local stihl dealership

[My2cents]

Who gives an "F" about Stihl's disfuctional marketing method's??

This thread was started about the typical saw dealers that don't want to pay to stock saw parts. "It takes money to make money"Save your time. Find a good online parts company. Eventually $hitty businesses go out of business. Theres an attitude out there "the world owes me" its never going to change.
If every business understood "The Big Picture" there would be to many millionares anyway!!

 

[logcutter429]

Exlactly, were talking about saw shops , most of the parts are common parts that we need, im not talking about parts like Lowes , but most saw shops say the same thing, we'll have to order it: don't help the problem none , my nearest saw shops are 30 miles in either direction, i use the one with the right atitude, drops everything and fixes what i can't, the other always has enough parts, would'nt let them work on my daughters tonka trucks though, a saw shop is a saw shop ,parts and saws.

 

[Fish]

The point is a Stihl saw shop sells the same parts as the other
Stihl shop in the next county, and they have the same dealer
cost.
If some poor fool decides to sell his parts at or under cost
to a commercial cutter, then fine. He is the one that will be
out of business soon. I personally have no patience for
commercial customers, as they are generally push, and buy
little from me because I do not massage their lower parts.

 

[stihltech]

dealer

You can get a bad dealer in any brand. It is too bad this guy cares so little.
I usually get parts twice a week. I have not had to special order a part in over 2 years, just lucky I guess.

 

[Fish]

A Stihl dealer in Texas probably is small time, for regional
reasons. A 064 in Texas is likely much more rare.
So a dealer that needs to order 064 parts in Texas is quite
likely. If he has to pay $6.00 shipping for any order,
then what markup should he charge for any special order part?
Just curious.

 

[alamo-kid]

064

fish,

you are correct an 064 is quite big for the area but a "dealer is a dealer " . Stihl "the big company" should have a parts distribution system that does not penalize the end customer. I don't expect one hour service on a part that's not common to the area but I do not expect to pay shipping. An honest wait is one thing but " pay shipping" or no part is another.


The Stihl dealers in the area are rental stores and hardware stores not "real" saw shops. But here are three of them in less than three miles. Is this my/the customers fault or Stihl's fault? I assume they are the one's that license dealerships????? why does the Stihl rep let such competition go on that the user suffers because none of the three can afford to "stock parts"


jeff

 

[Tony Snyder]

I usually keep a list. or else take a quick inventory to see if I can use any other stock to help pay for the ride of the part I need quickly.(usually bars , chain, or sprockets)
That dilutes down the shipping cost.

But, bottom line is some shipping cost are there and have to be passed along. It may not be listed separately but its usually in there somewhere.

A small dealer has to learn what parts go bad on what units and learn what to stock. You can't possibly carry every part.

I eat a little freight once in a while, but try not to.

I'm fortunate in that I am next day ground from both of my distributors.

 

[JimL]

I stock tons of parts. Just started stocking piston& cylinder assemblies. Keep alot of odd ball parts on hand to. Keep some new carbs, handles, tank assemblies, airfilters for every saw and trimmer.

We used to not keep diddly. Boss got tired of my b|tching cause I didn't have the parts to fix the stuff in the shop.

 

[geofore]

parts

I'm scratching my head on this one. Why didn't you call ahead to see if he had the parts to know ahead of time which direction to drive to get the parts? This county or that one? Let your fingers do the walking. The Sthil dealers I use will even call back to let me know if they found the parts in their stock if, given time to look for it if they are busy at the time. I'm thinking this guy turned off his hearing aid when you came in and thought you said FS200 not MS200. Try to call ahead, it will tell you whether or not to turn the key and drive there, no sense making a wasted trip if his parts don't come in for a day or two. Saves you a wasted trip.

 

[Fish]

It is likely a regional thing

 

[Bill G]

Several items,

Sedanman nailed one issue. The local car dealerships get daily deliveries and a "special order" is not really an issue. The shipping is in the price of the part. If you are a warehouse and dropping $1500 parts at a dealership daily then why would you need to worry about shipping. I am sure Sedan will argue this point but most car dealerships I have dealt with do not order parts through the parent rather they get their parts from companys like Republic that has nearly everything in stock within a day, If I need a $3 trigger for a 048 why should I expect to get it the next day when it will have to be special packaged and shipped from the warehouse. When I go into the dealer I write out the part description and part number on a sheet of paper along with my name and phone number. I just tell them to put it on their next order. I can tell when I will get a unstocked part before I even get to the counter. All i have to do is look at the wall and see how many tickets are waiting to go out. I never wait long. The real thing that does p"ss me off is when my I try to give the other Stihl dealer in town business and he cahrges me $8 for a part that my normal dealer charges me $4. My normal dealer told me he pays $2 for it. All the parts come from Mississippi Valley and cost the dealer the same. teh other dealer is also the one who brags about being in the mile long club. He always points at his plaque when I am talking to him.

Alamo_Kid

I never heard back from you. Are you buying Stihl parts in the Dakota's ?

Bill

 

[jokers]

I normally pay retail for parts that aren`t normal consumables like bars, chains, sprockets, and saws. I also pay shipping if I can`t wait for the item to come in a stock order. I just don`t normally buy items like carb kits that are made by Walbro, Zama, Or Tillotson and labelled by Stihl, that`s just stupidity to pay nearly double what retail is for the non-Stihl branded part. I figure if a shop is serious enough to keep a decent parts inventory I don`t mind helping them bear the burden, even if they don`t have the part I need right now, that is as long as they can`t get it in a reasonable time frame. If they can`t get it reasonably quick because of their ineptitude I go somewhere else. Who has time to waste with someone who is incompetent? Shops that will deliver or ship the part directly to me are a huge plus. Sure it`s good for the dealer to get me into his showroom but I have to think about what is good for me. Russ

 

[tony marks]

my comment would be ,if they just stay with a proven saw
020t,026,036 etc an so on,and not go changing them every several yrs ,we mite all be better off.same thing for the other good saw makers.good change ,good . change for the sake of changing ,mite be why a dealer cant keep a decent inventory in stock.jmo

 

[Fish]

Sorry if I came across earlier sounding like I hate the
commercial customers, but they really do not have me do
much for them as I refuse to kiss their buttocks and sell them
parts at cost. I do sell to them at a cheaper rate, and fix their
stuff a little quicker, but they usually have a friend or cousin at
another dealership that sells them stuff real cheap and really
caters to them, and for this I am glad, as I am too busy to really
care.
To put it in a nutshell, customers that buy their equipment
online or elsewhere, demand immediate service, and try to haggle
about every purchase because they already know the true dealer
costs, that describes customers I do not want to come in my shop,
as I am too busy fleecing the others.

 

[jokers]

Fish, I hope you`re not sorry on my account, I would be worried if you came across any other way! All the regulars here know you are a good guy and enjoy a spirited debate along with your mash, so keep it coming! Love, Russ

 

[Fish]

I said I was sorry if I sounded if I hated my commercial
customers, but I really do hate them. They are a pain I do not
need. If they stopped coming into my shop, I would likely fare
better businesswise, so I would not mourn their absence. They
act like they are doing me a favor by bringing their equipment to me, demanding immediate attention. If they bought the
equipment from me, It would be different, and so would my
attitude.
But hate is such a strong word...
Is loathe softer?

 

[alamo-kid]

commercial cutters

fish,

tell me again about these commercial guys


You say you hate them, you say you don't want their business, you say you won't massage any lower parts, you say you won't kiss anything, you say you don't have time for them.....
then you say you do discount your prices to them.. just not down to cost.

Thats all I want, just that discount not cost.....


"better watch out I may really be a Stihl God in disguise"


"who knows?????.....The Shadow knows"

 

[Fish]

So you are the Shadow?

Yeah I give a price break, about midway between retail and
my cost. They usually try to go lower, but I will not go any
lower. If they want it, fine, if they don't, fine.
After today, my loathing of the commercial guys has increased
quite a bit.

 

[bwalker]

After all these dealer horror stories I thought I would add a good one. I picked up two chains and a RSN bar for my 260 today. The chains where 18" stihl RS and the bar was a stihl RSN. My dealer charged me $15 for the chains and $35 for the bar. A oregon 72 lg chain from Baileys cost about $13 and a oregon RSN bar cost about $32 from the same place. These prices are plus shipping. My dealer had everything in stock. I may have came out slightly behind in buying from my dealer, but he had everything in stock and my time is worth something. He also gave me a carb to replace one of the fixed jet carbs I have free of charge. he even offered to install it, but I was in a hurry so i just did it myself.

 

[treeclimber165]

Great price on the 18" RS chain and bar, Ben. I'm paying almost $20 for that chain and $38.95 (I think) for that bar. I pay it gladly since they always have them in stock along with most items I need.
If they charged more and had to order everything (prepaid, with a frown) I would not buy there.