Agrison won’t repair excavator that broke down after 30 hours

Mark Henshall bought an Agrison mini excavator in August, but it began to fall apart soon after delivery. It hasn’t left his nature strip in over 12 months after it broke down, and Agrison still won’t repair it. Find out why here.

Mark Henshall bought an Agrison ME1000 Mini Excavator in August last year to set up his contracting business around Nyah, NSW.

Mr Henshall spent $14,000 on the digger with an agreement with his local golf course to help with green renovations.

Mark Henshall’s broken Agrison ME1000 Mini Excavator has sat on his parent's nature strip for over 12 months awaiting for it to be collected and repaired.

But soon after taking delivery of his new machine, things began to go wrong.

“It only lasted 30 hours before falling to bits,” he said. “The first day it turned up there was a couple of spare bolts lying on the pallet that it came on.

“The track came loose so I tried to pump a bit of grease into it and the whole thing popped off, so it hadn’t been welded on to the undercarriage — then the other side started falling off.”

Mr Henshall contacted Agrison to have it repaired. In emails seen by The Weekly Times, Agrison’s after sales and spare parts co-ordinator wrote on December 10: “I have discussed your situation with management and they have agreed to have your excavator inspected and repaired here on site.”

After a stressful Christmas and New Year period Agrison had still not organised a date to collect the machine.

Mr Henshall said he finally had a response in early January to pick up the digger.

“They even organised for me to borrow a forklift for the day and sit there and wait for the truck to turn up. The truck came and the driver didn’t like the look of it on the pallet — the same one it came on — and wouldn’t take it.

“This thing has been sitting on my parents’ nature strip for over 12 months waiting for these pricks to come and pick it up. They promised me they’d come and get it and repair it back then and it’s still sitting there.

“They didn’t give a reason for not picking it up. They’ve never contacted me without me contacting them first.”

He said the only time someone contacted him was when Agrison general manager “Ray (Yayintis) gave me a call at 7.30 on a Friday night and abused me”.

Added insult: Agrison continues to use photos of Mark Henshaw's digger, even though it broke down not long after this photo was taken.

Mr Henshall said he spent his life savings on the excavator and the stress had affected his mental health.

“My mum said ‘why don’t you just put it on a truck and take it back down there yourself?’, but I can’t — I’d kill them. I’d lose it. I’d be in jail.

“I can’t deal with any of it mentally so I’ve given up on them doing the right thing. I haven’t done much (work) now — I’m seeing a psychiatrist.

“I’ve got a solicitor involved, but I’m waiting for the Civil Court to re-open. VCAT is not an option as I am broke — that was my life savings.”

As an added insult, Agrison continues to use photos of Mr Henshall’s machine on Instagram to advertise the product, taken on its first day of operation before it broke down permanently.

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