husq2100
Addicted to ArboristSite
stihl suck anyway so they are doing you a favour .................seriously though I have a Stihl blower and string trimmer. The dealers here on the GC are typical Stihl but all in all ok
Stihl changing tactics in Aus?
- Thread starter imagineero
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Dallas, Tx = 6,526,548 from 2011
ozflea
Good ol' BP Zoom 25-1
Dont worry to much the same slippy slip that Stihl is on will have to save a place for the husky fellas
Discounting both products under the table has been going on for yonks times are tough selling pro saws doesnt make enough to keep a store or workshop open
McBob.
Discounting both products under the table has been going on for yonks times are tough selling pro saws doesnt make enough to keep a store or workshop open
McBob.
Agoraphobia
ArboristSite Member
Depends on if you count the city or the city area. I have always been in awe of the fact that Aus is roughly the size of the states but with a drastic reduction in population. Care for anymore folks? I can think of a couple hundred million we could lose an be happy in the bargain... Oh and I'll throw in a few Stihl dealers in the lot!!! 
Mpbowyer
ArboristSite Operative
Damn, that sucks. A couple months ago, I wanted to start a tree service. I went to a stihl dealer for some tuneup parts for my 010, my only saw. The guy at the dealer kind of rubbed me the wrong way, so I went to a different dealer 4 miles away to buy some chaps a week later.
I tried to buy a saw from them that day after hours, but they wouldn't open the registers for me.
So I drove 3.3 miles down the road to a third dealer, who had a guy drive a saw from a different location for me so I could get a job done that day.
I've spent $2300 there is the last 60 days.
I'm sorry your area is not allowing the good dealers to shine.
I tried to buy a saw from them that day after hours, but they wouldn't open the registers for me.
So I drove 3.3 miles down the road to a third dealer, who had a guy drive a saw from a different location for me so I could get a job done that day.
I've spent $2300 there is the last 60 days.
I'm sorry your area is not allowing the good dealers to shine.
chainsawvstree
New Member
Chinese whispers
Shaun,
You are correct Stihl have appointed stores other than traditional dealers to sell their products, but you are incorrect about the pre delivery, all Stihl distributors be it a hardware store a Total tools store must pre deliver any Stihl product sold, these stores are also not described as big box stores, all the new stores appointed are individually owned just like a mower shop, they are a chain of individually run stores. You talk about Stihl not supporting dealers but then you promote buying online this is not supporting anybody in this country at all ,buy Stihl online you get no warranty, it could be stolen or even a fake its on their website.
A retail outlet cannot lose a dealership for discounting that would be against the law according to the ACCC, an RRP is a suggested selling price not the only price a product can be sold for, being an individually owned store means they as the owner can sell any product in their store for whatever price they want no supplier can enforce a retailer to sell at a certain price its illegal! And from my experience with Sydney tools they were selling Husky whilst they still had Stihl. And would Stihl be pulling out of the pro market if they just released the MS 461?
Your ill informed and inaccurate post makes you look like a dill and is unfair to Stihl.
Shaun,
You are correct Stihl have appointed stores other than traditional dealers to sell their products, but you are incorrect about the pre delivery, all Stihl distributors be it a hardware store a Total tools store must pre deliver any Stihl product sold, these stores are also not described as big box stores, all the new stores appointed are individually owned just like a mower shop, they are a chain of individually run stores. You talk about Stihl not supporting dealers but then you promote buying online this is not supporting anybody in this country at all ,buy Stihl online you get no warranty, it could be stolen or even a fake its on their website.
A retail outlet cannot lose a dealership for discounting that would be against the law according to the ACCC, an RRP is a suggested selling price not the only price a product can be sold for, being an individually owned store means they as the owner can sell any product in their store for whatever price they want no supplier can enforce a retailer to sell at a certain price its illegal! And from my experience with Sydney tools they were selling Husky whilst they still had Stihl. And would Stihl be pulling out of the pro market if they just released the MS 461?
Your ill informed and inaccurate post makes you look like a dill and is unfair to Stihl.
Not sure if you guys in other states have noticed any changes, but things have been changing in Sydney. Stihl used to have a policy of selling only to dealers, and not discounting their prices. Part of the deal was that you had to be able to service the products. Dealerships were given to people other than chainsaw shops, but you still had to have a workshop - like mower shops etc.
Last couple months things have been changing. Sydney tools lost their license supposedly for discounting. They've gone to husky. The blue mountians stihl shop closed down. Mostly because the lady running the place was actually Mrs crabapple from Southpark. They hadn't sold anything in years.
An actual photograph of the lady who ran the stihl shop in the blue mountains;
The latest blow is GYC in Sydney. They were as far as I know the biggest stihl dealer in Sydney, certainly the one with the most parts in stock. They didn't discount, and toed the Stihl line generally, but Stihl didn't extend their license this year and instead decided to go in a 'different direction'.
They're selling in box stores. Mitre 10's mostly, which started early this year. One dealer was telling me that there have been a lot of returns from HO's buying home grade saws on special and then basically destroying them through lack of knowledge. The dealers are all required to fuel up the saw, explain the functions and demonstrate it running before letting you take it. Not the case at box stores, who also don't carry parts or service saws. There is now no excuse to not buy your saws directly overseas. If Stihl isn't going to offer dealer support then why have a presence in aus at all?
With the loss of GYC and the 3 Sydney tools stores, there is now no Stihl dealer in Sydney anywhere. There are a couple hardware stores that sell base models and string trimmers but no parts. The closest actual dealer would be either serven hills or penrith... about a 100km round trip. In contrast to that, Husky is ramping up dealer support and offering more deals to customers. I can see a lot of pros switching to husky over the next few years.
Are you other guys around the country seeing this sort of stuff too? Is stihl pulling out of the pro market in aus?
Shaun
boo hoo, cry us a river, stihl have been rip-off a$$holes for decades, stihl will crap on ya at the drop of a hat, stihl don't give a rats a$$ about anything but removing cash from your wallet any greedy way possible, anyone defending stihls slimy blatant profiteering business practice would have to be a real turkey
louie69
ArboristSite Lurker
I went down to my local stihl dealer here the other day to by a new blower cost me $255 dollars while i was there i asked him to give me a price on an ms880 $2750 dollars i sed you have to be kidding he also had a used husky 395xp for 1600 that belonged to the foresty witch was there training saw that had not been used much at all i think i try an bye a good used big saw from some where else.
deepsouth
ArboristSite Guru
And you have revived a topic from 6 months ago, joined this month and replied.
Do you have a vested interest in relation to this, such as being a Stihl Australia employee / distributor or the like? Seems suspicious to me....
And if so, how can the markups be supported in comparison to a retail purchase in the USA plus individual airfreight to Australia being much lower than shelf price, or negotiated prices here?
imagineero
Addicted to ArboristSite
There has been a minor flurry of image management consultancies joining AS lately, and dredging up old negative threads with glowing positive reviews as first posters lately. Though I'm sure 'chainsawvstree' who lists his/her job as 'marketing' is an exception.
After all, look at the amazing evidence supplied; stihl has clearly signalled how serious they are about the pro aus market by having no saw shop to service the 3million+ people in sydney. And they did invent the 461, just for us. /sarcasm.
Somebody flush this douche.
Shaun
After all, look at the amazing evidence supplied; stihl has clearly signalled how serious they are about the pro aus market by having no saw shop to service the 3million+ people in sydney. And they did invent the 461, just for us. /sarcasm.
Somebody flush this douche.
Shaun
imagineero
Addicted to ArboristSite
I went down to my local stihl dealer here the other day to by a new blower cost me $255 dollars while i was there i asked him to give me a price on an ms880 $2750 dollars i sed you have to be kidding he also had a used husky 395xp for 1600 that belonged to the foresty witch was there training saw that had not been used much at all i think i try an bye a good used big saw from some where else.
That's how it's gonna be boys.... it aint the dealers fault so much, we can all buy saws for less than they can from stihl. There isn't a whole lot of markup on new saws, they get ripped off just as much as we do.
Send out a clear message; buy all your saws direct from stihl overseas. Get them shipped here, and laugh all the way to the bank. Tell all your buddies to do the same. I feel sorry for dealers, but they've backed themselves into a corner. I'm happy to pay 20%~30% more for a saw, to buy local.... but I'm not willing to pay double or tripple. The truth is I can often get it for less, AND faster with delivery direct from overseas.
People wave that whole 'warranty and spare parts' argument, but it just doesn't hold water. The spare parts markup is often 400%~500% or even more. That would be ok, except that they stock very few parts and you can wait up to a month for them to arrive in store, or even longer. I've waited as long as 3 months for parts at stihl stores. You could almost row a boat to the states in that time. You can get parts delivered to your house in less than a week, for as little as 20% of the cost of buying local. You also don't have to take a day off work, or drive (probably a very long way, in traffic) to your 'local' store.
Warranty is equally a joke. Most things just aren't covered by warranty. One of the few saws I bought in aus was a HT75 pole pruner. Paid about $1300 for it. Took it out on the job and it didn't run at all, wobbled around, wouldn't spool up. Took it back to the dealer who accused me of bending it, then told me they could inspect it but would charge me if they found it was not a factory problem. They opened it up and found parts missing! They then accused me of stealing the parts! This is in a dealer I used to spend between $10k~$20k a year at. After much fuss and complaining they agreed to do the repair. It took 2 weeks, while they waited for parts. I hired a pole saw in the interim, at $110/day. When they gave it back, it still ran like crap and I had to repair it myself anyway. Warranties are worthless, even when it is a factory fault. If you get sold a lemon, you're going to have to suck it either way. They are not going to swap it for something sweeter.
There is a severe lack of 'expertise' also. I have been to most dealers in and around Sydney (seven hills, blackheath, GYC peakhurst, Sydney tools, Hornsby Stihl) and they are clueless. They have no concept of the model numbers, let alone the part number system. Most have never even heard of, and flatly deny the existence of anything mildly exotic (HD2 filters, lightweight bars, RD chains etc). If you want something, you better have the part number before going to the store, and be ready to explain it to them. The last time I went to stihl hornsby, they sold me a 25' roll of chain that was short by about 100 links. It had been opened. They refused to refund the difference or supply more chain. Am I supposed to count the links at the store before taking it home? #### that!
The best thing that could happen to Stihl Australia is for them to go bankrupt and pull out of the country. The end result would be quicker delivery, better service, and cheaper prces for everyone. Having Stihl represented here is worse in every respect than having nobody.
Shaun
David (saltas)
Addicted to ArboristSite
chainsawvstree
Your not a laywer
under the trade practices act you can not only loose a dealership but you can be sued for discounting by too much as it damages the brands value.
an example of this was the coles v woolies milk and bread war
they were able to sell the milk for a loss as it was there own brand.
when woolies extened the war by selling VB at dan murphies for a loss $27 for 30 tins.
CUB threatened to prosecute them for breaches of the trade practices act.
The act protects the supplier from a large company buying lots of its stock and selling too cheap an devaluing the product so they can drive you into the ground and obtain a financial advantage buy getting a better buying price or bankrupting you to get you out of the marketplace
Woollies capitulated, they were not able to buy direct of CUB for a month for all of the liquorshops and PUBs.
For a month CUB products were dearer at a woollies 30 cans of VB were $60.00
BHP had a similar case and lost over inflating y bar to a star picket manufacturer.
previously BHP had 100% of the market.
WidowMaker1
Addicted to ArboristSite
I went down to my local stihl dealer here the other day to by a new blower cost me $255 dollars while i was there i asked him to give me a price on an ms880 $2750 dollars i sed you have to be kidding he also had a used husky 395xp for 1600 that belonged to the foresty witch was there training saw that had not been used much at all i think i try an bye a good used big saw from some where else.
seems that Stihl dealer sore you coming, last i priced a 880 from the local stihl dealer about a year ago, he could do me one for $2300 with a 36" bar, and hes a complete tool.
seen them go for around $2000 New from independent tool dealers around the sydney, blue mountains region... there's one on Ebay for $2200 New, Genuine Stihl MS880 Chain Saw, Aus Tax Invoice | eBay
and 395's I can get brand New for $1700 & 3120's for under $2200 with 42" bar from my local Husky dealer. cheaper some times from independent branches if you hunt around.
2dumb4words
ArboristSite Operative
Not sure what you're "marketing", but it might go better if your first post here wasn't talking #### about a respected member. Imagineero ain't some boob that just fell off the turnip truck. If you take what he says to heart and look at what he's saying, just maybe you could benefit. Calling respected contributors "Ill informed inaccurate Dill" isnt likely to earn you much (any) respect around here. Just sayin...
MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
I won't get into bashing every Stihl dealer but I'll certainly bash Stihl Australia - particularly with their pricing to dealers. I know some really good Stihl dealers and some that are absolutely useless. Stihl Australia certainly will come down hard on any dealers seen to be devaluing their products and you'd better not be a shopfront Stihl dealer and try to put any other brand of product on the shelf if Stihl sells a similar item. Australian Stihl dealers also have absolutely no excuses for long delays in getting parts. The guy I deal with gets gear overnight and despite some unusual orders from my end every single part has been available. If your local dealer can't get parts in a timely fashion it is HIS or HER's fault. When times are tough some owners/managers actually dig a bit deeper for their customers but sadly most roll over with their legs in the air.
Simply having a Stihl sign in front of your shop no longer guarantees business if you're a crap operator and the current hard times will actually do some good in weeding out the guys who simply aren't up to running a business properly in the modern world.
I know a number of Stihl dealers who are doing really well because of good management and sales' ability. They are also doing deals significantly cheaper than RRP but keeping it pretty quiet.
Despite importing a lot of chainsaw gear I would have spent around $10,000 through Australian Stihl dealers in the last 2 years but still can't justify the saw pricing.
Simply having a Stihl sign in front of your shop no longer guarantees business if you're a crap operator and the current hard times will actually do some good in weeding out the guys who simply aren't up to running a business properly in the modern world.
I know a number of Stihl dealers who are doing really well because of good management and sales' ability. They are also doing deals significantly cheaper than RRP but keeping it pretty quiet.
Despite importing a lot of chainsaw gear I would have spent around $10,000 through Australian Stihl dealers in the last 2 years but still can't justify the saw pricing.
SawTroll
Information Collector
Yes, according to the list I looked up.
Within city limits, Dallas is #9 on the list, with around 1.2 mill. It is #3 within Texas, behind Houston (2.1 mill) and San Antonio (1.4 mill)....
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MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
I know this probably sounds bad but we all wish we had a dealer like that. In reality any dealer that has enough time to sit around drinking coffee either has other employees or isn't busy enough to be profitable. The successful dealers I've seen haven't got time to scratch their arse
MCW
Somebody's talking crap here & it ain't the tree!
Pretty sure you'll find that this saw is actually sourced from the US and the seller is backing it with his own warranty, independant of Stihl. Online sales from genuine Stihl dealers is a one warning and bye bye dealership type deal.
Chris J.
Addicted to ArboristSite
Are you employed by Stihl, sell their products? Your post certainly reads that way. The problems with Stihl Aus have been well-documented (not angry rants) by several respected AS members with years of experience dealing with Stihl in in Australia & New Zealand.
You would know :msp_lol:!
