Since so many of y'all complain about having crappy saw shops and dealers that don't stock parts or know their wares, here's a cute story for ya:
I'm getting dressed this morning when I get an unsolicited call and voicemail from the local saw shop. My phone is on the dining table and my wife sees the call come in while she and her parents are eating breakfast. My wife hollers back at me, asking why the saw shop was calling. Her dad shouts "busted!"
The thing is, I have nothing in for work, nothing on order. I'm innocent, I plead! They're all skeptical.
So I take the phone and check the voicemail - the shop is calling to tell me that they were going through their inventory of Husqvarna bars and found an odd-ball bar they didn't know they had - 13" .325" .050(NK) new in shop-worn packaging - and figured I'd want it. They no longer stock or sell Husqvarna and are a Stihl-only shop, but used to carry Husqvarna and still inventory a few common Husqvarna bars. But this, obviously, is not a common bar size here in the US, though they know that size is well represented in my garage.
So later in the day I swing by the saw shop on my way to meet a client and they have the bar up front waiting for me. Price: $15 (compare at $45.99+shipping from Bailey's). Needless to say, I buy the bar and thank them for their thoughtfulness. I also buy some other stuff, examine and fondle the new MS150t and MS150 saws (those are some TINY saws!! And expensive at >$100 more than MS192t/192), and check out some wacky Stihl RMA370 battery-powered lawnmower they have sitting in the shop.
Anyway, I just thought this anecdote might remind some folks what a good dealer is like. In this instance, they (a) knew what products I like, (b) knew how to reach me because they keep my phone number on a post-it pinned to the one of the techs' bench, and (c) were proactive enough to give me a call to make a sale. How many shops, big or small, can say they'd do this? In addition to this level of attention, they've got their $#!^ together and they (d) stock practically every single thing Stihl sells, (e) have a first-rate sales and tech staff (all sales folks are also highest-certified techs, everybody wears both hats), (f) sell wood stoves, climbing gear, splitters, and milling equipment, (g) heat their store with their demo stoves, and (h) mill lumber out in the parking lot on a really big portable bandsaw mill.
It really is refreshing to deal with professionals who know their goods and take their job seriously. More shops should follow their lead, even if they also sell mowers and such. The OPE industry could only benefit from having more retailers like these folks and fewer like the daft fools so often criticized on AS for ignorance about their products, unwillingness to stock/order parts, or the myriad other failings that comprise our regular set of gripes.
That's my story.
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And for those who might still be wondering why my in-laws were eating breakfast at my house on a Tuesday morning, despite the fact they live nearly 600 miles away, it's because less than 2 months after a head-on car accident caused by another driver coming into my wife's direction of traffic, an accident that nearly killed her and required that she be cut out of the car by the firefighters who arrived, we had a follow-up appointment with my wife's orthopedic surgeon today and in addition to it looking like her various broken body parts are healing up well, she got the OK to start PT and to start bending her knee again!!! So all in all, a good day!!
I'm getting dressed this morning when I get an unsolicited call and voicemail from the local saw shop. My phone is on the dining table and my wife sees the call come in while she and her parents are eating breakfast. My wife hollers back at me, asking why the saw shop was calling. Her dad shouts "busted!"
The thing is, I have nothing in for work, nothing on order. I'm innocent, I plead! They're all skeptical.
So I take the phone and check the voicemail - the shop is calling to tell me that they were going through their inventory of Husqvarna bars and found an odd-ball bar they didn't know they had - 13" .325" .050(NK) new in shop-worn packaging - and figured I'd want it. They no longer stock or sell Husqvarna and are a Stihl-only shop, but used to carry Husqvarna and still inventory a few common Husqvarna bars. But this, obviously, is not a common bar size here in the US, though they know that size is well represented in my garage.
So later in the day I swing by the saw shop on my way to meet a client and they have the bar up front waiting for me. Price: $15 (compare at $45.99+shipping from Bailey's). Needless to say, I buy the bar and thank them for their thoughtfulness. I also buy some other stuff, examine and fondle the new MS150t and MS150 saws (those are some TINY saws!! And expensive at >$100 more than MS192t/192), and check out some wacky Stihl RMA370 battery-powered lawnmower they have sitting in the shop.
Anyway, I just thought this anecdote might remind some folks what a good dealer is like. In this instance, they (a) knew what products I like, (b) knew how to reach me because they keep my phone number on a post-it pinned to the one of the techs' bench, and (c) were proactive enough to give me a call to make a sale. How many shops, big or small, can say they'd do this? In addition to this level of attention, they've got their $#!^ together and they (d) stock practically every single thing Stihl sells, (e) have a first-rate sales and tech staff (all sales folks are also highest-certified techs, everybody wears both hats), (f) sell wood stoves, climbing gear, splitters, and milling equipment, (g) heat their store with their demo stoves, and (h) mill lumber out in the parking lot on a really big portable bandsaw mill.
It really is refreshing to deal with professionals who know their goods and take their job seriously. More shops should follow their lead, even if they also sell mowers and such. The OPE industry could only benefit from having more retailers like these folks and fewer like the daft fools so often criticized on AS for ignorance about their products, unwillingness to stock/order parts, or the myriad other failings that comprise our regular set of gripes.
That's my story.
***************************
And for those who might still be wondering why my in-laws were eating breakfast at my house on a Tuesday morning, despite the fact they live nearly 600 miles away, it's because less than 2 months after a head-on car accident caused by another driver coming into my wife's direction of traffic, an accident that nearly killed her and required that she be cut out of the car by the firefighters who arrived, we had a follow-up appointment with my wife's orthopedic surgeon today and in addition to it looking like her various broken body parts are healing up well, she got the OK to start PT and to start bending her knee again!!! So all in all, a good day!!
