I just purchased a new John Deere e170 from Lowes today, and when they delivered the mower to the front of the store for pickup, they had it resting on a pallet jack (on the mower deck). This is my first time purchasing a riding mower, but I feel that it being jacked up off the floor by the deck isn't good and could have caused damage - or at least that's my assumption.
Everything seems to be operational, but I wanted some opionions on whether I'm worrying for nothing.
Yes it can.
Write to the JD customer support and lodge a complaint.
make sure you get a response so if suddenly some thing breaks you have a paper trail to support a damages claim.