Why I will never buy Stihl again

[PB]

Packed air filter, not being nice to his saw, another 5 seconds.

Isn't a filter supposed to look like that? The more wood in the way, the more it filters, right?

 

[Paul001]

It's fair to think I am avoiding my local dealer. I am sure there are lots of people that treat their equipment like garbage, so assume that I am that guy. I took this one to the closest dealer to my job assuming they would be just as good or maybe better.

I have nothing to hide. My saw was cleaned often. My air cleaner was not brand new, but nowhere NEAR clogged. The saw was used throughout the winter (not as much, but monthly at least). It has a 20" bar with matching chains all Stihl and all purchased from the same dealer.

I am certainly kicking myself in the :censored: that I did not taking it to my original dealer first. Instead, I trusted the Stihl flag to only fly in front of qualified shops. Come on people, Any ford dealer will fix your ford. You don't have to take it to the dealer you purchased it from.

Of course they will. Just don't expect to be moved to the front of the line, have things fudged for you, error on your side when in doubt, etc.

Want some real fun, try taking a piece of equipment with a Cat/John Deere Engine, in a piece of equipment that those companies did not build, in for warranty.

Each dealership is independently owned. If one doesn't suit you, move along to another...it's pretty simple concept in our country, Capitalism at it's best. Spend your dollar where you are taken care of, if enough do it, the good places excel. Problem is, I'm betting you also are willing to shop at Walmart/Sam's Club/Home Depot/etc.

Other than that, it's been explained how the system works. What you can look for, what the Distributor will look for, hopefully what the dealer already looked at.

That $400 means alot to you, head over to that dealership at lunch or after work, pick the saw up and take it to your regular dealership. In the future, remember to spend your money with him and other facilities that have earned your business, not just whoever happens to be the most convenient/cheapest.

Good luck.

 

[THALL10326]

Isn't a filter supposed to look like that? The more wood in the way, the more it filters, right?

In a way your correct but everything has limitations, that filter is packed telling me he merely ran the saw until she quit. I doubt that filter caused the problem at all but it does show neglect on his part. The water in the fuel filter was most likely the killer. Makes no nevermind, he got 6 years out of it and seeing how he takes care of his equipment the saw did fine, he did not..

 

[edisto]

Yep. Posters are like dealers. Some good, some great, some bad, and some are just horrible.

I have a poster of Raquel Welch that is pretty great...but what do wall hangings have to do with saws?

 

[Paul001]

Packed air filter, not being nice to his saw, another 5 seconds.

Amazing eh? I have a 310 sitting in my shop right now. Same procedure:

No compression, pull the muffler.
Piston cooked on the Exhaust side.
Pull filter housing, filter pretty damn clean.
Dump fuel, appears to be mixed and no water.
Pull carb and check intake side, clean as a whistle.

Run a pressure/vac check...problem.

Check sales history, saw was purchased 2 days prior. Make phone call to Dist. Customer out the door with brandy new 310. Total time, 25 minutes including me grabbing another cup of coffee.

Fairly straight forward and simple, eh?

 

[THALL10326]

Amazing eh? I have a 310 sitting in my shop right now. Same procedure:

No compression, pull the muffler.
Piston cooked on the Exhaust side.
Pull filter housing, filter pretty damn clean.
Dump fuel, appears to be mixed and no water.
Pull carb and check intake side, clean as a whistle.

Run a pressure/vac check...problem.

Check sales history, saw was purchased 2 days prior. Make phone call to Dist. Customer out the door with brandy new 310. Total time, 25 minutes including me grabbing another cup of coffee.

Fairly straight forward and simple, eh?

Yup thats the way its done. I've never had a problem at all with warranty issues. Unless I can find a clear and obvious fault on the customer he goes away happy. I don't point fingers at the customers or ask them a bunch of questions trying to get them to say something that would point the problem to them. I check out the unit, if no faults on the are customer found, a call is made and within seconds the customer is all smiles....

Oh and I forgot to mention. I download the warranty claim to Stihl and within a couple of hours I look and find that credit on our account. Job done...

 

[mtfallsmikey]

I'm sure once in a while Stihl cranks out a lemon off of the line, but so does everyone else...
BTW, I thought I was too anal in cleaning out my air filters after each use...

 

[PB]

In a way your correct but everything has limitations, that filter is packed telling me he merely ran the saw until she quit. I doubt that filter caused the problem at all but it does show neglect on his part. The water in the fuel filter was most likely the killer. Makes no nevermind, he got 6 years out of it and seeing how he takes care of his equipment the saw did fine, he did not..

Haha, I was joking ol'tommy boy.

 

[THALL10326]

Haha, I was joking ol'tommy boy.

HAHA, you lowlife you,LOLOLOL Now I gotta rub one in on ya.

My rep just stopped in a minute ago. Had a demo 460 on the back of his truck. I asked whatcha gonna do with that 460. He goes its a demo. I go yeah and?????????????

Somehow I feel violated, I got me another 460 to take home, didn't need it but my the price was right, we dogggggggggggggggie. If I told ya what that saw cost me you would wouldn't like me no more,hehe A hint, cost less than a new 346 Husky..

 

[joatmon]

HAHA, you lowlife you,LOLOLOL Now I gotta rub one in on ya.

My rep just stopped in a minute ago. Had a demo 460 on the back of his truck. I asked whatcha gonna do with that 460. He goes its a demo. I go yeah and?????????????

Somehow I feel violated, I got me another 460 to take home, didn't need it but my the price was right, we dogggggggggggggggie. If I told ya what that saw cost me you would wouldn't like me no more,hehe A hint, cost less than a new 346 Husky..

Tommie,

Sounds like that rep took you to his shed.

Well done,

Joat

 

[PB]

A hint, cost less than a new 346 Husky..

Hahaha! That doesn't narrow it down much.

 

[teacherman]

HAHA, you lowlife you,LOLOLOL Now I gotta rub one in on ya.

My rep just stopped in a minute ago. Had a demo 460 on the back of his truck. I asked whatcha gonna do with that 460. He goes its a demo. I go yeah and?????????????

Somehow I feel violated, I got me another 460 to take home, didn't need it but my the price was right, we dogggggggggggggggie. If I told ya what that saw cost me you would wouldn't like me no more,hehe A hint, cost less than a new 346 Husky..

So that is an example of life in the privileged "dealer" class, eh? Nice saw, nice price!

Oh, by the way.....Impressive way of handling customer service, Tom. You sound like a great guy to deal with! More need to be like you. The only thing I would change has to do with the refreshments...

I like fresh ground organic coffee a bit better than tepid Folgers...:greenchainsaw:

 

[spacemule]

Oh, by the way.....Impressive way of handling customer service, Tom. You sound like a great guy to deal with! More need to be like you. The only thing I would change has to do with the refreshments...

I like fresh ground organic coffee a bit better than tepid Folgers...:greenchainsaw:

What are you talking about? He's argumentative, biased, stubborn, condescending, and never able to pass up making a keen insult.

 

[olyeller]

HAHA, you lowlife you,LOLOLOL Now I gotta rub one in on ya.

My rep just stopped in a minute ago. Had a demo 460 on the back of his truck. I asked whatcha gonna do with that 460. He goes its a demo. I go yeah and?????????????

Somehow I feel violated, I got me another 460 to take home, didn't need it but my the price was right, we dogggggggggggggggie. If I told ya what that saw cost me you would wouldn't like me no more,hehe A hint, cost less than a new 346 Husky.



That's a demo saw? Has it even cut wood?!!! What was he doing with it--demoing how a 460 is supposed to ride around in a truck? Nice score; and no thanks to you, there goes the CAD fever, out of control once again...

 

[brewchief]

After reading though 12 pages with half the posts stressing fresh mix I wonder how many guys think about how long the fuel has been in the gas stations tank. If you use a higher octane the time it has set could be longer because not that many people use premium fuel in there cars.

The possibility exists that the op did have what he thought was fresh good mix that really wasn't. I've bought bad fuel from the pump before at little used gas stations in the beginning of winter, killed a piston in my snowmobile.

A friend of mine manages a gas station and also sells race fuel by the drum or by the gallon from a drum( no bulk tank), a few years ago he sold 4-5 guys fuel for their dirt bikes from a fresh drum, within a couple of hours all of them had killed the motors in their bikes. The reason, the company that made the fuel reused their drums, in the bottom of the drum was about 6-8 inches of solvent used to clean the drums. The race fuel company promptly wrote checks to the riders to cover all repairs.

I hope this is not the case as it would be hard to prove for the OP and it isn't the saws fault either, you can try to blame the fuel company but will spend more to prove it then the saw is worth.

 

[teacherman]

What are you talking about? He's argumentative, biased, stubborn, condescending, and never able to pass up making a keen insult.

And the point is.........? :greenchainsaw:

He sell the $hif† outa them saws, people get lubed up with Brylcreem and Ultra oil, get honest warranty service, and a good laff or two.

Just hope the "lubing" doesn't approach the level of depravity intimated in some of Joa†'s posts...........:jawdrop:

 

[joatmon]

What are you talking about? He's argumentative, biased, stubborn, condescending, and never able to pass up making a keen insult.

SM,

Only difference between you and Tommie boy is the Ole Tommie had OJT and you're paying to go to some fancy school to learn it.

I sense the envy here,

Joat

 

[teacherman]

SM,

Only difference between you and Tommie boy is the Ole Tommie had OJT and you're paying to go to some fancy school to learn it.

I sense the envy here,

Joat

Sounds like somebody could use a little brylcreem lube........might make it a bit less painful.

I will be paying student loans until I am over sixty years old. At least I'm paying them, unlike many doctors.......

 

[CentaurG2]

I like fresh ground organic coffee a bit better than tepid Folgers...:greenchainsaw:

Folgers is good coffee but you need to know how to brew it. You need to percolate them old style coffees for about 15min. Best coffee in the world. Hot, smooth,stands up to cream or milk and tastes like coffee. Good stuff!

 

[SawTroll]

.....

That's a demo saw? Has it even cut wood?!!! ...

In theory, yes!

...but practise vary....