I Hate Sears Craftsman Lawn Mowers
June 24th, 2008 by ComputerBob
I know — it doesn’t have anything to do with computers, but it has a lot to do with technology, so that’s why I’m writing this story today.
Back when we bought the 4-bedroom house with the 1.5 acres out in the country in the Frostbite State. I bought a 12 or 13 horsepower Sears Craftsman rider mower. Within the first 2 weeks, its transmission started making horrible noises.
Sears took it back. I paid several hundred dollars more and got a Sears Craftsman 18 horsepower rider mower with a wider cut. That mower did a great job for more than a year before it started giving me problems.
Things became loose and rattled loudly. Other things started falling off of it — I spent many hours walking around the yard, following the path that I had partially mowed, looking for bolts, adjusters, and other parts. The drive belt broke. The mower belt broke. And no matter what part it needed, I had to carefully study a multi-page schematic in my owners manual and decipher the exact part number before I could drive to Sears and try to buy a replacement part — even if all I needed was a new mowing blade. Then, invariably, I’d discover that the local store didn’t carry that part in stock, so I’d have to order it, pay for it in advance, and wait a week or more for them to call and tell me that it had arrived.
After just three of four years, that mower was completely worn out. Despite the fact that I regularly greased it, its ball joints were so worn that you could turn its steering wheel almost a quarter of a turn before its front wheels would start to turn. And its blades were made of such soft material that I had to sharpen them every other week or they’d completely round-off and tear the grass instead of cutting it.
I finally gave up on that mower after it cost me $150 to have a local welding shop re-weld a part of the mowing deck that had fallen off. That’s when I finally bought a John Deere rider mower that served me well until we moved to the Sunshine State. At that point, I sold it to a new neighbor who was extremely happy to buy a less-than-two-year-old John Deere rider mower for 1/2 price.
When we bought our dream home here in the Sunshine State, it came with a normal-sized suburban lot, so I went looking for a push mower instead of a rider. As luck would have it, Sears was having a mower sale at the time. I bought a Sears Craftsman self-propelled push mower on sale. Given my bad experience with my two Sears Craftsman rider mowers, I knew that I was taking a chance to buy a Sears Craftsman push mower, but I figured that there isn’t as much that can go wrong on a push mower as there is on a rider mower.
That turned out to be true. But I learned that there’s still a lot that can go wrong on a push mower.
Within a few months, the mower’s drive system stopped working. I took it in for warrantee repair. A few months later, it had the exact same problem. I took it in for repair again. After the fourth of fifth repair in the first sixteen months, it took me countless telephone calls and hours of waiting “on hold” to finally convince Sears to give me a refund for that mower.
But when I went to the store to return the mower and get my refund, they told me that it wasn’t a refund — it was a store credit. I would have to spend it at Sears.
So I bought a different Sears Craftsman push mower — one that had been highly rated by users on the Internet.
That mower is now about 2 years old. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that it was really hard to pull down the “safety bar” that you have to hold down in order for the engine to run. It quickly got worse until a few days ago, when the spring on the engine that controls that lever broke. My next-door neighbor and buddy, Mike, deduced that heat from the engine had made the spring brittle. I took off the top engine cover and tried to bend the end of that spring so that I could keep using it, but It broke again.
Home Depot had a spring that fit as a replacement for about $4, but it wasn’t strong enough. I’d let go of the safety bar and it would just lay there, instead of popping up and shutting off the engine.
This morning, I called Sears. They told me that they don’t keep that spring in stock, so I’d have to order it, pay for it in advance and then wait for them to call me, to tell me when it arrives. It would cost $12, plus $1 for shipping, plus tax. That’s almost $15 for one 2-inch spring.
I told them “No, thanks.”
An hour later, I found a suitable replacement spring at a local Ace Hardware store. A package of two of them cost only $3.69 plus tax. But it wasn’t quite long enough, and when I stretched it to fit the 2″ gap, it was way too strong, making it impossible to pull down the safety bar. After studying the mower’s safety mechanism for a few minutes, I bent the left end of the spring to make it vertical and hooked that end onto the safety lever itself, instead of on the spring-mounting slot on the left end of that lever. Now it works just fine.
Does anyone want to buy a Sears Craftsman 6.75 horsepower, 22″ cut, self-propelled mower? I’ll let you have it for half price.
And I’ll even throw in an extra spring for its safety bar.
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Consumer Info, Personal
July 12th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Next time get a Deere! I think we’re on year 10 and it’s going strong.
RR
July 12th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Are you offering to buy my Sears mower?
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
I have read SO MANY stories today of lost money and extreme frustration - I want to organize an anti-sears demonstration and picket them they are so awful!! Their customer service sucks so bad… they don’t have ANY!!
My front load washer stopped spinning. I called Sears repair - BIG MISTAKE. 1st they told me on the phone it would cost $65 to have them come out. The guy comes, goes down into my basement for 10-15 mins., comes up and tells me “the motor is all rusted out - it’s shot.” Tells me it’ll cost $400 to put in a new motor but that I can just buy a new machine for $400. Then he bills me for $75 not $65. I go online to see what is involved with replacing the motor, maybe my boyfriend and I can do it ourselves and save money, right? I found MULTIPLE appliance repair websites that said the same symptoms my machine had (filling and draining but only humming when it should spin) could be as simple as a clogged coin trap. In less time than the guy was in my house we cleaned the trap and I have since done 3 loads with my “rusted out and shot” motor!!! So you have to ask yourself; was he totally incompetent or was he malicious? If you look you can see NO RUST on the motor. I am voting malicious! And you have to know - had I run out and bought a new machine they would have taken away my old one - like they are so nice to take it off my hands right? But then I bet they would clean the coin trap and sell it as “refurbished” for another $250 profit for them! And to add insult to injury they refused to refund the $75 it cost me to have their guy do NOTHING (and no offense, but, he was about 5′ 9″ yet weighed like 400lbs., not sure he could even really get down low enough to actually see under my machine) and then try to rip me off!
Plus, the attitude I have run into again and again with them on this makes me believe this is SOP for Sears repair; do nothing, lie to people, get them to buy new and then resell their old appliance. what ever happened to making money by selling a good product and giving a crap about the people who spend their hard earned money on your stuff? Guess that ALL went down the $%@! drain at Sears….
March 29th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
as a previous employee of sears, i wouldn’t buy a clothes pin from them. when you buy something like a mower, don’t ever get the extended warranty. its a rip off! and if it breaks down take it to another reputable shop because any repair center from sears, is actually a processing center. they get semi truck loads of mowers every day for repair and they have what they call a production rate. dose’nt matter what kind of repair, its 16 to 18 mowers required per day per individual repair personal or guess what? you get lay’ed off when the season slows. if you repair it to last 30 days thats all they care about. they rush you so much iv’e seen mechanics leave gasket material they ground off in the oil to save a few minutes so they can make that rate. and their responds to any mechanic who might do the repairs correctly, or as if it was their personal equipment is “its only a mower”. well since its sombody elses mower i think I would rather let lowes of maybe the dime store do the repairs. maybe they will treat my equipment like they are supposed to. and another thing, most of the people doing the repairs aren’t qualified to pick fruit! as a qualified mechanic for 25 years I used to cringe seeing what others did to make that rate. from down right improper repair procedures to not even doing the repairs. and guess what? sears gives out bonuses to employees with the ability to fool customers with rotten work that allows them to make that rate! so be aware, all they care about is getting your money from the original purchase and after that its rip you off time. and all the managers of the different repair centers care only of the metrics, not the quality of the work, so they can keep getting them monthly bonuses . i will never take anything to sears. buy lowes or home depot unless you like to get “jacked”.
March 30th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Don’t bother sharpening lawn mower blades, you can’t do it right. Just buy a new set every season. Most hardware stores have them, cheap. Yes, they are soft, to prevent fracturing.
March 30th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Xiaoding,
Thanks for posting, but I disagree with your advice — it’s not hard at all to sharpen mower blades correctly. Plus, as I described above, replacing them once every season would not have worked with the blades on my Sears Craftsman rider mower, because they got extremely dull every 2 weeks, to the point of tearing the grass instead of cutting it.
April 14th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I found this web site by typing “Craftsman lawn mower is crap” in my search box. I replaced my high-wheel 4.5 HP Power Pro push lawnmower that I purchased from Kmart with a 6.75 HP push Craftsman Lawnmower from Sears beause I thought I needed more horsepower to cut grass better…BIG mistake. The Kmart 4.5 HP performed way better than the 6.75 HP Craftsman. Apparently horsepower is not an issue when you want more power cutting grass. Must be the quality and workmanship of the product. The Craftsman feels like a toy compared to my Kmart brand lawnmower. It takes a lot more effort cut the grass with that Craftsman. Now that Kmart only sells Sears Craftsman crap, I cannot even replace it. (I sold it to my sister, regretfully, and she won’t sell it back!). I’ve been wanting to vent about this for a couple of years now (since the purchase) and I’m glad I found the opportunity on this web site. If I find others, I will vent there too!! Thanks ComputerBob.
May 26th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I googled “Hate Sears” and this was the first entry. I’ve already given 9 phone calls and hours of my life trying to get an issue with a refrigerator resolved, but if writing will STOP one person from even considering SEARS it will be worth it. I agree with absolutely everything said about Sears just wanting the inital sale and then not so politely brushing you aside when you expect the product to work. It’s difficult to find enough negative adjectives to describe their “Customer Solutions” department. I just want to encourage people to stand up to them and document everything–especially who you spoke to. If something was promised on the phone through Customer Solutions and then wasn’t delivered, reference that since the call has been recorded, you want it reviewed.
PS. It just so happens that my father owns a regional Power Equipment Business that does service. A craftsman that operates well is the exception, not the rule. Also, consider buying from a place that does offer service on the premises. Most places will service anything, but craftsman’s are so low end…it’s designed obsolence…and you get hit with a huge service bill and then most people are annoyed with the service provider rather than Sears. Lastly, some brands, like Honda Mowers are the same price at a local lawn mower shop as the Home Depot. Buying it locally ensures good service and taxes going into your back yard.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I’ve also bought a piece-of-**** craftsman self propelled for $240. Within two weeks right wheel stopped self-propelling. I took it to the nearest SEARS repair center. Two weeks go by, I pick it up with problem fixed as they told me. Within a week same story with the right wheel. I get out my own tools and take it apart to see what’s wrong. I see. There is a steel gear on a shaft coming from the drive train. This gear spins the wheel by pushing plastic teeth on the wheel. The gear and the wheel are not aligned 100%. In the fight of steel and plastic steel wins, plastic teeth are ground into dust. What a bunch of idiots who designed this POS! Why not make teeth on the wheel out of steel as well? Why not check the alignment at quality control??? The problem was unrepairable so I sold it “as is”. Also, the front wheels kept on snapping off the height adjusters which I fixed by tieing them together with a bungee cord. Craftsman - NEVER AGAIN!!!
May 29th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Well, All Your “Inferior Sears Products/Poor Service” CommentsTruly Made Up My Mind With Major Purchase:
I was toying with Craftsman Rider Mower…something @ about 15-19hp for about 3/4 acre yard w/many trees/some hilly area, etc.
My current 1988 11hp Craftsman Rider I bought from my neighbor 4 yrs ago finally has massive oil leak= think motor is shot. Now it has grinding sound when starting..but no turnover. Since last year, replaced solenoid, mandrel assembly, ignition switch, 2 batteries, belts. Time to put it to rest:(
Does anyone have thoughts on Cub Cadet, John Deere…even used???? Somehow, I think there is better quality in older models vs. recent ones. Current models at Lowes/Home Depot in $1500 range…OUCH FOR MY BUDGET…HELP>>>PS: I’m reading/or hearing that Lowes “John Deere” Is a FAKE…Any comments.???? ((((((((HAVE A NICE DAY)))))))))
June 20th, 2009 at 11:54 am
funny, been having problems with my craftsman mower to the point i want to return/exchange whatever & googled and found this. i’ve had it for two years now and have had problems so many times with it. took it to get fixed about 5 times now. everytime it’s like they don’t really know what the problem is but they always seem to put something new on it just because, yet the problem starts up again. fed up! called sears, and they said it must be unfixable before anything can be done but who knows they might just throw some “new” part on it and be like, it’s fixed. watch me come back.
June 28th, 2009 at 7:08 am
I also have a self propelled Craftsman that I will sell for 1/2 price. It mows 2 - 3 minutes, then starts acting like the choke is on. It clogs easily and shuts down. I hate it. I had a Lawn Boy (I think that’s what it was called) for about 15 years that never had a problem…this Sears mower is just 1 1/2 years old… : (