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Home Depot Complaint - Problems with Excell VR2500 pressure washer - Excell VR2500 pressure washer
Complaint
I recently bought an Excell VR2500 pressure washer from the local Home Depot store in Gulfport MS. At the time of purchase I was told by the cashier that If I had a problem with the pressure washer that I could bring it back for an exchange within the first 90 days. After that then it would be covered under the manufacturors warranty. The manufacturors warranty is two years on the unit. After only 7-8 hours of use the unit quit working. It lost all compression and had an oily sludge coming from the area where the pump and the engine connect. When I tried to return the unit (in the original box with all paper work and not one scratch on the unit)I was told that since I had purchased it more than 30 days before I would have to pay $35.00 to have the unit sent out for inspection. I informed the CSR about what I was told when purchasing the unit. They wanted me to give them the persons name that I spoke to and said they were wrong. I am supposed to remember this two months later plus I have to pay for the error of their employee? Now they want $357.00 for a new motor and it isn't coverd under warranty due to lack of maintenance.How much maintenance is neccessary for a unit with 8 hours on it. I have been a mechanic all of my life and have never had a motor come apart like this. If you look in the reconditioned power equipoment area at any Home Depot you will see several of the VR2500 Excells sitting reconditoned and for sale at a discount and they all are leaking oil from the same place. I wonder why they no longer sell the Briggs & Stratton 6.5 on their units at Home Depot and only offer the HONDA!!!!!!! The same unit but only a different motor!!! Home Depot is aware of the problem yet they still continue to pawn their junk off on unsuspecting customers by selling their old stock and their so called re-conditioned units that they know are going to have problems. I didn't hear from them for one month so I went there tonight to learn that I a professional mechanic and I didn't maintain my equipment properly. Whatever! I will be back there tomorrow to try to get some resolve and will post the results tomorrow. Anyone who thinks this is a duplicate post under another name is in total denial and evidently a proud Home Depot employee. I too used to be a Home Depot employee. I quit At Home Services because of poor managemnet, poor work quality, management lying to my customers and Home Depot overcharging my customers on a regular basis. I had customers waiting 3-6 months to get windows and roffing installed. Over half of the jobs were not done properly and windows were ordered wrong on a regular basis. 14 days after hurricane Katrina they went up $60 a square on installed roofing and said they had to bring in out if state crews. We have never had a crew in the state of Ms, we always used out of sttae crews for roofing!!!
Comments:
Posted by tiredofbeingburnt on 2006-10-11:
I went to the store to talk to the repair facility on the phone, they said the motor blew because of lack of lubrication.(supposedly not covered by the warranty) I asked them what would cause a motor with 8 hours on it to loose its oil. I explained that almost every unit that they had reconditioned still had excessive oil leaks in them. You can find them at almost any home depot store out front by the exits. I happened to see the store manager at a register and asked him to meet me outside by the power equipment when he got a chance. I showed him the problem and he told me he was going to get my machine back to the store and that he would authorize a complete refund on the pressure washer. All I can say is sometimes you just have got to go to the chief to get results.
Posted by GM Buffalo on 2006-12-05:
My adventure is even more entertaining! After one use, the unit failed to start. It has the HONDA motor and I have had many powered tools with Honda motors with nary a problem. Anyway, the return to Home Depot was a waste of time since the item was "used" and their "policy" states that they will not take fuel powered tools back if they've been "used". To add insult to injury, I took advantage of Excell's mail-in offer for a free wand attachment which required I send in the purchase receipt (no I didn't copy it...my bad), so now without a receipt, the HD helpful folk treated me as if I had shoplifted the product and was trying to return it for cash. The "best" they could do was to send it in to an approved repair center which they guranteed would take 60 days at minimum. I could always go directly to Excell and take it to one of their "factory authorized repair centers". Low and behold, there was one on their website right here in Tucson, AZ...lucky me!
Upon arrival at the repair center, I was asked for the purchase receipt to prove that I actually bought the thing and that it was within the warranty period. Here we go again....so I asked them to look at the "showroom clean condition" and use common sense that the thing had less than 20 minutes on it. No go...no receipt, no fix.
Not wanting to throw away $369.89, I went back to my friendly neighboorhood Home Depot and bought another Excell pressure washer, same model, same box. Snatched the receipt, took it home, copied it, and promptly took the unopened box back to HD for a full "refund" :)
Now with a purchase receipt in hand I returned to the "factory authorized repair center" and they gladly took my defunct pressure washer in and gladly gave me a claim check.
Each week I call them to check the status...4 weeks later, still nothing. They have "assigned" it to a tech. Week 6 and it's "almost ready". I want a tech job there. Week 8 and it's DONE!...stop on by and pick it up. Oh by the way, you owe us $98.90 for fixing it. But wait, it's under warranty..."well...either you pay the repair bill or we keep your pressure washer...you decide. All you have to do is send in your repair receipt to Excell for a refund"...ya right.
So now I have an operable Excell pressure washer (for now) and a "free" $98.90 wand for it.
Thank you Excell and Home Depot and Happy Holidays to one and all!
Upon arrival at the repair center, I was asked for the purchase receipt to prove that I actually bought the thing and that it was within the warranty period. Here we go again....so I asked them to look at the "showroom clean condition" and use common sense that the thing had less than 20 minutes on it. No go...no receipt, no fix.
Not wanting to throw away $369.89, I went back to my friendly neighboorhood Home Depot and bought another Excell pressure washer, same model, same box. Snatched the receipt, took it home, copied it, and promptly took the unopened box back to HD for a full "refund" :)
Now with a purchase receipt in hand I returned to the "factory authorized repair center" and they gladly took my defunct pressure washer in and gladly gave me a claim check.
Each week I call them to check the status...4 weeks later, still nothing. They have "assigned" it to a tech. Week 6 and it's "almost ready". I want a tech job there. Week 8 and it's DONE!...stop on by and pick it up. Oh by the way, you owe us $98.90 for fixing it. But wait, it's under warranty..."well...either you pay the repair bill or we keep your pressure washer...you decide. All you have to do is send in your repair receipt to Excell for a refund"...ya right.
So now I have an operable Excell pressure washer (for now) and a "free" $98.90 wand for it.
Thank you Excell and Home Depot and Happy Holidays to one and all!
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