My wife was mowing a gun range in Crosby, Tx today. She called me and asked what grade shear bolts were in the toolbox on the tractor... I told her they were Grade 5, and that's when she told me that the Grade 5 bolt shear bolt survived, but the input shaft on the mower's gear box did not.
She had two tractors out there with her, a JD 5500 with 15' batwing, and Kubota
L3940 with Howse 606 mower for finish/ up close work. This was on the Howse 606. So I told her to just use the JD and I would make some calls to find out about the warranty on the Howse mower. We just purchased it 4/21/2010. Called the dealer I bought the mower from and they said it was 90 day warranty... So I hit Google looking for a gear box or shaft, and I came across the Howse website, and saw the tab that said "Warranty", after reading their warranty, it appears that it is actually 12 months, not 90 days. I called the dealer back and had to leave a message for their service department.
Next phone call I made was to Howse Mfg. I spoke with a customer service rep and told her what my problems were. She asked for my number so that Jim could call me back, as he was gone to lunch when I called. Less than an hour later he called me and I told him what happened, and that I was using Grade 5 bolt. He asked me for my address, said he would have a complete new gearbox in the mail headed my way, and I could either drop the mower at any of his dealers, or replace it myself. I offered to UPS the old gearbox back to him, and he told me not to worry about it, that I had already gone through enough over this mower.
BTW, I am still waiting on the dealer service dept. to return my call
So I called the owner of the dealership (I dealt with him 14 years ago on a tractor) and told him about the situation. I explained that I felt he should know how his employees were representing his business. First they were not aware of the warranty length on equipment they sold, and second they fail to return calls when a customer is broke down on the job. Told him that had I not already had a working relationship with him personally, then I would not have bothered to call him, I just would not have done business with them in the future. He thanked me, and offered to comp my next service on my
L3940. I told him it was not necessary, but that I appreciate the offer....
To top it all off, Jim at Howse offered me his cell phone number, and indicated that if I EVER have a problem with his equipment, to call him any day of the week and he will have it taken care of. That's what I call service...
In my business I look at it this way. Everyone is going to make mistakes, it's how you deal with the mistakes that can make or break a business relationship. In this case Howse made a believer out of me. I feel better about them after an equipment failure than I did before!
Here is a pic of the broken shaft.
