Engine Back Up

I took my lawnmower pull cord mechanism to the Ace Hardware on Market St. I really just wanted the part to fix it, but I ended up leaving it there and they fixed it. $13 in parts and $15 in labor. I hate paying people to do stuff I can do myself, but I didn't actually know what needed to be replaced (I did but I was looking for a smaller part on a larger component and couldn't find it). I put the mower back together and even discovered that the screwdriver that holds the sockets is much handier than the ratchet piece when putting this thing together. I mowed through on tank of gas, and when I started round 2 of the lawn the mower wouldn't start. It did the same thing it was doing last week. No tension when you pull the cord. Needless to say I was irritated. They replaced the pull cord (unnecessary), the wheel that holds the cord (unnecessary), and the piece that actually creates the tension to start the mower (what was actually broken). The guy explained all this to me when I picked it up, so when I took it apart I could see the bent plastic lip that stops the spinny thing that creates the tension. A few adjustments later and I got it to fire up. A $30 lesson on a $6 part, but at least I know what to do in the future.