rreidnauer
ArboristSite Operative
So, out of curiosity about a comment some time ago regarding Ace being full dealerships, I decided to look into how things are there. I had visited about a week earlier, but was told the guy who handles all the Stihl stuff wasn't in that day, and to come back another day. But my second visit he was there.
It was stocked fairly well, with trimmers, blowers and chainsaws, ranging from the small climbers, homeowners, and pros up to the 460. They had a fair selection of bars, chains, and other related accessories to go with it. Bar selection was a bit limited, favoring the green tags, and no Stihl synthetic oil, but not bad. Next curiosity was to look at prices. Comparing to the 2006/2007 dealer Price List book, (yes, I have a copy of it) from models 361 through 880, I found all were priced at $10 above the listed PS-SRP, except the 660 which was $35 above, and the 880 which was equal to list.
Next, I talked to the rep, who was also (I believe he said) a bronze rated factory certified service technician, who would be going for his silver rating in about a month. He was quite polite, but I was a bit disappointed when he told me "shopping around really won't do much good, as all dealers have about the same price." Later, turning the computer monitor for me to see, he was quite proud of his computer's IPL database, and he seemed caught a little off guard when I told him I know about and have access to IPL data. Talking about the 880, I was kidding around a bit with him, and said, "I guess you don't get many orders for a saw this big" which he responded, "yea, not many saws come that big." Just to see what angle he'd take, I said, "Yea, besides Husky, you're right." He agreed, and said that's a good saw too. No put down, very professional. He was quite the energenic individual, telling me how much he just loves to fix things, and told me to come there if I ever needed service. He handed me his card as well.
Now, the next part, I found a bit unusual. They don't stock parts. I was under the impression Stihl required their dealers to stock a certain amount of parts, maybe not. He said he could get most parts in, in about 2 to 3 days. Not bad, but I guess you can't expect to grab something when you need it in a hurry, which I believe is kind of the point of having a dealer.
Two things I failed to check on. I forgot to ask what the hourly rate was for service, and whether I get whacked for shipping on parts. I did kick around the idea of asking about a specific part price, and comparing against the dealers PS-SRP list to see if that's inflated too, but I pushed enough for one day.
Summary:
Pros:
Good selection of power equipment and accessories
Very professional, enthusiastic, and friendly Rep/Tech
Cons:
Prices too high
Only one Rep/Tech, irregular schedule
No immediate parts availablity
It was stocked fairly well, with trimmers, blowers and chainsaws, ranging from the small climbers, homeowners, and pros up to the 460. They had a fair selection of bars, chains, and other related accessories to go with it. Bar selection was a bit limited, favoring the green tags, and no Stihl synthetic oil, but not bad. Next curiosity was to look at prices. Comparing to the 2006/2007 dealer Price List book, (yes, I have a copy of it) from models 361 through 880, I found all were priced at $10 above the listed PS-SRP, except the 660 which was $35 above, and the 880 which was equal to list.
Next, I talked to the rep, who was also (I believe he said) a bronze rated factory certified service technician, who would be going for his silver rating in about a month. He was quite polite, but I was a bit disappointed when he told me "shopping around really won't do much good, as all dealers have about the same price." Later, turning the computer monitor for me to see, he was quite proud of his computer's IPL database, and he seemed caught a little off guard when I told him I know about and have access to IPL data. Talking about the 880, I was kidding around a bit with him, and said, "I guess you don't get many orders for a saw this big" which he responded, "yea, not many saws come that big." Just to see what angle he'd take, I said, "Yea, besides Husky, you're right." He agreed, and said that's a good saw too. No put down, very professional. He was quite the energenic individual, telling me how much he just loves to fix things, and told me to come there if I ever needed service. He handed me his card as well.
Now, the next part, I found a bit unusual. They don't stock parts. I was under the impression Stihl required their dealers to stock a certain amount of parts, maybe not. He said he could get most parts in, in about 2 to 3 days. Not bad, but I guess you can't expect to grab something when you need it in a hurry, which I believe is kind of the point of having a dealer.
Two things I failed to check on. I forgot to ask what the hourly rate was for service, and whether I get whacked for shipping on parts. I did kick around the idea of asking about a specific part price, and comparing against the dealers PS-SRP list to see if that's inflated too, but I pushed enough for one day.
Summary:
Pros:
Good selection of power equipment and accessories
Very professional, enthusiastic, and friendly Rep/Tech
Cons:
Prices too high
Only one Rep/Tech, irregular schedule
No immediate parts availablity
