Mountfield lawn mower

[betula]

Bought myself a mountfield lawn mower for my little business.

O nly had it end of May and it was soon put putting like me going uphill.
Wanted to look underneath to check blades were not clogged so tried to take HT lead from over spark plug and the inside of the cap came away.
B&Qwill not have it back you have to take to a service centre in my case miles away in Bedworth.Really nice people but will not be fixed for three weeks.Ended up buying another mower so I have one while it is being repaired.Grrrrr
Anyone else had problems with these mowers?

[betula]

[tonybloke]

ain't it covered by sale of goods act?

[Baccy Man]

Lots of people have problems with mountfield mowers, on average they will last about 3-4 years if looked after, spares can be a pain in the backside as they have to come from Italy or China depending on the model.
B&Q are a nightmare when it comes to aftersales service. In theory you should be able to return it as it is not fit for purpose but they usually try to refuse to refund or replace saying something along the lines of "you knew what you were buying so what did you expect" so you have to be quite insistent to get your money back.

I would suggest you invest in a Makita PLM4814 mower instead. They are designed for professional use and have a 4 cut system meaning they can be used for grass cutting, grass collection, mulching, or leaf collection. To use it as a mulching mower you need to buy an attachment that costs about £20 it is worth buying the attachment as it means no clippings to dispose of & a healthier lawn amongst other things.

You should be able to find a better price than this but the link shows both the mower & mulching attachment to make it clear what I am talking about.
http://www.hobuk.co.uk/acatalog/Makita-PLM4814-Mower.html
Some of the benefits of a mulching mower are listed here:
http://www.mulching.co.uk/

[betula]

Tony,when I bought the mower it said in case of problem do not return to store but ring this number,so I did.They insisted it went to service centre as they could not refund without someone seeing it.Even though I was quite persistant they would not budge so I have to wait now and see what happens.Not happy.

Baccy Man thank you for advice I will look into it. :)

[Moonbeam65]

Had trouble with cordless drill from B&Q AFTER HAVING IT FOR 7weeks they told me to send it to a repair company i refused and told them as i bought it from them they were responsible for it .They tried to fob me of with different excuses so i told them they either give me a replacement or my money back or i would stay right where i was until they did something.the manager of the store was called and asked me to leave i refused and told him i wanted my drill replaced or my money back or i was staying put the queue was growing by this time  and getting fed up having to wait so i ended up getting my money back as the people waiting started shouting at him to give me my money back or a new drill.So if i was you i would be standing there in the queue with my lawnmower and not moving till they replaced it. Good Luck.

[lorna]

I noticed when I recently bought a new hoover that a slip in the packaging said.. In case of fault telephone this number ........ do not return to the retailer.
However there was a programme on TV the other day that said the Retailer is responsible and do not be fobbed off.

[Eristic]

In my opinion nothing less than a Honda will do for professional work. When in business you have to stop looking for cheap and buy reliability. All domestic mowers have a designed lifespan of about 50-60 hrs which is adequate in a domestic situation for 6 or more years but is only a few months for a busy gardener.

I also bought a new mower in May with a list price of £500 and that should last me until retirement or longer. Never pay the list price though.

[Derek]

A chat with your local Trading Standards Officer will clarify B & Q's responsibility...

it has always been well documented that faulty goods should be returned to the point of sale

I have replaced my Mountfield mower this year on the insistance of my Governor, the old version was/is thirty years old...its still going, is in the shed and just needs a good service

[cornykev]

We buy our electicals from argos, when they go wrong we just take them back no problem, they don't even open the box to see whats inside , I might even take a box of bricks next time.  ;D ;D ;D

[betula]

You know my Mountfield was not cheap,it was £200.........I think that is enough to spend and I was told Mountfield had a good name.........you live and learn :)

[Lady of the Land]

 We have had a mountfield for 20 years and still going strong. Used regularly on allotment with uneven grass and on allotments next door to ours that are over grown .


Perhaps not made like they used to

[Larkshall]

I bought a Mountfield Empress 16" Roller mower over thirty years ago and its still going (better than me), my step daughter is interested in buying it as I have now replaced it with an electric mower (I can't manage to manhandle it in and out of the shed now that I am 79). The same goes for my Rotavator, I have ordered a Mantis electric as the petrol engined one is too heavy for me.

All that trouble over replacing a plug cap. Just go to a local dealer and get a standard plug cap (motor cycle, car or anything that has a petrol engine).

I tried to get a Bosch Combitrim repaired the other day, couldn't be done. My comment to the assistant at the Bosch dealers (a local engineers stores) was that in future I would buy the cheapest and bin it when it packed up. He said that that is what is happening on building sites now. If you can't get an article repaired, why buy expensive branded equipment?

[grawrc]

And our national/international commitment to recycling? These companies have to change their tune!