String Trimmers

I bought a Husqvarna 224L String Trimmer last week under an emergency situation. My Ryobi String Trimmer Plus Model 130r finally gave up the ghost after many years of excellent service. I needed to get the job I was working on completed and I went to the nearest Lowe's Hardware store and purchased what I believed would be a great replacement trimmer. One I could count on to give me at least as many years service as my newly departed Ryobi model.
I returned to the job site, attached the safety guard, read the manual and Quick start material to familiarize myself with this new trimmer, put oil and gas in the machine and started her up for the first time. Everything seem to go fine and the trimmer performed well in my estimation.
One week later, (today) I prepare for another job requiring a trimmer and to my great disappointment the trimmer would not start. Nothing I could do would even give me a glimmer of hope that the trimmer would start. There was gas, oil, it was primed, chocked, and the start/stop button was in the correct position for starting the new trimmer. After an hour of trying to start the trimmer and then wasting another half hour with your USELESS call center people, I bit the bullet and took the trimmer to a local authorized service center. Once there and the service technician being unable to get it started, I was informed the ethanol gas
I used the week before was most probably the problem. Not only that, I was told none of the service required to make things right again would be covered under the warranty. I felt completely blind-sided!! Not once under "fuel information" in the owner's manual is there mention of this being a problem! Aren't you responsible for alerting new and potential buyers of such potential problems? The sales person at Lowe's Hardware Center here didn't offer any information that would send up a red flag in regard to ethanol and its effects. The ONLY place there is mention of ethanol and the effects it might play in the functioning of your four stroke engine is here online. I didn't have access to a computer out at the work site last week, IF I had known of the ethanol effects I would have bought new gas or sought out a gas station that sells gas without the ethanol additive at the very least. Or, I would have chosen not to buy a Husqvarna, or even chose to stay with a heavy duty electric model.
Now I am stuck. Seeing I have spent $350 on the trimmer and will be hit with a minimum of $40.00 to get a BRAND NEW TRIMMER serviced after just one hour of use, you can imagine my displeasure and frustration. IT IS NOT RIGHT! I am a hard working individual that is struggling to make ends meet. I trusted your brand name and am really regretting it. IT IS UNREASONABLE to expect someone to research your products on the internet before every purchase situation. I did read the manual. I would expect you, as a reputable manufacturer, to have this noteworthy information IN BOLD LETTERS with RED FLAGS in the owner's manual IF your equipment is so sensitive to the ethanol additive and its repercussions. AT LEAST include a WARNING NOTATION in the manual to advise new purchasers to GO TO THE WEBSITE before operating the new equipment. AT LEAST SOME TYPE OF ADVISORY!! It would also be appropriate to train or at least INFORM those sales associates in the outlets your equipment is sold through, that this is a problem that is VITAL to alert potential buyers about.
You can NOT believe what a bad taste this has left in my mouth about this. I am not a happy customer and I won't be leaving any positive kudos about the company OR the trimmer. I have used ethanol seeded gasoline for many years and it has never been a problem before. I can not say for certain, however I truly doubt Honda, Troy Built, or Ryobi engines die after only one hour of use and require $40. to get it operational once again. Give me a BREAK!