I haven't gone to stihl directly. Told the dealer how pissed off I was and they said they would pass it on to head office, didn't hear anything so took my money to husky.
<rant>
There is something about many businesses (not all, but too many you and I seem to encounter anyway) here in NZ where that sort of customer service BS and plain disrespect is considered acceptable. It is never, ever acceptable to hang a customer to twist in the breeze like that. Stihl NZ will spend hundreds of thousands on marketing and still not undo the damage one justifiably pissed off customer can do. They probably won't pull their heads out of their backsides until it is way too late.
It would be interesting not only the percentage breakdown of revenue they generate from homeowners and pros (I'm assuming the latter is small by comparison), but just how long they can maintain their credibility amongst the homeowners if they don't treat pro customers with respect (hopefully not long).
There are Stihl dealers reading these pages. They have the serial number now. Perhaps they too are pissed off at how this reflects on the brand they have invested a heap of money to carry. Perhaps they could take it up with their head offices and PM you some outcome or at least reach out to offer to help.
I had the same thing with a tractor dealer here in NZ a few years ago. NZ was as farking useless as the POS tractor they sold me but a USA distributor with a heap of sway (probably sells more than the entire NZ market), sincerely frustrated with how I was being treated stepped in, completely out of the blue, to help from his end resulting in a remarkable and very welcome turnaround in how I was being treated here in NZ.
Similarly, a [good] NZ sawmil manufacturer has stepped in to help with with an absolute POS sawmill sold by another manufacturer with an attitude even worse than the crap they sold me. Yeah, I know you know who I'm talking about (I'll get you those pics of the repaired mill soon mate - I think you'll be impressed). The point is, when a third party has to step in because they are dumbfounded by how poorly they see someone else in the industry or selling the same brand is treating a customer, whilst very welcome, it highlights just how farked up the original seller has been and how little that seller deserves to prosper.
</rant>