Dealers forced to carry Poulan Pro?

[sawn_penn]

I walked into my local Stihl/Husky dealer and found that he had a heap of yellow Poulan Pro gear in his store.

Pretty odd, as this guy doesn't really target the consumer end of the business. Sells to anyone who walks in the door, but that's mainly forrestry, arborists and government.

Reading between the lines, it looks like the Husky distributor has said "If you want to sell Husky, you'll sell Poulan Pro too."

The dealer didn't seem happy to have yellow in his shop.

Anyone seen this elsewhere?

 

[computeruser]

Haven't seen it, and I've been to three saw shops in the past week that sell Husqvarna.

Sure hope it isn't a new policy. That'd be a mess - I'd pity the poor dealers stuck with crap saws taking up space and with customers trying to understand why the dealer thinks the merchandise he's selling is garbage and shouldn't be purchased.

Plus then having to service them...and having to deal with the type of customer who would be inclined to buy them...oh my. Not good.

 

[rb_in_va]

Maybe there are some that could get by with a Poulan. Wouldn't it be better if they were sold by someone that knows saws and could talk to the customer about their needs and recommend a better model?

 

[computeruser]

Maybe there are some that could get by with a Poulan. Wouldn't it be better if they were sold by someone that knows saws and could talk to the customer about their needs and recommend a better model?

Good point.

I am just worried that having these saws in a good saw shop would lend some sort of implicit endorsement as to the quality of the PoulanPro products, suggesting that they are on a par with "good" saw brands. With this endorsement, the unaware customer will see an effort on the part of the salesperson to sell them on a better saw not as the good advice that it is but as an attempt to sell a more expensive saw when the Poulan must be plenty good enough, or else the reputable saw shop would not have "chosen" to sell it.

And then, when the saw does not live up to the customer's expectations (for whatever reason), they will hold that against the saw shop for the saw not meeting their expectations AND for them "choosing" to sell these saws.

Seems like the dealer is not going to be any better off for being forced to sell these saws...

 

[Marco]

Worst part of dealing with the public is people. If they don't buy one at the dealer they will buy one somewhere else and bring it to the dealer to sort out after they threw the instructions out. And what would be wrong with the dealer coming right out and saying his supplier is forcing him to cary this line in order for him to have Huskies and that he would only recomend the Poulan for limited use. I stay on Poulan Pro's books as a way to get people in to look at the Dolmars myself, the buy one somewhere figure it's not working right call the 800 number and it leads them right to my nice shiny stash of new Dolmars. It also gets me some limited parts for old Pioneers and Partners also.

 

[ozflea]

Sawn penn,

Is this event with the Poulan Pro range out here in OZ or the States ?

And who makes the Poulan Pro isn't it marketed by Elux ?

Mc Bob.

 

[JPP]

I think it is fine. I also agree that the saw has a better chance of success for the average saw user if sold, serviced, etc by a dealer rather than your local China*Mart or Home Depot. I have never had any issues with Poulan saws, but I can take care of them and had a good saw shop that could fix what I couldn't.

As far as the point of selling them along side other good saws, so what? This way anybody can go to the saw shop and buy what they are looking for within their budget. When you go to a Chevy dealer, you will see expensive cars for a group of customers and you will find lower priced cars for people on a smaller budget.

This gives saw shops variety and they can cater to many different people. But I take it that saw shop owners don't want to deal with a guy who cuts a couple of fallen limbs a year. I would think a saw shop would like MORE people coming to their shop. More people coming in=more money coming in, no?

 

[sawn_penn]

Sawn penn,

Is this event with the Poulan Pro range out here in OZ or the States ?

And who makes the Poulan Pro isn't it marketed by Elux ?

Mc Bob.

Down under here in OZ. Yep It's marketed by Elux, who push the line "It's made by Husqvarna." What a marketing disaster! Why pay more for an orange husky when you can get a yellow one? Why buy an orange one if some of the saws the company makes are a POS?

Cheapo saw sold in a pro shop with the word "Pro" on the side, but with "Occassional Use Only" hidden in the manual. Customers are going to be mighty unhappy when the saw doesn't last...

 

[spike60]

There is nothing to this guys, at least not in the states.

Some Poulan product is AVAILABLE to us Husky dealers, but that is as far as it goes. I suppose that it appeals to some guys who want to hit certain price points. In fact, if I remember, I think that it was actually the green stuff that was on the last sheet they sent me.

I think that Poulan Pro MIGHT be available from either the same IDN group selling Dolmar or from Gardner INC. Again I stress MIGHT, because I just throw that stuff out. The last thing I saw with Poulan Pro stuff was snow throwers last fall.

 

[Newfie_1986]

I dont think there is anything to this in Canada either. My Husky dealer only carrys Husky (hes an ex Stihl dealer). He doesnt sell any of the yellow Poulans (I was just there the other day).

He sold Stihl for 12 years and then dropped the line because Husky had more to offer.

 

[Rotax Robert]

Worst part of dealing with the public is people.

What was that again marco ?????

 

[Marco]

Yeah, people. The public in general would be alot easier to deal with if it weren't for people. A small portion of customers fib about what they are really out to do, what they did when it's not working all kinds of stuff. They do something stupid and show up making look like it's you or your products fault that they are in a bind. So when somebody shows up with a Super 2 Homey and said it was a good saw, did everything I needed just need one to replace it cause it's wore out. You sell him a Wildthing thinking it's everything a Super 2 ever was and he decides to tear into a stand of oak 2' across that the wilt went through and it's like cutting an iron lamp pole. And mister John Q comes back howling because he was not honest about what he was going to do. Most folks are decent, just the burs in your sitting part that you can't forget.

 

[spike60]

Marco;

But what would we do without all of the great stories from that minority of people who are morons? Quick example:

Guy comes in with a saw that he bought 2 MONTHS ago, but never used, because he couldn't get it started. Like many people, he had simply flooded the thing. Starts telling me that he doesn't want it. A few pulls and a cloud of smoke and I had the saw running. He still doesn't want it. I simply told him that since there was nothing wrong with the saw, and that the serial number had been registered to him 2 months ago, (people don't usually think about that), that I wouldn't even consider taking it back. He says "But I'm the customer". I said "Yeah, and that's your saw". If it was 2 days instead of 2 months, maybe I would have, but come on, 2 MONTHS?