INTRODUCTION
Are you looking for a mower shop that will keep you updated every day on the status of your equipment? Do you get frustrated when you're without your mower for extended periods of time because you can't be inconvenienced with the task of finding a backup plan for your lawncare needs? Are you someone who only contacts a lawnmower shop when your mower is broken and it's now an "emergency"? Are you someone who believes if your mower is working fine now, it must not need any maintenance? Are you someone who could become hostile toward us if repairs to  your mower are taking a tad longer than you think they should? If so, then we are NOT the shop for you. 

But-if you're the type of person who has their mower serviced every year during the off season, is able to function in your daily life when something *does* break down, and you would rather have your mower fixed correctly than hear about how the repairs are coming along, then we're probably going to get along just fine.

EXPECTATIONS AND THINGS TO CONSIDER
If you plan to have your mower (or other equipment) worked on during spring and summer, you will need to also plan on borrowing, renting, or maybe even purchasing backup equipment while yours is in the shop. Please have your backup plan in place BEFORE your mower arrives at the shop.

• The best time to have your lawn equipment worked on is November, December and January if you wish to avoid in-season downtime. 
• Snowblowers should be worked on beginning October 1, before the snow begins.
• In recent years, parts availability has become a more significant cause of longer turnaround times.
• NO COMMITMENT WILL BE MADE TO MEET ANY SPECIFIC TIMELINE. Remember: It's just a mower and maybe some moderately tall grass--relax. You don't need to impress your neighbors that bad. Take a deep breath. Summer will be over soon enough and the grass will all die anyway. Go play golf or something. 
• We may tell you a MINIMUM amount of time your mower will be in the shop. This is the estimated MINIMUM amount of time you will be without your mower. 
• Should you become demanding, pushy, rude, etc. toward us, whether in person, through text/email, or otherwise, especially in regard to turnaround time, any work we have completed on your equipment will be undone, and you will need to pick it up. No refunds will be given. If you paid for transportation of your equipment, you also forfeit the delivery portion of your transportation fee. We absolutely will not tolerate such behavior. 

ESTIMATES
By engaging us in the repair and/or service of your equipment, it is understood that you have already looked over our prices and you have decided after careful consideration, that you feel your machine is definitely worth repairing/servicing, and you do not want an estimate. Therefore, we typically do not provide estimates in the following scenarios:

• Walkmower repairs under $250, or roughly 1/2 the current price of an equivalent brand new machine, whichever is greater, excluding pickup/delivery, sales tax, etc.
• Repairs to other types of equipment under $500 or roughly 1/2 the current price of an equivalent brand new machine, whichever is greater, excluding pickup/delivery, sales tax, etc.
• Bottom line: you either want your equipment repaired, or you do not. If you're unsure, we recommend purchasing a new machine rather than having yours repaired.

Explanations/clarifications concerning estimates:

• Age of a machine is not taken into consideration with regard to whether or not an estimate is provided, as long as the machine is  still in solid enough condition for the completed repairs to last a reasonable amount of time.
• An "equivalent brand new machine" means a machine of the same brand, same size, same configuration, and with the same features as your current machine. For example, if you bring a $900 Honda self-propelled mower in for repairs, and your repair bill comes to $300, but you tell us afterwards that you "could've bought a new mower for that price"--well, no you actually couldn't have bought an equivalent new mower for that price.  
• When determining whether or not a machine is worth repairing, we do not compare the repair price to whatever price you claim you could've bought a replacement mower for.
• Higher price jobs will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
• Estimates (on average) delay the entire repair process by at least one week beyond our regular backlog.
• If a machine is in for both repairs AND service, we do not take the service portion of the price into consideration when deciding whether or not to provide an estimate. For example, if the price of the service on your riding mower is $250, and it also needs $300 worth of additional repairs, we only base estimate-worthiness on the $300 repair portion of the total price. Since $300 is below our estimate-worthiness threshold of $500 (and certainly less than half the price of an equivalent brand new machine for riding mowers), no estimate would be given in this case.
• You can specify a "notify-if-over" price. It is your responsibility to request this. For example you could tell us to notify you if the job will cost more than $3500. In this example, we would ONLY notify you if the price will exceed $3500. If it's $3500 or less, we would complete the job without providing an estimate. The "call-if-over" price must be higher than $250 for walkmowers and higher than $500 for other equipment types, and it is the customer's responsibility to request notification. If you feel your equipment is not worth at least that much, please take it elsewhere.
• Remember: if you're more excited about buying a shiny new mower than you are about spending money to have your current one repaired--don't have it repaired. 

APPOINTMENTS​

• Appointments are required for certain types of equipment, and are also required when Appleseed Mower Repair will be transporting the equipment.
• We require a non-refundable deposit in order to secure an appointment. The deposit also serves as a diagnostic fee, and will be applied towards your invoice total, but is absolutely non-refundable. 
• After you request an appointment, we will let you know the deadline for paying the deposit. If the deposit is not paid by the deadline, the appointment is removed from our schedule to allow others to get on the schedule.
• If you miss your appointment, you forfeit your appointment deposit, and you will need to reschedule and pay the deposit again.
• If we are transporting your equipment for you, the transportation fee is also due at the same time, also nonrefundable. 
• Note: If you have paid your deposit, and you change your mind or need to cancel for any reason prior to your appointment, you will not get your deposit back. Exceptions may be made for special circumstances--talk to us.

TERMINOLOGY

• "Tune-up" and "Service" are terms we use when talking about routine preventive maintenance. If your equipment is running and operating perfectly, starting easily, etc., you may want to have it "tuned-up" or "serviced" to help keep it running and operating properly.
• "Repair" goes deeper than routine maintenance. If your machine is is hard to start, won't start, or otherwise not operating as it should, a "repair" or "repairs" will be necessary. A "tune-up" or a "service" generally will not make a poorly running machine perform properly.

PAYMENT TERMS

• Any remaining balance beyond your prepaid deposit is due upon completion.
• We accept Cash, Check, Major Credit Cards.
• Unless noted otherwise, prices are quoted at a cash/check discount of 4%. If you pay by credit/debit card, you will not be taking advantage of the 4% discount and the difference will be added to your transaction.
• We also accept credit/debit card payments online, if requested.

TRANSPORTATION OF EQUIPMENT

• Transportation charges are due in advance and are nonrefundable. The transportation fee covers hauling your equipment to our shop and back to your location.
• Transportation rates can be found here.​
• If you are self-transporting your equipment, you will need to pick it up within 2 days of completion (excluding weekends & major holidays) or we will deliver it to you and you will be responsible for delivery charges.
• If delivery cannot be scheduled, a $10 per calendar day storage fee begins on day 3 after we notify you that your equipment is ready. This fee is to ensure we can manage our space efficiently.
• If you don't have your own truck/trailer, please make sure the borrowed vehicle will be available on short notice when the job is completed.
• Due to space limitations, we cannot allow you to drop off your equipment prior to your scheduled appointment.
• No equipment drop off outside of our business hours.
• The customer is responsible for all pickup and delivery expenses, even if the machine is in for warranty repair(s).
• The pickup/delivery driver carries NO CASH and CANNOT MAKE CHANGE. ​

DEPOSITS/DIAGNOSTIC FEES

• A nonrefundable $50 prepaid diagnostic fee/deposit is required for all incoming conventional "regular size" walk behind mowers and certain walk behind edgers.
• A nonrefundable $100 prepaid diagnostic fee/deposit is required for all other jobs, except as described in the "Unconventional Projects" section.
• You cannot leave a piece of equipment for repair without paying the diagnostic fee, even if you tell us you will "be right back" with the payment. You will have to take the equipment with you and come see us when you are prepared to pay the diagnostic fee. 
• Unconventional projects may require a higher diagnostic fee/deposit. See explanation below.
• Diagnostic fees/deposits do not count towards disposal of retired equipment.
• Should you choose to retrieve your equipment for any reason prior to completion, your deposit/diagnostic fee WILL NOT be refunded.

UNCONVENTIONAL "PROJECTS"
From time to time we may be asked to complete a project that falls outside the realm of "normal" lawn equipment, or needing more than the usual types of repairs. We generally will turn down these types of projects during our busiest months. If we accept the project, diagnostic fees and/or hourly rate for these jobs will be determined on a case by case basis and will also require pre-approval of at least $1,000. We reserve the right to refuse any job for any reason. 

PARTS SUPPLIED BY THE CUSTOMER

• We reserve the right to refuse any job where the customer provides parts sourced elsewhere.
• We reserve the right to refuse to install customer-supplied parts.
• Jobs completed using customer-supplied parts carry NO GUARANTEE, and may incur additional labor charges.
• In the past, we have encountered issues with fitment and durability of parts provided by the customer. This is most likely because the parts they purchased were the cheapest they could find, and as a result were of inferior quality, or were not even the correct part(s) for the machine being repaired. We use parts from established, trusted, reliable parts sources in our shop.
  
  

MOWERS OLDER THAN 20 YEARS
Depending on condition of the mower and the possibility of obsolescence of parts, and other unforeseen circumstances that would deem the project beyond economical repair, we reserve the right to require a higher diagnostic fee, or refuse the job altogether, on mowers older than approximately 20 years. We offer NO WARRANTY and/or NO GUARANTEE on repairs to mowers 20 years old and older.
Many mowers above 20 years old fall into the "unusually in-depth" projects mentioned above, even if you have been using it regularly.
Bottom line: If you can't justify the expense of a proper repair on your current mower, then it's time to buy a new one.
​Effective 10/10/2023: We no longer work on MTD-built riding mowers where the blades are engaged by lowering the deck.
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UNSAFE EQUIPMENT
From time to time we encounter a mower that is in unsafe condition to operate, and the cost of repairs to make it safe would simply not make economic sense. 

Other times, we may encounter a mower that needs multiple repairs in order to be reliable, but the customer only approves some of the repairs. We may refuse to work on it at all, unless all recommended repairs are approved.

If the customer only approves SOME of the repairs, it opens up the possibility that the customer may want to blame us for a future breakdown, when in fact the issue was caused by a needed repair that the customer declined. We try our best to avoid situations such as these because NOBODY is happy when things like this come up.

PLEASE use your best judgment about the condition of your mower before you decide to have us make the trip to pick it up. If the machine is deemed unsafe or no longer viable once it's in the shop, we'll probably refuse the job. Diagnostic and transportation fees are not refundable, even in these cases. 
​
There are three common reasons for a mower to be deemed unsafe and beyond economical repair, due to the time consuming (and therefore expensive) nature of the repairs:

1. Rust hole(s)/extensive rust pitting in the mower deck
2. Electrical systems that have been modified in an effort to defeat the operator safety system
3. Other modifications/repairs that were performed by individuals trying to "cheap out" on the job, and/or lacking the proper tools, knowledge, materials/parts, training, or ability.

NON-REPAIRED EQUIPMENT

• Non-repaired equipment is defined as equipment that arrived at our shop but ended up not being repaired, whether because of a declined estimate, parts unavailability, etc. Non-repaired equipment will NOT be reassembled, unless you choose to pay for reassembly. If you want it reassembled, please tell us BEFORE arrangements are made to return it to you.
• Disposal of retired equipment is available starting at $35 per unit (+ tax); price depends on equipment type.
• The disposal fee is in addition to your diagnostic fee/deposit.
• If you've paid a pickup & delivery fee, we will credit 50% of that towards disposal, since we won't be delivering the machine back to you; however--you have 2 business days to make the disposal fee payment, or we will deliver the equipment to you.

MANUFACTURER'S WARRANTY

• Proof of purchase (including purchase date) is required.
• Prepaid Appointment Fee/Diagnostic Fee is required. Refundable ONLY if the warranty claim is approved for payout by the manufacturer.
• Your warranty only covers defects in materials and workmanship. Please read your warranty statement that you received when you purchased your machine for more details pertaining to your specific machine.
• Fuel related issues are not covered by warranty.
• Failure of component(s) caused by "normal wear and tear" are not covered by warranty.
• Problems arising due to abuse, neglect, modification, lack of proper maintenance, improper handling, and/or improper storage are not covered by warranty.
• Transportation costs are not covered by warranty.
• Warranty coverage will be determined after diagnosis, and at the manufacturer's discretion. Our job is to report our findings to the manufacturer. The manufacturer makes the final decision.
• We are very firm in the way we handle "warranty jobs" because we have had cases where the manufacturer denied the claim (and rightly so), even though the customer thought their warranty should cover the repair.

OUR GUARANTEE

• We guarantee our work for a period of 30 calendar days from completion of the work except as noted below.
• We do not guarantee any work completed on machines older than 20 years.
• Jobs completed using customer-supplied part(s) carry NO guarantee.
• Fuel related issues are not covered.
• Problems arising due to abuse, neglect, modification, lack of proper maintenance, improper handling, and/or improper storage are not covered.
• Transportation costs are not covered.
• Original invoice (including date of work completed) is required for consideration.
• Coverage will be determined after diagnosis, and at our discretion.
  
  

We reserve the right to refuse any job at any time for any reason.

COMMUNICATION
We will contact you by text or email only when necessary, for reasons pertaining to your equipment. You typically WILL NOT receive status updates prior to completion as this takes time away from completing jobs.

This policy is subject to revision at any time, without notice. This version supersedes all other versions, including printed copies.