Great point about the gift thing. I had not thought about that. From the responses I got from the dealers around here, I think they would tell you that your not getting the box even if it is for a gift. The dealers here ( all of them I have bought from and thats 4 ) all play the same game. You WILL NOT see the saw you are buying until you pay for it and register it either at their register computer or the new screens they have set up by the saws to get parts and register the product. They tell you they are putting it together while you pay for it and get it registered.
Then they take you to the tech area where they already have it assembled and fueled. Then they try and show you how to start and use it. I used the word " try " for a reason.
Here is the game they are playing. Once a tool has had fuel in it , its non refundable. Its typical Florida scammy unethical sh#$.
This did NOT work out for the Ace Hardware near me though. On the same day I bought the HT131 I was at my nearby Ace buying a HT56ce.
They played the same little game by walking me to the register to pay for it, then escorting me to the screen mounted to the wall on the chainsaw wall so I could type in my life story to register it, then took me to the tech area to " try " and show me how to use it.
The guy took me outside with the saw and it would not start. He pumped the primer bulb about 30 times. I told him 4 or 5 times was good but he continued. He then starting yanking the sh&^ out of the pull cord as hard as he could. IT'S AN EZSTART , insert "try" right here. Shocked he didn't break it. I know from experience that they break easy. He finally got it started and it died immediately like it was running out of fuel or was under a bind. He kept doing this for the next 10 mins.
I finally got pissed and said " since I've paid for it and I own it, let me look at it. I removed the extension that has the chainsaw head on it so I could see the drive shaft to see if it was turning. I told him to start it so I could see. Nope, its not turning during the few seconds it was running. I told the guy that it was either running out of fuel or it was bound up at the power head.
Then the owner of that Ace pulls up in his pickup truck and the guy says " thats the owner, he will get it running ".
Of course he had the same result and now wants to take it to the bench to see what's wrong.
He takes the main shaft out of the power head and puts it back in. I asked him if he wanted to start it with the drive shaft completely off the power head to eliminate it as causing an issue and he said it was not necessary. Im thinking WTF are you doing. All you did was pull it out and shove it right back in.
Troubleshooting doesn't seem to be his strong suit.
Now we are outside and he's saying its gonna run good now. And low and behold, the exact same issue. Now I know in my head this is most likely a fuel delivery issue.
The owner says we need to work on it to get it running and claims it might need a carburetor and he can get one asap.
At this point, I've had enough and tell him I didn't pay for broken saw and you need to refund me right now. " I'm not going to be standing in my yard with a brand new saw and getting the results you are getting right now ". He's saying nothing and just starring at me. He knows I'm not backing down.
Heres the problem he has. Its been fueled and registered to me and now he can't sell it as new.
I'm glad I insisted on a refund. I came home to researched more on the pole saws and decided to buy the 131 instead because it had 3 feet more reach, even though I was hating the price.
One thing is for certain around here, if you ask them to show you the tool runs fine before you pay for it, that will NEVER happen.
Who else can get away with that ?
Still as a company and their dealer network is abysmal. I personally dont know how they have been able to gain customers for this long.
