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Nov 6, 2019
7:04:37pm
Tricky All-American
What would you do with this repair shop situation?
I bought a large generator at Costco 5 years ago and have never used it. It's a dual fuel model that runs on gas and propane.

Because of the recent fires here in Southern California involved many people around us being without power for several days, I finally got my still-unused generator off the garage shelf and tried to get it to fire up using my gas BBQ's 5 gal. propane tank and a new propane hose/regulator I bought from Home Depot. Nothing. I did everything I could to try to determine whether it was not getting a spark or not getting fuel. Finally I decided to take it to a local lawnmower shop to see if they could get it going - I was hoping it was something as simple as needing to change the spark plug etc.

Knowing that the generator was still essentially new (never used) I believed I could likely still have Costco refund my money if the cost of getting it going was going to be prohibitive. So I explained to the guy at the repair shop over the phone that I didn't want to put a lot of money into it. He said to bring it in, which I did the next day (last night). I showed him what I had already tried, gave him my propane tank and regulator and asked him to call me after he'd looked it over before doing any repairs with an estimate for what he thought he would do.

This afternoon after not hearing from him, I called him. I had apparently given him my old cell number. He told me that he tried calling me earlier that day and left a message and that he thought that my hose/regulator and/or propane tank were probably bad (he thought there was little to no pressure in the tank and that the regulator was also bad) and he was going to try a new tank and hose tomorrow. As I discussed further, he said he had also pulled the engine apart and inspected the entire fuel system for blockages and that he had found none. That made me nervous so I asked him how much time he had spent on the fuel system. He said he had two hours of labor at $75/hr so far, and when I protested he told me that it was my fault for not giving him the right phone number. He's Hispanic and has a pretty heavy accent, but I think he understands English really well — I don't think this is a question of misunderstanding the language.

So despite thinking that the propane tank and hose are bad, he spent two hours of time pulling apart the fuel system! Its probably a $700 generator and now he's going to charge me at least $150 for what he's already done, even though he thinks the problem is completely external to the generator and has nothing to do with the generator. I'm pretty frustrated — I had asked him to call me before doing any work. He says he called me but I didn't answer — but calling me and leaving me a message doesn't mean he's got my permission to spend as much time as he wants and then charge me for his labor.

Tomorrow he's still going to try connecting the generator to his own propane tank with a new fuel hose and regulator, so I'm sure there will be more time/labor involved. Am I being unreasonable if I tell him I'll pay for the time he spent looking at the hose and propane tank, but not his two hours of fuel system breakdown? I'm interested at what point you all think he should have stopped work without further authorization.

TIA
Tricky
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Tricky
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Jun 25, 2009
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Mar 28, 2024
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