Well...Earheart Equipment lived up my expectations.... They did call back before 5PM, only to tell me that the trade-in I was wanting would have been a fair deal for both them and I....but...here is the kicker; the company just now, today, declared they are not going to take any more riding mowers as trade-ins. If Dean or Tuck would have gotten off their buts and worked with me, this negative John Deere dealer thread would not been started. I talked with a local Scag, Honda and Exmark dealer and they will take care of my servicing needs in the future for my JD GX345 Garden Tractor. Goodbye Earheart...good luck, I hope you can keep some of your customers, but don't cry "poor economy" when you file for Chapter 11. Yes, the economy isn't good right now, but you more than make up for it with PEE-POOR customer service.

Barcalounger went out of business last spring. As of November, there was some talk of a venture capitialist firm buying assets and reopening. I've not heard any news since then. My inquiries via the web site went to the black hole. But I'd second the recommendation on the Bradington-Young. I put a new mech on a 4114 for a customer that had a 20 year old one and was very happy to have his baby back. Of course, B-Y had a perfectly compatible mech for repair. One of the service managers I work with has been in the furniture business for 30 years and she says B-Y is her first choice in recliners.

'You obviously do your research which I appreciate and certainly understand.' I try .. I try .. try not to be a big burden to you. I know I'm a burden.. just try to keep it as tiny as possible... glad you've noticed :) 'What more can I say?' since you've asked :) Reviews for AmStd in Furnacecompare are mostly negative! is the mold problem mentioned here related to being in different regions in this country or possibly a faulty installation? your input would be greatly appreciated. http://www.furnacecompare.com/heat-pumps/american-standard/reviews/3/ "Installers just left our house. They cleaned our units and politely informed us that we had a mold problem. We needed to purchase the uv light units to kill the mold. They would cost $500 each and we needed two of them and the lights needed replaced every two years and they cost $100 each.wow, what a nice surprise since my wife has been complaining of an upper respiratory ailment for the last month. We were fed a story that these new, top of the line units were so efficient that they ran slower and more humidity was extracted from the air and more moisture built up inside them than in the cheaper units. This of course led to the mold problem. I wish I had seen these reviews prior to our purchase and I hope that I can spare someone else from getting urned. We were told by our installers that these units were the best out there and they were the absolute top of the line. From what I am reading and from our experience, I don't think so!!!!!!!" " I AM A CONTRACTOR IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS . I INSTALLED AN 18 SEER HEAT PUMP SYSTEM IN MY HOUSE IN 2006 AND CHANGED IT OUT IN 2010 . I HAD AN ACCU-CLEAN AIR FILTER SYSTEM ON IT WITH A GUARDIAN UV LIGHT (AROUND 1500.00) INSTALLED WITH THE SYSTEM AND WHEN I OPENED UP THE AIR HANDLER , I FOUND A LARGE AMOUNT OF MOLD IN THERE . MAYBE THAT WAS WHY MY WIFE HAD CONSTANT HEADACHES IN THE HOUSE OR WHY MY 9 NINE YEAR OLD WAS ALWAYS SNEEZING . I TAKE NOTE OF OTHER SYSTEMS I WORK ON AND AMERICAN STANDARD/TRANE UNITS SEEM TO BE THE WORST I HAVE SEEN . PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH ON YOUR EQUIPMENT AND PLEASE DOUBLE YOUR RESEARCH ON YOUR CONTRACTOR . HE MAKES MORE OF A DIFFERENCE THAN ANY BRAND OR PIECE OF EQUIPMENT . GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS"

While I agree "they don't build 'em like they used to" I think we have to realize a couple of points: First, in the broad sense, "we" don't want them to be built like they used to be. We want luxury, opulance, pretty and whether it does the function it's supposed to is secondary. Second, in the broad sense, "we" won't pay to get it like it used to be. We want raises but will we pay more for the items? When I think back to 29 years ago when I bought my washing machine, I paid $220 for it and it was heavily discounted being a floor model, last year's model and had some chips on the paint, and it was avacado green! What is that in today's dollars? Well let's see, back then a new pickup ran about $4,000. Today, $25-$30K. But a cousin of mine bought a basic washer and dryer a year and a half ago and paid about $200. Now,do I expect it to last 30 years? Nope. But then again, in converted dollars all it needs to last is a few years. People want new things all the time. They want to change the decor. That avocado refrigerator has to be replaced, not because it doesn't work, but because the COLOR doesn't work. And somehow, today, people don't understand the concept of painting appliances. So it's off to the landfill. Why make it last longer? In many ways, make it cheaper and replace it. And save the money. Americans couldn't build a car that Americans would buy so Americans went elsewhere for their cars. We couldn't build a reliable TV set and we wouldn't buy the American made junk so everything is made overseas now. We won't pay the price so the appliance manufacturer can build the appliance here, and pay the wages we demand, even if we could build it so we'd buy it. So they outsource it to other countries and we suck it up like an old fashioned shopvac. Sad isn't it? We won't pay the money to have people make the clothes; We prefer to buy from Walmart, getting stuff from Kathy Lee's Children's Daycare Camp in Peking. However, we will go and picket the Walmart to complain that they're non-union while our spouses go in and shop while we picket. We carpool occasionally at least. If people quit buying by name or price and bought by value, we'd all be a lot better off. (sigh) OK, end of rant. End of frustration. End of the world???? Well not quite. Sorry for getting OT. I really shouldn't talk about breadmakers because mine is old. It works great. It's an Oster and I didn't pay much for it at the time. But I'm sure they're not built the same today so going by brand isn't good. Which brings up another point. Who makes what these days? Kenmore has never made appliances. They have them made by Whirlpool, GE, Frigidaire, Panasonic and others. Maytag is now owned by Whirlpool and Amana was owned by Maytag, so they're now owned by Whirlpool, however, some Amana products are made by Samsung, under the Amana name, owned by Whirlpool. GE makes some appliances, but some are made for GE by LG and Frigidaire. Frigidaire makes appliances for the Gibson name. Confused? Me too. KitchenAid is an interesting example. They used to be top-notch. And they gained a huge reputation on their mixers. But they too have become well, to many they're "garbage". But for the average consumer, they'll work fine. I find it interesting that now they rate them by how many cups of flour they can handle. When they were Hobart-made, you could fill them to the top and it wouldn't matter. And although I am a fan of Whirlpool, they've done an injustice to KitchenAid mixers. Craftsman tools aren't what they were. Years ago they changed the warranty on them so it's not lifetime on all of them anymore. Let's not even go into computers. Well, no sense going on since I'm already confused. I guess it's a roll of the dice. Sometimes you'll get something good and sometimes you'll get junk. And there's an old addage that has become a joke: "You get what you pay for". I laugh when people say that. It's so untrue in a vast majority of cases. It's usually used by people trying to rationalize a ridiculously expensive purchase. Really, does that $8,000.00 washer and dryer do a better job on your clothes than my old workhorses do on mine? I don't think so. When someone says YGWYPF to me these days, I usually respond with something like, then obviously you must have bought Kmart's do it yourself home lobotomy kit on sale with a coupon and rebate... But not always. Because maybe they DID wind up getting what they paid for!