For nearly 30 years I have been a loyal Earl's customer with the purchase of tools, two Stihl chains saws, a weed wacker and more. I will never go back after my last experience. I had an older, but very lightly used Stihl chain saw which needed service due to a start & stall problem. Their tech (Jim?) said the head gasket was bad and the saw was no good. I found this difficult to believe and after quite a bit of arguing got the diagnosis fee reduced. I asked them to reassemble the saw, which they strongly resisted doing, and give it back to me; they proposed scrapping it. I also got a hard sell to buy a new saw. Instead I took my old saw to a another local shop and two days & $85 ($50 labor/$35 parts) later I got my saw back in fine running condition!! I have now cut many trees on a small acreage for countless hours (and gone through 3 chains in the process) without any issues whatsoever. My old Stihl runs great! I called the owner, John, to express my concerns and great displeasure only to hear, "well I don't know what to tell you" and "there is no way anyone could have fixed your saw for only $85". He offered no apology or made any effort to try and get me back as a customer. All this now makes me wonder if the two lawnmowers I took in in past years for repairs and was told were "not repairable" were in fact alright and were an effort to sell me something new. John, read the reviews; you are allowing a once respected, long-time business to go down. A "sorry" or "let us make it right" would go a long way versus arguing with customers or out n'out lying about the true condition of their equipment. read more

Best , most knowledgeable shop I have ever been to and I've been a cutter for over 40 years. I ran over part of one saw with a backhoe and they got all the parts within days and helped me with parts diagrams and advice because I couldn't afford to have it repaired. Also, the MS362 is easily the best saw I have ever owned! read more

Wow, I should have read some of these comments before I took my lawnmower there. Just like some of the other's. 2 weeks and $45 to be told "I don't know, we looked at it a little, but we'll let you know" These guys are a bunch of rude jerks who come across as not very intelligent. read more

I took in a trimmer for service and waited for 4 weeks, picked it up drove up to the mt's to use it and it wouldn't start. Drove back to their shop and their employee couldn't get it started, then the "BS" started flowing. Well maybe the carburetor also doesn't work - oh really and the cost of that would have taken it to the cost of a new trimmer. I said ,just apply the money I have spent so far in your attempts to fix it and apply it toward another trimmer. Now I'm talking to the Mgr and she says, "well we can make it run in the shop", that's dandy I noted, I need it to run on my property. Long story short I was out about $30. and the Mgr was totally RUDE to me the entire time. You will regret going there. read more

At one time Earl's Saw Shop was the premier small-engine repair shop in Boulder. John and his other repair staff were excellent, and so was the service. The only knock on them was the long turnaround times, especially during busy times of the year. I used them repeatedly for various chainsaw and small engine tune-ups and repairs, and for saw blade sharpening. They were great. Not anymore. The problem now at Earl's is the owner, a disagreeable lady who has no sense of public relations whatsoever and who runs her business (apparently inherited from Earl) with an iron fist, intimidating her staff and creating a sense of fear and a CYA mentality that trickles down to everyone, including customers. My problem with Earl's started when my large leaf vacuum suddenly stopped running. Picture a huge cube that tows on a trailer behind a lawn tractor: it has an engine, a huge hose that vacuums up leaves, and a mulching grinder. When it works, it rocks. I tried my own repairs -- successively replacing the battery, spark plug, fuel filter, and finally the entire carburetor, but it simply wouldn't start for anything. Stumped, I rented a trailer, loaded it up, and through much effort I won't detail (who closes at 2:00 on a Saturday?) dropped it off Earl's. I was told that it would be a few _weeks_ before they could even look at it. A few weeks passed, and I hadn't heard anything from them, so I followed up with a call. Oh yeah, we'll have a look at that this week, the guy on the phone said. A week later they notified me that the vacuum was done. I rented a trailer again and went over to Earl's to pick up the repaired vacuum. The ticket reported that the air filter was dirty and it had "bad gas". That was a head-scratcher, given all my troubleshooting. Vexed that it took four weeks for that conclusion, I paid the exorbitant $130 (!) repair charge, loaded the unit onto the rented trailer with the assistance of the guy behind the counter, and off I went. A few days later, when found time to use the newly repaired unit, it wouldn't start -- the exact problem I took it in for originally! I couldn't make it in over the weekend, so on Monday, I called Earl's back to report the vacuum not running, and was told to bring it in again. Thinking the problem must be minor, I loaded up right away, dropped it off, and the entire week went by without any word on what the problem was. Finally, on Friday, after hearing nothing all week, I called in to see what was taking so long, and was told I could pick it up right away, but that there would be another $65 charge. I disputed this, of course, because the original repair wasn't successful. After getting nowhere with the guy who answered the phone, he referred me to the owner. Immediately, she was argumentative. "Ticket says this was repaired", she insisted over and over. Well, obviously not, and after a minute or so of back and forth, she absolutely refused to do anything further over the phone, saying I needed to come down in person. She said that they always take photos of their repairs before and and after, and I could come see them. I get there, and of course there are no photos. Our argument continued, during which the guy who had helped me load it up originally made the utterly false claim that he'd offered to start up the unit for me at that time but that I'd refused (huh? absolutely nothing of the sort happened). The mechanic was summoned from the back, and said that the problem was that there was water in the gas. Whaaat? Well, if that was the case, then it was their own water in the gas, because I hadn't added or removed anything from the tank since the original repair. Maybe it got rained on, he suggested, forgetting that there hadn't been rain for weeks. (Besides, don't gas caps seal?) At this point, the owner flat-out called me "a liar", manufacturing out of thin air some kind of story that I'd used the vacuum all weekend, that it had "broken" again and that I was trying to get away with a free repair. (The monster piles of unvacuumed leaves on my property would beg to differ with that.) After a half hour of rancorous argumentation between me, the owner, and three or so others there, we agreed never to do business with each other again, and "out of charity" she dismissed the second repair charge. I verified that the vacuum would start -- indeed it did (finally, yay!) -- pulled around to load up and leave, and out of nowhere, a guy from the shop comes to help me load it. He whispers to me that "if it were him, he'd never come back here -- see how she is?". Then, in a gem of an aha! moment, he reveals that the problem with the engine not starting was that there is a interconnect switch on the casing of the vacuum unit that wasn't making contact, and that was cutting off the spark to the engine. (Who knew?) All he'd had to do is shift the case a little to the side, and voila! That was the problem all along! Draw your own conclusions. read more

Do not get your chains sharpened here. Us forestry professionals would never dare. They overheat the teeth as the possibly low paid kids grind them way too fast taking the temper out of the steel, therefore causing the chain to last only half as long as it would otherwise. Then, repairs take forever. If you ask and you are at all frustrated after waiting for a month (and being told that it would be a couple of weeks) they will have an attitude. They think because they are the only true chain saw and lawn equipment repair place in a town of academics that they can just ignore basic customer service. Well, I will never take my business here again, nor will any of my associates or friends in the local forestry industry. I also have a little story to tell. One time I go there to check on the status of some saws as I was in the area. I get out of my truck and hear a guy yell "hey, that's mine!". He was there to check on his lawnmower and they were literally renting out his lawnmower to another guy, it was hilarious. If it wouldn't be so unethical. April 2017 Update. Noticed the reply from this shop to my review. He must be thinking about someone else, because no one talked to me, "this customer felt that too much was taken off...if you don't get all the damaged part of the tooth off it won't cut". That is in fact a complete fabrication, that conversation never happened, and did not need to. I know well how much needs to be taken off. The issue is not about how much is taken off, but at what speed of the wheel, and how much pressure is put on the wheel against the tooth. This increases friction, therefore heat, and reduces the ability of the steel to maintain hardness. Which then, like other reviewers said, causes a chain to be dull much faster. Of course there is the occasional homeowner who will put a chain against a tree with a flower hook in it or something like that. But first, that conversation as well as the statement of "the customer soon realized that in fact it was our loaner not his mower" is also complete false, same with "his mower was fixed cleaned and safe and sound in the shop". Never happened. What your business needs to do for its customer's is to hire a person with a professional attitude that calls customers, makes sure the shop follows up to it's promises and you will see that your poor reviews will drastically improve. That should be done, instead of making up conversations that never happen to make a reviewer look bad. It would be my pleasure to see this business become more liked by reviewers, but the sentiment seems to be that reviewers get attacked negatively instead of owning up to mistakes. Plenty of other businesses do that and turn their reviews around, you can do it too. The lady you have needs to stop answering the phone because multiple reviewers here and on Google mentioned the attitude. I wish you the best but until the attitude changes everyone goes to C&S Sharpening & Precision for perfect sharpening services. read more

Update: they made it right. They gave me credit for the $129.90 towards a new Stihl and that was what I felt was needed to make it right. It's a bummer, and why I can only give them 4 stars, I still had to pay the $55 for the diagnostic as I still have to take that Saw to get repaired and pay again, but as far as I'm concerned they made a good effort to make the situation better. I will return. They should offer the $55 deposit towards a new Saw on every repair when quoting repairs. Would sell a lot more saws. read more

I took something to Earl's to be repaired, and unfortunately it was unrepairable. I was charged a $45 deposit, even though they couldn't repair it. When I talked to a "manager", she was incredibly rude when I told her that I was not properly explained about the deposit. Not only did she ignore what I was trying to say, but she hung up on me!!! I would never recommend them because of their incredibly poor customer service and for taking my money!!! read more

I have had my blades sharpened here for years! My lawn mower and snowblowers have also been serviced here with great satisfaction. In fact, I drive from Denver to take advantage of the quality service. In the Spring they can get busy, but always have things ready when they say they will. Great job, guys! read more

Update, One month later. We've been using the Generator six days a week for for a month, roughly seven hours a day (roughly 160-170 hours...) My Generator is running great (with no supposed oil leaks by the way). I did your job for you Earls Saw Shop. 160-170 hours (roughly) of run time is FAR from a destroyed generator. Incorrect diagnosis, failure to perform your job, Extremely poor customer service, Failure to take responsibility for your own actions, fabricating parts of your story to TRY and make yourselves look less ridiculous, and calling me a LIAR???!!! Earls saw shop is so far removed from the reality that good businesses operate in, It's kind of funny, and kind of sad. I hope they get it together or go out of business. Look around people, there are without a doubt better businesses to spend your hard earned money with. read more

Don't buy ANYTHING from these guys unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure that you want to keep the item. We bought some items from them, and nowhere in the store was any sign posted stating their return policy. They don't have one. All returns are store credit only, but we only found out about that AFTER we had purchased the expensive item, and on the receipt, in small print, was this policy noted. They will not take anything back, will not give you a refund of your purchase price, and if you ask, be prepared to take a beating from the managers. read more

These folks are great. Twice I've stopped by with a chainsaw that was giving me problems. First time, I needed carb adjustment (tune-up), and the shop guy did it while I waited, for no charge. Again yesterday I took my saw that was misbehaving, and the same guy checked the carb and adjusted it. Since that did not fix the problem, he told me what would cause the condition (something in the needle bearing, clutch area), so when I went home I was able to find and fix it. He also gave me a small plastic gizmo to insert in spark plug port for removing the clutch. All of this at no charge. read more

I've had only a few experiences with Earl's, but each one was worst than the last. I had been told many times they were awful, but I had also been told they were the only game in town. Earl's Saw Shop has possibly the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I've ever experienced. I called to have my Gravely Professional serviced, and gave the previous owner's name as a reference. (They had last worked on the tractor for its previous owner, and the transmission then quit the first time I tried to use it). I had to call several times just to get someone who could actually help me set up pickup and delivery. Unfortunately, SHERRY is the one who finally answered my questions. We discussed the rate for pickup ($120), and she explained it would be the same price to have someone come to the house to look it over, as my problem was possibly user error. I then told her I would attempt to fix the issue on my own, and that I would call if I needed service. She told me to ask for SHERRY if I needed help in the future. Today, I received a call from Kerry stating that he needed an updated address for the tractor. When I called back, I was transferred to SHERRY, who demanded to know who owned the tractor, and proceeded to tell me she was upset with ME, because she "just got my butt chewed off." When I began to explain that I received the tractor with the house I purchased from the previous owner, the line went dead. I promptly called her back, whereupon she said, "ARE YOU READY TO LISTEN TO ME?" I told her that I was simply answering her question, and yes, I was ready to hear why she was yelling at a customer. "I'M NOT YELLING. YOU'LL KNOW WHEN I'M YELLING!" I again said I was ready to listen (as she stated she couldn't get a word in before... due to me attempting to answer the question she asked). LOOK, DO YOU WANT US TO COME TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR MOWER?" I replied no, and she hung up on me for the second time. If this is the way they treat past and potential customers, I know I will never again give them my business, and I will encourage others to go elsewhere, too. read more

This is a follow up to my negative review dated 5/14/2015. One of the store Managers contacted me after reading my review and provided me with a full refund of my money. She said that they dropped the ball on my work and that is not how they do business. I thought it only fair that I write to inform people that they did try to make things right by me. read more

Well I sure wish I had read recent reviews. My Partner and I had used them for the better part of the last 30 plus years and we brought over several items for service and fixes on May 30. This past Saturday we called to get an update on our lawn mower. Immediately they were confrontational after we referenced this was to be done in 12 days. We had already cancelled the chain saw service as it was cheaper to buy a new one than have them fix this one and then after we requested an update on the mower they called and stated it would need a new carburetor and the costs would be $200. We said we wanted to chat and would call back. I called back actually planning to say get it done and after trying to make sure we had a clear understanding of costs and date when done the owner started to spew profane comments about my partner and I. I then said obviously you do not want our business. I sent an email to confirm the cancellation of work and expected an issue at pick up. It got so out of hand I had to call 911 and had a police office show up as she threatened my partner. I have been a consumer complaint aide and if I had not called the police it would have escalated to an even worse situation. No one should ever go and do business at this place. The police officer stated I did the right thing. Really crazy when all you want is your equipment back, proper credit on deposits for work never done and you have to call 911 and have a police officer oversee this.Avoid this place at all costs. read more

Do not get your chains sharpened here! I brought in a single 20 inch chain to be sharpened, and when i got it back (3 weeks later) the teeth had literally been ground better than 50%. The teeth were also all burned a tell tale sign that the tooth was heated to a point at which the temper is no longer there, reducing the life of the sharpen and chain. furthermore my chain has tons of burs all over the teeth, indicating a rushed and poor job. When you pay $15 to get a blade sharpened you expect it to be better and sharper than when you removed it from the stihl box. When i asked to speak to the "head sharpener" the older woman was huffy and talked to me like i was a child, not a paying customer. when the sharpener finally showed up, he said that "the chain is sharp, what more do you want?" Not the kind of people i want working on my equipment. I would strongly recommend not bringing any equipment to this shop. As a forest service professional, this is the worst sharpening job i have ever seen. read more

I am not a happy camper after using Earls Saw Shop. The women who works the front desk is a grumpy old lady who is not friendly and has no tact and no respect for the customer. John who owns it is a nice guy but has not very good communication skills when it comes to his customers. He gave me a $200-$250 estimate on my Craftsman Mower to have it tuned and the blades sharpened. The blades could not be sharpened so he replaced them which cost me a lot more than the estimate. He never called to ask me if this would be ok he just did it. Then when I got the total of $400 I was a little upset to say the least. Then he charged me an extra $35 to have my mower returned after I already payed $65 because I did not call back within the 10 minute window they left me to return their call so they could deliver it back to me. So they charged me an extra fee to deliver it back. I feel they ripped me off and their was nothing I could do about it. So my recommendation is do not use them. They need to work on customer service and communication. Only 1 star for you Earl! read more