Been wanting a big saw for a while now, and decided on a 661. One of my local dealers is a smaller place, where the owner actually does all of the work on the equipment, and knows the ins and outs of his products. Paid a fair price for it, and took it home wearing a 25" bar, and added 32" bar for milling (he was able to find a 13T wide nose one, for no good reason other than they look "better").
After running the saw for a couple tanks, I went to clean it up, and noticed a crack in boss that protects the bar oil cap. I knew there was no way I had done it. After further inspection, I found that the housing had been sanded and spray painted in this spot. I'm pretty picky about my stuff, so I was none too happy. I assumed that the dealer/Stihl would tell me "tough luck", you ran it, we can't prove you didn't do it. I watched the dealer I purchased the saw from cut the tape and remove the saw from the box, so I know it wasn't them.
Anyway, I decided to take my chances with the dealer, and see what he had to say. I showed him the saw, he looked at it for a minute, and said, "I'll replace it for you, I want you to be happy with it". I was shocked. This is exactly the reason why I'm glad I didn't beat him up on the price. I felt a little guilty, since I know he's going to have to resell my old saw at a loss, after disclosing the damage. I let him know that I would be driving out of my way to continue to visit his shop in the future. I just don't see this type of business ethic anymore, so I wanted to share my experience.
Now I have to start the break in process over, before I can get milling. I'm going to run it this weekend with a 20" bar and 8 pin rim, to buck some firewood. It should be a beast.
Excuse the dirty workbench. It is a friend's place
Don't have a pic of the actual crack, but the red line shows where it was
After running the saw for a couple tanks, I went to clean it up, and noticed a crack in boss that protects the bar oil cap. I knew there was no way I had done it. After further inspection, I found that the housing had been sanded and spray painted in this spot. I'm pretty picky about my stuff, so I was none too happy. I assumed that the dealer/Stihl would tell me "tough luck", you ran it, we can't prove you didn't do it. I watched the dealer I purchased the saw from cut the tape and remove the saw from the box, so I know it wasn't them.
Anyway, I decided to take my chances with the dealer, and see what he had to say. I showed him the saw, he looked at it for a minute, and said, "I'll replace it for you, I want you to be happy with it". I was shocked. This is exactly the reason why I'm glad I didn't beat him up on the price. I felt a little guilty, since I know he's going to have to resell my old saw at a loss, after disclosing the damage. I let him know that I would be driving out of my way to continue to visit his shop in the future. I just don't see this type of business ethic anymore, so I wanted to share my experience.
Now I have to start the break in process over, before I can get milling. I'm going to run it this weekend with a 20" bar and 8 pin rim, to buck some firewood. It should be a beast.
Excuse the dirty workbench. It is a friend's place
Don't have a pic of the actual crack, but the red line shows where it was