Avoid Pat's Small Engine LLC
 

I ordered and paid for a Kohler carb for my K321. They sent a Walbro in a Kohler box. They refused to accept a return and refund. I had to open a claim with PayPal to get a refund. Cost me return shipping though.

A Walbro carb was used on Kohler engines.

I'm aware. I feel it's inferior to the Kohler. There's a substantial difference in price at their web site; Kohler is more $$. My money, my decision.

Sorry you had a bad experience with them. I bought a PTO for my 2182 from them a couple years ago and was very happy with the deal. Good price and good service.

Kohler has a specific Part Numbers for both Carbs. Did you order a Kohler (Carter) carb by part number??? Or, did you order a carb by the engine model number...??? :Huh:

Is it possible that Walbro is an OE supplier to Kohler? Maybe it came through the supply chain this way.

And, like it or not, it's pretty standard practice for buyers to have to pay return shipping.

Sorry for your bad experience but it doesn't seem to warrant a total boycott by the OCC members.

Just my :TwoCents:

Kohler, like most manufacturers, uses two suppliers for their carbs, This is true for most of their parts. A buyer (ie: Cub Cadet, John Deere, Toro, etc, will specify a feature and a price for carbs they want installed on their engines. Kohler will do what it takes to meet that specification.

In the case of the Kohler K series engines, both Carter and Walbro carbs were both used. If you want a Carter Carb then you have to specify what you want.

To all: I specifically ordered a KOH4785330S, $264.86 + shipping. I received a Walbro P7-01216 in a Kohler box labeled KOH4785330S. The Walbro sells for 109.19 + shipping.
Pat's refused to accept a return and refund. Would not discuss further. I filed a dispute and claim with PayPal.
My point is, part substitution should be my decision, not Pat's. If I wanted the Walbro, I would have ordered it.
I have posted this to provide feedback on this parts supplier. Ignore it if you want.
No further from me on this subject.

OK.....What is the Kohler "Spec Number" on the engine tag..???

I agree with the OP (ford4150), and could care less what the spec# is.

Look at the first line item here;
http://www.psep.biz/store/kohler_car...r_complete.htm

Two carbs at two completely different prices are offered for the identical engine.

The Kohler is the better carb, and worth the extra money, when it comes time to service the seat and needle.

(The Walbro has a non-replaceable seat)

Good job ford4150!! :beerchug:

Is this the Ad you are referencing...??

And, are you saying you bought the bottom listed Carb but was sent the upper listed carb...???

That's all I need to stay away. Thanks

I agree with Ford. Pat's SE should admit to the mistake, albeit a costly one, and remedy the problem. I'm curious to why the wrong part was in the right package?:bigthink: Internal Affairs department should be getting busy!

I understand the OP . If it had happened to me I'd be unhappy too. From what I understand Roland he ordered the bottom part number and received the upper part number in the box for the lower one. I can see it happening some took both out to look at then , examine the differences and put them back in the wrong box. They should have made it right , this is why I'm always leary about buying parts online.

if you buy their over haul kits you might get a stens piston and rotary rings. not that it really matters . they just buy the cheapest parts and put them together in their kits. the last rebuild kit I purchased from them the #2 ring was .020 thicker than the groove in the piston. after arguing with the guy for 10 min or so he finally sent another set of rings and I returned the mispackaged rings.

I don't buy new carbs but I've been under the impression that the Kohler or Carter carbs are NLA unless you find an odd part number that's close and they have a supply of old stock carbs. otherwise you get a Walbro as the replacement carb, because of emissions its a fixed jet carb. but I could be wrong but that's what I've been hearing for the last 10 or so years . I think the price difference is in the Kohler markup. same carb one is aftermarket Walbro price and one is Kohler's "replacement carb " price. same thing as a coil. buy one from NAPA for $25 or so or buy one from Kohler for $80. same coil.

Good to know. Mistakes happen, but then they refuse to help? Now they're stealing your hard earned money. Next time hit them with a chargeback, fees are up to $100.

Look pretty clear to me, he pay $264.86+shipping there is no way the OP made a mistake otherwise the bill may have show $109.19+shipping, He clearly order a Carter but what are the seller arguments here? He think the OP try to scam him putting a new Walbro in the Carter box himself?

Here's my take on it he says k321...so thats what 147-149-1450 right? Now depending on which one it was is a huge difference in years so if he has a 147 and looked it up by machine i do believe they came with the carter adjustable setup...and more then not ive seen fixed jet carbs on just about every quietline ive been I to and ive owned as well as worked on prolly 25+ quietlines and prolly just as many from the other series so if its a 1450 my guess is it came factory with the walbro which would in fact have a kohler part# effectively making it oem kohler carb....... but thTs just going off of assumptions... I did not look up any specific numbers or machines....

We don't know how nor the manner it was ordered. That it what I am trying to find out. Verbal, written, online, by part number, by description, by model... :Huh:

I myself have had really good luck with Pats Small engine. I have always gotten what was ordered in a very timely fashion BUT if I shelled out $280 and got a $120 carb in the mail I would be livid to say the least especially a Walbro carb being packaged in a Kohler box. The way I see it he says he ordered by part # that is exactly what he should have received. Doesn't matter what he is going to put it on.

regardless of what carb was in the box or how he ordered it he should be able to return it without a hassle. my families business ships parts all over the world and we accept returns without giving people a hard time, if its our mistake that they received the wrong part we pay return shipping but if there returning it just because they changed there mind or they ordered the wrong part then they are responsible for the shipping. that said if the customer calls with a problem and cant act like an adult and speak to us with respect and understand that mistakes happen then we might make the return process as much of a hassle as we can.:biggrin2:

Understood and agreed.

I have a HVAC business and have ordered parts for 40+ years on a weekly basis. I think I have seen every scenario on how orders get screwed up. I also know how to minimize getting the wrong part.

I am just trying to find out where this order went in the ditch.

I would love to hear Pat's side of this, Because going by the OP side a refund should have been given without any hassles... Now we don't know if the OP called up Pats all irate, yelling and demanding instead of calmly letting them know whats wrong... There is always 3 sides to a story. Your side, there side and the truth...

I'll answer this one:
After opening the package and seeing the Walbro carb that I didn't order,
I emailed Pat's explaining the error and requested a return and refund, in a business-like manner. Their web site says expect a reply in 5 days. I received no reply after 5 days. I called customer service. All I got was "Hold please", with no one returning to the phone. I called numerous times, got the same "Hold please". Sometimes I waited up to 10 minutes. No one came back to the phone. I've never had the opportunity to talk to anyone from Pat's.
This is when I filed a dispute with PayPal.
The response from Pat's to the dispute was made to PayPal, return denied, no refund.
After the required waiting period, I escalated the dispute to a claim.
PayPal instructed me to ship the carb back to Pat's with a tracking number.
Two days after the carb was received by Pat's, per tracking, PayPal decided the claim in my favor and issued the refund.
If Pat's had a reason for refusing the refund, it's unknown to me.

Assuming everything you said is true I have to agree that Pat's has evidently gone down hill from the time I bought from them.

You got good arguments Roland and I agree with you but don't forget the "PRICE" ! No Walbro carb have a price tag of $264.86 on Pat listing but there is a Kohler labeled KHO4785330S listed for exactly that price so can we agree there is no $264.86 Walbro carb on that list?

Now PayPal decided the claim in the favor of the OP and issued a refund, lesson must be learn on both side of the board from this.

On a final note....I presume ford4150 still need a KHO4785330S carb, anyone can help him find one?;)

ALL businesses are great, until it comes time for a return!! :bigthink:

Returns separate the wheat from the chaff,,,,, :bigeyes:

Best Buy became my "GO TO" store after I needed to return a computer.

As long as Best Buy exists, Amazon will never sell me a computer,,,, :biggrin2:

Nobody wants to deal with tractor parts returns, it is a greasy situation,,,, :ExtremeFunny:

Well it sounds like we understand the situation better now and I am glad to see the OP'er getting this resolved.

I just went through exactly this ordering scenario with Pats. I bought a carb from Amazon thinking I was getting the Kohler branded, higher priced carb and instead got the lower priced Walbro - I could have saved almost half my money by just going to Pat's web page and ordering. I've asked him to explain things, and in my due diligence I discovered this thread - so this is not at all unusual for him. I bet they make a lot of money on people's ignorance of these details. I am still awaiting a resolution. If the listing would have just explicitly stated "walbro"and if they'd explain the way the part is "identical" (is it, actually?) to the Kolher part number, then I'd have nothing to say...but I feel very mislead. And I am still dead-in-the-water - anyone, pls, can you tell me exactly what my carb choices for a Model 123 K301 today? Walbro, Kohler, rebuild Carter, etc.? I am confused - can I get a fully adjustable carb, new? If not, does the Walbro fixed jet really lower power by that much? Thanks for any answers...

for close to 20 years now if you buy a carb from Kohler you will get a Walbro. best thing to do is buy one of those Kohler repop carbs off of ebay or take the time to rebuild and rebush an older Kohler / Carter carb .

Thanks the for advice. I've since read the same but was still unclear on my choices. I have the old Carter 26 and intend to clean it. The mower was running great but I think bad gas got in the carb (tank rust, rather); a good cleaning may be all that's required. I also intend to install an inline filter. There is no mesh screen in my sediment bowl (at least I think one should be there based on internet photos).

I'm still wondering about the Walbro though - I am not sure what is the pro/con of the fixed jet setup. I've looked on this site and while I am positive someone has explained things many times, I'm not finding a simple discussion.

where I've always noticed a big difference between the 2 is how they respond to a load at half throttle. the Kohler or Carter carb don't fall off like the walbro. the fixed jet is sort of an early version of lawn and garden emission's . some of you that have driven 60's V8 engines then drove what was produced in the late 70's to the mid 80's could make the same comparison.