
Greg's Lawn Mower
About us
We are considered an essential business and remain open at our regular hours. We are following governmental orders and have been approved to operate normally. If you require pick up or delivery of your equipment, please leave it out in an area where we can pick it up and we will leave it in the same area when we drop it off. We will call for payment so there is no need for direct contact. Safety during these trying times is our main concern with our employees and customers. Thank you for your patience and continued support of small businesses! Prices have dropped on refurbished snowblowers. Stop in now and be ready for Winter. Help Wanted: Small Engine Repair Technician with fast and flexible service. Experience Required. Contact: Greg or Cathy Greg's Lawn Mower, in Lake Bluff, IL, is the area's leading small engine repair shop serving all of Lake, Cook and McHenry counties since 1974. We specialize in small engine repair, including lawn mowers and snow blowers, welding and more. Small engine parts are available. Please contact us with the model, serial number and engine type of your equipment and if available, the part number. Most parts are available in the store, however we can order the part if not immediately available. We also offer free pick up and delivery! For all your small engine repair needs, contact Greg's Lawn Mower in Lake Bluff today! Greg's Lawn Mower, in Lake Bluff, IL, is the area's leading small engine repair shop serving all of Lake, Cook and McHenry counties since 1974. We specialize in small engine repair, including lawn mowers and snow blowers, welding and more. Small engine parts are available. Please contact us with the model, serial number and engine type of your equipment and if available, the part number. Most parts are available in the store, however we can order the part if not immediately available. We also offer free pick up and delivery! For all your small engine repair needs, contact Greg's Lawn Mower in Lake Bluff today!
Business highlights
Services we offer
Free Delivery and Pickup, Lawn Mower and Snowblower Repair, Lawn Mowers and Tractors Repair and Sales, Machine Shop Work, Outdoor Lawn and Garden Equipment, Seasonal Hours on Sundays, Service and Sales (New and Refurbished), Sharpening Services, Small Engine Repair, Snowblower Repair, Tune-Ups., Welding
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
---|---|---|
69% | ||
6% | ||
0% | ||
19% | ||
6% |
In 2014, I took my snowblower to a competitor of Greg's, for it to be tuned up. It had been a while, and the list of work was long. For the remainder of the year, the machine worked without incident.
In December of 2015, I used the snow blower after the recent snow and I had some troubles with it:
First, the unit was running roughly: Whether I was loading the engine or not, it would cut out frequently, but would restart easy enough. I figured that an adjustment of the carburetor was needed.
Second, the discharge chute would not stay where I positioned it. This is a minor issue, but it does impact usability: I can't use the machine effectively if I have to hold the chute mechanism, while holding the auger controller, while holding the transmission controller (only got two hands).
Third, when the pull cord broke off, I was dead in the snow. The machine does have electric start, but I couldn't chance having to drag it back to electricity with the engine cutting out so frequently.
When I called the competitor, I was saddened to be greeted with his message that he, like the rest of the world, was off for the Holidays. I didn't want to be without a machine, so I called Greg's and explain my three issues. To my surprise, they said that could pick up the machine the next day and have it returned within a week or so. I wrote a note similar to my explanation above and printed it out and gave it to the person picking up the machine. The note detailed not only what I wanted to be completed, but what Ray's had done last year. I also included serial numbers and the model number, etc. I knew that with the weather, this was probably busy-time and I didn't want to waste time doing stuff that didn't need to be done.
A few days later the machine showed up in my driveway with an invoice. I noticed on the invoice that they changed the belts and changed the oil (stuff indicated in the note as having been done last year). I noticed also that chute was not serviced. When I started up the machine, I noticed that it still ran poorly.I was happy to see that the pull cord was replaced.
I called Greg's to ask about the chute and to probe them on what they did to adjust the engine and ask why I hadn't received a quote first before work was performed.
They claimed that they had been working non-stop very late in the night and they didn't want to bother customers with late-night calls. They figured that customers would want the work done, so they went ahead without approvals.They admitted that they hadn't addressed anything on the chute, and from this, I concluded that they hadn't looked at my note.
Next, they brought the serviceman to the phone to explain the technical details of the work. He was non-english speaking, so this part of the call was very awkward. I learned that their protocol is to pull the belts, turn them inside out and "squeeze" them to check for cracks. In this case, the serviceman said he saw cracks. I had informed them that the belts were installed last year and that this was work I hadn't asked for.
After they suggested that the person that changed them out last year installed them incorrectly and that the pulleys were out of alignment, I could feel them digging their heels in and offering no reasonable explanations. We were were so far off-topic that I figured I was done with the conversation.
I can't give a good grade to anyone that:
1) Does work they are not supposed to do
2) Doesn't do the work they were asked to do,
and 3) blames others for their own shortfalls.
In short Greg's gets an "A" for being open and picking up the machine, and an "F" for just about everything else (which rounds the whole score to "F").
To close this story, the competitor called me back and over the phone, generously walked through adjustments to the carburetor and the discharge chute and talked about the finer points of gasoline stabilizer. Lesson learned.
I will use them in the future for all small motor repair and highly recommend using them.
Licensing
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