Do Stihl dealers not like to sell saw builders parts?

[davefr]

Both of these guys will ship you OEM Stihl parts and both have a good inventory of each. Sure, you will pay a little postage, but you are already spending a lot in gas and time driving back and forth to the dealer. Plus, they offer less expensive options for some of the pricey stuff.

Unless Madsen's changed their policy recently, they won't ship any Stihl parts outside of Washington. At least they told me they couldn't ship to Oregon.

 

[Urbicide]

But, very few businesses, of any kind, are run like the used to be and it's a shame.-Mel

Customer service sure has gone down the toilet. I find myself being more courteous and thanking sales people who should, in reality after taking my money, be thanking me for patronizing their establishments. I have worked with the public and know that most people are good to deal with. It only takes one a-hole to mess up your day, but you can not take out your anger on the rest of your customers. Treat people like you would want to be treated yourself. A smile is a nice touch also.

 

[goatchin]

..And even if it's a Torx IS screw.. $1.20 MSRP from Stihl...

If it was a special order and you had to pay freight.. tough.. IIRC even Baileys charges 8.95 min for freight...

yea I was wanting the Torx screwheads so that way I wouldnt have to search around for a seperate screw driver when working on the saw. I'll be shopping around to other dealers to see what they got then if not i'll be goin to HD or our local bolt guy and see what they got.

 

[SawTroll]

Oh yeah, well my ex dealer used to tell me that they had to wait until they had enough for a freight order, then charged me freight anyway, then I often had to wait a couple of days after for them to sort the order out. But they would charge me 50-200% over SRP for my parts to make up for the hassle. That only happened once, then they became my "ex" dealer.

Mark

:jawdrop: No wonder they became an "ex"......

 

[Paul001]

Paul... I wish more dealers shared your philosophy! You definitely have it figured out. I laugh every time I see the dealers start complaining on here about their customers. Talk about a screwed up attitude. I know their are bad customers, my father has been a small retail shop for 30 years and I've seen every kind. But, very few businesses, of any kind, are run like the used to be and it's a shame.

-Mel

Thank you for the kind words. However, I can tell you I don't have it all figured out, or I'd be retired by now I simply treat people the way I demand to be treated when I'm the customer.

Doesn't mean I'm always right, regardless of which side of the counter I'm on...but I do expect to be treated with respect.

I'm fortunate, I do not own the company, so I do not sit up at night worried about making payroll, servicing debt loads, etc. I do my job, to the best of my ability, then go home to my family. As an owner, it's a bit different.

The other part, as some on this board can attest, I'm selective with my customer base. We deal with commercial customers, I can count on my fingers the number of home owners we deal with on a yearly basis. Hell I send most of those that contact us to the other dealers in the area. So that does help keep things under control

However, those home owners we do deal with, they are like those on this board. They know what they need, and we are glad to help with parts, service, etc.

Having dealt with the average home owner for years when I own a tree service company, I can tell you, my attitude would likely change quickly if I had to deal with the typical home owner on a daily basis.

 

[stihl only]

Interesting thread going here. I sell parts to who ever comes in the door. I can assure the Op that this is a dealer thing, not a Stihl thing. I will offer advise to help those that buy parts from me and do my best to be the guy to deal with. I'm in an area with a lot of dealers for the amount of cutting going on, and I have to have good service to help me stand out above the other dealers.

I always make it a point to ask how soon the part will be needed. If it is a commercial customer needing something small, I have been know to borrow parts from a new saw. If it is someone who won't need the saw for a week, I'll save them the shipping and put the part in with another order. I try to have a good inventory of parts on hand, but with so many models out there, you can not have every part for every Stihl made!! Most parts needed for major repair work, I order on an as needed basis. I'm just too small of a business to stock a P&C for every Stihl saw, and a lot of times a saw needing that much work, is just replaced.

I do not discourage home owner types, but I do have to add that most people on AS know 100% more about saws than the average home owner. You would really have to walk a few miles in my shoes to understand, but I always do my best to help and to be friendly with whoever walks through my door. I've had customers come in 5 or 6 times buying parts for the same saw because they just didn't want to pay me to repair it. I have no problem with that, but when each visit turns into a 20 minute conversation with them picking my brain about what could be wrong, I am losing money. I could be using that same time repairing something that I can bill for. In they end, they usually lose money too because they bought every part that they had the ability to replace while trying the shotgun approach of saw repair.

Every day, you learn more and now when I'm asked what I think could be wrong with a saw, I explain the exact procedure that I would use to diagnose it. If they understand what I said and want to try it, then I just saved 18 minutes of my time. Several times I've been told that they had no clue what I was talking about, and they just leave it here for me to look at.

It is hard to blame the customer, because it is very hard to be trusting with repair work. There is one good technician out there for every five that don't know what they are doing.

As far as a dealer not wanting to sell parts, this I just don't understand at all....

 

[xxl]

heck one dealer said they dont sell tachs to the public. Almost laughed because they are listed in the stihl cataloge.

 

[teacherman]

2.50 apiece, good grief. Most times I give them away, they aren't worth the ticket print and ink to ring them up. Man you should tell that dealer what a low life he is, 2.50 is outrageous, suckers like him give all of us a bad name.

Mr. Hall, or Elvis, or Mr. Presley, I wish I lived wherever it is you live, so I could be near yer store. I would be in there every Saturday, drinking tepid Folgers, drooling allover the saws, outfitting my house with all kinds of stupid Stihl paraphernalia.......can you say "Stihl barstools in the kitchen?" You need to be named a "Master Dealer" by the Stihl corporation, as in "One who is to be emulated by all who wish to be successful Stihl dealers..."

I can see it now: Corporate seminars on maintaining Folgers at 107˚ Fahrenheit, keeping Brylcreem off the customer's hands and the sales counter. etc.


And my personal favorite: Hans Peter Stihl doing his Elvis impersonation!:greenchainsaw:

"Du bist nichts aber un Hund Hund.. Schreien ständig....."

 

[CentaurG2]

You think getting parts is tough, try getting a fs250R with a loop handle and you will learn the true nature of most stihl dealers.

 

[K9-Handler]

Things you guys may not know or care about. It's Feb. and for most dealers it's the slowest time of year. All manufactures have minimum orders that we can place, usually 50-100$, and it's even higher to get free shipping anywhere from 100-300$. Much of the winter we try and go as long as we can between placing orders, in order to get free shipping. Remember your dealer is paying an employee to place that order to Stihl for all of your parts. He's paying that guy to sit there and manually enter 11 digit part numbers for every part you order, say you need 15 parts, all small stuff that the dealer may make 20$ profit an it takes him a half hour to enter all the parts for the order. Instead of spending that time entering an order that guy could have been turning a wrench and been making his boss 60$+ an hour.

I figured as much, which is why I don't really bug my dealer for parts that I've ordered. It's been three weeks since I ordered the screens and clips for a Lakeside-style 361 muff mod, so it's probably a $15 order. I know they waited until the order was worth while. Saw runs fine without them, too. I'd be a little more concerned if my only saw was out of commission.

Or you could be like my local Dolmar dealer -- who charges the customer shipping on top of MSRP to get a new saw he should have had in stock.

 

[PatrickIreland]

You would really have to walk a few miles in my shoes to understand

You mean borrow them, or use one shoe each, or both put our feet in the shoes at once?
Gawd, I find some of the tech stuff here so confusing...

 

[Lakeside53]

You think getting parts is tough, try getting a fs250R with a loop handle and you will learn the true nature of most stihl dealers.

:monkey:

 

[Lakeside53]

You can tell who's busy at this time of year and who's not. Those who are busy are using or repairing their saws. The others whine. I was a Stihl dealer for 17 years in a suburban county near Washington DC. I sold my shop a little over a year ago to my service manager who's 20 years younger than me. No regrets- I loved the business and had great staff but 3 growing boys made it difficult to continue to put in 14 hour days - and often much more during the busy season. I had a great relationship with Stihl. Stihl is a big company- individual dealers don't buy parts from Stihl. Dealers buy parts and whole goods from their regional distributor. My distributor was Mid-Atlantic Stihl in Hillsborough NC. Never have I dealt with a finer organization- their customer service was excellent and their parts fill rate was even better. All Stihl distributors are owned by Stihl and follow Stihl's policies. Stihl does not have a policy that says a part or piece of equipment must sell for a certain price. That's price fixing and its illegal. End of story. Stihl suggests a retail price- that allows a dealer to make a certain amount of profit- but a dealer is free to sell for more or less. I always sold parts and whole goods for retail price (certain exceptions were made for high volume sales customers). Dealer profit is essential- otherwise there won't be any dealers. Stihl also has NO MINIMUM ORDER policies. There are incentives such as a minimum size order (it used to be $2500 but may be higher now) to get free freight. Many times a customer needed a part RFN- Stihl would ship it that same day and I'd sell it and pass along the freight. Customer and dealer happy. If your dealer is whining about minimum orders, that is BS from a dealer that doesn't care about your business. Find one that does. I am no longer a dealer for Stihl, but do service on a contract basis for several local dealers. When I need parts I order them from the distributor and have them shipped to a local dealer. They charge me for the freight and add a pre-agreed percentage to the cost of the parts. They have to make money too. I worked hard to set up this arrangement and it works well for me and my customers. It is unfair to Stihl (or any other manufacturer) to blame them for problems you're having with a particular dealer. If you need parts quickly expect to pay freight costs. If a dealer still balks, find another dealer. Internet sales are banned by Stihl. I never really agreed with this policy, but its their decision to make. Did you ever think about CALLING another dealer? That's a great way to buy parts- chances are that dealer will even ship them to you. I do. Stop whining and do something to improve your situation. If one dealer doesn't seem to want your business give it to someone else. The choice is YOURS- not theirs.

Great post!

One small point.. StihlNW does have a minimum order - $25... if I order one34c bolt - it's $25... but they call me to make sure I didn't make a mistake before shipping! (It happens if I accidently create a new order rather then append an existing order). In reality, it never happens. I can always find something to get it beyond $25...

 

[THALL10326]

You think getting parts is tough, try getting a fs250R with a loop handle and you will learn the true nature of most stihl dealers.

Try no more, come and get it. Loop handle is my choice. Takes up less space on the rack as well. Its the bike handle thats a pain in the butt. Takes up too much space, gets tangle up going in and out the shop, I sellem but I perfer the loop handle way more......

 

[THALL10326]

This was not stock...

This saw was not in stock and never will be here. It will not be ordered until its paid for first as well. I did make sure the man paid no frieght but I also made sure he paid the fiddler before it was ordered, somethings just have to be this way.

 

[Philbert]

Is that you Tom?

Philbert

 

[CentaurG2]

Try no more, come and get it. Loop handle is my choice. Takes up less space on the rack as well. Its the bike handle thats a pain in the butt. Takes up too much space, gets tangle up going in and out the shop, I sellem but I perfer the loop handle way more......

Thanks for the offer but after 4 different dealerships and more excuses than carter has liver pills as to why this thing could not be ordered (everything from does not exist to they were too dangerous and Stihl won’t sell them anymore) I actually found a dealer who was willing to sell me one. The honest dealer told me what I believe to be the truth and indicated that the fs250R are sold in boxes of two. Most dealers are not willing to order two as they might never sell the second. If they had just told me the truth, I would have probably bought both trimmers. As a side note, I might be in the market for another before they go the way of the dodo. How much for the unit and to ship it up to New England??

 

[THALL10326]

Mr. Hall, or Elvis, or Mr. Presley, I wish I lived wherever it is you live, so I could be near yer store. I would be in there every Saturday, drinking tepid Folgers, drooling allover the saws, outfitting my house with all kinds of stupid Stihl paraphernalia.......can you say "Stihl barstools in the kitchen?" You need to be named a "Master Dealer" by the Stihl corporation, as in "One who is to be emulated by all who wish to be successful Stihl dealers..."

I can see it now: Corporate seminars on maintaining Folgers at 107˚ Fahrenheit, keeping Brylcreem off the customer's hands and the sales counter. etc.


And my personal favorite: Hans Peter Stihl doing his Elvis impersonation!:greenchainsaw:

"Du bist nichts aber un Hund Hund.. Schreien ständig....."

Ya mean ole Peter Stihl was Feeling It, hot dayumm, thats WAY Down,LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZqs1d-NHXk

 

[THALL10326]

Thanks for the offer but after 4 different dealerships and more excuses than carter has liver pills as to why this thing could not be ordered (everything from does not exist to they were too dangerous and Stihl won’t sell them anymore) I actually found a dealer who was willing to sell me one. The honest dealer told me what I believe to be the truth and indicated that the fs250R are sold in boxes of two. Most dealers are not willing to order two as they might never sell the second. If they had just told me the truth, I would have probably bought both trimmers. As a side note, I might be in the market for another before they go the way of the dodo. How much for the unit and to ship it up to New England??

No can ship. They are sold two to the box, both the loop and bike handle. You can request Stihl to send just one but to hell with that, if I can't sell more than two I won't even stock it all.....

 

[THALL10326]

Is that you Tom?

Philbert

No no, I got hair on my head man,LOLOL
Thats my co-worker from up front. That saw just came in. We was having some fun with it. Its bought and paid for.....