Chatfield True Value Hardware — Local services in Southbury

The last weekend in June the mower belt broke on my John Deer Tractor, so I called Chatfield’s and asked if they fix John Deer Tractors and they said they do. But, it will be two weeks before we look at it. At that point we will call you to let you know what is wrong with it. O.k. so far. One month goes by, it’s July 30th and I have not heard from them, so I call in. They tell me it is only the belt and nothing else is wrong. The belt has been on backorder, but they just got a shipment that has not been unloaded yet, so your belt is probably here now.

Three weeks go by; it’s August 22 and no call back. I call them and they say, the belt is on back order from the distributor. “Unfortunately, there is nothing they can do if they are not shipping the parts”, I’m told.

Then, they call me the next day and say, “we have done some research since you last called and located a belt for your tractor. We will take care of you on the price since it has taken so long”. You will have the tractor for the weekend.

But, Monday the 26th comes and there is no tractor, so WE call and they say that the distributer sent the wrong size belt. No ETA on when a new belt may arrive.

So, what to do? We Google “John Deer parts, CT” and find a John Deer store in New Milford and call them. They carry the mower belt in stock or we can go to Farmington as they have also had the belt in stock also. We call Chatfield’s back and tell them that WE will go get the correct belt for them so we can finally get our tractor back. It’s a bit of a “heated exchange” since it has now been about 55 days and we still have no date as to when we will get our tractor back (paying $45 ever 10 days to have our lawn cut while waiting for the tractor, $225 up to this point) We buy the belt from John Deer and drop it off on Tuesday the 27th. Wednesday the 28th I get a call that the tractor is ready and the bill is $225. I said that seems like a lot for a belt. The last person who called me (and only person in almost 2 months) said, “because of the very long time this has taken we will take care of you on the bill”. His answer is "Well, “I’m the service manager and I am the only one who calls customers and I never said that”. Now, does he mean I imagined the conversation or does he mean I am lying? Hmm Before I say anything, he tells me he will take $50 off and only charge me $175 instead. I say OK, and hang up quickly. I believe its best not engaging a person who will argue about the topic of a conversation that they were not present for. At 2:30 my tractor is delivered but the $175 bill does include a $51 charge for that very same belt that we drove to New Milford to buy and then delivered to them. So, I had to have the poor deliver guys call in and have the $50 taken off the bill. In the end to get the mower belt fixed it took about 57 days, cost $121 and required us to drive to New Milford to purchase the correct belt and deliver it to them....

So my husband and I went in about 2 weeks ago to replace flag holders that had again failed us and snapped off due to strong winds. When we were describing our problem to the kind gentleman up front they went to see if they might of had anymore in stock for us. While looking they found they could order brass ones for us. We ordered 2 and they came in super quick and we got the phone call that we could pick them up. When I picked them up the gentleman who had ordered them for us said if we had problems with these to let them know and they would see what they could do but he didn't think these would give us problems. When my husband opened them and and felt how heavy and durable they were he was extremely excited and pleased with the purchase. I don't have names for those who helped us but they were so kind and professional and didn't seem annoyed with our questions and were happy to help. Thank you so much for going above and beyond to help us figure out a way to fix a problem that we hope is fixed for good now. We greatly appreciate the help and guidance we have gotten from your store anytime we go in for any kind of service. We will contine to be long time customers because of the genuine and kind customer service...

I would highly recommend Chatfield True Value Hardware and Chatfield Power Equipment to anyone looking for great family run and local supplier for any hardware, building materials, paint needs, as well as heavy duty equipment available through their rental department or for purchase or service through Chatfield Power Equipment. Their Stihl and Scag lines are extensive, all of the their staff are extremely knowledgeable about all product lines and are a great resource for any of your needs. I’ve come to know the Berger family store owners very well shopping here over the last six years, they are a huge part of our community and as a regular weekly frequent customer supporting all parts of their business, they are a very important vendor to supply what we need to keep our lives and business going. There has never been an instance where they didn’t have exactly what we were looking for or needed at that particular time. The Berger family and their staff are the best of the best and have set the bar high for others to follow. Keep up the great work Berger family and Chatfield True Value, we are looking forward to this summer’s Big Green Egg event and supporting you now and in...