General Product Question
On 1 July 2013 at a Home Depot store in Orlando FL I ordered a PR25Y22RKP rotary walk behind mower. It was shipped from Tifton, GA on 3 July and arrived on 5 July. UPS delivered it. No signature was required so the box was dropped at my door.
The box had significant damage. The hub of the right rear wheel was cracked in several places and the axle for the right rear wheel was bent. I called the number on the owner’s manual and requested replacement parts. Later that day I was showing the mower to my neighbor and he pointed out that the right front wheel was bent in a similar fashion as the rear wheel. As this is a self-propelled front wheel drive mower I did not want to continue ordering and replacing parts.
I called Home Depot, explained the situation and requested a replacement mower. They agreed to accept the return but would not sent a replacement until I agreed to another charge. I now had paid twice for a mower that should not have been sent in the first place.
A new order was placed on 8 July 2013 and arrived on 12 July 2013. This box was beat up but was not as bad as the first. I opened the box and saw a mower with the same type of damage but more severe. It was evident that the mower had been removed partially disassembled and reboxed. On opening I saw the right rear wheel was bent and broken like the first, the left rear wheel had been removed from the mower and was loose in the box, the battery compartment was open and the battery was resting on top of the rear bag.
Another call to Home Depot. Another charge to my credit card. No mower for me but I was able to pay three times.
In my opinion two mowers shipped a week apart would not have damage caused by the carrier. This can more easily be explained by damage at the plant or warehouse. This is also supported by a posting on answerarmy.com where the customer noted similar damage on the same model.
Does any reasonable person think that the carrier damaged three mowers of the same model?
My question to Husqvarna is this. Should I order something else or will the third mower arrive undamaged?
