THALL10326
The Champ
Well yes and no. The dealer really doesn't have a choice, he's forced to compete with the big retailers by his own supplier, in this case Husqvarna. He also seems to be getting a different set of rules to abide by from what Grand Dog posted. He has to give the same warranty service to all customers regardless of where the product was purchased. The big retailers don't seem to have to do that. The dealer has to carry or order parts to perform the repairs, the big retailer does not. Don't you find it odd the one with billions in assets, the big retailer, aren't required to do what the little one man repair shop is required to do. The reason is simple, millions of dollars in sales, all about the money the big retailer generates for the supplier of the product. I understand Husqvarna's view of it and why they do what they do. I also understand the little guy, the small time dealer, saying screw that. No one person at Sears or Lowes or TSC have their own money tied up in the big retail chain business like the small time dealer does in his own shop. Ya might say the dealer feels he got the shaft and the big retailer got the gold mine. Thats why you have dealers refusing to repair box store sales. Thats why some hate the big retail chains. They took some food right off his table and did not have to do anything cept hand the guy a box and say thank you.
To prove the above our very last Husky dealer in our area tossed in the towel last year. He took on Stihl and his rep is my rep. As the story goes he's no longer is forced to compete with the big retail chains. The Stihl model is Husqvarna's biggest nitemare as time goes on. It's the one way to get out of being forced to compete with the multi-billion retail chains. Three in my area have done just that and haven't looked back. Thing is we're talking four dealers lost compared to all those customers at those big box stores. Surely Husky see's the box as the big money maker so no great loss.
I talked to one of those dealers just this week that went Stihl. He said they carried Husky for 27 years. They quit them a few years ago. I asked him if they've ever contacted them since, he said not as much as a phone call. Him and I share product to make our part of the county all Stihl. If he has a sale but not the product he calls me. If I have it I transfer it to him to get that sale. He does the same for me. Alot of Stihl dealers are using this method to keep a hold on sales, meaning no sale gets lost because of lack of product. We don't compete with box stores or each other, we work together and thats the best way to do it. Stihl has urged this method and trust me it works great among dealers instead of competing with each other. We all win, mainly the customer. I doult seriously if a big retailer would transfer product to a small time dealer to keep a sale or the other way around. The answer would be send them here, we have it. The small time dealer can't afford to do that over and over. Some 8000 dealers working together can and the end result is neither dealer or box store can compete with that. Thats the marketing genius of Stihl and it works.
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