpet installation. 

They made all kind of lame offers and when I would not back down they paid. 

Go for the $190 and don't back down. 

Home Depot sucks!!! 

 Give 'em Hell   and make 'em pay!!!!

                                                                         Dan

Hey to Snowshoveler........Welcome back dude

I hate HD.I return 50% of what I buy there.Lowes just opened up.I go there from now on.I bought a ryobi stringer atHD that i can't get parts for.(I need a shroud for it).Anyways,I believe HD sells a lesser quality Ariens,(I know Chris_s will tell you different).I just think Ariens uses cheaper parts in their HD's.Maybe someone like Snowshoveler can dispell this rumor.'Shovler?

When I bought my 824 i was in a similar situation, only it was november.  The local dealers had none and didn't know when they would get any, but HD had a bunch.  So i looked them over good, passed on a few that were only 1/2 assembled(loose handlebars, disconnect chute and gear selector rods, etc) and picked the one i have now.  Sure i had to run it in, and do adjustments on just about everything, but i knew i was in for that.  My opinion is this,  Ariens/local dealer stood behind the HD machine, and it seems to be working good now.  If it's the machine you want i say keep it take HD's money and buy something there you wouldn't normally get.  then take some coffee and doughnuts to the dealer that helped you out and buy a spare set of belts and some shear pins from him.  On the clearence thing, i dunno, you buy it and a couple days later they go on clearence?  that's kinda unfair.  I'd talk to the store manager and say "look, if i bring it back and then re buy it, i'll get the diff, so why not just give me the diff now?"  Ultimately they are gonna do what they're gonna do, but I'd call corporate and say yer not pleased if the SM blows you off.  My opinion is that it would be reasonable to exp[ect the difference if the time period is less than 1, maybe two weeks.

Talk to a HD manager and I bet they will give you the clearance price.  It would be silly (and costly) for them to take a return instead. 

I usually buy from box stores, even at the same price, because I'm much more comfortable  with a purchase if I know I can return it.   Also sometimes I find employees in the independent dealers can be even more clueless than in HD.   Anyway I doubt dealers have their best mechanics doing the routine set-up work - probably use kids from the same high school as HD.  Not much value added there.   -Bob

Thanks for all the input. Here’s an update…

I took the forum’s advice and before going to back to Home Depot, I looked for a Toro 828LXE and Simplicity, but they too were nestled in home/business owner garages. 

I also had a productive talk with the local Ariens dealer who serviced the 11528 (the mechanic and the owner). They said the machine I bought from Home Depot is exactly the same as what they receive. Also, the repair they made was a factory defect, and said it will not affect the snow blower’s future performance.

I said I regretted not initially buying the snow blower from them (even if they were out-of-stock when I was ready to buy), and they replied that they are happy to see people buy Ariens, nonetheless, since they profit from service more than they do the initial sales (that’s why they receive a limited shipment compared to Home Depot).

Also talked about the 926DLE (thinking I may return the 11528 and buy the 926 from the local dealer next fall). The owner said the differential is a nice feature, and the cast-iron gear case may last a little longer, but the 11528 is a heck of a machine, especially with the extra HP and wider housing. (Frankly, when I did finally get to blow some snow on Monday, I thought it was easy to turn.)

Then, I went to Home Depot and asked for the manager, who had a Texas drawl and looked cold. I again explained my situation, and to make a long story short, he agreed the $25 gift card was not sufficient, and refunded me a decent portion, so I ended up paying less than $1100 (including free assembly and delivery for the 8525 and 11528). 

Bottom line: I have an Ariens that suits my needs, bought at a decent price that a dealer, who I now know fairly well, has gone through, and now I hope it snows.

  CC,

       Congrat's on solving your problem,

Nobody welcomed you here , so I will.

 Welcome to the best forum on the net!!

The reason you did not get a welcome, I think, folks here were to busy trying to help you!!

Welcome again!

                                                                             Fred  

Hi Colecacola!

Welcome to the group!

You done GOOOD.

Marc

               Colecacola

                  Definitly a big welcome!  My daughter went to school in Minn.  Love that Spam museum in Austin

           Tom

Yes, I second that.

Welcome to the forums!

Always glad to see a happy ending !   


Dave...

Welcome Cole.  That's about what I ending up paying for my 1128 LE.  Deals are good aren't they   

hi Colecacola.

nice to hear you got the GOOD deal after all.

and also good that you have a good service spot in the unlikley event that you need somthing in 10 or 15 years.

i would say you got the 3 goods...

good machine

good price

good service...

now bring on the snow

good luck.

later chris

Thanks everyone for the great advice and welcomes! I look forward to learning and contributing.

To top it off, tonight I called Home Depot corporate headquarters, for the heck of it, to tell them about the situation, and without me asking for anything they volunteered to mail me an additional $100 gift certificate.

Now, I hope the reason why we’re hearing about Ariens’ factory quality control problems is because there are more owners to report problems…

Cole

Welcome Cole,   Please keep in touch for more input in the future.

                                18 degrees

They just keep going. 

Hey Colaman and Chris_s...I stand corrected on the Ariens being a lesser machine at HD.

Steve......

C

SnowRemover wrote: Well you better learn to love it or you'll be awful unhappy the rest of your life.


Chris was being nice and letting someone know that they were understood and it made them feel good too. It's a form of positive communication. 95% of what you post is done so with an agenda in mind. I said that when you first came here, some didn't believe me, but I have just about seen it all and you're easy to spot. You're proving my point more and more, thank you. I got your number though, you know it too, I can tell.

I won't ban you, but don't piss off Chris. LOL

That comment was out of respect for my friend.....

He will understand that and that is all I cared about.....

Tick, tick, tick.......

C

If you were to compare Walmart to Home Depot as far as service and support, I would have to say there about the same. What do you guys think?

I don't know Terminator, I'm a lot more inclined to go to HD then Walmart. AT least in some cases, you will find someone at HD with a clue, I have yet to find anyone at Walmart with any clue whatsoever!

I agree there are some similarities between the two but I have more faith in the people working at HD, IMHO

Walmart badgers manufacturers to lower prices and in turn we lose jobs here.Boycott walmart  now.Everyone passthe word......Back to blowers....Mine came out of a box from Sears.A few adjustments and assembly and your up and running.Make sure there is not oil dripping anywhere.

I buy two things from Wal Mart, Winchester White Box Ammo and any scripts. Target gets the rest now and may get scripts.