Filed
Apparently lied about a warranty repair as far as I can tell.
I purchased an Exmark mower from the Middletown, Ohio store. During hot weather it had a recurring problem: when the parking brake was set, the engine would shut off and would not restart until the mower cooled down. I returned it while it was still under warranty. I was told the problem was caused by spring tension and would correct itself over time. It did not. I can find no indication that this is a recognized characteristic of the mower, and the explanation makes even less sense now than it did then. Because the failure is temperature-related, it should not have been particularly difficult to investigate. A heat gun could have been used to selectively warm suspected electrical and safety-interlock components until the failure was reproduced, allowing the defective component or circuit to be isolated. I believe they were unable or unwilling to properly diagnose the mower and gave me an explanation simply to get me to accept it back without repairing it. Had they honestly told me they couldn't reproduce the problem, I could have continued pursuing it while the mower was still under warranty. When it became clear that their original explanation was incorrect, I returned. By then the warranty had expired, and they refused to repair it under warranty. That is unacceptable. A customer should not lose warranty coverage on a defect reported during the warranty period because the dealer failed to properly diagnose it. I strongly recommend dealing with a dealer that takes warranty complaints seriously and is candid when it cannot reproduce a problem. Corporate management should review how this was handled.
Filed by Lou S.