Dolmar 7910 warranty story

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farmerdoug

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Bought this saw 1.5 years ago with a modified exhaust. The pin on the flywheel sheared off which messed up the entire engine.

The Makita service center said that chainsaw warranties are terrible in general.

After 2 days they said that they will fix everything at no cost to me and I will have my saw back in a week.

What is the chance of this happening again?
 
Can't help but wonder if it was a timing advance mod gone bad. Muffler mod and timing advance are pretty common diy mods.
 
The saw was running great and all of the sudden it just shut off as if I turned it off. I wasn't under load when it happened, I was in between cuts. I wonder if the factory will set the timing advance correctly with the muffler mod.
 
The saw was running great and all of the sudden it just shut off as if I turned it off. I wasn't under load when it happened, I was in between cuts. I wonder if the factory will set the timing advance correctly with the muffler mod.
 
The saw was running great and all of the sudden it just shut off as if I turned it off. I wasn't under load when it happened, I was in between cuts. I wonder if the factory will set the timing advance correctly with the muffler mod.
 
I would say it's the service center doing you a solid and not Makita.

The shop here was a service center for Makita years ago. Makita still owes the shop around 20-25k in unpaid warranty work (labor and some parts), will never see it, would have needed deep pockets to get a good lawyer and even still, Makita has deeper pockets and better lawyers.

They are so f-ed up in their management, not only do they OWE the shop, but they actually tried to sue the shop not paying for parts... the parts that were sent in to do warranty work.... IE the shop got double f-ed.

I'll never own a Makita anything just because of that that b/s.
 
The service centre did say the written warranty is not very good. They gave my son and I a free rockstar and said they would look into it right away. The way this service center operated, I would purchase a Makita over a Stihl. Each Stihl store has to make profit and so this becomes difficult for warranty work. I don't think this Makita service center is privately owned. It looked like a factory store by the way it was set up and it is the only one in Oregon. Multiple people gave the center good reviews for doing repairs where the customer was not expecting a repair. Basically giving the customer the benefit of the doubt.

When you call the service center the phone call goes directly to Makita first. The Makita phone center advertised that their service center is the best and that they had a great 2 year warranty.

There are times when a company makes a decision that they are going to change their practices. I suspect that Makita is allowing for some flexibility in their factory service centers. 3rd party service centers probably go by the book because they don't have a trusting relationship with those repair shops and don't want to be taken advantage of. Trust is a 2-way street.

If Makita is being generous with selected factory shops, then I think this is a very good move. If this were to happen with private repair shops, then I think Makita could be taken advantage of once word of their generosity gets out.

I challenge you to look up a Makita factory repair location in your state and read the reviews. If those reviews are consistent with what I am saying and it is not too far away, then it may be wise to invest in Makita for your next tool.
 
I use tons of tools daily, from "throw away" hand tools to several hundred thousand dollar pieces of equipment. I honestly can't think of a time I've had to turn anything in for warranty work. I suppose if a brand new saw I bought crapped out within a few weeks I'd bring it back, but otherwise, dunno.
Stihl only has a 90 day? warranty on the saws anyhow. The 362 I bought new a year ago I have like 2.4hrs on haha.


Have gotten a few tools replaced at Sears and Lowes, that's about it. We bought 3 or 4 of the metal grain shovels at Lowes. They were $45 where the local place has them for about $30. BUT they are no kidding lifetime warrantied!

One of the hired hands bent one nearly in half, no idea WTH he was doing, but I can only guess something stupid as that one was 3 or 4 years old and perfectly fine. Not even sure who, it got put back and was all "I dunno" when I asked. Went to grab it and the scoop part of the shovel was almost 90* to the handle. :omg::mad:


I was going to chuck it, but figured WTH, let's see what they say. "No problem sir, here's another one, sorry for your trouble". I felt bad so went and bought another anyhow.
 
The saw was running great and all of the sudden it just shut off as if I turned it off. I wasn't under load when it happened, I was in between cuts. I wonder if the factory will set the timing advance correctly with the muffler mod.
Why would you want timing advance if it"s already coughed during warranty with altered timing? I would have thought your "mod"s would cancel the warranty any way as they differ to how the saw left the factory Correctly fitted fly wheel relies on taper "twixt"flywheel/crank not key that is only for positioning was the key filed to alter timing ? I'm not saying they should not but am suprised they have agreed to fund the repairs with the alterations .
 
I don't know if the timing was advanced. A saw builder on this forum sold me the saw and did the muffler model before it was shipped to me. It was brand new.
 
I would say it's the service center doing you a solid and not Makita.

The shop here was a service center for Makita years ago. Makita still owes the shop around 20-25k in unpaid warranty work (labor and some parts), will never see it, would have needed deep pockets to get a good lawyer and even still, Makita has deeper pockets and better lawyers.

They are so f-ed up in their management, not only do they OWE the shop, but they actually tried to sue the shop not paying for parts... the parts that were sent in to do warranty work.... IE the shop got double f-ed.

I'll never own a Makita anything just because of that that b/s.

I facilitated millions of dollars of warranty claims and the shop did it wrong. If you think in the lightest your sticking your neck out you get auths. Heck most manufactures you can call in or submit a claim online with a quick response. A company like Makita isn't going to stick it to a dealer. The dealer is going to do it to himself.
 
I facilitated millions of dollars of warranty claims and the shop did it wrong. If you think in the lightest your sticking your neck out you get auths. Heck most manufactures you can call in or submit a claim online with a quick response. A company like Makita isn't going to stick it to a dealer. The dealer is going to do it to himself.

The internet wasn't a thing then. This was mid 90s. At the time was doing lots of small engine work, had 3 full time mechanics. These days we just take that work in here and there and work on it "when there's time", do logging, land clearing, lumber and firewood primarily.
Not much money in small engine work around here and neither of us have a desire to work on the stuff much. I'd much rather be out in the woods than sitting at a bench getting greasy fixing other people's stuff.

Had to do the work, fill out paperwork, and either mail or fax it in and hope they would pay for it in 3-6 months.
Oh, and if said sorry, but that's not in warranty, several customers then called Makita HQ and they called the shop and said "YOU WILL FIX IT". Ok, fine... but then after the paperwork was put in, NOPE... that was out of warranty!

Yes for sure Makita screwed the shop. Basically denied most every warranty claim. Refused to pay for parts that had been bought or where in shop stock and refused to pay labor.

Why do you thing I'd make up a story? I have no desire to spin up tales and then try to remember who I told one. Much easier to just tell the truth!

I'd be concerned of that brand of O PE if ONE shop is doing millions in warranty work, holy crap, talk about some real junk! Even if had to replace complete saws at let's say $500 each, that's ~4000+ saws!
 
Long ago and far away PS 5000 where being shipped without the support ring in the intake boot. What a picnic that was even finding a part # for the thing. And the Witch hunts for guys selling online.
Now it's anything goes, buy lots of stuff, sell it at little margin and be the whipping boy for the stuff that gets purchased online. I kinda said thanks for the offer.
 
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