Austin Outdoor Power

I was pleased with the previous service that I had received at Austin Outdoor Power, when they serviced my Honda mower a couple of years ago, so I decided to give them a try once again.  They serviced the mower again, and it seems to be working fine.  The Sears Edger is a whole different story.  When I received the edger back, and cranked it up to use it, I noticed the blade wasn't turning.  I looked at it a little closer and found that the belt was very worn and in fact, hanging broken.  I returned the edger to Austin Outdoor Power to inquire about why they didn't check the belt during the tune-up and even recommend a new belt,.  I was told, by the owner, that this is not part of their "job" and that "they don't actually take it our and edge anything with it" to check it out so how would they know that they belt was broken.  I had not even had a chance to use the edger since the service, so I'm thinking the belt was broken before it went there and they didn't even look at this major component of an edger during the tune-up.
At this point, I realized it is totally my fault for thinking that I was going to get quality service from Austin Outdoor Power.  Don't get me wrong, the gentlemen working at the front counter were very helpful and professional.  It was after speaking to the owner, Karen McGee, that I realized my mistake in thinking customer service was their goal.  If the professionalism of the owner is any indication of the quality of the company as a whole, I would definitely not purchase anything from this company, nor take anything there for service.  I can see why they have the kind gentlemen at the front and keep her in the back.  Maybe she was just having a bad day, and my job was just too small for her to really care about.  At any rate, I won't be returning in the future and hope others will use with caution as well.  I hope that Ms. McGee will support her business in a more positive way in the future, and realize that it doesn't matter if a job is big or small, we all just want to have the results we expect when we pay for a service.

Great service. Repaired and overhauled my pressure washer which had not been used in several years and would not start. Very knowledgable and friendly. Work conpleted when they said it would be. Also gave me good information about small engine fuels. Overall great experience.

This is a simple job. But I was too lazy to do it so I called TWICE to get a price for the service. Each time I was quoted about $12-$15 for the carb kit and $25 labor. No hesitation and no "approximately" for the labor. So for that price I decided to have them do it. I happened to be waited on by the owner when I took it in and just before leaving I mentioned that I had called twice and gotten the firm labor price that I referred to earlier (just to be sure). He hesitated and said he needed to check with the tech on the labor, even though 2 different counter persons had given me the same no hesitation price. He came back and said labor would be $25-$35 depending on what they had to do. Since I had already gone to the time and cost of driving in from Round Rock just for this I reluctantly left it. I am not trying to be cheap, but a 15 year old chain saw at some point is not worth fixing if the cost is too much. Before leaving I asked if he would call if it cost any more. He asked if I was on a budget? That seemed a little condescending, but, whatever. I explained it was old and I questioned whether it was worth spending too much to repair. Again he said WITHOUT HESITATION that it wouldn't cost anymore than $35 labor. No probably, no maybe...
They called 2+ weeks later to say it was ready. When I got there guess what? They wanted to charge me $45 labor. After trying to not be rude to the counter person I explained what I have recounted here. She went back and talked to the owner (presumably) and they agreed to $35 labor.
I got home and tried to start the saw. It was difficult. When I finally got it started it would not idle. As long as I was revving it, it ran. Immediately as soon as I stopped revving it, it died. Multiple times. My guess is that the "tech" started it, revved it a few times and called it fixed. Then charged $20 more for labor than I was originally quoted. As I said this is a simple job. And it was done half ***ed at best. I should have just done it myself. 
They gave a whopping 30 day guarantee on their work. I probably won't use it hardly at all in the next month and I will bet when I finally do it won't work. Lesson learned.

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THEY REPAIRED AND CLEANED THE EDGER AND IT WORKS AS GOOD AS NEW. SOME MAJOR PARTS WERE REPLACED. THEY FIXED EXTREMELY QUICKLY. WE'RE VERY HAPPY AND WILL USE THEM IN THE FUTURE IF NECESSARY.