Complain about a product or service

John Deere

Raymond of Three Rivers, MI July 23, 2009

In 1995 I bought a John Deere self propelled push mower. The mower served me well and still runs, except the self propelled mechanism barely works so it is basically a push mower. The dealer I bought the John Deere from is Finnerman's in Centreville, Michigan. They always did an excellent job serviceing my mower and I was happy with John Deere quality. In June I decided to buy another mower and I decided to pay more for a John Deere expecting quality and service. I paid 486 for a JS25 self propelled mower. On the third time I used the mower I hit the tip of the blade on a metal see wall and the camshaft was broken. I had a 30 day guarantee to return the mower if not satisfied. I was prepared to pay to fix the mower when to my surprize the cost for repair was 330 almost the price of a new mower. I will be 66 years old in October and I have been cutting grass since I was 8 years old. I have never had a camshaft break. I asked numerous friends and they also had never had a camshaft break.

The dealer said that I would have to contact John Deere direct. I did and they refused to help in any way. I went back to the dealer for help and they informed I had to pay the full330. further I was told by the Service Manager that he had seen hundreds of broken camshafts. If that was the case then shouldn't something have been done to solve such a problem? I was told a rock, stump, sea wall, etc. could result in breaking the camshaft. I was just lucky it had not happened before. I should have realised something was wrong with the quality as I paid 600 in 1995 for the mower that is still running. In my opinion no one should pay extra money to buy a John Deere self propelled mower. They won't stand behind a good customer who has used their products and their dealer would not help in any way. I exercised my 30 day warranty and received a 164 credit. So my cost for cutting my grass two times and the mower failing on the third try cost me 322. Thank you John Deere and Finnerman's. You really know how to treat a good customer.

Myron of Malakoff, TX July 21, 2009

I use my mower about twice a week for a couple of hours a week, as I was cutting grass I noticed a small wineing sound like a bering going out, I called the Athens JD dealer and they had two spindles and an ideler pully instock for my L118 I went over to pick them up and they advised me I would need 8 10MM bolts to mount them with because the ones they use are desined to break after installed in the removal proccess and seven of the eight did break, me I have been a millwrite for 20 years and keep my equipment running in top shape the two spinles I took off were both still good, the Ideler pully was stil good one spindle was lose in the deck so I thought the berring was gone, as I tried to tighten the four bolts in the deck the bolts broke (snaped off) the shaft pully on the top was rounded out or startting to round out an octagon shaped hole held inplace by a 22MM nut attated from the top of the shaft all parts so far were 125.00 pluse my time for installalation, I am paided 22.00 an hour thats on me.

Aprox. 2.5 hours and gas pluse another trip to Athens, Texas for a spindel pully, this may be the last deer I buy I will most likely buy a Scag because they are still building with pride in USA.

Ty of Davison, MI July 17, 2009

I bought a L118 from Home Depot in 2005. Use it to mow about an acre of lawn and plow snow off of a 75 foot driveway in the winter and hauling the 10P utility cart around the yard for general use. Nothing that it wasn't designed for. Keep it maintained by the manual. Mowing last weekend and the transmission made a horrible clunk. I pulled onto the driveway and got off only to find oil pouring out of the bottom of the trans. Something came apart inside and blasted thru the case. JD won't help, dealer, of course, wants me to come in and spend 800 to fix it. I spent 2000 on it to begin with. 4 years about 260 hours and a trans out is flat out unacceptable. I should have spent the money and got an Exmark zero turn to begin with. I grew up around JD products that lasted, this is very disappointing and may very well be my last JD purchase.

steve of louisiana, MO July 14, 2009

i bought a z425 john deere from home depot in quincy ill. in june of 2008 i have had nothing but trouble from this mower since i brought it home OCT 08 FRONT CECK HANGER BROKE OCT 08 CENTER SPINDLE OUT NOV 08 NOT RUNNING RIGHT CARBURATOR CLEANED NOV 08 NEW CARBURATER APRIL 09 RIGHT WHEEL QUIT MOVING MAY 09 ENGINE NOT RUNNING RIGHT JUNE 09 2ND NEW CARBURATOR (ONLY 30 HRS. RUN TIME BETWEEN CARBS.) JULY 09 RIGHT REAR TIRE BRACKET (WELDS BROKE )TAKE APART REWELD BRACKET JULY 09 ENGINE BLEW UP (SAME DAY) NO WARNING 533 HRS.

i have paid for all repairs execpt deck hanger now i have to spend another 600.00 on a new engine and if i have john deere install it another 5 or 600.00 for that i am a very unhappy with john deere what was once one of the most rated companies going have me to where i will never buy another john deere again. john deere should replace this engine to try to save a comstmer. brian at john deere has been trying to help but is hitting his head into a wall also

Herman of Saskatoon, SK June 26, 2009

I grew up with the John Deere tractor. My dad and his brother farmed 2 quarter sections of land with John Deere Model "D" on steel in the thirties. Later on they acquired a John Deere Model "A" rowcrop tractor. I just about froze to death on that thing in the spring and almost melted in the summer, but I sure enjoyed that John Deere! That was a tractor! A 4 cylinder "tractor" sounded like a car! How could they call it a tractor? So,, I am a John Deere man!

I have a John Deere F725 52" front cut riding lawn mower. I am very happy with it, it is a very dependable rugged machine. My beef is with the John Deere Co. The plastic grille (part No. M78282) is kinda battered up (my fault) and I don't want to sell it that way (we're having an auction sale). I ordered a new grille, the man asked, "you mean the one with the emblem?" "yes" I said. It was a bit pricey (129.00 CDN plus taxes) but I ordered one anyway (not in stock). When I opened the package at home I couldn't find the emblem, it was missing! I only got 9 tenths of the part I ordered!

I called the parts department and they told me that the emblem is a another part and is sold seperately. Now why did he not tell me so in the first place? (So, I really do have a compalaint with him as well) The emblem is another 8.00! Another 8 bucks just for a 4x4 sticky! I said "Now that is really stupid!" So, tomorrow when I go in to the city on other buisnes, I'll stop in and pick up the emblem, which, in my opinion should have already been pasted onto the new grille, and I should not have to pay for it - it's your advertisement, not mine! The least you can do is refund my 8 bucks! I like John Deere equipment, so please don't let me say anything bad about the Co. Please let me hear from you,

Kenneth of North Manchester, IN June 24, 2009

John Deere has no customer service for their popular mowers either on-line or by telephone. My L130A blew its mower deck belt. My operator's manual, which I took with me to a dealer, covers five models, L100-L130, but does not list or cover the L130A. Evidently, the two 130's have different decks (and none of the photos in the manual matches the L130A). The parts dept. checked my manual and sold me the wrong size.

I pointed out that the photo for the 48"deck doesn't even complete the belt routing path. The clerk replied that John Deere makes changing belts difficult so that owners take their mowers to dealers instead of doing it themselves. Summary: expect a Dear John from John Deere. The company doesn't provide adeqaute assistance or even decent manuals.

chris of willow, NY June 14, 2009

It is so sad to have bought a john deere tractor, thinking it might have been something close to the quality of the tractors of my youth. Everything on this tractor is cheap, crummy plastic, junk that breaks or needs replacing very quickly.

Bill of Lublin, WI June 8, 2009

I bought a new JD LT 160 in 2003 and the Tuff Torq transmission went out. Dealer replacement is over 600 dollars. Can't get the K48C trans from Tuff Torq,but can get the K71 for 199 dollars that they use in the Simplicity. What ever happened to JD quality? Am I just paying for the name?

Kevin of enfield, CT June 5, 2009

I bought a ne LA 135 lawn mower from ellingto agaway, a john deere gold star dealer,. Within a month and with less than 3 hours, the mower deck drive belt started to wear the deck out by going through the paint and now the deck. I purchased the mower in april and the wear started less than a month after. I contacted Ellington Agaway in Ellington CT and they said it was normal. I than contacted John deere customer service center before the the 30 days was up.

After the 30 days I could return it were up they then contacted me. I had to go through three service rep people until I got to patty-sue(ext 3226). She told me it was my problem to deal with the dealer, great customer service there! I than called the dealer, Ellington Agaway the "Gold Star Dealer", and they said it left there place it tip top shape after they charged me a set up fee, and said it was my problem now. What a wonderful gold star dealer they are, I hate to see a non-gold star dealer response to this.

Now It's after the "30 day" return period and I am stuck with a [bad] product, and LA 135 lawn mower. I now know it's there lower line but there is no reason for the response I got from them. I was better off going to Homne depot or lowes to get the product because I would not have to jump through hoops of fire to get a response. I bought a john deere snow blower from John deere from lowes and that items is fien. If you buy john deere buy from the big box stores because theyare easy to deal with customerservice, john deere customer service [is bad]!

Phillip of Taberg, NY May 31, 2009

Howdy, I purchased a used L120 (85 hrs)in summer 2006. I was in love with the tractor until the first winter. I have the 48" deck, 42" snowblower & 46" snow blade for this L120. Tward the end of the winter the transmission stops moving. As others have mentioned JD doesn't work on this transaxle. I did find out however that all parts are available direct from Tuff-Torq the company that makes this hydro. I fell that the price on the parts is OK & they will rebuild you old one for under 400.00. My complaint is that all the gears in this transaxle are made with the powder metal process. I believe that they are not getting the tempering they are suppose to be getting. This literally makes the gears disolve in the trans axle.

Now as others have said, for a 1000.00 dealer repair you would think there would be substantial warranty on the new part. Nope, 90 days. I for one have the ability to fix these my self, & will do so. I just think that repaceing this trans mission twice a year is ridiculus. Yes, I have replaced this tranny 7 times already. I have kept all the old one to rebuild them. Be informed that this K46 tranny is used by almost all tractor manufacturers. Now for you folks who wish to cure this once & for all, heres what you need to do. The JD G110 ('03', '04') have a Tuff-Torq K62 rear end. This has 1" axles, not 3/4". there is also an extra frame support for it.

The only thing that may be flukey is the engine drive pulley. The K62 uses a 23" rim & the K46 a 22". Since both machine use the same electric clutch, you may want to get a G110 drive pulley & belt. If you can do the work yourself, you can get the individual parts. This won't be a cheap operation though (1500.00 - 2000.00). But, this will stop the tranny failures. I am in the process of doing this to mine, for me it is worth it. I can deal with the other small things that crop up. FYI I have 290 hrs on it now, I snowblow more hours than I mow.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.

Terms of Use Your use of this site constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use

Advertisements on this site are placed and controlled by outside advertising networks. ConsumerAffairs.com does not evaluate or endorse the products and services advertised. See the FAQ for more information.

Company Response Welcome If complaints about your company appear on our site, we welcome your response. Please see the Response Form for more information.

For more information, see the FAQ and privacy policy. The information on this Web site is general in nature and is not intended as a substitute for competent legal advice.  ConsumerAffairs.com Inc. makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information herein provided and assumes no liability for any damages or loss arising from the use thereof. 

Copyright © 2003-2009 ConsumerAffairs.com Inc.  All Rights Reserved.    The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission.