Bader & Sons Co

I have purchased a couple of items from them. They seem hot or cold. Their customer service is either on point or severely lacking. Catch them at the right time and there will be no problem.

I aqquired a John Deere Lawn tractor from my son in law back in April of 2014. He took it right over to the South Lyon facility and stated there is a loose wire hanging too close to the mower deck and the machine is difficult to start. His father in law would be calling to follow up. Without seeing the machine, I called and talked with their service department and asked if they would go through the entire unit and let me know what needs to be done to bring the unit up to where it needs to be. I also asked what the value of the machine was and that I did not want to spend more than what the machine was worth. The service tech agreed and charged my credit card $ 100.00 to go through the machine. The cost would be applied to the overall cost of repairs, if need be. After not hearing from them in over two weeks, I called to follow up. They hadn’t even started to look at the machine. The tech suggested I give them a go ahead on the repair of machine with a cost not to exceed $ 350.00 because money would take care of a tune up and sharpen blades. My comment was no. I needed to what was wrong with the machine before I put any money into it and I did not want to exceed the value of the machine. He agreed and called me about a day later and stated the value of the machine is about $ 600.00 and the repair would be $ 350.00 to repair the wire, drain and replace gas, sharpen blades, replace spark plug, drain and replace oil, with kit and replace gas cap
I commented the price seemed a little steep but I had no choice and to go ahead with the repair. I dropped into the facility a week later to see where they were with the machine. They claimed it was finished and they would check me out in a couple of minutes. I claimed their invoice was very confusing and I couldn’t understand it. The clerk had to go into the back room to get clarification himself. I paid the amount and went home. After getting home and reading the receipt closer I noticed a comment that was never told to me and that was the an entire clutch had to be replaced. I called the store again and asked why i was not told of this sooner. I paid $ 100.00 to go through the unit and tell me what was wrong and they didn’t do that. They never told me of the extra $ 350.00 for clutch replacement. Now my total cost is $ 700.00 and more than the value of the machine. I would never have given the go ahead. The service tech then told me that he didn’t expect to clutch to go until sometime in the next year and if it did, he would work with me. Well, I cut the lawn two times only to have the clutch go out. I called their store and had to have it repaired again.
they picked up at no cost but i was faced with a $ 450.00 bill. As the same season rolled on so did my cost. I had to purchase a new battery as the old one was no longer able to get the machine to start easily. I had to replace another air filter as the machine still struggles to start easily. The blades were never sharpened or replaced.
I summery, paid $ 100.00 to make a complete inspection and give me an accurate cost estimate, which they did not do. They led me into repairs costing over $ 900.00 for a machine that was only worth $ 600.00. I believe they fully understood what they were doing and the manner was intentional. I believe there is far more money in repairs then there is in the sale of new machines.

Love this place! As a woman who knows a thing or two about mechanics it is so refreshing to walk into a business and not be treated like an idiot. Everyone is friendly, everyone is knowledgable and everyone makes you feel like family here. I don’t go anywhere else for service on my mower and snow blower and you shouldn’t either! This place should give classes on customer service. I have always walked in and out of the door with a smile on my face!