As with many things you have to be skeptical when to some extent when listening to people discuss their issues with the machine.
A certain percentage of the problems will be due to the fact that whoever set it up was incompetent. You're most likely going to find this at the big box stores.
A certain percentage will be a result of poor design or low quality materials used in manufacturing. This will be rare because the basic models are pretty simple and even though they sell a lot of them, the quality control at the factory should be good due to the fact that they will have plenty of practice getting the thing built right.
Most folks don't want to hear it but the main cause of problems is operator misuse and neglect.
My brother-in-law bought the basic Sears riding mower (1000 something or other.) He paid less than $1000 for it two or three years ago. There are no quality control issues with it and it was properly set up at the Sears where he got it. I think it's a piece or junk. He owns a storage shed and yet he leaves the thing sitting outside regardless of what the weather throws at it. So just a few short years later, various linkages are rusty, it cuts unevenly, looks terrible, etc. All because he couldn't be bothered to put it away in a dry place. He'll have you believe that it's poor quality on behalf of the machine. I keep my comments to myself, but I tend to believe that the problems are a result of poor ownership.
Where I live now, most of my neighbors have big-box mowers. For the tasks they have, the big-box mowers seem to do just fine. They take them out of their storage sheds on Saturday morning, cut their grass, hose off the machine, and put it back in the shed.
As I said, most of the problems come from the owners.
