Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/08/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  To whom it May ********* have a complaint against the Bentwood Power Equipment H33**343634**363635**H and its owner *********************. The dealership is located on Route 125 in H31**36**333337363035H, ** and their telephone number is ************.I called ************** to purchase a part for my Simplicity Regent riding lawn mower on April 16 and he told me that he did not have the one I needed in stock. He told me that he would have to special order it and said that I would have to pay in advance. The amount was $95.22, and I paid for it with my **** credit card. He called me on April 22 and told me about the part from ****** & ******** in *********, Wis. was ready to pick up. I travelled twenty miles from my house in ************* to pick it up and when I returned home (forty miles round trip) I discovered it was the wrong part and would not fit my mower. The next day I made the round trip again to return the part. When the owner (*****) looked at the part he became very rude and belligerent when he insinuated that he had ordered the part number I gave him. He had only asked me originally for the tractor model number and when I asked him if needed anything else he said that was the only number he needed. I told him that I needed the part as soon as possible because I have an acre of land to mow and the grass was very long. Since then and until now my neighbor has been kind enough to mow my lawn with his tractor until I got my tractor fixed. ***** told me that he couldn&#**;t return it because it was on a special order and that ****** & ******** would not accept a replacement or a refund. I told him that B&S had been in business for years and had a good reputation all over the U.S. At that point he started to bad mouth the company and stated that they were on the verge of bankruptcy. This was another lie because I called Milwaukee, and they verified the fact that this was not their policy. When he knew that I was upset he said maybe he could find something out back. When he returned, he just happened to be holding a box containing the right part. He said the cost was $107 and that he would let me have it for the same price of $95.22. I thought he was going to do the right thing and replace it but unfortunately that was not his intention. His intention was to sell me the right part which I believe he had in stock since my initial order and planned to charge me twice for a total of $190.44.It was obvious that he did that on purpose just to make more money because he knew that he was going to lie to me and blame B&S for not honoring returns or refunds. If that was true, he should have told me initially that the part could not be returned if it didn&#**;t fit, and I would not have taken the chance of that happening and would have purchased it from another dealership. As a matter of fact, I checked with another parts and sales dealer, and I was told they have no such policy and if there was a problem with any of their orders, they would accept a return for replacement or render a refund. Because ***** gave me such a hard time, I left the part which I could not use for him to return it to B&S because I felt confident, they would do the right thing. It has been since April 22nd that the incident happened and in the interim, I have found out the H31**36**333337363035H Power Equipment dealership has a bad reputation. ***** has not given me the part that I ordered and I believe he never sent the wrong part back to B&S because if he did they would have accepted it for a replacement or a refund as they told me they would. At this point I would never do business with this lying dealer again and will tell my friends accordingly. I hope H363137**3238313831H can help me get my money back.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/13/2025

  On or about 4/22/24, ***** ****** called Brentwood Power Equipment and spoke with ***********************markjs="true" class="mark1hch078m6" data-ogac="" data-ogab="" data-ogsc="" data-ogsb="" style="color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; border: 0px; line-height: inherit;">*****. I was present at the parts counter when they spoke  Mr ****** provided us with Simplicity part# *****MA , deck discharge chute, that he wanted to order. We are not sure where he got that number, as is most dealers policy, we don't provide part numbers to end users. Mr ****** was informed that was a special order item and as such would require pre-payment in full. It is not a stocking item for us as it is not a common replacement part. We took his **** payment over the phone in the amount of $95.22. The part was received on 4/25 , Mr ****** was called and he picked up the part.

  Soon after Mr ****** picked up the part, he called and spoke with me informing me that the chute he picked up did not fit. I suggested he bring it back, with the tractor model number as well as the original broken chute. As soon as I saw the remnants of what he had, I knew what he needed. I informed Mr ****** that he had given us the incorrect part number and I had , and showed him, the correct one, part # *******sm (our list is $128.99). I did not need to see his model number as I identified what he had. It is unfortunate that Mr ****** feels I was " rude and belligerent" for showing him that he ordered the wrong item.

  Mr ****** suggests his mower is inoperable without the deflector chute. While the chute is a safety item, it does not render the machine inoperable. Most owners, against our recommendation, remove, or tie them up for a better cut. I offered to have his mower picked up and repaired by us. He declined.

  I believe what I explained to Mr ******* he misunderstood. ****** & ******** uses 2-step distribution. That is, Dealers do not and cannot purchase directly from B&S. We purchase from an independent  ****** & ************************ Distributor- in the Northeast that source is Power Distributors. For the last 41-plus years we have dealt with them, Power Distributors applies the industry standard 15% restock fee (changed for 2025 to 20% and dealer pays shipping). So naturally B&S has no policy for something they don't do!

  As I explained how the parts ordering system works to Mr ******* since ****** and ******** came out of bankruptcy in 2022,( filed in 2020,public record) the industry has experienced several challenges, including ceasing the production of Simplicity equipment. Replacement parts are still widely available .That was not "bad mouthing" but rather fact.

  Mr ****** is entitled to a refund , less 15%, of $80.94 (95.22- *****) toward the correct chute at the discounted price I quoted of $95.22  essentially costing him $*****. I do not know how he thought he would need to spend $190.44! We have the incorrect part that he ordered and the correct one in stock. He is, and has been, more than welcome to pick it up anytime.

  A photo of our posted parts ordering policy is attached.

  ***** *****, President, Brentwood Power Equipment Center, 244 rt 125, Brentwood ************