Echo weed trimmer

Purchased this two years ago. It's easy to use, light weight and
starts very easily every time. However last week I noticed some gas
leaking. Found that the fuel line to the PCV valve was splitting. The
user manual indicates that warranty is for five years including the
fuel lines. The manual also indicates that fuel with 10% ethanol is
fine. Took it to an authorized service center and they claimed that
fuel system not covered by warranty because use with ethanol fuel. My
choice was to argue about it or buy the part myself and install.
Service center also said 3 week wait for service. Clearly they did not
want to handle this, and I couldn't wait 3-weeks, so I bought the
3-hose fuel line assembly for $18 and installed it myself in 10
minutes. This is a great trimmer but you can't depend on the quality
or warranty.

Here's a letter I wrote Echo:
Dear ECHO,

I am writing about a product warranty issue. Two year ago I purchased
and registered an ECHO GT-225 Grass Trimmer and have been very pleased
with it. However last week it developed a fuel leak in one of the fuel
lines which I noticed was split where it it attached to the little
white (PCV valve??) thing. I brought the trimmer to a local authorized
service center and showed them the split line. They surprised me by
saying that it wasn’t covered by warranty because I had used ethanol
gasoline (despite up to 10% ethanol being usable according to page-12
of the Operator’s Manual) and also it would take three weeks to get to
it because that were supposedly backlogged with work.

Since it’s the middle of Spring here I could not do without the
trimmer for three weeks; so rather than argue the points with them I
decided to purchase the replacement part Kit #900103 (Attachment-2)
and fix it myself (which took 10 minutes). I am relating all of this
to you, because prior to last week I would have given the GT-225 my
enthusiastic endorsement: it always starts quickly and easily, it’s
light weight and the Rapid Loader Trimmer Head is great. Unfortunately
my warranty experience has changed that. Right now I am of the
opinion that the warranty is effectively worthless and counter
productive to sales in an age of ubiquitous customer feedback via the
Internet.
Sincerely,
-----------
After they received the letter they called me to tell me that fuel
lines were considered "maintenence" items rather than "warranty" items
and that they allow 30 for warranty work to be completed. The also
offered me a free tune-up kit to compensate me for my trouble. I told
them to keep the tune-up kit.

On 6/9/2015 1:32 PM, Vic Dura wrote:
Echo weed trimmer

Purchased this two years ago. It's easy to use, light weight and
starts very easily every time. However last week I noticed some gas
leaking. Found that the fuel line to the PCV valve was splitting. The
user manual indicates that warranty is for five years including the
fuel lines. The manual also indicates that fuel with 10% ethanol is
fine. Took it to an authorized service center and they claimed that
fuel system not covered by warranty because use with ethanol fuel. My
choice was to argue about it or buy the part myself and install.
Service center also said 3 week wait for service. Clearly they did not
want to handle this, and I couldn't wait 3-weeks, so I bought the
3-hose fuel line assembly for $18 and installed it myself in 10
minutes. This is a great trimmer but you can't depend on the quality
or warranty.

Here's a letter I wrote Echo:
Dear ECHO,

I am writing about a product warranty issue. Two year ago I purchased
and registered an ECHO GT-225 Grass Trimmer and have been very pleased
with it. However last week it developed a fuel leak in one of the fuel
lines which I noticed was split where it it attached to the little
white (PCV valve??) thing. I brought the trimmer to a local authorized
service center and showed them the split line. They surprised me by
saying that it wasn’t covered by warranty because I had used ethanol
gasoline (despite up to 10% ethanol being usable according to page-12
of the Operator’s Manual) and also it would take three weeks to get to
it because that were supposedly backlogged with work.

Since it’s the middle of Spring here I could not do without the
trimmer for three weeks; so rather than argue the points with them I
decided to purchase the replacement part Kit #900103 (Attachment-2)
and fix it myself (which took 10 minutes). I am relating all of this
to you, because prior to last week I would have given the GT-225 my
enthusiastic endorsement: it always starts quickly and easily, it’s
light weight and the Rapid Loader Trimmer Head is great. Unfortunately
my warranty experience has changed that. Right now I am of the
opinion that the warranty is effectively worthless and counter
productive to sales in an age of ubiquitous customer feedback via the
Internet.
Sincerely,
-----------
After they received the letter they called me to tell me that fuel
lines were considered "maintenence" items rather than "warranty" items
and that they allow 30 for warranty work to be completed. The also
offered me a free tune-up kit to compensate me for my trouble. I told
them to keep the tune-up kit.


I'd avoid the line after reading Amazon reviews on them.

Vic Dura wrote:
Echo weed trimmer

snipped the repair story and most of the letter

Right now I am of the
opinion that the warranty is effectively worthless and counter
productive to sales in an age of ubiquitous customer feedback via the
Internet.
Sincerely,
-----------
After they received the letter they called me to tell me that fuel
lines were considered "maintenence" items rather than "warranty" items
and that they allow 30 for warranty work to be completed. The also
offered me a free tune-up kit to compensate me for my trouble. I told
them to keep the tune-up kit.


I think I'd have told them to shove that kit where the light doesn't shine
.. Right after I read them the part of the manual that says the lines are
covered .
--
Snag

On Tue, 9 Jun 2015 13:38:22 -0500, "Terry Coombs"
wrote in

Vic Dura wrote:
Echo weed trimmer

snipped the repair story and most of the letter

Right now I am of the
opinion that the warranty is effectively worthless and counter
productive to sales in an age of ubiquitous customer feedback via the
Internet.
Sincerely,
-----------
After they received the letter they called me to tell me that fuel
lines were considered "maintenence" items rather than "warranty" items
and that they allow 30 for warranty work to be completed. The also
offered me a free tune-up kit to compensate me for my trouble. I told
them to keep the tune-up kit.


I think I'd have told them to shove that kit where the light doesn't shine
. Right after I read them the part of the manual that says the lines are
covered .

I really wanted to do that, but the person who called was a young lady
obviously just reading from a script. She was an innocent lackey. If
the customer support manager (who the letter was addressed to) had
called, I would have been much more strident.

Vic Dura wrote:
On Tue, 9 Jun 2015 13:38:22 -0500, "Terry Coombs"
wrote in

Vic Dura wrote:
Echo weed trimmer

snipped the repair story and most of the letter

Right now I am of the
opinion that the warranty is effectively worthless and counter
productive to sales in an age of ubiquitous customer feedback via the
Internet.
Sincerely,
-----------
After they received the letter they called me to tell me that fuel
lines were considered "maintenence" items rather than "warranty" items
and that they allow 30 for warranty work to be completed. The also
offered me a free tune-up kit to compensate me for my trouble. I told
them to keep the tune-up kit.


I think I'd have told them to shove that kit where the light doesn't shine
. Right after I read them the part of the manual that says the lines are
covered .

I really wanted to do that, but the person who called was a young lady
obviously just reading from a script. She was an innocent lackey. If
the customer support manager (who the letter was addressed to) had
called, I would have been much more strident.

In our church a guy owns/operates small engine shop. Couple years ago
I went to his shop and wanted buy a small Echo chain saw but he steered
me to Stihl. He said he had enough with Echo 'cos they keep changing
little things in design making it it difficult to keep up. He quit
selling Echo already. Small Stihl is good around house, even wife can
start it. Trimmer I use 20V Lithium battery B&D. I like auto feed line
feature which works very well.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...
Sounds like BS to me. The ethanol fuel has been around for a long time
and manufacturers of gas equipment have to deal with it. The right
material has been available.



I don't know how long the 10% junk has been around, but surely long enough
that the small engine people should be able to deal with it.

Sounds like Microsoft stopping support for Win XP. That system has been out
well over 10 years and if the bugs and such are not out of it by now, they
never would have been, and now there are several more systems for them to
support.

On 6/9/2015 1:32 PM, Vic Dura wrote:
Echo weed trimmer

Purchased this two years ago. It's easy to use, light weight and
starts very easily every time. However last week I noticed some gas
leaking. Found that the fuel line to the PCV valve was splitting. The
user manual indicates that warranty is for five years including the
fuel lines. The manual also indicates that fuel with 10% ethanol is
fine. Took it to an authorized service center and they claimed that
fuel system not covered by warranty because use with ethanol fuel.

Sounds like BS to me. The ethanol fuel has been around for a long time
and manufacturers of gas equipment have to deal with it. The right
material has been available.

I guess they have some sweet sounding little girl call because they know
anyone else would get what they deserve.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 6/9/2015 1:32 PM, Vic Dura wrote:
Echo weed trimmer

Purchased this two years ago. It's easy to use, light weight and
starts very easily every time. However last week I noticed some gas
leaking. Found that the fuel line to the PCV valve was splitting. The
user manual indicates that warranty is for five years including the
fuel lines. The manual also indicates that fuel with 10% ethanol is
fine. Took it to an authorized service center and they claimed that
fuel system not covered by warranty because use with ethanol fuel.

Sounds like BS to me. The ethanol fuel has been around for a long time
and manufacturers of gas equipment have to deal with it. The right
material has been available.

I guess they have some sweet sounding little girl call because they know
anyone else would get what they deserve.

Ralph Mowery wrote:
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...
Sounds like BS to me. The ethanol fuel has been around for a long time
and manufacturers of gas equipment have to deal with it. The right
material has been available.



I don't know how long the 10% junk has been around, but surely long enough
that the small engine people should be able to deal with it.

Sounds like Microsoft stopping support for Win XP. That system has been out
well over 10 years and if the bugs and such are not out of it by now, they
never would have been, and now there are several more systems for them to
support.


I have XP pro work station only used for my book keeping for small
business we own. Funny thing this box is still getting updates from
MS.

Tony Hwang wrote:
Ralph Mowery wrote:
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...
Sounds like BS to me. The ethanol fuel has been around for a long
time
and manufacturers of gas equipment have to deal with it. The right
material has been available.



I don't know how long the 10% junk has been around, but surely long
enough that the small engine people should be able to deal with it.

Sounds like Microsoft stopping support for Win XP. That system has
been out well over 10 years and if the bugs and such are not out of
it by now, they never would have been, and now there are several
more systems for them to support.


I have XP pro work station only used for my book keeping for small
business we own. Funny thing this box is still getting updates from
MS.

You better check , those updates are NOT for XP , but likely are for stuff
like office suite , etc . You are probably still getting the malicious
software removal updates , I know I am . But nothing for XP itseslf - unless
you purchased the business update option , I believe those are still getting
security updates .

--
Snag

On 6/9/2015 3:33 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
Vic Dura wrote:
On Tue, 9 Jun 2015 13:38:22 -0500, "Terry Coombs"
wrote in

Vic Dura wrote:
Echo weed trimmer

snipped the repair story and most of the letter

Right now I am of the
opinion that the warranty is effectively worthless and counter
productive to sales in an age of ubiquitous customer feedback via the
Internet.
Sincerely,
-----------
After they received the letter they called me to tell me that fuel
lines were considered "maintenence" items rather than "warranty" items
and that they allow 30 for warranty work to be completed. The also
offered me a free tune-up kit to compensate me for my trouble. I told
them to keep the tune-up kit.


I think I'd have told them to shove that kit where the light
doesn't shine
. Right after I read them the part of the manual that says the lines are
covered .

I really wanted to do that, but the person who called was a young lady
obviously just reading from a script. She was an innocent lackey. If
the customer support manager (who the letter was addressed to) had
called, I would have been much more strident.

In our church a guy owns/operates small engine shop. Couple years ago
I went to his shop and wanted buy a small Echo chain saw but he steered
me to Stihl. He said he had enough with Echo 'cos they keep changing
little things in design making it it difficult to keep up. He quit
selling Echo already. Small Stihl is good around house, even wife can
start it. Trimmer I use 20V Lithium battery B&D. I like auto feed line
feature which works very well.
I have an Echo leaf blower and it is a dismal machine. It never started
easily. When I returned it, the guy said the fuel is old. Old? It was
only in there a month! Anyway, I started to work on it. I found that the
carb adjustment screws require a tool which "only dealers can buy". I
built one, adjusted the carb, and it now start fine. Just what are they
trying to prove (manufacturers and EPA). Still looking for the "real tool"!

On Tuesday, June 9, 2015 at 7:51:49 PM UTC-5, Art Todesco wrote:
I found that the
carb adjustment screws require a tool which "only dealers can buy". I
built one, adjusted the carb, and it now start fine. Just what are they
trying to prove (manufacturers and EPA). Still looking for the "real tool"!

Are these plastic adjusters? Don't they pull-off...and there's a slot for a flat blade on the needle valve?

"Art Todesco" wrote in message
...
I have an Echo leaf blower and it is a dismal machine. It never started
easily. When I returned it, the guy said the fuel is old. Old? It was only
in there a month! Anyway, I started to work on it. I found that the carb
adjustment screws require a tool which "only dealers can buy". I built
one, adjusted the carb, and it now start fine. Just what are they trying
to prove (manufacturers and EPA). Still looking for the "real tool"!

I had a weed eater that needed a special tool to do the carb adjustments.
Only found one place that listed it and they were out of them. It seemed the
head of the screw had an off center pin hole I finally got the 'screws' out
and cut a slot in them for a regular screw driver.
Several other small engines needed special tools, but I found them on line.

Terry Coombs wrote:
Tony Hwang wrote:
Ralph Mowery wrote:
"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...
Sounds like BS to me. The ethanol fuel has been around for a long
time
and manufacturers of gas equipment have to deal with it. The right
material has been available.



I don't know how long the 10% junk has been around, but surely long
enough that the small engine people should be able to deal with it.

Sounds like Microsoft stopping support for Win XP. That system has
been out well over 10 years and if the bugs and such are not out of
it by now, they never would have been, and now there are several
more systems for them to support.


I have XP pro work station only used for my book keeping for small
business we own. Funny thing this box is still getting updates from
MS.

You better check , those updates are NOT for XP , but likely are for stuff
like office suite , etc . You are probably still getting the malicious
software removal updates , I know I am . But nothing for XP itseslf - unless
you purchased the business update option , I believe those are still getting
security updates .

You're right all security updates.

On 6/9/2015 10:26 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"Art Todesco" wrote in message
...
I have an Echo leaf blower and it is a dismal machine. It never started
easily. When I returned it, the guy said the fuel is old. Old? It was only
in there a month! Anyway, I started to work on it. I found that the carb
adjustment screws require a tool which "only dealers can buy". I built
one, adjusted the carb, and it now start fine. Just what are they trying
to prove (manufacturers and EPA). Still looking for the "real tool"!

I had a weed eater that needed a special tool to do the carb adjustments.
Only found one place that listed it and they were out of them. It seemed the
head of the screw had an off center pin hole I finally got the 'screws' out
and cut a slot in them for a regular screw driver.
Several other small engines needed special tools, but I found them on line.

Yeah, that was what I was going to do but I didn't really want to take
apart a brand new carb. So I kludged up a tool that worked for one time,
and got it "properly" adjusted. The adjustment is a mini D-shaped rod,
but is recessed. So the tool cannot be too big in diameter. Next time I
need to adjust it, I'll have to make another one. Hopefully, I'll be
able to buy a tool somewhere, or I will have to disassemble and put slot
in the D-shaped rod ends.

On Tuesday, June 9, 2015 at 2:51:08 PM UTC-4, Vic Dura wrote:
On Tue, 9 Jun 2015 13:38:22 -0500, "Terry Coombs"
wrote in

Vic Dura wrote:
Echo weed trimmer

snipped the repair story and most of the letter

Right now I am of the
opinion that the warranty is effectively worthless and counter
productive to sales in an age of ubiquitous customer feedback via the
Internet.
Sincerely,
-----------
After they received the letter they called me to tell me that fuel
lines were considered "maintenence" items rather than "warranty" items
and that they allow 30 for warranty work to be completed. The also
offered me a free tune-up kit to compensate me for my trouble. I told
them to keep the tune-up kit.


I think I'd have told them to shove that kit where the light doesn't shine
. Right after I read them the part of the manual that says the lines are
covered .

I really wanted to do that, but the person who called was a young lady
obviously just reading from a script. She was an innocent lackey. If
the customer support manager (who the letter was addressed to) had
called, I would have been much more strident.

It's always amazing to me how some people can't accept victory.
Yeah, I agree they should have covered the cost of the fuel line
under warranty. But they offered you something of equal or greater
value, that you could use, after the fact. I would have accepted it
and moved on. But if you want to tilt at windmills, your choice.

On 6/10/2015 12:13 AM, Tony Hwang wrote:

You better check , those updates are NOT for XP , but likely are for
stuff
like office suite , etc . You are probably still getting the malicious
software removal updates , I know I am . But nothing for XP itseslf -
unless
you purchased the business update option , I believe those are still
getting
security updates .

You're right all security updates.

But that is OK as XP is a decent, stable operating system. I still have
one machine at home and two at work that perform everything they need to
do.