Problem - Echo PB-250 & Pb-251 5 Year Warranty

I want to warn others so to prevent you from going through what hell I've been going through in trying to get Echo inc to honor its 5 year warranty on a blower PB-251 I bought for home use 9-24-2008 and they tried saying I didn't use oil in the fuel, then they tried saying it wasn't their brand oil. I forced them to admit that they failed to laboratory test by spectroscopic analysis and therefore have no leg to stand on in proving such. I in fact did use their oil in the mix and I use the very same mix from the very same fuel can for my echo weed trimmer.
They replaced my blower with a PB-250 (Piece of crap) made over sea somewhere and it was junk from day one, I called them back and said so, but they refused to handle anymore issue with me. The damn thing quit before it was even 6 months old and now they're trying to pull the same crap.
I sent it back via UPS and the jerk (Dan Lloyd ) at Echo inc says , "I don't have to send it to a lab for testing, I am an expert and can see with my eyes it was run without oil". I said to him," You are an idiot! You are calling me a liar and I know you do not have michroscopes for eyes, so you can't tell anything. You are defrauding consumers with your 5 year warranty and accusing me now of not using your oil in fuel mix, as well as calling me a commercial user, because you think you can evade the law and the warranty. This is false advertising."
The reason I bought it to begin w/ it said Made in USA on the box and 5 Year Warranty. I followed all rules of warranty to the letter.
Screw Echo inc !!!! Don't waste your hard earned cash on them. Buy Sthil or some other brand. Good luck!! If anyone else has experienced this same problem, feel free to contact me, as I am sueing them through the Federal Trade Commission and Attorney General. If there are others, we may have a class action case to settle

Well in the guy from echo's defense, all you need to do it pull the muffler off to see scoring on the pistons exhaust side. Therefore a laboratory would not need to look at it. Only a mechanic or educated homeowner would need to verify it. If you run the engine with too little oil or none at all this is NOT covered under warranty. This is just basic neglect of the unit. even if you used echo oil it still proves neglect. I know all about warranty claims for I am a redmax factory certified mechanic and see this all the time. Sorry for the hassle with echo. :-/

Edwards Saw Service in Glen Mills PA

The thing is, I was using the oil in my fuel and it was as directed. My line trimmer isn't having any issues and it was bought the same day in 08 and is fine and used the same fuel mix.

Echo usually makes good honest equipment. They stand by their warranty 99 percent of the time. I'm sorry you had to deal with a dickhead representing the company. You probably got 2 defective blowers off of the same assembly line.

Edwards Saw Service in Glen Mills PA

just out of couristy dustypaul ,where was that 250 made?...russ

173abn said:

just out of couristy dustypaul ,where was that 250 made?...russ

Click to expand...

The engine is made by kioritz which echo uses in all their units which is a jap company. Go figure. :-$

Edwards Saw Service in Glen Mills PA

I am having the exact same issue with my echo saw. There oil mixed on a 1 gallon gas can used with my saw and trimmer. The trimmer still working fine but the saw has scored cylinder walls only cut up 2 trees in 3 years. The gas drained and run out of saw after every use. I'm not a moron. I have run 2 cycle equipment for years with no issues until i got this saw. echo has a problem with heat or the mix ratio They are using. they will not stand behind there warranty and my dealer is going to stop selling there equipment because of issues like this with echo..

At this point i am filing a lawsuit and we are interested in going class action. if you have had issues with Echo's warranty email me and i will get you in contact with my attorney.. tsomike@yahoo.com

THAT'S GOOD TO KNOW...Thanks for posting and keep us informed please.:thumbsup:

Sorry to hear about your warranty situation, hopefully it will be resolved by that company.


My opinion about manufacturers in general is this:

Just tell the truth?

If companys can't stand behind their warranty, just don't have one or a very limited one.

"Our product is not the best it can be because we use a cheaper grade of parts in it to keep the price down so we can make a profit and stay competitive."

" Our product has a life span of ? years or ? amount of user hrs. and our product also has a ?% failure rate early in it's life span"

"Our warranty is limited and is as only good as the amount of repairs or replacements we have to do"
So in a nutshell if alot of equipment is coming back to us for the same repairs or a common issue we reserve the right to refuse to fix anything and leave you on your own, only to the point that we will sell to you at your cost, parts to fix the problem you are having with no garauntee the replacement parts will not fail somewhere down the line and you will be back again at square one.

Also we reserve the right to ignore you once we have sold you our product if you have any issues with it.

Also do not bother e-mailing the CEO or anybody on the corporate level to complain too, about the product because they will not respond themselves and may or may not have somebody lower down the corporate chain contact you instead and offer a 10% discount on a new replacement.