The Chainsawr's Efco Story (Please read this if you're considering buying one.)

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Read this before you buy an Efco, especially if the warranty is a determining factor in your purchase.

I’ll start at the beginning, for us anyway. We started selling the Efco brand here at the chainsawr about 4 years ago. At that time (late 2008 early 2009) Efco was going through some major changes here in the USA to their sales distribution strategies. Deals to produce saws for Cub Cadet and John Deere were coming to an end (I would love to know why, but I have my hunches), and underperforming regional distributors were being canned in exchange for ones that would push the brand’s new 5-year warranty and more professional image harder. Around this time Efco also changed its policy for online and catalog sales. It used to be that Efco was like Stihl, no sales of power equipment unless it physically walked out your door. About 5 years ago that changed for an ‘anything goes’ policy as long as you could move more units. So, we signed on with Efco at the beginning of 2009 to join in their new Era of professionalism and push to make them a real 3rd tier power equipment brand in the USA.

Three years went by of slowly building sales, spending lots of money on advertising, and trying to sell the hell out of a low margin chainsaw. I had figured it would take at least 5 years before we were selling enough in Efco to make it worth our time; well we never made it that far. For middle range saws it was always an easy sell, on a 156 over a hardware store 455 Rancher. No brainer right? The 152, 156, 165, and 132s were all good solid models at low prices. The small saws, sub 152 (except the 132s), were always problematic, and the MT7200/MT8200 were the worst performing, floppiest, heaviest chainsaws I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Of all the MT8200s we sold, there were only 2 that we did not buy back from the customer after repeated servicing under warranty etc. So, that gets me to the warranty related section of my story.

In 2009, 2010, and 2011 we were able to essentially administrate our own warranty on all repairs other than whole saw replacement, or complete motor failure. We got used to this situation and got into the habit of doing warranty repairs right away for the customer to get them happy and going, then submit our warranty claim paperwork once or twice a year depending on how many claims added up. For the most part the warranty was all for small items. 100s of stop switches (boy I wished they would do away with these, I had some that didn’t even last 1 day!), starter springs, carburetor cap removal/readjustment/reinstallation. Some of the common, more serious warranty claims would include coils, and shattered mufflers along with the occasional new 100% defective saw or new saw missing parts. Let me stress this, we NEVER ABUSED our warranty. It covered ‘manufacturer’s defects’ so if it was we covered it. Giving us the dealer the responsibility to make these judgments worked very well in our case, I never would have’ bitten the hand that feeds me’. More than once we lost dishonest customers who wanted their mistakes covered under warranty because, they were the customer, and they were the ones standing in front of me yelling and stomping, “how could Efco ever know? JUST COVER IT!” but we never did. We were always honest to a fault in our warranty claims.

So, at the end of 2012 when we submitted our warranty claims every last one was denied. This was unacceptable to us since with the 5 year warranty, and low sales margin, we were relying on the income from warranty repairs to even justify the shelf space for Efco! Our distributor told us they were in the same position, having had none of their warranties which they submitted for other dealers paid. We are talking between dealers and distributors, tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid claims by Efco on the Northeast alone. You would think I would go ballistic, but no I made civil mild protests to Efco. I’m not the type to burn bridges for spite alone.

January, 2013. We get notice from Efco that our dealership is canceled and we may reapply with Efco, and that our distributor has also been canned. I know that this was for no other reason than to try to wash their hands of the debt they owed us. If it wasn’t insulting enough that a well established dealer should have to reapply and start from scratch, they want a minimum order of power equipment units from the new distributor in order to establish the new account, that is IF I’m approved by Efco. They must be insane. I already have $10,000 in un-sellable new saws in stock.

So, here is what I think Efco’s current sales strategy is. Sell the majority of the product online or mail order while maintaining the false image of a servicing dealer network. That way before somebody buys their next Efco on Amazon.com or Northern Tool, they can look at the Efco dealer map and see that, “Yes, there is a servicing dealer near me that can provide the warranty work!” Unfortunately, know that dealer near you will probably not provide the warranty work, and if they do Efco will not be paying them to do it.

The worst part for us is that the majority of F-holes (Efcos) we sold, we sold based on our personal recommendation. No customer EVER came in and said “I want an Efco 156” etc. etc. They came in with an open mind about buying whatever new chainsaw we thought was best for them, trusting in us. Now, over the coming years we are really going to have egg on our faces. The number of times I said, “These Italian saws are tough and you can’t beat the warranty”, is beyond counting. In order to keep our integrity this whole situation is going to cost us $1000s in un-backed warranty work, and buying back saws we can't stand behind.

So, let it be known. Do not factor the warranty into your decision to buy an Efco.

I know this is a long post, but I think that many of you will find it interesting worthwhile reading material. I'm not an avid forum poster, so you may not hear from me again on this, but I did want to put our experience out there.

Scott, I finally pieced it all together with this letter. When I was horse trading with you and the guys all I got was bits and pieces. I love the used saw business, no warranties.
 
I'm not Larry but the 165 cylinders I had were internal quad port. Later 156s were also.

Dug out an old 152 last week to play in the firewood pile. I have had issues with Efco in the past that are open for anyone to read. That said, I would take a 152 over all other makes of saw in the low 50cc homeowner range. Best starting, great power, good weight and not a clamshell design. To me the 152 is the best of the current Efco line.

Do you know what year this change happened? Oh thanks for the quick response.:msp_thumbsup:
 
I will see if I can find the time of the switch. I had a 2000 model 156 that was 2 port. All of my new saws were 2009 or newer. All were 4 port.

165 has an offset combustion chamber same as the 152. I like a centered one better. 156 cyl on a 165 case makes a strong saw.
 
Well, we have not heard back from Mr. TRIMMER62075. One post wonder? Defensive insertion?
Out for coffee with Mr. Dsavage, the marketing guy (at least he got up to 5 posts - although, most on the same day).

Seriously, we would love to have you guys participate honestly and openly on an on-going basis, but not as a flame or as a shill.

Philbert

Sorry for the long delay on this response.

I would be just as upset as the OP if I were in his situation. He handled it perfectly. Without going into detail and respecting privacy I can say that this issue has been resolved and in no way is this type of activity acceptable to EMAK / Efco. Our Dealer and distributor relationships are extremely important to us.

If there are any complaints in the future about the way EMAK USA does business please contact me and I will do everything in my power to find a solution.
 
Sorry for the long delay on this response.

I would be just as upset as the OP if I were in his situation. He handled it perfectly. Without going into detail and respecting privacy I can say that this issue has been resolved and in no way is this type of activity acceptable to EMAK / Efco. Our Dealer and distributor relationships are extremely important to us.

If there are any complaints in the future about the way EMAK USA does business please contact me and I will do everything in my power to find a solution.

thought you must have not liked what you heard in your thread and dropped off the face of the earth. i guess, based on your above response, that its chainsawr's time to respond. how's about it randy?

just another tidbit long as we're talkin bout olympyk/efcos. i've pretty much given up on that brand simply because nothing is ever, let's just say "rarely", available. there you have it. a great product loosing share because of lack of distribution; go figure.

also, how does one go about contacting you?
 
thought you must have not liked what you heard in your thread and dropped off the face of the earth. i guess, based on your above response, that its chainsawr's time to respond. how's about it randy?

just another tidbit long as we're talkin bout olympyk/efcos. i've pretty much given up on that brand simply because nothing is ever, let's just say "rarely", available. there you have it. a great product loosing share because of lack of distribution; go figure.

also, how does one go about contacting you?

that was the problem with them around here aswell. whenever something went in for a fix, or you called for a part, if the guy didn't have it on the shelf, it would take a long while to get it in. they made a big thing out of their warranty and parts availability when they blew into town, but failed to deliver on that. great product, poor parts distribution after the fact.
 
thought you must have not liked what you heard in your thread and dropped off the face of the earth. i guess, based on your above response, that its chainsawr's time to respond. how's about it randy?

just another tidbit long as we're talkin bout olympyk/efcos. i've pretty much given up on that brand simply because nothing is ever, let's just say "rarely", available. there you have it. a great product loosing share because of lack of distribution; go figure.

also, how does one go about contacting you?

Hey Jerry - You can send me a private message and we can go from there.

And I agree about the lack of distribution. I think everyone on AS can agree with that. We just have to work harder!
 
that was the problem with them around here aswell. whenever something went in for a fix, or you called for a part, if the guy didn't have it on the shelf, it would take a long while to get it in. they made a big thing out of their warranty and parts availability when they blew into town, but failed to deliver on that. great product, poor parts distribution after the fact.

Thanks for the feedback brokenbudget.
 
thanks. my concern with that is you've been a member here since september and had a total of 5 posts up until last couple of days. that doesn't give me any confidence that you would actually see a pm in any sense of timeliness.

I will do the best I can to be active on here Jerry. My inactivity was due to some internal reasons.

My goal is to address any complaints and listen to all of the AS members feedback. I will do my best!
 
Read this before you buy an Efco, especially if the warranty is a determining factor in your purchase.

I’ll start at the beginning, for us anyway. We started selling the Efco brand here at the chainsawr about 4 years ago. At that time (late 2008 early 2009) Efco was going through some major changes here in the USA to their sales distribution strategies. Deals to produce saws for Cub Cadet and John Deere were coming to an end (I would love to know why, but I have my hunches), and underperforming regional distributors were being canned in exchange for ones that would push the brand’s new 5-year warranty and more professional image harder. Around this time Efco also changed its policy for online and catalog sales. It used to be that Efco was like Stihl, no sales of power equipment unless it physically walked out your door. About 5 years ago that changed for an ‘anything goes’ policy as long as you could move more units. So, we signed on with Efco at the beginning of 2009 to join in their new Era of professionalism and push to make them a real 3rd tier power equipment brand in the USA.

Three years went by of slowly building sales, spending lots of money on advertising, and trying to sell the hell out of a low margin chainsaw. I had figured it would take at least 5 years before we were selling enough in Efco to make it worth our time; well we never made it that far. For middle range saws it was always an easy sell, on a 156 over a hardware store 455 Rancher. No brainer right? The 152, 156, 165, and 132s were all good solid models at low prices. The small saws, sub 152 (except the 132s), were always problematic, and the MT7200/MT8200 were the worst performing, floppiest, heaviest chainsaws I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Of all the MT8200s we sold, there were only 2 that we did not buy back from the customer after repeated servicing under warranty etc. So, that gets me to the warranty related section of my story.

In 2009, 2010, and 2011 we were able to essentially administrate our own warranty on all repairs other than whole saw replacement, or complete motor failure. We got used to this situation and got into the habit of doing warranty repairs right away for the customer to get them happy and going, then submit our warranty claim paperwork once or twice a year depending on how many claims added up. For the most part the warranty was all for small items. 100s of stop switches (boy I wished they would do away with these, I had some that didn’t even last 1 day!), starter springs, carburetor cap removal/readjustment/reinstallation. Some of the common, more serious warranty claims would include coils, and shattered mufflers along with the occasional new 100% defective saw or new saw missing parts. Let me stress this, we NEVER ABUSED our warranty. It covered ‘manufacturer’s defects’ so if it was we covered it. Giving us the dealer the responsibility to make these judgments worked very well in our case, I never would have’ bitten the hand that feeds me’. More than once we lost dishonest customers who wanted their mistakes covered under warranty because, they were the customer, and they were the ones standing in front of me yelling and stomping, “how could Efco ever know? JUST COVER IT!” but we never did. We were always honest to a fault in our warranty claims.

So, at the end of 2012 when we submitted our warranty claims every last one was denied. This was unacceptable to us since with the 5 year warranty, and low sales margin, we were relying on the income from warranty repairs to even justify the shelf space for Efco! Our distributor told us they were in the same position, having had none of their warranties which they submitted for other dealers paid. We are talking between dealers and distributors, tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid claims by Efco on the Northeast alone. You would think I would go ballistic, but no I made civil mild protests to Efco. I’m not the type to burn bridges for spite alone.

January, 2013. We get notice from Efco that our dealership is canceled and we may reapply with Efco, and that our distributor has also been canned. I know that this was for no other reason than to try to wash their hands of the debt they owed us. If it wasn’t insulting enough that a well established dealer should have to reapply and start from scratch, they want a minimum order of power equipment units from the new distributor in order to establish the new account, that is IF I’m approved by Efco. They must be insane. I already have $10,000 in un-sellable new saws in stock.

So, here is what I think Efco’s current sales strategy is. Sell the majority of the product online or mail order while maintaining the false image of a servicing dealer network. That way before somebody buys their next Efco on Amazon.com or Northern Tool, they can look at the Efco dealer map and see that, “Yes, there is a servicing dealer near me that can provide the warranty work!” Unfortunately, know that dealer near you will probably not provide the warranty work, and if they do Efco will not be paying them to do it.

The worst part for us is that the majority of F-holes (Efcos) we sold, we sold based on our personal recommendation. No customer EVER came in and said “I want an Efco 156” etc. etc. They came in with an open mind about buying whatever new chainsaw we thought was best for them, trusting in us. Now, over the coming years we are really going to have egg on our faces. The number of times I said, “These Italian saws are tough and you can’t beat the warranty”, is beyond counting. In order to keep our integrity this whole situation is going to cost us $1000s in un-backed warranty work, and buying back saws we can't stand behind.

So, let it be known. Do not factor the warranty into your decision to buy an Efco.

I know this is a long post, but I think that many of you will find it interesting worthwhile reading material. I'm not an avid forum poster, so you may not hear from me again on this, but I did want to put our experience out there.

The simple two facts that Efco corporate had an established "past practice" regarding dealer handling of warranties notwithstanding what the Dealer Agreement might say, and that contrary to that "past practice" it chose to reject "every last one" of the warranty claims submitted at the end of 2012 (some, if not all, of which must surely have been meritorious) creates the basis for a class action law suit against Efco that a virtually unlimited number of litigation lawyers would be eager to pursue.
 
OK,non-warranty but.Monday I discovered a broken part on my Efco product(brushcutter Fuel tank my fault)Dropped it off at the dealer in the AM monday.Dealer and distributer didn't have the part,HQ (in Wooster did).Shipped the part straight to the dealer.Phone rang 3:00 PM tuesday,machines fixed.Had one small repair under warranty three years ago,again no issues.Obviously this does not reflect every ones experience but it does go to show they can provide service.
 
thanks. my concern with that is you've been a member here since september and had a total of 5 posts up until last couple of days. that doesn't give me any confidence that you would actually see a pm in any sense of timeliness.

Believe me,OME manufacturers employees of all types watch these kind of forums.They may not participate because of all kinds of internal corporate policy/politics but they still lurk.
 
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what about dolmar

does dolmar/ makita have good service for their products? was thinking about looking into a new dolmar saw
 
The simple two facts that Efco corporate had an established "past practice" regarding dealer handling of warranties notwithstanding what the Dealer Agreement might say, and that contrary to that "past practice" it chose to reject "every last one" of the warranty claims submitted at the end of 2012 (some, if not all, of which must surely have been meritorious) creates the basis for a class action law suit against Efco that a virtually unlimited number of litigation lawyers would be eager to pursue.

objectively,,tell me what you think of efco products,,and if ever used any,,for any length of time.........
 
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