Weingartz — Local services in Utica

This is my 2nd google review. The first review was positive. I’m not one to complain but just got to the point of being very frustrated with my new lawn tractor after being so excited to buy it. I’m writing to let others know what I’ve gone through in the one year since I bought it and to document my story, especially since my next fix will be on my own dime. I did much research on which lawn tractor to get and landed on getting a Cub Cadet. I bought the LX42 XT2 in May of 2023 at Weingartz in Utica. That summer it never started right. I would have to crank and crank before it would finally start. Once started and warmed up, it would have no problem starting again. As the temperatures got colder it got harder to start. Then in early November (it was about 50 degrees) it would not start. I bought the package they offered: if I pay to get the tractor delivered, then I get a one year free pick up if there are any issues. Happy I bought that! They came and picked it up with no problem mid-November. About mid-December I called to get status and they said it was just finished and I had to pay some amount. They tried to say I put bad gas in it. I was going out of my way to buy ethanol free gas since they told me that is what was in it when it was originally delivered. After calling the service manager and pleading my case they said no charge. To fix the issue they rebuilt the carburetor and put in a new battery. They dropped it off about week before Christmas. I went to try it out the next day (probably 30 degrees) and nothing. Would not start. I called the service manager again and told him what was going on. Said ok he would personally come and pick it up on a certain day shortly after Christmas. The day came and gone…left 2 voicemails over the next week and nothing back. Finally, I decided to go into the store in person. The manager said his bad he didn’t get back to me. They picked it up to fix it again. After I asked what they fixed, they said they rebuilt the carburetor and put in a new battery. Sound familiar? Yeah, same as before. The scheduler couldn't explain. On the delivery day, I got a call from the guy delivering my tractor (a super nice person). He is the best part of this whole story. He called and said he finally got my lawn tractor fixed. He said when he went into the warehouse to get it started and put on the truck to deliver it, it wouldn’t start. I stared to laugh and said finally…someone who may understand. He said he went back in and said to the manager can’t give the customer this tractor back. He pleaded to get me a much bigger battery as he said this is a KNOWN ISSUE with these tractors and that they were not designed for these smaller batteries they were providing. They were just underpowered and that’s why having such a problem in colder temperatures. I regret not being at home as I would have loved to buy this guy a beer for caring! If you read this, please stop buy so I can take care of that. The tractor was then sitting in my garage until I could get it in my shed. It did start at around 20 degrees although it did struggle at first. Then ironically my friend came to visit for the weekend and saw my new cub cadet sitting in the garage. His first question was did I have issues starting in the cold. He had the same issue. Just bought over the last year and actually wanted to put a plow on it and use it in winter. He said he would put a heater blowing to the engine to get it warm and then it would start. So now to summer. I have used it about 4 times. It does start, but this last time today it did crank for a bit before starting. Also, not sure if related, but the throttle wire is messed up since taking it in and not positioned right. The last half of the throttle does nothing when go down and I push all the way to top, to choke and not sure if it is opening all the way up now. I was very excited to get a new tractor and now every time I throttle, I’m reminded this new tractor is still not right. So that is my story and...

If you buy at Utica Weingartz be on notice you are taking a chance. Here are my experiences as to why.

At Weingartz 15 years ago I made a major purchase and more recently took a riding mower in for repairs. Both experiences were really bad and I vowed I would never return to Weingartz though at the time I lived 5 minutes away. It wasn't hard to stay away for years as I only had to drive 3 miles past them and do my business with Hellebucyks.

A couple years ago I decided to get a Kubota full size tractor. I priced one out at a dealer close to my new home. Shortly after that I happened to be driving by Weingartz and thought I would go ahead and get a quote for that tractor. The only way I would ever buy anything from them was they would have to come in at a very, very good price. Low and behold they did. $2500 less. (This gets them 1 star.) I was told as long as I ordered the tractor before the end of the year I could get this great price.

I showed up about one week later on Dec 28th and was told I missed my opportunity to get the good price. After Jan 1st I emailed the sales manager and he apologized and gave me the price. I went in and ordered the tractor. The guys I worked with were nice. (2 stars.) The tractor came in. I am going to jump ahead and not list all the issues encountered. Due to problems within Weingartz it took setting up delivery 3 times before it was finally delivered. During one of those failed deliveries it just didn't show up and no one called. I had rearranged my schedule and had waited 4 1/2 hours. When it didn't show I called them to find out the tractor wasn't ready so they cancelled delivery. Apparently it had not occurred to anyone to call me! Not happy.

When my new $24000 tractor was finally delivered on a trailer being pulled by their shop pickup, it was coated in mud including the top of the rollover bar which while on the trailer was at least 8 ft above the road surface! Granted the roads they took to get to me were muddy but a tarp over the front of the tractor or at least driving the delivery truck a little slower would have helped. The delivery driver had to use a towel to wipe mud off the tractor seat before sitting in it to back the tractor off the trailer! I don't have a working pressure washer so spent 2 hours with buckets of hot water on 30 degree temps and snow blowing sideways and was only able to remove some of the mud. It's caked into areas only a pressure washer could possibly clean.

Disgusted I emailed the sales manager again sharing everything in more detail then I have here. I never received a response! No apology or explanation or remedy. Nothing! I sadly expected they wouldn't respond because that is how they roll. As I told the sales manager in my email, I have had worse customer experiences but I have never worked with a business where across the board and at all times they failed to be even average. They don't understand how to do what it takes to give the customer a great, let alone average experience.

Do yourself a favor and look elsewhere for sales and service.

FYI - I want to be clear that I am not just a negative Nellie. I have so far given 38 mostly extensive Google reviews. My average review is over 4 stars! This is one of only three businesses which I have given a rating of 2 stars or less.

Addition to this post. After I wrote this review Weingartz responded here that my comments have been passed on to the manager and I would be contacted that day. It never happened! The only time I have been contacted since writing this post was to have me drive 50 miles round trip from my home to re-sign the purchase documents because they messed up with their original documents. I went into the store and worked with a salesman who I do like on this but no contact by management or mention of this post. They are consistent -...

Such a great place to shop at.

06/05/2020 EDIT: I’ve shopped here for probably 10 years now and never had a bad experience until I went in with my Neighbor on Saturday, May 30th to buy a new Zero Turn mower. First, they were packed and we had to wait almost an hour to even speak to somebody. Finally, we were able to talk to someone, Ron. He didn’t know the price of the mower and was very cocky about making a sale. The store didn’t have any of that exact mower on the floor, but there were some in the warehouse. All we wanted to do was see the mower. His response was “nope, I can’t do that.” Really? If I want to go buy a Corvette, am I not going to be able to at least see what I’m buying? Finally, my neighbor was able to put a $100 deposit down so they could get the mower out of storage. Again, I did not like his attitude, as he said something like “if you don’t want to buy it after you look at, no offense, but I’ll sell it to someone else.” He promised he would call by Tuesday, June 2nd and it would be all ready. Well, Thursday, June 4th rolls around and she hasn’t heard a word. Finally, she has to call them and they put her on a 15 minute hold, then disconnect her. How unprofessional. Finally, she calls back and they say that Ron is not in the store until the next Tuesday, June 9th. Shouldn’t Ron have told her this? They then proceed to say that they don’t know what happened to the mower and it was never put together. Seriously? Luckily, she was able to get delivery compensated (normally $100) and they are going to deliver it Saturday, June 6th (a week after we originally went into the store, not in 3 days like originally promised). Avoid Ron at all costs. I like Weingartz in general, but I don’t think Ron’s inattentive and rude attitude represents this company. This is why you go to Weingartz instead of a big box store- to have personable service and at least expect a call back. Bad experience.. very disappointing.

06/06/2020 EDIT: I updated from two to three stars because the delivery person was prompt, helpful,...