The Rental Store — Local services in Webb City

Here's a good one. The Rental Store in Joplin had an advertisement that they were closing out on Stihl and Toro items. I am fond of Toro mowers mine is 12 years old and the discount was good, so I decided to take the plunge. I was sick and missed work Friday, didnt feel well so I called and they said the model I wanted was sold and gone. Well an hour went by and I called to see if they had any 50 inch models. I was told that they had a certain 50 inch model I checked and it was close enough I told them I was heading to Joplin to buy the mower. Now were not talking a few hundred dollars..were talking a few thousand dollars. They said we lock our gate at 1 PM but we will have this ready to go. I got there in a rainstorm about 20 till 1pm..went to go pay and they had people waiting so they said my mower was out front against the building..I said I was going to look because they were busy...went out front...no mower. they then said it was out front on the grass..went out...no mower. The mower was never there..apparently sold sometime in the last few days. Now I was a little miffed but not radical. I thought at the least they would, try to make a better deal on a more expensive mower...no I thought they would make make me a deal on any mower on the property...no. I kinda thought I deserved an apology or we are really sorry this happened...NO I called to see before I drove 70 miles in the rain sick with a cold. They said yes the mower was there. Mistake I can live with their attitude was hard to deal with. Now these folks aren't closing completely, they were offered a lucrative amount of money for their property and they are moving to Webb City Mo. I have bought several parts for my Toro and Stihl weedeaters and they have worked on my stuff before. Not only was no apology offered, they locked the gates and went into the store and back room and left me standing there. THESE ARE THE SAME PEOPLE THAT WHINE AND MOAN THAT NO ONE SUPPORTS SMALL BUSINESS. I CAN ORDER THE SAME MOWER ASSEMBLED AND DELIVERED TO MY DOOR FROM HOME DEPOT AND HD RETAIL PRICE WAS 200 LESS. I try to support small business and this. I will never spend another...

Negative experiences disproportionately stand out in our memory, but I wanted to share a positive experience I had with this business: I have a Shindaiwa trimmer that wasn’t working for whatever reasons, so a few years ago it was taken to a repair shop (perhaps Joplin Mower Center) and their diagnosis was that it was on its last leg essentially. I took it to The Rental Store to get a second opinion. After performing some simple repairs on it, they ensured me that—if maintained—it would continue to serve me for many years. It’s still going strong.

The other repair shop either made a premature conclusion or they were looking to take advantage of my ignorance in this domain by selling me a trimmer that I didn’t need. In any case, I am thankful for The Rental Store’s competence and honesty.

I also have a Stihl chainsaw that they have resurrected for me at least once. So, I was disappointed to learn a couple weeks ago that they can no longer work on Stihl equipment after apparently losing the contract. (Stihl seems kind of fickle about their contracts.) My experiences with The Retail Store have been characterized by reasonable prices and...

I just bought an Echo GT-225L trimmer from here this week. First off it was $20 cheaper than Home Depot so that's nice, but on top of that they took it in the back, gave me a full tank of gas, and started it so I knew it was working even before I left the store. They also included a pair of safety glasses!

When I walked in the store I was greeted with a smile and a hello, I walked straight to the trimmers to look at them as they were relatively busy. I had a question so I walked up to the counter and the staff (Austin) had the answers right off the top of his head without having to look stuff up.

Very clean store, a lot of different products and brands. I would definitely recommend and will return for my next outdoor power...