Gentry Small Engine Repair — Local services in Toledo

Recently my mother decided to take her lawn mower to Gentry Small Engine Repair to have a tune up and several things repaired.

Tune Up Replace both deck hangers, one had completely broken and the other side was cracked and would soon fail. Trouble shoot intermittent starting issues. When the mower is hot it will randomly fail when trying to restart. Install inner tubes in the front tires. They would frequently loose air and go flat. Adjust steering. The mower will drift to the left when both handles are in the forward position.

After my mother received the lawn mower back I came over on Saturday to help her mow. I was surprised to find both front tires flat. I decided to call Gentry’s and spoke with Emily. I asked why the front tires did not have inner tubes installed. She committed they held air the week it was in the shop and did not see the need. I found that strange that she decided to not honor a simple customer request. I reviewed the invoice and did not see any adjusting of the steering. She commented that because of the age of the machine that she could work on it all day and it would not do any good. The comment that the machine is too old and the steering could not be adjusted definitely threw up a red flag. I ended the phone call and went to mow.

Before mowing I inspected the machine. I was surprised to find that one deck hanger was replaced and the other was not. I decided not to mow but rather to adjust the steering. It took me a 7/16 wrench and all of 10 minutes to get it tracking properly. I simply involved a bolt with a lock nut that limited the range of travel of the steering levers. Both bolts could easily be accessed from the seating position while on the lawn mower. I turned off the mower to break the news to my mom that she had been taken advantage of, and that I would be calling Emily back.

I called Emily a second time to go over the issues. I explained I was able to successfully fix the steering in a matter of minutes and a 7/16 wrench. She had no comment. I asked why she did not replace the second deck hanger as requested. She commented that she did not notice it was broken. I asked what she found out about the intermittent starting issues. She commented that she was not told it had a starting issues. I asked about the inner tubes again. She commented they don’t handle that and I need to go to a tire shop. We did call Napa in Mattoon. They had tubes but said that new tires are only $20 a piece compared to $10 for inner tubes. Kuddos to Neal tire. Not only did they up sell their product. They received more profit and I’m sure we will be more pleased with new tires compared to just the inner tubes. Excellent customer service.

My mother went over to pick up second deck hanger that should have been replaced already in shop. She explained that her late husband would not have stood for being taking advantage of like this. Emily had no comment. My mother expressed concerns that she was taken advantage of. Emily commented to my mother to pay what she thought was fair. My mother said the bill has already been paid in full. Emily commented that if she was over charged it was by no more than $20. How crazy is that she admitted that she over charged.

I find it sad that Emily could have made this right at any moment. But choose to lie about the steering and made no attempt to rectify the issues that she neglected. She got to keep our money this time but at a cost of many potential thousands in the future. Needless to say. We will...

My husband and I took our Echo lawn trimmer to Gentry's on Monday at noon. The lady put a new head on the Echo trimmer (which we brought in) while we waited and did not charge us. I offered to pay, and she said no charge. Thank you. We will bring in our business and refer others to...

Bought a one hander efco chainsaw, had Emily put a 16 inch bar and chain on it. Wow! If you need a small saw that will go through 14, 16 inch hardwood, this will do it. It has been through the limbs and tops of 4 trees so far and I use it on...