Buffalo Tools Shotty merchandise and poor customer service St. Louis Missouri

I noticed a report of poor customer service by Buffalo Tools that had a rebuttal stating that a company with shotty merchandise and poor customer service would not still be in business after 50 years.  I don't know how one stays in business for 50 years, but I can second the criticism of poor merchandise and customer service.

I purchased a Sportsman GEN4000LP portable generator to help me build a cabin on property I recetnly purchased.  It's not truly portable, but I can move it when needed, and it had the power necessary for my tools and ran on propane so I didn't have to worry about fuel gunk during periods of inactivity.

It worked great for 2 months, then just stopped producing electricity even though the motor was running.  No burnt AVR or coils.  Customer Service had me open things up to no avail.  I had to demand a local service rep, took the generator to the rep, and the rep couldn't find the problem after an hour of diagnostics.  The rep and Buffalo Tools decided the unit needed to go back to Buffalo Tools.  The rep also said there were similar unexplained outages of the Sportsman generators during Hurrican Sandy.

Three months later, the generator is still sitting at the reps shop.  Despite the UPS guy at the shop every day, Buffalo Tools couldn't manage to get a ticket to get the generator back to them.  In the meantime, a dozen calls to customer service go nowhere, and they won't send me a replacement until they have the other model because of their rules (previous folks ripping them off I assume).  Meanwhile, I'm out of work on my cabin.  Long story short, I figure out the generator was where I had left it, went to pick it up and demanded Buffalo Tools send me a box and pay for shipping to return it.  Again a hassle because sending a box costs money based upon size, yet they won't just send me a replacement and let me send the bust model back in the replacement's box.

Wait , there's more.

I boxed up my piece of junk and lugged it to the UPS store.  Two weeks later, they sent me a replacement that the customer service rep said had been looked over to be sure it was working.  What I recieved was clear a rebuilt modelcomplete with dented panels, chipped paint, and loose bolts.  Whatever, I tightened bols and got back to work; for 2 weeks.

Right in the middle of a job it just stops producing electricity again.  Given my previous experience, I dragged it back from my cabin to the service rep.  One day later, before I had time to connect with Buffalo Tools, the service rep calls and said the faulty wiring this time was obvious and is fixed for $136.88.  I'm excited, pay the bill and get back to work.

Whe I asked Buffalo Tools to honor their warrantee on the replacement model, I was told they usually only pay for repairs after they have been authorized.  I was sent to someone's voicemail, and haven't heard a word.  The two previous customer service reps I called by first name have transferred to other departments.  I was told they were promoted.

I'll keep trying th direct approach, but don't expect to get reimbursed for th wiring repair.  In the meantime, I can stay busy repeating this story on any retail review I can find.