Home Depot
Ryobi Blower Warranty Denied by Claiming Bad Gas Caused Seizure

On 04/18/10 I purchased several items from Home Depot, including a Ryobi trimmer and a Ryobi backpack blower, RY09600. I spent well over $500 in total, and I do have all the receipts.

Last year we still had lawn care services, but this year, because of the economy and because I retired, I decided to do my lawn myself. I tried to use my blower and after a few uses the motor suddenly seized. Of course, the first thing I checked was whether I had bad gas or a bad mix with oil, and I could not believe it, but other tools that use the same gas, which I mixed very carefully, had no problem. Only the blower did. I took it to a Home Depot to be checked. Home Depot sent it to their contractors for Ryobi warranty repairs. Of course, 10 days later when I called to check on the status, they told me that the blower had bad gas, was not repairable and was out of warranty.

Now it gets very interesting! I took it home and took the blower apart (I am a very handy guy), and guess what, the motor and the "bad gas" had absolutely nothing to do with the seized motor. Please allow me to explain what really happened. The backpack blower has a fan on the back that is mounted and covered inside a plastic case, in a so-called top volute and bottom volute. The fan was stuck inside and had damaged the covers, which were preventing the fan and motor from spinning (just a poor design and very fragile), so of course it seemed like a seized motor. After I removed the cover, the fan and motor were operating. So whoever made this diagnosis did not even open it and did not even bother to look for the real problem. Now they tell me that if I put the wrong gas in there it was my fault and it is not under warranty. But this problem happened as a result of bad manufacturing and had nothing to do with bad gas. They supposedly have a warranty of 2-3 years.

I am trying to get in touch with the manufacturer and a Home Depot manager, and the incompetent contractors who "supposedly know" what they are doing are just trying to brush me off, and I am stuck with a broken blower! And now all this stress is intentionally causing me emotional and physical distress beyond all measure! What can I do?

Company: Home Depot
Country: USA
State: Georgia
City: Atlanta
ZIP: 30339
Address: 2455 Paces Ferry Road
Phone: 7704338211
Site: homedepot.com

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