I sent my Grasshopper 120 to Atmore Appliance in Atmore, Alabama, due to a referral from Grasshopper Mower's customer service number. They stated that Atmore Appliance is an authorized Grasshopper Dealer.
Atmore Appliance's owner quoted me $350.00 to repair the motor. 10 days after it was supposed to have been completed, the owner called me to let me know it was ready and my bill was $671.00. Needless to say I was not happy. Typical backwoods bait and switch.
Three weeks after I got my mower back, it broke again. I called Grasshopper Mower's corporate line. Spoke with a woman in customer service who assured me someone would be back with me by the end of the day that day. Monday went by, Tuesday went by, Wednesday the mower went to the Gravely dealer, and Thursday I called Grasshopper Mower Corporate AGAIN. Lo and behold, Billy Brasher, the regional sales rep for our area called.
He confirmed that they were having problems with Atmore and that he was not confident in their ability to do their job correctly. He confirmed that he had spoken with the owner for Atmore because he was afraid I was calling corporate. Billy also confirmed that the owner of Atmore admitted to baiting and switching me up on the price. His 'mistake' was not calling me to get authorization to repair. Regardless, Billy Brasher of Grasshopper Mower guaranteed he would take the invoice and make sure I was reimbursed for whatever their dealer had to do.
Fast forward to today. I got a call from the owner of the tractor shop who has the mower and here's the deal. Atmore Appliance billed me for a new push rod, new valves, breakdown of the engine, ring job and other things. Atmore didn't even put in new valves, no ring job was present, essentially nothing they claimed to have done was done. They tuned the engine to run on 1 cylinder and billed me for making it run on both. Today, the mechanic tore down the bottom part of the engine again because it appeared that something STILL wasn't right and it appeared to be the governor. Well guess what? The block is cracked, the governor is trashed, and I'm looking at a new motor.
I contacted Billy Brasher from Grasshopper and he said "Well you aren't going to get a new motor out of us." My attorney has been contacted. We are filing suit against Grasshopper Corporate as well as Atmore Appliance if this is not resolved to my satisfaction.
Atmore blew the engine. Grasshopper claimed they would make sure that whatever repairs were necessary on the machine, they would guarantee. And today? Different story.
I hope ANYONE who is thinking about buying a Grasshopper understands that you are on your own and at the mercy of the most ignorant dealers on the planet, and that the company will not stand behind either their product or their word. If that's the kind of service you want, buy all you want.
But I'm letting all of my fellow farmers know, their service is non-existent, they appear to be in it for the quick buck only, it's perfectly alright with them that they have a dealer defrauding customers and blowing machines, and moreover that it is ok for a company representative to make a guarantee they have no intention of backing up.
Me? I've got a pile of scrap metal that I wouldn't sell to a dog. I think I'm going to go get my backhoe and bury it very deep in the earth right where all dead things belong. What junk!
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