Frank Nicol Reviews 

I sent my tractor lawnmower to Frank Nicol Farm and Garden Machinery Ltd for its annual service, including blade sharpening and balancing. The day after it was returned, the mower blade detached completely while I was driving down my own drive. My wife and our three dogs were only a few feet away. A detached mower blade can cause life‑changing injuries. The fact no one was hurt was pure luck.

I phoned the company immediately, expecting real concern and a proper investigation into what could have been a very serious accident. Instead, the only response I received was an offer to “refit the blade”. No questions, no inspection, no acknowledgement of the risk involved.

Two weeks later the mower was collected along with the blade, bolt and any washers and brackets I could find. After several unanswered calls, it was eventually returned with the blade reattached — but still no explanation, no apology, and no reassurance that the fixing bolt had been correctly tightened this time.

When I tested the mower again, there was a loud cracking noise from under the seat. They collected it to investigate, but returned it unchanged. The mechanic told the delivery driver that the noise was “normal”. The driver himself then dismantled the panels and fixed the issue in minutes by freeing and lubricating a seat suspension spring.

Despite repeated attempts to speak to someone about the blade incident and the quality of the service, my calls were not returned.

Then I received an unexpected invoice for an additional £109 for another pulley replacement — work I had not authorised and which had nothing to do with the seat noise they were supposed to be checking.

When I finally spoke to Frank, I explained the full sequence of events. His responses included that the blade coming off had nothing to do with them, that they were very experienced, that the extra pulley “needed” to be replaced, and that he knew nothing about the seat noise. He also suggested the blade may have hit a stone which then made it fall off. He said they would claim the pulley under warranty as a goodwill gesture, despite the mower being six years old.

My experience involved a potentially dangerous mechanical failure immediately after a service, followed by poor communication, poor workmanship, and no meaningful accountability. I am sharing this so others are aware of how my situation was handled.

Online order fulfilled within a couple of days as promised, unfortunately lack of communication that order had been despatched had me wondering if order was being processed. Called to check and told that items were sent same day as ordered and arrived at home a couple hours after call. Guy on the phone (Jimmy, I think) was very helpful and went out of his way to make it a pleasant call.
Should be 5 stars but would have been nice to know that goods had been despatched. Keep up the good work

Bought a Stihl ms170 Chainsaw from here, staff could not have be more helpful, great little saw which was a good bit cheaper than Amazon.
Highly recommended.

Bought a ride on mower several years ago and a new cutting deck for it 3 years ago, plus many belts in between these times. Spent probably £4000 with them over this time. needing another new belt i called to find out how much and the part number. I was told it's against company policy to give out part numbers.