Craftsman lawn tractor

Here's my story. I purchased a Craftsman DYT 4000 lawn tractor on April 21, 2003. Like yours, it was a 21 hp 48inch cut. I got less than 2 hours on it when I had the same problem as you, ie. I could not go forward or reverse. After calling Sears, they said it was probably just the transmission that needed purging. I told them I had already done that so they said I should make an appointment for a repairman. 7 days later the tech shows up. He has to lift the tractor up, take the deck off, and take another plate off under the seat. Apparently, a guide for a drive pulley was set incorrectly which caused the belt to slip. He fixes it and leaves. Fortunately it's under warranty or would have cost $180.00.
5 days later, as I'm mowing, I notice that I can't turn the mower blades off. I push in and out on the the mower engagement button. Finally, the mower blades stopped, but now I can't get them to turn back on. I call Sears again and they say I should make an appointment again. Like a dumbass, I obliged. 7 days later, the same tech shows up again. He looks at it and says the electric clutch is bad and that item has to come from the factory which will take at least another week to arrive. That's a $400.00 fix. Thus, in the month that I would have had this thing, it will have been broken 3 weeks.
I sent several e-mails to Sears Customer Relations as well as spoke to many Sears employees on the phone and in person. A lot of people apologized, but there was no real effort to help rectify the situation. Customer Relations put me in touch with the store manager who said he would replace my tractor, but he couldn't get a new one to my house until June 2 because the truck isn't scheduled to be in my area until then. I couldn't believe what I was hearing because my lawn already looked like a hay field. I couldn't wait 2 weeks. He then says he will give me a 10% discount if I keep the tractor. I told him I wanted a full refund and he told me to bring my receipts to the store. Later, in looking at the paper, I see a Sears ad and in it is a 10% discount on riding tractors. I realize he's not giving me any big deal!
I arrived at Sears today at 10:00am when they opened. After discussing this with one of the managers, he said he could refund everything except the delivery charge for the tractor ($40.00) and the delivery charge for the mulching kit (9.00). I told him that was not acceptable and Sears motto was satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. Ultimately, he relented and refunded everything.
I left sears at 10:30am and drove straight to the John Deere dealer. I then purchased an LT 160. It was delivered to my house in under 2 hours at no additional charge, AND it had a full tank of gas! I may have paid more for it, but I believe I have peace of mind now.
I realize I may have had the one bad tractor out of many good ones, but my frustration lies in Sears Customer Service, or lack thereof. It will be awhile before I shop at Sears again. Cut your losses and demand a full refund. Good Luck!