Local Shop - Such A Dissapointment

[boxygen]

I only wish I had a good Husky dealer around here. Closest one is nearly a couple hundred miles away. Sad really.

Hey TK. There is a lawn mower shop in Scarborough that I think has a few saws out back too. The guy I talked to there seemed like he had potential if he would just apply himself. You might want to check it out. He has always been able to hook me up with the right safety chain. :msp_thumbup:







Seriously though guys, I'm not the bragging type, but TK is kinda my local dealer, and stuff. You should be jealous. :big_smile:

 

[KenJax Tree]

Hey TK. There is a lawn mower shop in Scarborough that I think has a few saws out back too. The guy I talked to there seemed like he had potential if he would just apply himself. You might want to check it out. He has always been able to hook me up with the right safety chain. :msp_thumbup:







Seriously though guys, I'm not the bragging type, but TK is kinda my local dealer, and stuff. You should be jealous. :big_smile:

Not jealous....he's my dealer too

 

[Ruark]

I don't know. There are several factors at work here. This is all individual. Some are jerks, some aren't. My local Husqvarna/Echo shop, for example, was really great. Good ol' guys working there. I needed a small part for a trimmer, but wasn't sure which one would fit. He just handed me one and said "take it home and see if it fits. If it does, just drop by and pay for it, or just bring it back." It fit. I dropped by and paid for it later. Imagine that happening at Home Depot.

But... a LOT of these guys, like many other mom-and-pop businesses, are suffocating. They can't compete with the big box stores and chains. The place I just mentioned sold Echo trimmers for $375 that Home Depot had for $179. You would be in a bad mood, too, if creditors were threatening to take away your livelihood that you pay for your food and home with, and people were constantly reminding you of how cheap they could buy something down the street at Lowes, or they made a big fuss about some 5-cent washer, or whining because you didn't smile enough at them. So I don't know, I'm tempted to cut these people a little slack sometimes, although I agree there are some real dipwads out there.

The place I described? They went bankrupt. Closed and sold out. Sad.

 

[SkippyKtm]

Strictly venting: Why does the local Sthil / Husqvarna dealer have to be suck a jackwad?

Last October I started a new job and I was pleasantly surprised to see a saw shop 100 yards down the road. One day I decided to stroll over there at lunch and check out this newly discovered resource. I waked in and to my amazement the shop had everything, full line of sthil & husky saws, climbing equipment, parts, you name it he had it. The only problem was this guys attitude; another customer was discussing a price of a saw that he seen a bit cheaper down the road. The owner/salesman tore into him like he had just insulted his mother. I was a little put off by the "customer service" and continued to browse the store. Another thing that annoyed me was the fact there were no prices on anything. I mean I understand it takes time to price everything and the typical industrial clientele just come in and put it on their bosses tab so who cares, but I would like to shop around with out having to ask this guy about every item I like. Anyway I wrap up my trip, say goodbye and I got no response as I left the shop.

Last week (10 months later) I was in the market for some new bull rope so I figured why not give this shop another shot, maybe the guy was having a bad day or something last time. Nope, same story. I walked in, said hello and started looking around. I found some rope and asked for the price, almost 2 times what Bailey's had it for. Plus he was a-hole to a customer who just said he had 4-500 bucks for a new saw. I put down the rope and left. Frustrated with this 2nd attempt to support this local business I asked a co-worker if he had gone into this shop. His experience was the same; he went in to purchase 50-75 bucks worth of replacement parts and got brushed off, apparently your dog sheet unless your dropping 2k on new equipment.

I swear if it wasn't for the fact he was parked outside one of the areas largest logging outfits he would be out of business. Some people just don't have any class.

I'll get off my soapbox now. I hope you guys have better shops in your area.

What town is the shop in?

Palmer

Ha! :hmm3grin2orange:
When I read your first post that is the shop that came to my mind. When you said Palmer, that clinched it for me. The ornery fellow' s name is Rich and he's just an employee, BTW...
That shop is owned by the tree service behind it. That's how that place gets by with such horrible customer service. I'm not going to name the shop but with a little research you can figure it out easy enough. I got hosed by Rich once and that's all it took for me. He ordered the wrong part and refused to take it back (I had already paid for it).

 

[boxygen]

Not jealous....he's my dealer too

I thought we were talking about local dealers. Guess I posted in the wrong thread again. :msp_confused:

 

[CTYank]

Hey TK. There is a lawn mower shop in Scarborough that I think has a few saws out back too. The guy I talked to there seemed like he had potential if he would just apply himself. You might want to check it out. He has always been able to hook me up with the right safety chain. :msp_thumbup:







Seriously though guys, I'm not the bragging type, but TK is kinda my local dealer, and stuff. You should be jealous. :big_smile:

You angling for a "you suck"? Okay, you got it.:msp_thumbup:

 

[TK]

Hey TK. There is a lawn mower shop in Scarborough that I think has a few saws out back too. The guy I talked to there seemed like he had potential if he would just apply himself. You might want to check it out. He has always been able to hook me up with the right safety chain. :msp_thumbup:

Safety, is our #1 goal.

And it's been proven that the guy you talked to is a hack. Really no better way to describe it other than he's a hack.

 

[Jeff Lary]

Kind of makes ya wanna run out and buy a new saw don't it? I do wish I was closer to TK he helped me out with some old Partner stuff. Most shops say, Nope they been out of business forever, However we do sell these new ....

 

[LarryRFL]

Yes, there a lot of bad dealers out there, and a lot of good ones. Just hear too much about the bad. Human nature. I was fortunate to work for many years for an owner who's business philosophy was "make a customer, not a sale." He grew the business from a start up (during the Carter years) to the number one rental/industrial & contractor supply business in the area by the time he sold out in the mid nineties. This philosophy has served me well twice now having done two start-ups now. Treat customers with respect, give good value for the money and don't be afraid to spend time educating yourself and your customers. Customers may not flock to your door, but the ones who do will advertise your business better than anything you could pay for.

 

[Moparmyway]

Good luck finding a Stihl dealer in NJ who isn't a d-bag. I been searching for 15 years.

Years back, Thompsons in Pemberton was great !!
Family owned OPE & Farm Equip ...........
Great service girl, name was Sandy ........
Owner was Dave

Been about 20-25 years though, dont know if they are still there

 

[spike60]

You have such bad experiences at dealerships, because 80% of the customers are douchbags themselves. Whinning about the cost of everything, saying well I can get it cheaper over there, and is that the best you can do etc....

Then when its my turn to go to your business do I get a break? Hell no. Do you go to the grocery store and try to get a nickel of a couple apples, then drive away in your Escalade?
Go eat a turd sandwich.


The dealer in my town is terrible too, but makes 80% of the income from that "other 20%", and has a load of repair business from the other brands that 80% bought and cant get fixed /serviced.

My God if my "DB" ratio was that bad I'd be out of business and in jail from shooting somebody. I'd easily say our ratio is flipped around; probably just have a 10% idiot factor. And half of them are the weekenders that come up here in their luxury brand SUV's wearing Crocodile Dundee hats. We really don't tolerate people with attitudes either. I know that some folks subscribe to that "the customer's always right" crap, but not me. What's right is right, and respect and courtesy is a two way street regardless of what side of the counter you are standing on. Some people do come in with an attitude and feel that they can slap you around a bit and that you have to stand there and take it because "they're the customer". They are put in their place. Most common examples are people venting about something that they bought at a box store or wanting us to pull parts out of our hat when they made ZERO effort to bring in any information about what they own.

No doubt most of the examples of moronic dealers in this thread are legit. I've got a couple near me and there isn't an advertising campaign in the world that can send you as much business as a lame competitor. Question I have for you guys is what size are most of these dealers? A poor dealer attitude can exist regardless of size, but I think that the bigger shops are where you are most likely to run into the "they don't know anything" syndrome. A key difference with the smaller shops is that the guy you are talking to out front spends a lot of his time working on stuff in the back. You get the expertise of product, parts, and service knowledge from one person. The big shops can bounce you around between a parts counter guy and a salesman, (who would rather sell big ticket items), and you might never get to talk to a tech at all.

Add to that the fact that most site members here are way more knowledgeable that the average customer; in many cases you guys are ahead of an awful lot of dealers. So, it's not surprising that a lot of you guys leave a shop shaking your heads.

 

[o8f150]

1st stihl/john deere dealer never has parts in stock then they want to charge you shipping to get it from one of the other stores
2nd stihl dealer won't budge a penny on anything,,, good guy but higher then anyone
now for my huskie dealer,, he sells to me for less then he does other people,, not really at cost,, I get a good price and he still makes money,, that's why I buy from him all the time like the big riding mower I got last month,, plus rick is a hoot to sit around and talk with even though he is a midget:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[svk]

I thought everyone in NJ was a d-bag...:hmm3grin2orange:
Garden State my a#2#@ I wouldn't eat anythig out of that garden:biggrin:

Just about fell out of my chair when I read this. Lived in upstate NY for a time and had the
pleasure of dealing with some of these. One of my best friends is from NJ but has lived out side of there most of his adult life. Otherwise I couldn't agree more with this statement. Some real lack of morals in that place. A lot of Long Islanders are not much better.

Back to the OP, I buy most of my stuff from a regional fleet supply chain. Real good prices and they stock Husky, Jon, and Stihl. Also there is a real small Jon dealer I get everything else from, nice guys.

 

[hamish]

My God if my "DB" ratio was that bad I'd be out of business and in jail from shooting somebody. I'd easily say our ratio is flipped around; probably just have a 10% idiot factor. And half of them are the weekenders that come up here in their luxury brand SUV's wearing Crocodile Dundee hats. We really don't tolerate people with attitudes either. I know that some folks subscribe to that "the customer's always right" crap, but not me. What's right is right, and respect and courtesy is a two way street regardless of what side of the counter you are standing on. Some people do come in with an attitude and feel that they can slap you around a bit and that you have to stand there and take it because "they're the customer". They are put in their place. Most common examples are people venting about something that they bought at a box store or wanting us to pull parts out of our hat when they made ZERO effort to bring in any information about what they own.

No doubt most of the examples of moronic dealers in this thread are legit. I've got a couple near me and there isn't an advertising campaign in the world that can send you as much business as a lame competitor. Question I have for you guys is what size are most of these dealers? A poor dealer attitude can exist regardless of size, but I think that the bigger shops are where you are most likely to run into the "they don't know anything" syndrome. A key difference with the smaller shops is that the guy you are talking to out front spends a lot of his time working on stuff in the back. You get the expertise of product, parts, and service knowledge from one person. The big shops can bounce you around between a parts counter guy and a salesman, (who would rather sell big ticket items), and you might never get to talk to a tech at all.

Add to that the fact that most site members here are way more knowledgeable that the average customer; in many cases you guys are ahead of an awful lot of dealers. So, it's not surprising that a lot of you guys leave a shop shaking your heads.

Well said Bob!

I don't have the time to actually determine my true "DB" ratio, too busy dealing with customers and fixing there stuff right the first time, and at a reasonable rate.

All my staff have wood chips in their pockets.

Gotta keep moving north to avoid the "DB" ratio.

 

[jbighump]

closest dealer here sux too....they don't know jack and they don't even stock spark plugs.. lucky for me though the one 15 miles away stocks everything and has 35 years of experience with repairs:msp_thumbup:

 

[F.W.P.T]

Ha! :hmm3grin2orange:
When I read your first post that is the shop that came to my mind. When you said Palmer, that clinched it for me. The ornery fellow' s name is Rich and he's just an employee, BTW...
That shop is owned by the tree service behind it. That's how that place gets by with such horrible customer service. I'm not going to name the shop but with a little research you can figure it out easy enough. I got hosed by Rich once and that's all it took for me. He ordered the wrong part and refused to take it back (I had already paid for it).

I've been there too. Mr. Personality behind the counter lost a sale from me.

 

[bootboy]

In general, I hate walking into a shop and quickly figuring out that I know more than the staff. I hate shoddy repair work too. Thank goodness I've never had to deal with any of them regarding my saws, but it's happened to me with other things like cars and my bike. I by repair manuals now and do it all myself unless I need special tools that I cant afford. Through these experiences though, I have amassed an arsenal of said specialty tools.

 

[Twangfactor]

Nah, they are in Chehalis.:msp_thumbup::msp_thumbup: Don't move here.

Used to live in Yelm, Don't worry our next move is to North Idaho.:smile2:

 

[7600]

Have a good jonsered /shindaiwa/echo dealer about half an hour from home.

 

[slowp]

The bigger places have bad service??? Not around here. I went to the big one, after having a depressing dentist appointment. I had to be in town for that so thought I'd go get some advice on how to ship an antique axe. The guys at the store sympathized and told me their root canal stories and how it all worked out well. Then, not only did they think of a way to ship the axe, they looked around for a proper box. We decided on a weed whacker box. I offered to pay for it, but there was no charge, and the guy really spent time and effort. Since then, I've bought accessories there. They are the home of The Blue Wedge.

I feel torn between which place to go to. That's my dilemma. Which really good place do I go to? For saw work, I go to the place I bought my saw, for accessories, I go to the bigger place, because they've got a big selection.

Such is life in the logging triangle.