EFCO Brand - Please leave me your feedback!

[igpoe]

Hello.

I am involved with a sister company to Efco (EMAK). This site has been a great resource for me to get feedback from EFCO's core customers. Our marketing team is meeting with the EMAK group (Italy) and it would be great to get some true feedback directly from the customers so I can share any issues and/or strengths with them.

How many of you have heard of EFCO saws/trimmers? If so, where?
What do you like about the products themselves? (lightweight, noise, power, etc)
What seperates brands like Stihl and Husky from EFCO?
What would EFCO have to do to earn your business?
What other complaints or complements do you have for the brand as a whole?
What would you change?

I appreciate you taking the time to read this (and potentially respond). Thank you to the loyal customers.

The goal is to create the best products with the best service at a great price.

Thank you!

Mr. dsavage, could you please give me the address where the saws are manufactured? thanks
Igpoe

 

[WetGunPowder]

"P.O.S." ? . . . . OH! You must mean Point Of Sale, right? Like they are right there on the shelf?

(Philbert)

Actually, cheap, big box stores are probably the best advertisement for a good, full service dealer IMHO.

Companies are going to do whatever they need to do to survive. It seems like when they go the way of the box stores-Quality of the product suffers for the sake of price...

I've sold Tanaka products for over 10 years. Expensive-yes. But sold them as the high quality machine that they WERE. Now owned by Hitachi and built in China the prices have gone down, but so has the quality.

 

[Saw Dr.]

Just a quick comment on the pole pruners (they are chainsaws, right?) I REALLY like the articulating head on the big pruner. That feature should be mandatory on all brands. Much easier to make a notch in the bottom, and cut down from the top to get the bigger limbs. Better for the trees too, as the bark does not try to "peel" at the bottom of the cut.

 

[sachsmo]

I have checked them out at Menards, haven't really seen any killer deals.

Could be I missed?

 

[Philbert]

I've sold Tanaka products for over 10 years. Expensive-yes. But sold them as the high quality machine that they WERE. Now owned by Hitachi and built in China the prices have gone down, but so has the quality.

You guys get to see this first. You see the insides, and you get the ones with problems brought in. Too often we have seen companies bought for their name and reputation that were built up over a long period of time. Then some holding company will buy the rights to that name only and exploit it for short term profits.

That's one of the reasons that user input on forums like this are so valuable.

Philbert
(same name, same quality for . . . well, for a bunch of years)

 

[Philbert]

Mr. dsavage, could you please give me the address where the saws are manufactured?

The 152's I saw said "Made In Italy". The 3500 was marked "Made in China".

Philbert

 

[ford832]

Feedback-amundo-ayyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/227664.htm

(Sorry for the Fonz reference.I blame my hernia operation a couple days ago and chewing Dilaudid's :msp_blink: )

 

[tallguys]

It would be interesting if the Efco guy here would weigh in and provide his 2 cents in light of the thread just started regarding Efco's apparent new strategy.

 

[dboyd351]

The 152's I saw said "Made In Italy". The 3500 was marked "Made in China".

Philbert

That's useful information, but it is not always that simple. A good example is the Redmax 400/4000 and Ryobi 10532 sister saws. The sticker on some Redmaxes, especially the 4000s, says made in Japan, the sticker on some 400s says made in China, the stickers on all the Ryobis I've seen says made in China. BUT, all of the cylinders I've seen are Zenoah cylinders, with the same part number and made in Japan. So far, I've personally inspected 2 4000s, one 400, and 4 10532s. The cylinder on all of them have the same part number and Zenoah markings.

A Redmax dealer I got friendly with told me at one point the Redmax company was selling engines to the chinese company that built the Ryobis, so you ended up with a quality Redmax engine in a chassis that included a fair amount of cheaper Chinese plastic. The parts prices reflect it, too. Redmax parts are generally pretty pricy, but you can buy the Ryobi 10532 parts that fit right on for much cheaper, if you don't care that the plastic doesn't match.

 

[Philbert]

Feedback-amundo-http://www.arboristsite.com/chainsaw/227664.htm

It would be interesting if the Efco guy here would weigh in and provide his 2 cents in light of the thread just started regarding Efco's apparent new strategy.

Thanks for linking that thread to this one. 12 pages of hopeful, open minded, brand consideration pretty much washed away by a bucket of cold water from a long time A.S. member and sponsor.
Gone from a 'never really thought about them' to a 'don't want to think about them'.

People will tolerate a mediocre product (look at the 'Earthquake' thread!) more than they will being lied to, or companies screwing over their customers or dealers.

Mr. 'dsavage'?

Philbert

 

[jerrycmorrow]

totally agree. many a company has bitten the dust cause they thought the consumer was too stupid to understand. get the bean counters out of the way and let the realists who understand that it takes a good product with good service back in. a hard-earned reputation can be lost easily by shenanigans such as these.

 

[dboyd351]

People will tolerate a mediocre product (look at the 'Earthquake' thread!) more than they will being lied to, or companies screwing over their customers or dealers.

Philbert

Couldn't agree more!

 

[Big_Wood]

i used to want to try one but now that i've read about the dealer network and warranty claims they are a POS and i'd rather run a wild thing.

 

[Philbert]

. . . i'd rather run a wild thing.

[youtube]z9DVJE_bhVU[/youtube]

 

[Upper tree]

ADVERTISE! nobody but a few of us freaks even knows about efco.
i don't have efcos but do have several olympics. bought my first one in the mid-80s and still running strong to this day.
a bonafide dealer network coupled with strong advertising would boost your sales.
overall the product is better than average, just nobody knows about it.
this is one of the wonders of the world. why would a company develop a great product and just piddle around with trying to sell it?

Efco is sold in USA under the name John D ie The Efco 8200 with 6ps is a a very well sold John D in green not red A strong and good saw that is well built and strong.

 

[nmurph]

EFCO is not rebranding any US saws now; that practice ended several years ago.

 

[jerrycmorrow]

Efco is sold in USA under the name John D ie The Efco 8200 ...

just a suggestion. if you're gonna post and want to be taken seriously, do your homework. otherwise, you're gonna be taken as a troll. john deere quit selling rebadged efcos several years ago. they now sell stihls.

 

[Philbert]

Don't know if this means anything, but Menard's opened a brand new store here this week. No Efcos displayed in the chainsaw aisle.

3 versions of Earthquakes. A couple of Poulans including the Wild Thing!. A bunch of Remington gassers. Poulan Pro is the top saw that they have displayed (some of the Remingtons are more, but looked cheap.)

Philbert

 

[WKEND LUMBERJAK]

Philbert we have a new menards about 45 miles from us. Wife and I went last weekend and I saw the same as you.

 

[8433jeff]

Don't know if this means anything, but Menard's opened a brand new store here this week. No Efcos displayed in the chainsaw aisle.

3 versions of Earthquakes. A couple of Poulans including the Wild Thing!. A bunch of Remington gassers. Poulan Pro is the top saw that they have displayed (some of the Remingtons are more, but looked cheap.)

Philbert

Efco and Menards have parted ways. Menards is selling remaining stock.