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I'm a contractor and I have been a loyal Makita tools buyer for over twenty years. I own a two table saws, two chop saws, sawzall, multiple corded drills, hammer drill, grinders, shears, router and table, six battery impact guns, eight battery drills, ten(!) battery garden shears, two four-battery chargers, four two-battery chargers, and too many single battery chargers to count.
As I have so many Makita products it seemed logical to purchase a Makita mower.
(PART 1) The grass was getting long after it arrived ONE WEEK after ordering, I took it out of the box, assembled the folding arms (super easy), put the batteries in, plugged in the plastic key and was on my way. The first lane I cut seemed okay, except half way along the thirty foot run when a hubcap on one of the wheels decided to fall off. I stopped and popped it back on, but by the time I got to the end of the row, the hubcap had fallen off again. So when I got to the end I pulled the mower in reverse and heard a BANG BANG noise and pellets or hard rubber went flying out in all directions, striking my four year old in the shin and causing a huge welt. While he ran off screaming I thought, oh gosh, what did I do wrong? The mower would not run now, it was off balance because of a bent blade assembly.
What happened?
The mower is so poorly designed that when pulling in reverse the hard rubber flap that swings back and forth keeping detritus from flying out and hitting your shins as you mow – this flap had moved forward and struck the blades which bent and created an off balance situation which caused the 'smart' mower to shut off. The rubber flap was missing a chunk. I was so amazed I got on the phone immediately and called the hotline and spoke to Ralph McCauley who was incredulous. He said I should send him photos and I did. He replied to me over the phone – saying that the mower was damaged in shipping and that I should return it immediately. Damaged in shipping? So I jumped through the hoops, disassembled the mower, repacked it in a completely perfect box without a single ding in the cardboard, requested and printed the Amazon return label, then waited for another week for a replacement mower. The new mower arrived. To know how that experience went, restart at (PART 1) and re-read that experience. The only difference is that this time the rubber cut off hit my leg, not my kid's leg. The hubcap from a different wheel fell off on mower two. I call Makita Service and they tell me – haha – that this is the first time they heard of this and that the mower was damaged in shipping. So I reorder a new mower after repacking this one. I wait a week for the new mower to arrive.
MOWER NUMBER 3 arrives. I take it out of the box. I note that the flap WILL HIT THE BLADES if I reverse the mower. I call Makita service and explain the situation to Dick who said he was named John who tells me this is the first time this has ever happened. John was so rude, when I asked his full name he refused to give it to me. He told me that I needed to return the mower. Again. I said I was going to remove the rubber flap, using a philips screwdriver, and I was going to use the mower. He said if I did this HE WOULD VOID my warranty.
VOID MY WARRANTY!!!! HE is going to VOID MY WARRANTY.
He claimed that the mower had been damaged – in shipping – yeah.
So I removed the flap by removing three philips screws from the plastic hinge bezel with a screwdriver and am using the mower. The third mower. Carries a VOID WARRANTY now too.
But I don't care. It's the last Makita product I'm ever going to buy.
The first day two of the hubcaps fell off. I had to put them on with a bit of butyl rubber to keep them from falling off.
Makita – I realize you're not reading this – but to the rest of you out there, keeping in mind that I am a contractor, insert a colorful set of 3, 4, and 6 letter invectives (curse words) to describe my feelings for Makita now.
Applies to Makita Polska – Bielsko-Biała. I am disappointed and embittered !!! I bought a Makita petrol mower in May 2018 which is guaranteed, while cutting the grass, the piston thrust the side of the piston! I sent a mower to the warranty repair to the nearest representative of Makita in Wejherowo, from Wejherowo she went to Bielsko-Biała, no one informed me about anything …. I mention that I brought the mower to repair at the beginning of June 2019! Without informing me, Bielsko-Biała sent the mower to the representative of the engine manufacturer Briggs – Chabin in Lodz …. I still had no information what was happening with the mower, and today the service from Wejherowo calls me, that the mower returned to Wejherowo and whether I about I know that they will not fix it for me ???? !!!! I was in a big shock! no one notified me, the company Chabin sent back a lawn mower and wrote that they would not repair the engine because a mower I used for badly !!! Makita Polska did not even bother to write to me … I will not mention the phone !!! a total embarrassment does not do the job for you. Mower was not used even one decent season !!!! how can you accuse a year of bad use !!!!! that's not how customers are doing, it's best to write that badly used and a problem with your head !!!! Makita such a big company and such crap you do to people ….. I cry for such treatment, approach to the customer and dismissal !!!! this is not a mower for PLN 500 I bought it for almost PLN 1500 !!!!!!!!!!