Dealers should be required to take a test........
- Thread starter benp
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benp
Addicted to ArboristSite
My Dolmar dealer is mom and pop and sons, literally.
Their chains are all made and off of a roll. But, you are limited as to what they have on hand. They dont have a big selection on rolls as that doesn't make sense $$$$ wise for them and I understand that.
The Stihl dealer in KY I went to treats my dad well and he always has good service. So, that's more important to me then nitpicking about chains.
The Elite Status term makes sense.
The dealer I was at yesterday, that's just me picking again. From my friends that would fall into the light saw use class, they have great things to say about that dealer. They get treated well and that's matters. Even though my one friend deserves to be bopped on the head with the bar first for the treatment of his saw.
As someone has mentioned, my local dealers are geared towards Joe Homeowner who is beyond tickled with his new Kick A*S MS 290 Farmboss. And for that segment they are good dealers.
Tree Monkey - I will have to pm you and take you up on that.
Their chains are all made and off of a roll. But, you are limited as to what they have on hand. They dont have a big selection on rolls as that doesn't make sense $$$$ wise for them and I understand that.
The Stihl dealer in KY I went to treats my dad well and he always has good service. So, that's more important to me then nitpicking about chains.
The Elite Status term makes sense.
The dealer I was at yesterday, that's just me picking again. From my friends that would fall into the light saw use class, they have great things to say about that dealer. They get treated well and that's matters. Even though my one friend deserves to be bopped on the head with the bar first for the treatment of his saw.
As someone has mentioned, my local dealers are geared towards Joe Homeowner who is beyond tickled with his new Kick A*S MS 290 Farmboss. And for that segment they are good dealers.
Tree Monkey - I will have to pm you and take you up on that.
I dont understand!?
imagineero
Addicted to ArboristSite
We have very little dealer knowledge/support here in sydney. I used to argue with them until I was blue in the face, about products they'd never heard of and denied the existence of. Eventually I got sick of it, it was just time wasted. Now I just go into the dealer with stihl part numbers. I can get them a lot faster than they can, sometimes even googling them on my phone while in store. When I give them that 11 digit number, there can be no misunderstanding. I get what I want, every time, and with no time wasted at the store. I even make sure I've got the number for chains before I buy.
Shaun
Shaun
screamin350
ArboristSite Operative
I wish my customers were as smart as the members on this forum. Probably 75% of them don't know the difference between full chisel and semi-chisel. Very few of them know what skip tooth chain is. My favorite customers are the ones that come up and ask questions like " I need a chain for my poulan" and the real game begins trying to figure out which poulan they might possibly own. The answers range from "its green, the bar is 16'', and my favorite- it says 91 on the chain, i need a 91 drive link chain."
ridgerunner97
ArboristSite Operative
^ Haha I work for an Elite dealer and we get that stuff all the time, my favorite is someone wants a governor spring or a carb kit for a briggs, welllllllllll what model? I don't know it's a horizontal shaft with the carb attached to the fuel tank. Wellll they only made eleven billion different ones! I don't like to toot the horn much but we sell exmark, ferris, toro, and Stihl. We're an elite dealer and stock a hell of a lot of chain and bars for the stihls. We know the difference between chains and we'll order anything the customer wants. I hate going into another dealership and getting the idiots pushing the best sellers or the best profit margin stuff and not what your inquiring about. We are one of the few shops in the area that will go above and beyond the call of duty with repairs and making things work for our customers if it's possible. Perfect example was a Stihl 015 I think it was that needed a clutch, couldn't find one easily and it's NLA. We did some digging around and found one off a solo that was a direct fit for the guy. The more dealers that did that stuff instead of just saying it was junk would make the world and the industry a better place.
Is that in Mason?
What did they replace?
If the piston weren't a good fit for the cylinder, you could get blow-by from the crankcase past the piston skirt back into the intake.
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Still in the same place for 50 (?) years. Used to sell McCulloch, and still has some of the older parts. Is a dealer for STIHL, Husqvarna, and Jonsered. Also does work on circular and band saw blades. Used to do crosscut saws too.
We have a couple of other good saw shops in the Twin Cities.
Philbert
discounthunter
Addicted to ArboristSite
ask your self how much of that did YOU know before coming to this site.
What did they replace?
If the piston weren't a good fit for the cylinder, you could get blow-by from the crankcase past the piston skirt back into the intake.[/QUOTE]
The cilinder and piston were like new .They just replaced the piston ring because it was broken in two pieces!
If the piston weren't a good fit for the cylinder, you could get blow-by from the crankcase past the piston skirt back into the intake.[/QUOTE]
The cilinder and piston were like new .They just replaced the piston ring because it was broken in two pieces!
Edge & Engine
ArboristSite.com Sponsor
You will have some spitback on any 2-cycle. Excessive spitback is common for an engine that hasn't been broken in yet. It will diminish as the rings seat. Also common on high hour engines with wornout rings.
...and you don't need the lame status symbol either.
Well, you could fly into Seattle and drive south for 100 miles and hit two great stores that do a lot of business with real, genuine (pro:msp_smile
timber fallers and loggers. Then drive about 45 minutes more and visit two more stores who handle similar customers...
I'm not sure what kind of chain I have. It is skip chain and round filed. Here's how I asked for it.
I asked for the kind of chain that is used on landing saws. Without hesitation, the dealer guy turned around, grabbed a box, and slapped it down.
Their mechanics have worked there for eons. Perhaps they pay well due to the caliber of customers?
One of the stores had this in their yellow page ad. We don't sell no rigging. Meaning they didn't sell other logging stuff like chokers. You have to drive south for that, to Longview.
timber fallers and loggers. Then drive about 45 minutes more and visit two more stores who handle similar customers...I'm not sure what kind of chain I have. It is skip chain and round filed. Here's how I asked for it.
I asked for the kind of chain that is used on landing saws. Without hesitation, the dealer guy turned around, grabbed a box, and slapped it down.
Their mechanics have worked there for eons. Perhaps they pay well due to the caliber of customers?
One of the stores had this in their yellow page ad. We don't sell no rigging. Meaning they didn't sell other logging stuff like chokers. You have to drive south for that, to Longview.
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Best service and understanding of the mechandise comes from old pros that have seen everything and worked on everything and have seen the changes over the years. My local is retiring the old mechanic, an Stihl ex-salesman turned mechanic and bringing in a new guy, maybe 25 years old. My guess is very little experience and maybe textbook knowledge. Dropped off a brushwacker, was sputtering and wouldn't run, I knew it needed to be rebuilt but his answer was it's no good and time to buy a new one. Dropped the 260 pro to him a couple weeks later. Informed me to buy a new saw because this one was very dirty and clogged with dirt and dust around the engine and probably won't start. 
Huh??
Told him to clean it and tune it and he reluctantly did so. Runs perfectly everyday, two pulls to start the thing and even runs better now that the muffler is about to fall off.
kids
Huh??Told him to clean it and tune it and he reluctantly did so. Runs perfectly everyday, two pulls to start the thing and even runs better now that the muffler is about to fall off.
kids
Some of the older mechanics are a little wary of strato and m-tronic type saws.
Philbert
stihl86
Addicted to ArboristSite
I wonder if the "Elite" status is just dependent on how much in sales they make, not how good of service they provide. My local "Elite" dealer took me for a good run not long ago. (I won't go into too much detail as I already ranted about it in another thread :bang
So you replaced the original 10mm bar studs with 8mm ? 066 had a 3003 bar mount. 050 had a 3002. But that can't be, because you say it's the larger "pins"
Fish
Tree Freak
No, the only test they need to pass is the "Credit Check".
And to be honest, very few dealers have folks that know what they are talking about, if they do, they are usually the ones working on the saws, and they are not too keen on letting customers use their time up, and they usually don't stay long, because the good saw techs cannot crank
out the labor dollars that the ztr mechanics can, because they have a stack of $100 trimmers and wildthings wasting their time............
Whew....... How about a tech mini-rant?
And to be honest, very few dealers have folks that know what they are talking about, if they do, they are usually the ones working on the saws, and they are not too keen on letting customers use their time up, and they usually don't stay long, because the good saw techs cannot crank
out the labor dollars that the ztr mechanics can, because they have a stack of $100 trimmers and wildthings wasting their time............
Whew....... How about a tech mini-rant?
Sales guys should at least know what is in the catalog description.
Since STIHL makes such a big deal about the value of independent dealers, I expect them to know more about their products than the guys at Sears do about theirs.
They don't have to be a technical expert on every saw since 1926, but they should have sales training to understand:
- the differences between their models;
- what sets their saws apart from other brands;
- features described in their literature;
- common accessories;
- which end of the chain points forward;
- and how to find out if they do not know the answer.
JMHO.
Philbert
Sprintcar
Chainsaw Slut
My Stihl dealer has about four guys that really know the product line. They will talk with a customer and find out their true needs instead of selling them a pro series saw. Never had an issue with parts, support, donuts on saturday, hell I sold three Stihls standing in line one saturday morning. Wearing an Echo hat no less. Find a good dealer with good counter help is getting harder and harder to find. I know one shop down in Missouri and the owners wife is one of the sharpest Stihl techs in the business, ask me how I know.
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