BIG RIVER MARINE

I dropped off a small outboard motor for repair at Big River Marine in West Memphis Arkansas.  The engine would not idle properly and ran poorly at low speed.  I have plans to use the engine fairly frequently in the near future and was hoping to have these issues corrected.  The owner, Bill, suggested that while the engine was in for repair I should have them replace the impeller as is recommended by the manufacturer.  Since the impeller had never been replaced and it seemed like the logical time to do it, I agreed.  When he called to let me know the engine was ready I went to pick the motor up (1/2 hour drive - one way).  It still did not run correctly.  The mechanic acknowledged that there was still a problem and suggested I leave it with him for further troubleshooting.  I drove home and called the owner Bill to explain what happened.  To his credit he was very reassuring and promised he'd get it repaired ASAP.  They called promptly the next business day and said the motor was running great and I could come and pick it up.  When I got there, it was no better than it had been the day before.  On both days at my request they placed the motor in a barrel of water in order to demonstrate performance.  When the motor was at idle and when shifted into forward it would die.  It could be forced to run by opening the throttle a considerable amount when shifting into forward, or by holding the throttle open while the engine sat at idle (these were the very issues that the engine was brought in for.)  When I told the owner that the engine should run at idle and not die, he became irate. He started cussing and saying that it was my fault the motor was running improperly.  He said the problem was that I did not know how to operate the motor properly.  I have owned that particular motor and others like it for a long time and am a competent operator.  He then demanded payment in full and was very threatening in nature.  I paid him, got my motor and departed.  I probably should have made more of an issue about it but in light of circumstances I felt threatened and decided my best course of action was to pay him and get the motor out of there because no good could come from leaving it there.  In the end, the motor runs no better and I am out of $230 ( Good news - I have a new impeller.  Bad news - The engine doesn't run well enough to take it to the lake).  Does anybody know a good outboard mechanic? Anyway - Buyer Be Ware of Big River Marine in West Memphis Arkansas.