Get tough... do it in writing... sounds like phone calls haven't done any good... play hard ball... use legal terms and threaten legal recourse under the Magnusan-Moss Warranty Act of 1975 (see link below). Deal with Toro's warranty company directly rather then Toro or the dealer. Sounds like you are caught between the dealer and Toro. They are just trying to stall you in hopes you will give up... I bet the dealer is hiding something... like the mower was sold to you with you believing it was under warranty... but maybe it really wasn't (re sale, old inventory, etc). If the dealer wanted to... they could easily code the labor/parts as warranty work and get paid for it from Toro Warranty... granted the dealer would get paid at a lower rate then what they would get from you. Try another Toro dealer in your area. The warranty company is likely a third party. I had an issue like this with my Saturn car... I went round and round with the dealer to no avail... then escalated it to Saturn... they sided with the dealer... finally got to the warranty company... they said... my claim would be covered with in 10 seconds of hearing the issue. The warranty company said... the dealer had to cover my claim because the dealer could not prove the item that went bad was due to my neglect or lack of routine maintenance. It took me a couple of week's a couple of letters and countless phone calls to get that situation squared away. From the get go... the dealer was against me and told me to bug off. When I went to Saturn corporate... they sided with the dealer too. Toro and their dealer network are going to stick together. Not sure... maybe Toro's are sold through a three party system... Toro, Distributor, Dealer? If that is the case... the distributor is likely the one not playing nice. Here are a couple of web sites that go over some of the warranty laws. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/products/warrant.htm http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm#Magnuson-Moss It is very hard if not impossible for the Toro dealer to prove that the failure of the piece in question was due to any lack of routine maintenance by you. If they think that is what it is... then have them prove it. Have them show you where in the warranty the part/item is not covered. I looked briefly at the Toro Warranty... pretty straight forward and brief. Don't let them tell you... if you had the work done at their shop or by Toro everything would be fine... that is against the law (as stated in the Magnuson-Moss Act). As long as you have the preventive/required maintenance done... you are set. The only preventive maintenance on a barely used lawn mower is changing engine oil... pretty hard for the dealer to prove that you did or didn't do it. Depending on what state you live in... you could take it to your state consumer protection office. Here in New York State... http://www.consumer.state.ny.us If the tactics above don't work... and you purchased the mower with your credit card or debit card with MC/V logo and signed for the purchase... you could seek recourse through MasterCard/Visa purchase protection... or though a charge back from your bank. I had an issue with a local retailer... they wouldn't work with me... called MasterCard... issue couldn't be rectified with them... went through my bank and disputed the charge. After two months... the retailer refunded my money... as they bank reported them to the better business bureau. Best of luck... don't give up... if you are truly in the right it will work... if you keep fighting. After all... what you are asking for is with in your warranty rights and certainly reasonable given the situation. It isn't like you are trying to be fraudulent.

Lesallimc, I am so happy for you that you are happy with the final look and the furniture headache fiasco with Stanley Furniture and with D&D Delivery is behind you now. It is a good thing you contacted the BBB or I have a feeling this would have been not resolved and caused you more stress for more months to come. Thanks for sharing. We would love pics if you have time. I am going to try to find time to post the pics I took of my Durham Furniture when it first arrived despite my bed not being made up with the fancy pillows. Since the car accident, I have had so many doctor appointments since I am still in pain that everything else other than trying to get some work done seems so stressful. It used to be easy to post pics when Yahoo Photos was in business. Now I have to learn what to do all over again. I think I will try that new place I posted the Stanley Furniture pictures.

Thanks reeljake. You're the one that let told me about Ocean Harvest, thanks for the recommendation! It really does have instant results. My lawn is looking a nice shade of dark green today, darker than all of my neighbors. I put down Microlife multipurpose fertilizer as well to try it out, though too early to see any results. I will watch it and water when it seems dry. I didn't want to overwater and end up with a fungus, or not water enough and kill a big part of my lawn.

Here are some general fescue care guidelines taken from this and other forums. Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall. Mowing: Mulch mow high. Every university study splits hairs on the exact mowing height, when in fact, mowers come pre adjusted. The easiest way to deal with that is to mow at your mower's highest setting or one notch down. Do not mow fescue at temps higher than the low 90s. Let it get long and bring it back down with a string trimmer when the temps cool off. Fertilizer: First application on Memorial Day. This takes patience to ignore 4 months of advertising that insists NOW is the time to fertilize. It isn't. Wait until after the spring flush of new growth has slowed down and then fertilize. Preemergent herbicide: When the forsythia bloom in your neighborhood. Post emergent herbicide: Spot spray individual weeds with Weed-b-Gon or another 2,4-d product. For special cases use Weed-b-Gon Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Killer or other Trycloper product. Insecticide: Almost never. I used it in the 60s on a dichondra lawn, but for real grass I have never needed one. Everyone's mileage is different on this, but the routine use of insecticide should be avoided unless you see insects causing damage. If your fescue cannot handle the watering as described above, then it is the wrong grass for your area. It simply is not adapted to inland California conditions.