# Sears Refuses To Fix Lemon Lawn Tractor



## golddust (Jan 2, 2005)

We've had a Sears Lawn Tractor for about three years now and, we swear the thing is cursed. It's been nothing but trouble culminating in the engine completely failing. Sears expects us to pay to replace it - yeah right! The tractor has seen maybe six months of service in 3 years. Our 14 years old Sear Lawn Tractor runs like a dream but the mowing deck is shot. We reported them to the state's customer service bureau here in Florida, but they haven't been able to get any satisfaction. Sears just refuses to cooperate with anyone. We could take them to small claims court but even if the verdict is in our favor, the courts don't enforce collection - can you believe that!?!


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

And this would relate to DIY how?


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## GoneForNow (Jul 22, 2001)

golddust said:


> Sears just refuses to cooperate with anyone. We could take them to small claims court but even if the verdict is in our favor, the courts don't enforce collection - can you believe that!?!


JohnWill....I'll will now make this into a DIY thread.

Golddust........Courts aren't collection agencies. You get the judgment you are expected to do what is necessary to collect. Should you get a judgment against Sears (unlikely) you would have to avail yourself of the various civil procedures available under Florida law to enforce that judgment, such as garnishment of a bank account, seizure of assets etc. Now you can go down to your local courthouse library and I'm sure you will find books detailing the steps necessary to obtain the satisfaction of your judgment once you obtain it. In fact, the books will explain in painful detail what you need to do to even file the suit. A little free advice, you will need to serve the resident agent in Florida for Sears. Usually, that is a corporation that Sears pays to act as its resident agent. You can find out who that is on the Internet by looking at the State of Florida corporation web site.


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## golddust (Jan 2, 2005)

We're trying to figure out another way of going about this. Small claims court alone will cost about $150 - that's almost 10% of what Sears wants to replace the engine. They want $1200 - what we paid for the entire lawn tractor.


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## n2gun (Mar 3, 2000)

Have you checked around locally to see if there is someome who rebuilds small engines? Just a thought. Perhaps someone retired looking to add to their income.


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## golddust (Jan 2, 2005)

Actually, what hubby is going to try next is to take the engine out of the old tractor and put it in the new one. The old one still purrs like a kitten after 14 years - no problems at all.


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## bearone2 (Jun 4, 2004)

how long was the warranty? i bet not 3 years.


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## gurutech (Apr 23, 2004)

Just a thought - but suppose you do get the judgement against Sears in your favor for "X" dollars.

Since you have to enforce the judgement yourself (or hire someone to do it for you), why not just go into a Sears store and walk out with "X" dollars worth of merchandise? If they try to stop you, show them the judgement, and keep walking!

(Not the best thought, but might get a laugh....)


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

gurutech said:


> Just a thought - but suppose you do get the judgement against Sears in your favor for "X" dollars.
> 
> Since you have to enforce the judgement yourself (or hire someone to do it for you), why not just go into a Sears store and walk out with "X" dollars worth of merchandise? If they try to stop you, show them the judgement, and keep walking!
> 
> (Not the best thought, but might get a laugh....)


Most likely get arrested.


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## golddust (Jan 2, 2005)

Stoner said:


> Most likely get arrested.


Probably!!


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## Sequal7 (Apr 15, 2001)

I assume that you have been talking to someone locally?

Heres what you could do, buy another tractor the same as your broken one, swap motors, clean up the older engine, install it back into the new tractor and return it stating it will not run...Possible you would feel satisfied in some manner.

Seriously though...when you say "the engine completely failing" what is wrong with the engine exactly (ie no compression, no oil pressure, wont start or is it a cracked piston, cylinder, head....)


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## lexmarks567 (Aug 13, 2006)

Anyupdate as to switching engines


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## golddust (Jan 2, 2005)

Not yet. Hubby is waiting for neighbor to get home (he's a trucker and is on the road right now); as he's promised to help him when he get's back. He's got the tools needed to get at the bolts on this thing. That's about it right now.


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## golddust (Jan 2, 2005)

Sequal7 said:


> I assume that you have been talking to someone locally?
> 
> Heres what you could do, buy another tractor the same as your broken one, swap motors, clean up the older engine, install it back into the new tractor and return it stating it will not run...Possible you would feel satisfied in some manner.
> 
> Seriously though...when you say "the engine completely failing" what is wrong with the engine exactly (ie no compression, no oil pressure, wont start or is it a cracked piston, cylinder, head....)


The Sears tech said the engine is defective but Sears isn't backing him up.


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## n2gun (Mar 3, 2000)

golddust said:


> The Sears tech said the engine is defective but Sears isn't backing him up.


Email Sears HQ telling them what is going in. OH also put a link to the "great PR they are getting (this thread).


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## golddust (Jan 2, 2005)

n2gun said:


> Email Sears HQ telling them what is going in. OH also put a link to the "great PR they are getting (this thread).


We've been in touch with them - if you can call it that! They absolutely refuse to do anything whatsoever. They have pretty much said - "Take a hike"!


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## lexmarks567 (Aug 13, 2006)

golddust said:


> We've been in touch with them - if you can call it that! They absolutely refuse to do anything whatsoever. They have pretty much said - "Take a hike"!


to bad you can't sue for breach of contract.


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## Sequal7 (Apr 15, 2001)

Perhaps Briggs and Stratton could offer you some mediation or assistance on the repair, they are more than like the engine manufacturer.

Sears does suck...


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## keely111 (Apr 10, 2007)

Do you have all the paperwork for the repairs you've done so far?

How about going down to the store you bought it at and talk (in a firendly way) with the manager. Tell him you are a loyal Sears customer and see if you both can't work out something reasonable.

Remember the warranty is the warranty and what happens after it expires is your problem.

In all honesty after 3 years of constant problems I would question why you didn't have a sit down with the manager before.


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## golddust (Jan 2, 2005)

keely111 said:


> ... Remember the warranty is the warranty and what happens after it expires is your problem.
> 
> In all honesty after 3 years of constant problems I would question why you didn't have a sit down with the manager before.


We've been arguing with the store, and the corporate office for what seems like forever and they never cooperated. When they finally decided to send someone out, the tech stated the engine was defective because we shouldn't have had all these problems. He could see the tractor was well taken care of and not abused. Warranty shmarranty, it's a piece of junk and should be replaced (I argued with HP to replace their garbage hard drive on our computer after the warranty had expired because it had crashed twice, and had to be replaced, in as many years. Whentheir corporate office finally got wind of it because I'd reported them to our state consumer bureau they replaced it again.) Sears ignored all correspondence from our state government office. If they're flipping off a government agency, what chance do we have??


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## lexmarks567 (Aug 13, 2006)

golddust said:


> We've been arguing with the store, and the corporate office for what seems like forever and they never cooperated. When they finally decided to send someone out, the tech stated the engine was defective because we shouldn't have had all these problems. He could see the tractor was well taken care of and not abused. Warranty shmarranty, it's a piece of junk and should be replaced (I argued with HP to replace their garbage hard drive on our computer after the warranty had expired because it had crashed twice, and had to be replaced, in as many years. Whentheir corporate office finally got wind of it because I'd reported them to our state consumer bureau they replaced it again.) Sears ignored all correspondence from our state government office. If they're flipping off a government agency, what chance do we have??


did you get my PM I sent about this


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