repair customer service Good or Bad your thoughts

Recently my 1 year old solo lazer mag started doing the spinning thing at idle. Took it to the service center and didn’t hear anything back til it was fixed and was told it wasn’t under warranty so it will cost me $67 due to replaced of upper unit. What ever that means. Anyways what do you guys think of the service. I mean from what I’ve been hearing it could of been as simple as a clutch spring replacement and if that was the case $67 seems a lot. Besides I was never notify of whats wrong with my auger and how much it will cost as its not under warranty. I thought it was only fair if I knew about the situation.

The way I see it is like you bring your car to the dealer for squeaky brakes. They replace all the rotors and put new pads and new master cylinder without letting you know what the issue is and how much it will cost and see if you’re going to have it replace or not. Yet did the work and give you a fat bill.

I wont mention any name of the place as I am still waiting to talk to strike master to see what the warranty is and I haven’t picked up my auger yet.

Let me know your thoughts. Maybe I’m just over reacting.

All it has is a 1 year warranty?? I would think it should have atleast 2 years..

Right or wrong, I don’t know.

However even if it was a .50 spring thats only $66.50 for diagnostics and labor. Not much at all these days. Boat dealers for example are at over $100 per hour. So if it’s covered by warranty good for you, if not you still have a running auger now. IMO this isn’t a issue of gouging or pouring it to you on a repair.

Good luck.

Didn’t know that that’s what they charge, but it should be the first thing that gets noted as you hand them your auger. I just think its ideal to at least know what you are getting yourself into.

I guess I should of ask what they would charge if it wasn’t under warranty. If the unit was a few years old I would have done the repair myself. My brother and I worked on turbo engines for many years I don’t think this auger issue is something we couldn’t figure out.

Well.. I guess you live and learn.

What was the arrangement when you left the repair shop? Were they instructed to only diagnose the problem? Were they to repair only if covered by warranty? Or did you just drop it of saying it was spinning at idle?

If the shop was not given specific instructions, I would be hard pressed to fault them for fixing it.

Huntindave wrote:

What was the arrangement when you left the repair shop? Were they instructed to only diagnose the problem? Were they to repair only if covered by warranty? Or did you just drop it of saying it was spinning at idle?

If the shop was not given specific instructions, I would be hard pressed to fault them for fixing it.

I told them the issue and how old it was. They said they will give me a call.. that was it. They didn’t say what could be wrong and how much it cost.

I am not experience with small engine repair shops. But with a car in general the shop or the technician will let you know what the issues is and how much it will cost and if you were going to have it repair or not. If they charge you for diagnostic fee they will let you know up front. I assumed it was the same.

But as I mention you live and learn..

I would think they should of called you before completing the repair.

That said, if they diagnosed it, called you and you said don’t fix it, I’m sure they would of charged you a diagnostic fee just like a car dealer.

I don’t think you would of been happy paying $30 or more for a diag fee and then still have to fix it yourself.

You cannot expect a third party shop to eat the diagnostic time because it was not under warranty and Strikemaster will not reimburse them.

My GF just paid $39 diag fee to a local garage to read the codes from her car. Anti-lock brakes which they told her to take it to the dealer. So basically $39 for nothing, but I thought it was fair.

Fixed my auger for $67? Whats the name of the place incase mine needs work. If you are not happy with it maybe take it back and have them break it again. Everyone loves a broken auger.

Mike W wrote:

Fixed my auger for $67? Whats the name of the place incase mine needs work. If you are not happy with it maybe take it back and have them break it again. Everyone loves a broken auger.

That would depends on what is broken. The only thing I know right with a voice mail was replaced upper unit. I have no idea what that means.

Maybe they didn’t replace anything.$67 seems like a pretty decent price to tear into just about anything.

My GF just paid $39 diag fee to a local garage to read the codes from her car. Anti-lock brakes which they told her to take it to the dealer. So basically $39 for nothing, but I thought it was fair.
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FYI in the future codes can be read at your local auto parts for free.if its a honda acura you can do it yourself.

Mike W wrote:

Maybe they didn’t replace anything.

I will ask the tech when I pick up the auger. All i know is it spins at idle. If they fit it, it shouldn’t spin and I know its not the idle control on high.

Off the topic but …

@ icenutz..I would think $39 would be cheap for a scan diagnostic, I have a scanner for doing just that and it cost me $ 4,500 and a $1,000.00 every 2 years to update to current year. I get $34.99 to just scan the vehicle Weather I repair it or not after.

I thought the Solo had a 2 year warranty ?

Have them describe exactly what the replaced !

trumar wrote:

Off the topic but …

@ icenutz..I would think $39 would be cheap for a scan diagnostic, I have a scanner for doing just that and it cost me $ 4,500 and a $1,000.00 every 2 years to update to current year.

You’re kidding right?? I can by a code scanner for $50 that sends the code right to my phone to check against a libraries of codes. The $50 unit will also clear codes, run stats while driving and show them on a map, and display optional gauges in digital format.

Alex browne wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>trumar wrote:</div>
Off the topic but …

@ icenutz..I would think $39 would be cheap for a scan diagnostic, I have a scanner for doing just that and it cost me $ 4,500 and a $1,000.00 every 2 years to update to current year.

You’re kidding right?? I can by a code scanner for $50 that sends the code right to my phone to check against a libraries of codes. The $50 unit will also clear codes, run stats while driving and show them on a map, and display optional gauges in digital format.

yeah.. that is outrageous. .
I don’t have that type of money but places like autozone does free scan as their service to customers.

But as I mentioned honda and acura have their way to check without using any electronics.

It sounds like the real issue is just a lack of communication. I ‘m thinking they were thinking that as long as it’s a “cheap fix” just do it. You would have liked to know the estimated cost up front. I get a crap load of small engine work done from pressure washers, generators, compressors,…. Some of it is routine and i know a ballpark idea of cost before taking it in and just tell them to fix it. Sometimes I’m surprised and wish I would have scrapped it and bought new…other times its considerable less than I thought. But when I’m concerned on cost to repair Vs replacement, i always set the expectation that i want an estimate before repair. As stated above, I often still pay 20 to 100 for having them tear it apart and look at it.
Most small engine repair shops I use are 60 to 80/hour for labor plus parts often at list price. I think their price was reasonable, even though it may have come at a shock.

Now, if you were under the impression that it was still under warranty or a warranty claim, that should have been established before the repair was completed.

Kent,
To answer your question – Its horrible customer service, and Randy is correct, total lack of communication. A simple phone call with a heads up and you would be complimenting instead of ripping.

I believer the 2 year Warranty on the Strikemaster Augers is the motor alone and 1 year on the rest.

As far as the codes, yes I know codes can be read for free but she wanted the local garage to do the work, cheaper than a dealer. Apparently they would not touch the anti-lock brake system, why I’m not sure but they told here it could cost $1500 at the dealer depending on exactly what needs to be done.

If I can replace the control module for the ABS, I’m going the junk yard route first to see if that will fix it. Rockauto wants $200 for a rebuilt one.

Here is how it works at our service dept…. you walk in, tell us your issue. We give you a $105 quote, explaining this gives our technician 1 hour to try to figure out the needed repair of your vehicle. If it takes less than 1 hour, that is what you will be charged for. At 1 hour, if it is not diagnosed yet, you will receive a call/text (whatever your preferred method of contact is) advising of more time needed at an added cost. You spend your money, we don’t.

1 year warranty on auger/components.2 year warranty on Solo powerhead.So if the clutch/drive assembly is separate from powerhead,it would be 1 year.

If I wanted my 500 dollar auger fixed – the reason I took it there in the first place – and they fixed it for that amount and got it back to me in a short period of time, I’m very happy. If they said they would call – did they mean call when it was done? If so, they followed through. You say you didn’t pick it up yet – they will probably explain what was wrong and what they did at the time you do pick it up and if they don’t….ASK!
Good customer service? I think so.

Thanks, all I received a call from strikemaster so I will call them back to confirm the warranty. I just thought that regardless of who it is. You spend $400+ on your auger use it for 3-4 months total if even cuz the remainder of other months are spend sitting in the garage and now you’ll have to pay extra to get it working right. I believe the quality in this product is just not there anymore.

Since 2013 I’ve own 3 strikemaster augers. My first was a honda lite which gave me issues so I sold it after motor was replaced. I bought the solo in hopes of trouble free, now this.

I recently about 2 weeks ago bought another solo as a back up. And got to use it for the first time this past weekend. The auger barely cut through the ice, it was just rubbing and taking its time going down the ice.

This was a brand new auger out of the box. I also brought that bit in with my broken auger and now they told me the bit will be replaced at no charge but I’ll have to pay for the auger repair.
Maybe I just have bad luck 3 augers with issues. Overall, maybe its time to move on.