Two seasons ago I took my snow blower in because my electronic start stopped working. Once they got it in, they told me the carburetor had to be replaced. I told them to go ahead. Got my snow blower back and it still didn't work - sent it back and they replaced the starter. No problem. Last winter my snowblower started leaking gas. Took it to another place and now they tell me the carburetor needs to be replaced. It's all junked up inside which leads me to wonder if the original carburetor was replaced in the first place? Just seems weird when it's only been used maybe 15 times since the "replacement." At the time I suspected all was not right. Trust your instincts.
I believe all along all I needed was a starter and they didn't replace the carburetor, but I was charged for it. Never did the post because I figured I would just go elsewhere but now when I'm shown a gunked up carburetor things added up.