Buying from Dealer vs local stores (like hope depot)

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Couple additional thoughts

Box store selection is limited. Go to the dealer and he'll most likely have a full product line so you can compare a manufacturer's line of homeowner, semi-pro, and pro saw models. He may have a couple of product lines to chose from as well, and I don't mean Homelite and Poulan. You may really be surprised by what's available in your price range. You never know, he may just have a cherry used saw that he took in trade as well.

Second, if there are any financing or other promotions being offered the dealer should know about them and may be able to offer a deal or additional items with the saw that the box store won't or can't.

Service as mentioned is a biggie. Sometimes a saw may just need a quick look see and tweak. If so most dealers will do that and send you on your way. If you didn't buy it there expect to make a return trip to pick it up, warranty or no.

Take Care

:agree2:
 
Hmm. What is your dad going to do with the saw in India? Is there a dealer network for ANY saw where he is? Seems like the kind of deal where once it's been mailed the saw will just have to sink or swim; sending it back for a dealer to do his thing probably isn't practical. I'm all for independent dealers, but this might be just the job for a throwaway saw. Check the dealers first, though, sometimes the box isn't enough cheaper to have it on your conscience.

Jack
 
I buy my saws off Ebay for 1/2 price or so, wouldn't travel 10 miles to a dealer who would mess it up if it needed fixing. It's very rare when one does when tuned and run right. Steve

wish i was as busy as ebay is i did have a ebay store one time but it did not pan out so i canceled the store site

not paying 35.00 just to have items listed and not one item sells
 
Well, I think that I am just wasting some space on here saying this but buy it from a dealer. You will have better service plus have someone to help you should you have questions. They will tune the thing for you and make sure it works. The biggest reason why I buy from a dealer is because its one more business that will stay open locally and the $$ isn't going to some chinese factory. The people at the dealers have a family too. Throw the dog a bone once in a while. If I need a saw and can't afford it at the dealer cause its $20 more there then I can't afford to buy the saw anyway. But thats just my opinion, its your $$ and you can do whatever you want with it.

Whoops, wanted to add to this one that this year I bought a 361 and 4 months after I had it my father took it out and decided that it wasn't running right so he leaned it out and melted the piston. The dealer repaired the saw free of charge(needed rings and a piston). Its probably worth noting that this saw had the limiter cap tabs cut off and the muffler modded. I'm not sure if they had that covered under warranty or not but I know that I didn't see a bill from it. Best part was I dropped it off before I went to work and picked it up after work all fixed. Lets see ebay or (insert big box store name) do that.
 
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I think alot of you are missing the point. If I buy, say a Ford truck in TN and move to TX the dealer in TX will honor the warranty. They will. I've done it. The point I was making is I was told here on this forum when I asked what are the advantages of buying from a "local dealer" that they would not want to work on the saw if I bought it somewhere else. I take that to mean Lowes as well as a "local dealer" before I moved to their area as well. That they would refuse to work on it or they would drag their feet or maybe lie about what was wrong or that it was fixed.....and yet the same posters think we should have bought from these guys in the first place? I'm not saying your local dealer is like that at all. I'm saying that's what I was told on this very forum. I thought that was stupid then and stupid now. I'd think a dealer would welcome you coming in and giving them a chance to earn your business. They get paid from the company when they do warranty work. They don't do it for free.

I know a lot of folks despise WM and HD and Lowes and Guitar Center and anyone that has a large market share. We used to admire success but now it's like if a singer makes it big, who did he have to stroke/she have to sleep with to make it big, right? Nobody seems to say just "good for you".

One remark above says you don't want your money going to a chinese company. So if I buy a husky in lowes, do they send the money to husky or send it to some other compnay in china? Why would they do that? Is there a different husqvarna that lowes buys from?

Again, there are a lot of advantages of buying from a full service dealer. I haven't found any disadvantages. I'm pretty cheap but something that can be as touchy as a 2-stroke anything I like to buy from someone who knows all about it. And like I said earlier in a post that was totally misunderstood by several, it don't cost no more than Lowes. Now, it may cost you more because you may go to your husky dealer looking for a 435 like you saw at lowes and come away with a 385xp.....but that's a good thing.
 
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Well, I think that I am just wasting some space on here saying this but buy it from a dealer. You will have better service plus have someone to help you should you have questions. They will tune the thing for you and make sure it works. The biggest reason why I buy from a dealer is because its one more business that will stay open locally and the $$ isn't going to some chinese factory. The people at the dealers have a family too. Throw the dog a bone once in a while. If I need a saw and can't afford it at the dealer cause its $20 more there then I can't afford to buy the saw anyway. But thats just my opinion, its your $$ and you can do whatever you want with it.
SNIP

Maybe it's been missed or I read it wrong, but I think the guy is sending the saw to his dad in INDIA. Not Indiana, INDIA. So the question becomes not what nice things did a dealer ever do for you because you bought from him and not HD, but why would you buy from a dealer when the saw is probably unlikely ever to be near a dealer again and stands a pretty good chance of being "lost" in the mail? Why not save as much money as possible and ship it in the box it came in from the box store?

The answer would be that the cost from an independent dealer may not be any higher, and if we don't make the conscious decision to support the small, independent businessmen (at least the ones who deserve it) they will fail and we will miss them. A dealer may be able to provide a few wear items to send along if the saw is to see much use. Sprockets, chains, some files and a filing guide. Maybe a spark plug, six-pack of mix, tuning screwdriver if it's one of those double-D things. We still don't know if the saw is being sent because the recipient actually has a lot of work for it or just because it's a nice gift that you can't get locally. Given the small size of the saw I'm inclined to think the latter. Again, it depends where it's going; some parts of India might have Echo dealers, other parts might as well be another planet. I'm not sure starting it to tune would be a good idea -- I've read in some postal regs that small engines to be shipped must be new, unfueled. I know lots of us have shipped used saws, I'm just trying to think of what a dealer can do and whether or not it would help for a saw that is going to be mailed to INDIA.

Jack
 
Ever start a saw in Home Depot? I bet they'd get really upset. You can start one in a saw shop anytime you want.

No problem starting a saw, so long as it's taken outside. We just don't like gassy fumes in closed areas making us sick. :)

Biggest advantages to Home Depot are:

  1. long hours of business, open late at nights and on weekends
  2. financing, put it on a home depot card and spend more than $299, you get six months no payments and no interest
  3. a lot of sales clerks don't know a lot about saws, and I've seen way too many take back straight gassed saws that are locked up tight--show me a servicing dealer who will do that!
 
You're right.

Hours are good.
If you have to finance $300 how wise a purchase is it anyway?
A dealer will most likely be sending you out the door with some oil to mix, has told you how to mix it and probably filled it up with mix to start with. In other words, if you're not deaf and/or actually read manuals like I do, the chance of coming back straight gassed is 0%.

That said, for a consumer grade saw I don't see anything wrong with buying at HD. They are a "local dealer" too if you ask me and employ plenty of "locals". But they don't usually throw in oil and maybe a spare chain. At $300 I imagine not many do, though.

If this is going to India......why? Can you not get them there? I mean, don't they use a different kind of fuel over there? I've heard they use something called liters. And yes, that's a joke. But why not just send a gift card to a place over there to get one? Are they even legal to own or use there?
 
No problem starting a saw, so long as it's taken outside. We just don't like gassy fumes in closed areas making us sick. :)

Biggest advantages to Home Depot are:

  1. long hours of business, open late at nights and on weekends
  2. financing, put it on a home depot card and spend more than $299, you get six months no payments and no interest
  3. a lot of sales clerks don't know a lot about saws, and I've seen way too many take back straight gassed saws that are locked up tight--show me a servicing dealer who will do that!


It sounds like the perfect place for outta work crack whores to buy a saw.

Open late because they sleep all day, will finance derelicts at 30% APR, and after they straight gas the chinaking saw while cutting up thier former Pimp, the employees are so blindingly stupid, they will take it back and give you a refund.

Just the place I wish to avoid when buying anything more important than staples, or light bulbs.

Good luck with that.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 
Welcome to As :cheers:


I would rather buy from a smaller dealer then a Lows or Home depot. You will get much better service at a smaller dealer. I cant stand going into those big places you cant find anyone to talk to and if you do they have no idea what they are talking about. Plus I like to take stuff back to were I got it to have work done on it and home depot is not going to work on your saw. Also I would rather give my money to the small guy rather than the big guy, but that is just me. Good luck
 
It sounds like the perfect place for outta work crack whores to buy a saw.

Open late because they sleep all day, will finance derelicts at 30% APR, and after they straight gas the chinaking saw while cutting up thier former Pimp, the employees are so blindingly stupid, they will take it back and give you a refund.

Just the place I wish to avoid when buying anything more important than staples, or light bulbs.

Good luck with that.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

Wow. Nice. I wonder why they didn't decide to hire you? You obviously have great people skills.
 
Welcome to As :cheers:


I would rather buy from a smaller dealer then a Lows or Home depot. You will get much better service at a smaller dealer.

I find the opposite to be true. You have to admit, often we receive the service we expect. Ever hear of the self fulfilling prophecy?

Around 75% of local dealers I have been in for any kind of ope power equipment have been incompetent idiots who don't know what they're doing, can't work on or diagnose problems with equipment to save their lives, and just want to sell you a new saw out of a catalog. Small dealers are vastly overrated. Their reputation on here might lead you to think otherwise, but just consider how many small dealers are on this site. The proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the sales.
 
Wow. Nice. I wonder why they didn't decide to hire you? You obviously have great people skills.


LOL!!

Are you implying that outta work, pimp killing Crack whores, would prefer me to have better people skills if I were to apply?

Dangit!

Back to community college then!


Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 
I find the opposite to be true. You have to admit, often we receive the service we expect. Ever hear of the self fulfilling prophecy?

Around 75% of local dealers I have been in for any kind of ope power equipment have been incompetent idiots who don't know what they're doing, can't work on or diagnose problems with equipment to save their lives, and just want to sell you a new saw out of a catalog. Small dealers are vastly overrated. Their reputation on here might lead you to think otherwise, but just consider how many small dealers are on this site. The proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the sales.


Space,

I reckon you would be right in just about any large market area.
Big citys, and thier burbs.

But finding the one good guy amoung all those blister pack sales outfits is worth the bother.

Out here in the sticks it's a bit different, and most of the small OPE dealers have thier act together because they aren't competing on volume as bad, and going to a Box store is just stupid.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 
The crack-ho post was a little over-the-top, but I had to laugh. Good way of explaining why some people shop the box stores.

How many of us are there that know pretty much everything we will ever need to know, and don't need help from a salesperson? Isn't that the rule at the box store? Even if the consumer doesn't really know what he needs, he doesn't have to ask for help...he can just buy a different one that works better, later.

Pretty good for the box store when there's enough introverted, and maybe a little insecure, customers.

Jerky dealers? Yep, there are some. But sometimes the jerky dealers aren't that bad if you try to be just a little more respectful, especially if he's had three customers ahead of you wanting to be the one that wins the lotto and get something for nothing.

If you can, BE the kind of customer he wants to see repeat trade from.
 
I use to work for Lowes- and you guys are right- most employees could care less and dont have any product knowledge. I agree with dinger- nails, hardware and I buy my lumber from builders supply stores. A dealer is the best place to buy and many times the prices are about the same too!
 
I think my dealers would get a kick out of selling a saw that would go to India.
I'm thinking they'd help solve any problems over the phone to India. They're good people and get a lot of business. Oh, and they might want some photos of their saw and hat being used in India. Yup, I think they'd like that.
 
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