O'CONNOR'S LAWN & GARDEN

I took my WORKING push mower to O’Connor’s to have it serviced for the 2014 grass-cutting season. Yes, I had started it PRIOR to taking it to them and all was working. I just wanted to get it serviced! When it was ready I picked it up and without starting it, put it in the shed until I needed it. A week or so later, when I went out to get it out of the shed, there was a big puddle of oil on the floor of the shed where the mover had been sitting. I called O’Connor’s and told them of the problem. They said to bring it back and they would fix it at no cost to me. When it was again ready, I brought it home and then tried to start it but couldn’t although I had not had this problem before! I hesitated to take it back but since I needed it and since I had taken a working machine in to them and now had one that wouldn’t start and the problem came after taking the machine to them – I reluctantly took it back. I filled it with new gas and tried to start it but could not. I then got my male neighbor to try to start it and he finally got it started. I ran it until the grass catcher was full, then stopped it to empty the grass catcher - and couldn't get it started again. I debated whether to even take it back to them but since they did something that caused the machine to be unusable to me, I reluctantly took it back to them. This time they decided that it needed a "carb" kit which they installed at my expense. When they called to say it was ready, it was suggested that "since it was so old, it might be time to think about getting a new one and they would be glad to help me select one". When I went to the store to get it, I would NOT take possession or pay for it UNTIL they let ME start it. Since it did start for me, I took it home and have since used it without a problem. I happened to mention the problems I had had with the mower to a friend shortly after bringing the mower home and was told they had the same problem previously with these same people – multiple times in the same summer having to go back to fix something after a service done by O’Connor’s. It seems to me that part of the problem is that the service personnel don’t test the equipment after they have worked on it. They certainly couldn’t have in my case or they would have known there was a problem with it starting. Well, they might be nice folks, but my equipment will NEVER go back to them. Instead I will drive a distance to take it to either Smith's Lawn and Garden or P&K where I have had good service in the past.

I have never written a review before, but perhaps my experiences will help people avoid some unneeded frustration. On Saturday April 27th late at night I sent O’Conner’s an email expressing interest in a Toro lawnmower, since I wouldn’t be able to mow my yard due to ankle surgery, Also, it was time for a riding lawnmower for my near half acre lot. I received an email response from a sales person the next morning, saying she could help complete my order. I thought the request for me to text a photo of my driver’s license was a little unorthodox but went ahead and did just that. Later, I received an email with the work order and paperwork to finance a portion of the mower. I decided to take advantage of a zero percent financing promotion through Toro and GE Financing. I printed the sent documents from the sales person, signed the paperwork, scanned the paperwork and returned it to O’Conner’s. The next step was to wait for thosesame papers that I signed and returned electronically to also come in the “snail mail”. I was told I would have to sign and return the paperwork in the provided envelope, and the company would ship the mower when they received the paperwork. As I waited, with the grass kept growing to the point of getting out of hand, I decided to register online with GE Financing so that I could see my account online and maybe set it up for automatic payments.The GE Web site showed a balance of $3,099 (although the remainder of the balance due for the mower, after putting $1K down, was only to be $3k.) There was an extra $99 on the account! The next day, when I received the paperwork from GE Financing, I read in the fine print that there is a $99 fee for any amount financed over $2k. I wasn’t going to accept that extra fee; especially since I had other options to pay that didn’t cost me $99. So I called the O’Conner’s sales person and told her that I can pay another $950 to put me just under the $2k threshold with GE.(numbers are approximant) When I told the sales person about the $99 charge, she said she didn’t know about it and to hold on while she checked the paperwork. A minute later the sales person came back on the phone and said “I guess there is a charge for financing over $2k”, which she said she didn’t know about because “Most people finance such a large amount; it is usually well over that amount.”. Since I now had to send another $950 to avoid the $99 financing fee, the sales person said she would have to take my additional money and send out new hard copies snail mail for me to sign and return in addition to the new, updated electronic copies I also printed, signed, scanned and returned as a PDF attachment on email. By this time, it was May 11th, and I finally received the updated paperwork. I signed the new hardcopies and made a special trip to the post office, sending the papers on their way hours after I received them, and texting (the salesperson’s chosen form of communication) her that the papers were on their way. Unfortunately, due to a family emergency, I had to jump on a plane the next day, so I gave specific instructions to my girlfriend and neighbors to leave my car out and slide the crated lawnmower in the garage to wait for me to get home. The whole week I was gone, I expected a phone call from O’Conner’s or the delivery service to make an appointment for the delivery. Finally, on May 17th, 19 days after initially contacting O’Conner’s to purchase a lawnmower, I tried calling the sales person, whom I was told had “just left on lunch” and I should “try calling back in an hour”. Instead, I sent the sales person an email from my smart phone stating that I was concerned about the time this purchase has taken and asking about the status of my mower. I almost immediately got an email response back saying, “Yes, I was just mentioning it to someone here that we had not received your paperwork. Did you receive the corrected paperwork in the mail? The one with the lower amount financed?” My immediate email response was,“Are you kidding?” and I explained I had returned the hard copies the same day– almost a week ago – with a text message alert, as well. The sales person’s response to that was, “It will ship out today.” and “Sorry for the confusion.” It infuriated me that it wasn’t in the hands of the shipper already, at this point, and I called again. This time the sales person answered and was very apologetic. I explained that I was fed up and disappointed about the long wait, and the sales person’s response was to tell me that the reason it was taking so long was that I decided to change the amount I wanted to finance. I told the sales person that if I had been told about the $99 charge initially, I would have made other arrangements for payment in the first place. The sales person’s comeback was, “Most people don’t have that option.” and “I TELL EVERY CUSTOMER UP FRONT ABOUT THE $99 FINANCING FEE”. I was not told and, in fact, the salesperson, as I stated earlier, played dumb with me when I reminded her about our previous conversation about the $99 fee for purchases over $2,000. I cancelled my order for the Toro MX 5060 and ordered elsewhere for the same price, paid in full. I expect it to be here in no more than a week. The reason O’Conner’s lost my business, then, was due to the irresponsibility of the sales person who: 1. Failed to mention the $99 fee for amounts financed over $2,000, causing a delay in the order while my additional funds were collected and new paper work was generated. 2. Failed to contact me, after a week of waiting, for the second set of paper work that was claimed to have not been received. 3. Failed to represent O’Conner’s as one that responds to its customer’s needs (for prompt service due to medical condition) and is a reliable representative of Toro machines. For these reasons, I cannot recommend O’Conner’s to anyone wanting to purchase lawn equipment from a customer-friendly, responsive dealer. I am hoping my experiences will steer other potential buyers toward dealers that deserve their business.