I’ve had my lawn mower serviced a couple times over the years from a guy who runs a small business fixing small engines like this. (I last used his service 3-4 years ago). He used to work from a small building that was next to an Ace Hardware, but after that store closed he does the work elsewhere. I saw his business still had a web presence – they operate by picking up the mower from the house, work on it, and then return it to the house. That seemed convenient from my perspective, so I gave him a call. I explained what was wrong with my mower, he had an idea of what needed fixing, and he said he could come get it 2 days later, on a Thursday afternoon.
He came that day and my wife opened the garage door so he could get the mower. He wrote up a service ticket, and tore off the stub (which just had the Service Number on it) and gave it to my wife.
A week later I called the guy to ask about my mower. He said it was fixed, told me how much the repair was, and said he could return it on Saturday. OK.
He arrived on Saturday, removed a mower from his truck, and asked me to start it up to verify it was now working properly. I pointed out to him that this was not my lawn mower. My mower and this mower were both Toros, but mine had the self-propelled front wheels, and the feature for putting on a grass catcher, and the mowers had different mechanisms for adjusting the height of the cut. He said “but this had to be your mower – are you sure?” (I was sure). The mower he brought me had a paper stub attached to it with the same number that was on the stub he had handed to my wife, and that number also matched the service ticket where he wrote my name/address info and the description of the problem with the mower. I was hoping he had written the exact model number of the mower, but all he wrote was “Toro”. He said he would try to get it straightened out, and he put the mower back onto his truck. (I also did not give him a check for the repair).
A week went by, and I heard nothing from this guy yet. I gave him a call and got put into his voice mail, and left a message saying I wanted my mower back, and again gave the best description I could of my mower. Unfortunately, I do not remember the exact model number of my mower.
I suspect that this guy (or a helper) accidentally returned my mower to another customer.
How does this kind of scenario usually play out in real life? What if he ultimately says, “sorry, I can’t find the mower you say you had, and our records show that this is your mower”.? I wish he or I had written down the exact model number, or even better, I wish I had a photo of my mower, but it’s too late for wishing now.
Without a serial number or even a specific model number, it’s going to be a he said/you said. That the mower was picked up blind and you can’t swear he attached the work tag to it correctly will be another point against you.
Always file the paperwork that comes with an appliance or major tool. An accordion file of all that “useless junk” takes up a 9x12x3 inch space and may be 99% wasted, but the one time you need a serial number, purchase date, exact part number etc. it will pay for all the hassle.
That fact that he did not call you within a few hours of the mixup indicates the mower has been delivered to another customer and he cannot get his hands on it, or the mis-delivered customer is (for whatever reason out of town or unavailable, or is refusing to give it back since yours has a few nicer features. The worst interpretation is that he had it stolen from his shop and was trying to play you ,but that would be kind of unlikely behavior for someone who survives on word of mouth.
The odd thing here (to me) is that usually small businesses like this are very relationship oriented so that he could not re-acquire the mower and correct the mistake quickly is odd. Normally a businessperson would be scrambling to make this right.
I had a similar problem at a bike shop. I dropped a wheel off to be rebuilt and when I went to pick it up they guy had a different, inferior wheel for me. We arranged to give me the rebuild for free, I paid for the new tire (still pissed I agreed to do that) and we parted ways.
It’s up to the shop to make things good for you. It may be tough to prove these things, but you deserve to be made whole.
If you have a copy of the owner’s manual, or a sales receipt or ??? that would identify the exact model you owned, you should be golden in small claims court.
A lawn mower that depreciated over the years isn’t worth much. You can go to small claims and get a little money back, try to settle with the guy yourself, but that lawnmower may be gone forever. I went through similar circumstances with a pressure washer, I just ate it, wasn’t worth the trouble to do anything about it, although in that case it was just lost, your guy may still have a chance of recovering your mower.
Not likely worth the effort unless the repair guy is a total ass.
OP would be entitled to receive his mower back and pay for the repair, or he would be entitled to receive the fair market value of a used lawnmower minus the cost of the repair. I don’t know, but I suspect that total would come out to less than $200. If the OP’s time and effort are worth anything to him, going to even small claims court over this is going to be more trouble than it’s worth.
If the guy will deal with you, work something out. Maybe he gives you a less fancy mower, doesn’t charge for the repair, and y’all shake hands and forget it happened. Or something like that.