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| - I dropped off a saw that wouldn't start to see if it could be fixed. The staff there are very polite, engaging, and easy to work with. If this review were based on customer service it would be 5 stars especially for a lawn/power equipment repair shop.
Unfortunately, upon having the saw looked at by a technician, the diagnosis was to rebuild the carb and replace the intake. Not an unreasonable idea although I was hoping for something more scientific like a pressure and vacuum test to verify the presence or absence of air leaks throughout the intake, case, etc. The quote for to complete this rebuild and intake replacement was $248. This seemed high to me but what do I know, I'm not a saw expert, which is why I brought it there in the first place, and later why I was extra surprised that I was able to order an $11 carb rebuild kit (40 plus 5 star reviews on amazon), a can of carb cleaner, watch a youtube video, inspect the intake for leaks, and rebuild it myself from start to finish in less than 1 hr. It now runs, idles, and cuts like new. I've had the chance to run it through several cords of hardwood and can confirm it is working appropriately.
So what's the point to all of this? A business has to make money. There's nothing wrong with that, but $248 is not a reasonable or fair price. I know the parts they would have used would have cost more due to being bought from the most expensive source possible, but even if they were 4 times the cost($17), that's still $180 in labor for what is, in reality, less than an hour of work for someone who does this all day long. That's more than a doctor, a lawyer, or oh yeah, probably more than the engineer who made the saw, charges per hour. I can afford to do this repair myself every year for the next 14 years before it would be break even to pay $248.
I'd recommend Roy's go kart and lawnmower repair as a substitute (located off Country Club and Guadalupe). They're under new ownership, also have a personable staff and have fixed all varieties of lawn equipment over the years for reasonable prices.
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