Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The unit looks pretty solid and well made. However, after spending several hours setting up the perimeter wire in 100F heat, which was a huge hassle, I set it off on its first mow. It failed to get back to the charger in time when the battery needed charging, which required some adjustments to the perimeter wire. However, it then would not charge. The battery pack was dead. Rather than simply return it, I decided to try a new battery pack and phoned WORX directly on their customer support number. The agent was helpful and personable, but utterly clueless. He insisted that the serial number was on the sticker at the back. It was only when I finally texted a photo of the sticker on the back to his personal cell phone from my cell phone, after having said "no, there is no serial number on that sticker or anywhere else I can see" for about 20 minutes and him saying "I can't do anything without a serial number" that he somehow became able to proceed without a serial number. A bit later in the call, he spoke to a colleague/supervisor who told him where the serial number is (it is actually on the battery pack). It took 45 minutes to finally get the warranty order through. I was told it will arrive in 7-10 days to get from NC to TX. Why on earth does it take so long in this day and age when Amazon ships in hours? Seven days later, the battery arrives AND IT"S THE WRONG ONE. All that effort over serial numbers, model numbers and I receive a 20V WA3525 instead of the correct battery which is a 28V WA3225. Customer support was a little quicker this time. After first insisting that I had received the battery so why was I calling, it got through that I was calling because I had been sent the wrong one. OK, now they're sending the right one (hopefully), but I have to wait ANOTHER 7-10 days, which I protested about. "We can't (won't) send it any way other than 'standard delivery'", she says. Oh, but they're sending me a Fed Ex envelope to return the incorrect battery.... go figure. So, I have had this machine for 10 days now and will be getting close to the one month return period for Amazon before I will get a chance to use it. ...Assuming this second replacement battery is the right one... Obviously if the new replacement battery doesn't work/is wrong, it's time to send the whole thing back to Amazon.. I'll update this review when it arrives. UPDATE: The correct battery arrived a week later and "Larry" has been mowing away for a few days now and doing a GREAT job. I am particularly impressed with the way it extricates itself from tight spots, exhibiting considerable perseverance before it eventually gives up and beeps for help. However, it almost always succeeds in getting itself out of the jam and is very good indeed at navigating rough terrain. The border wire still needs some tweaks and it might take a week or two before I get it the way I want it and before it returns to its base 100% of the time (I'm at about 90% right now). However, that is only a matter of time and I have decided Larry is a keeper. I'm upgrading to 4 rather than 5 stars because the initial experience and the setup is a pain in the *** but I'd give it 5 stars for quality and workmanship. The set up was about the same effort as mowing 3-4 times. Wouldn't it be great if it had accurate GPS and cliff detection so that it could be trained where to go (and holler if it got stolen) without needing the border wire? Maybe in a couple of years.... 11 month UPDATE Larry started misbehaving - sometimes he'd drive in circles or just change direction at random and then start behaving normally. I didn't think much of it since I'd checked the boundary wire, the light on the base was green and he seemed to pull himself out of his funk after a minute or two. UNTIL, it's everyone's nightmare - a few days later you come home and find a body floating in the pool. LARRY!!! Alas, he could not be resuscitated. Larry was now plugged in to the same circuit board as ENIAC and Asimov... All of which brings me to why I just upgraded this to a 5* review. In the intervening 11 months, Worx had set up a dedicated support line for the Landroid, this time staffed by people who knew the product. My (completely un-informed) guess is that it's been a rough few months dealing with teething problems with the Landroids and the company has had to take significant steps to address customer concerns. And that they have. They did ask me a few questions about Larry the first's behavior - well, quite a few - but once satisfied with the answers, WORX shipped Larry the second under warranty at no charge. They could have said "tough. It's your fault (somehow)", but that's not what they did. Larry Jnr, apart from being confused about his name, is smarter, better at getting home and all together more forgiving of obstacles (which confused the heck out of Larry I). I judge a company not by what it does to make a sale, but by what it does to keep a customer - how it behaves when something goes wrong. After this experience, and seeing how they have ironed out many of the issues both with customer service and with the product itself, it's two thumbs up and 5 stars from me. I asked Larry but all he had to add was a contented "Whirrr" as he brought the yard back to its former glory within three days.