Joe’s Lawn Mower & Sharpening Center

Excellent. Joe’s a friendly, helpful, personable guy, did a quick repair for me while I waited. The kind of service you don’t often find these days.

First, Joe’s has moved to 127 orchard Street, Stamford, CT. I give Joe’s the strongest possible recommendation. I am only sorry it has taken so many years and wasted $$ to find him (he relies on word of mouth). He does it right, the first time, for a very fair price. If there is an issue he will make it right. He has been in business since 1978 and has been repairing small engines for 50 years. He has forgotten more than the other guys have ever learned. If he cannot fix it it cannot be fixed. He won’t just take your money. He will tell you if your machine is not worth fixing. On the other hand he will also breath life into an old machine that you thought was dead.
I brought him a 25 plus year old 11 horse leaf blower that was dead. It took him under 2 minutes to determine it needed a valve job and he told me when he was done the machine would work like new. For under $ 300 he did the valve job, cleaned and repaired a balky carb, replaced the throttle and rewired the throttle cable and fixed/​welded a broken front wheel mount. All this turned around in under 48 hours. In so doing he saved me the $ 1500 it would have cost me to buy a new comparable one.
Joe’s is CASH ONLY, remember that. Don’t be thrown by the chaotic nature of his shop. He is a genius not a neat freak. He is open early, but closes at 4 pm weekdays. He is open Saturday mornings until 1 or 2 pm. A great bonus is that he will pick up and deliver, a Godsend for busy people. Go straight to Joe’s. There is none better.

OVERALL — I would totally recommend them… but for a hiccup (described below) this would be 4 stars.
The good:
* they «get» customer service and will do whatever it takes to fix your problem. I actually had to bring my mower back for a second try, but they did fix it to my satisfaction and didn’t charge me anything extra for it
* they are very fair with pricing
* this is a family business from what I could tell, and the founder has some 40 years of experience with engines. he has seen it all and can fix any small engine.
* they are open on Saturdays (I think until 2:00 or so)
The not-​so-​good:
* the offset to Saturdays is they close early during the week (I think 4:00 PM) so it is hard for a working person to get there without taking time off
* I didn’t feel like they initially understood the problem I was having, and while I may also be at fault for not being SURE before leaving, I feel like this lead to my having to come back a second time. Just be sure the person who works on your engine/​mower is the person you describe the problem to, it may save you time.
Special recognition:
* the founder is maybe a little grumpy at times, but he does care about getting it right and that impressed me.
I definitely recommend them for mower repair and will go again.