Can't have the box ? You can't be serious.

[pdqdl]

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.

Just keep in mind that the modern consumer is often out to buy a tool for a temporary use, and then return it to the dealer as "didn't run". Stihl clearly isn't interested in keeping that kind of customer, so their policy is reasonable from my perspective.

I don't know of any Stihl dealers that won't guarantee that a machine runs well when possesion is taken. I'm not sure how the mass merchants handle that, though. I suspect they make a new user take a defective machine down to the dealer.

 

[ValleyForge]

Apparently I have a great dealer. Tell him what saw I want and he hands it to me IN THE BOX. All he does is register it ( I just registered my stihl power washer because he got a phone call) and take my money. Always less than MSRP. The pressure washer wasn't in the box because I took the last one they had on the floor.
View attachment 992865

Just don’t do anything to let stihl know or you won’t have a great dealer any longer…lol

 

[a. palmer jr.]

The only new Stihl saw I ever bought was a pole saw. If I remember correctly it came with a box, maybe two. Bought it from a John Deere dealer..

 

[ammoaddict]

Just keep in mind that the modern consumer is often out to buy a tool for a temporary use, and then return it to the dealer as "didn't run". Stihl clearly isn't interested in keeping that kind of customer, so their policy is reasonable from my perspective.

I don't know of any Stihl dealers that won't guarantee that a machine runs well when possesion is taken. I'm not sure how the mass merchants handle that, though. I suspect they make a new user take a defective machine down to the dealer.

The rural king around here carries about every Stihl product made. They are sitting on shelves or hanging. The tool kits and owners manuals are zip tied to the machine. No boxes. You pick it up and take it to the checkout.

 

[Cantdog]

The only new Stihl saw I ever bought was a pole saw. If I remember correctly it came with a box, maybe two. Bought it from a John Deere dealer..

NOT a Stihl guy........that said a few years back I bought a brand new K130R......no box.....didn't care then....now I'm mad!!! LOL!!!!!

 

[ammoaddict]

NOT a Stihl guy........that said a few years back I bought a brand new K130R......no box.....didn't care then....now I'm mad!!! LOL!!!!!

I'm not a Stihl guy either. My Stihl trimmer and pole saw were both spur of the moment purchases. They were available right then and I didn't take time to do research. If I hadda, I wouldn't have bought Stihl.

 

[pdqdl]

Many years ago I was doing warranty service for Home Quarters, JC Penny,. and Builder's Square hardware stores. Once a week, we made a run to the store, to return items from the week before, and to pick up new stuff.

It was a horrible nightmare, and we quit doing it. The stores were expecting us to send in all the repair expenses to the original manufacturer (American Yard Products, MTD, Murray, etc), but very seldom was the problem warrantable. Instead, it was a compilation of machines purchased to steal a couple parts off of, machines destroyed for lack of oil, and quite a few that were in perfect working order, yet somehow "needing warranty repair". In other words, they mowed their lawn, and then returned the mower.

Stihl doesn't have that problem, at least partly, on account of the original packaging cannot be returned.

 

[JD Guy]

Really Y'all, It's just a D*** Box . I'll give you a hundred to one that IF you had received the box it would have gone into the trash or recycling within a week anyway

 

[bevis]

Really Y'all, It's just a D*** Box . I'll give you a hundred to one that IF you had received the box it would have gone into the trash or recycling within a week anyway

You clearly don't know me. I have boxes for sh*$ thats 15 years old and still working.

 

[Dean-O]

At my shop here is how it goes down. We have tons of equipment in boxes (over the last 2 years it’s went from tons to just some) we unbox and put together units to stock the showroom floor.

When a customer buys a unit we take it out back, test run it, check all functions and adjust the carb if need be. The next day we replace the sold equipment. The saw boxes we cut the top off and save for no fixes and saws that we are working on but waiting for parts.

So every unit that leaves our store is not in a box……unless

It is a large government purchase of saws that will not be put into service right away

It is a customer that we know and doesn’t want the unit test ran

It is being bought as a gift

If it is a large government purchase or a gift we instruct the customer to bring the units back to the shop and we will test run them and adjust if need be.

The Stihl pole saws come in a huge long box and you have to assemble it, it’s not hard to assemble but it takes longer then putting together a saw or trimmer. I mean some of the home owner trimmers come two to a box and are completely assembled already.

I have never ever had a customer ask for a pole saw in a box. But if they did I would give it to them because all we do is toss them. But I would test run and assemble polesaw first because you have to make sure it runs when fully extended and power head is connected correctly and drive shaft is in bell housing all the way.

To the original poster if you really want a Stihl polesaw box that badly the next time your in Northern California send me a pm and I will set one aside for you free of charge.

 

[bwalker]

Ok, I own a few new Stihl saws / older saws / blowers / pole saws. I just went yesterday and bought a PP-800 and a HT-131 and for the first time, asked for the box they came in. I was immediately told that will NEVER happen. That shocked me somewhat and I asked WHY ? I'm buying expensive tools and I can't have the box ? That seems more than ridiculous to me. The owner of that dealership jumped into the conversation and stated that if they let even one box go out of the door, they stood to loose their dealership ? WTF, are you kidding ? It's just a damn box.

So, can someone please enlighten / educate me as to why Stihl will not let a customer have the box their equipment came in ?
Last year ( I think ) I bought a 261C and didn't think about why I didn't get the box. In the years past with all my Stihl purchases, I didn't think about it much either.
This time I decided to ask for the box since the girl on the phone told me they had the HT-131 new in the box when I called to check on stock at the local dealer. Not to mention that I'm paying MSRP no matter what dealer you buy from, just give me the damn box that you clearly have.

Am I to believe that the dealers have a big pile of boxes in their back rooms that get sent back to Stihl or do they get burnt by the dealer.
You always get the ID bar code tag with model and serial numbers on it that they cut off the box the item came in.
I googled " Why wont a Stihl dealer give you the box your new equipment came in " and came up with nothing relevant.
Then I tried to find a picture of a Stihl box of any kind and can't find one. What the actual hell is going on here ?

I'm sure going to be interested in the reason for this ridiculous policy.

I LOVE Stilh products and HATE the company at the same time.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

If I have posted this in the wrong forum, please let me know where I should post it.
thanks

I'd get a new dealer.

 

[torch]

My dealer has never given me the cardboard box -- he substitutes a blow-molded chainsaw carrying case.

I'm good with that.

 

[camel2019]

Biggest thing for me with not getting the box is who knows what come with it in the box. for instance the kombi tool I bought was supposed to come with the little bar that bolts onto the front handle it’s for preventing kickback when using brush cutter blades never seen it.

 

[bevis]

At my shop here is how it goes down. We have tons of equipment in boxes (over the last 2 years it’s went from tons to just some) we unbox and put together units to stock the showroom floor.

When a customer buys a unit we take it out back, test run it, check all functions and adjust the carb if need be. The next day we replace the sold equipment. The saw boxes we cut the top off and save for no fixes and saws that we are working on but waiting for parts.

So every unit that leaves our store is not in a box……unless

It is a large government purchase of saws that will not be put into service right away

It is a customer that we know and doesn’t want the unit test ran

It is being bought as a gift

If it is a large government purchase or a gift we instruct the customer to bring the units back to the shop and we will test run them and adjust if need be.

The Stihl pole saws come in a huge long box and you have to assemble it, it’s not hard to assemble but it takes longer then putting together a saw or trimmer. I mean some of the home owner trimmers come two to a box and are completely assembled already.

I have never ever had a customer ask for a pole saw in a box. But if they did I would give it to them because all we do is toss them. But I would test run and assemble polesaw first because you have to make sure it runs when fully extended and power head is connected correctly and drive shaft is in bell housing all the way.

To the original poster if you really want a Stihl polesaw box that badly the next time your in Northern California send me a pm and I will set one aside for you free of charge.

Thanks but I will NEVER " really want a Stihl " anything again. I appreciate it though.

 

[bevis]

I'd get a new dealer.

EVERY single dealer here within reasonable driving distance has a response like the following " you aint gettin the box ! " / " if we let you have the box we could loose our dealership " / " we don't have the box because we destroy them " / " it's against Stihl policy " / " insert BS answer of your choice here "

This box thing has to be one of the pettiest things I have ever seen a company do. Dealers making up BS lies about the box and on and on...

BoxGate is alive and well......

 

[bevis]

Biggest thing for me with not getting the box is who knows what come with it in the box. for instance the kombi tool I bought was supposed to come with the little bar that bolts onto the front handle it’s for preventing kickback when using brush cutter blades never seen it.

You don't think a dealer would take stuff out of the box and sell it to you at an additional cost later do you ? Come on man, you know, the thing.....
You can take one thing to the bank, if a dealers mouth is moving, they are lying.

 

[camel2019]

Think I might just buy older pro Stihl equipment

 

[lone wolf]

You don't think a dealer would take stuff out of the box and sell it to you at an additional cost later do you ? Come on man, you know, the thing.....
You can take one thing to the bank, if a dealers mouth is moving, they are lying.

Not all dealers but a lot of them. I have a couple good ones.

 

[Vintage Engine Repairs]

My stihl dealer keeps telling me, would you like me to put that in a ms 500i box to tease your girlfriend as you walk in home with it? No issues with getting boxes here!

 

[lone wolf]

My stihl dealer keeps telling me, would you like me to put that in a ms 500i box to tease your girlfriend as you walk in home with it? No issues with getting boxes here!

Get a dozen boxes and video her reaction.