Hardest part of my job

[Fish]

The hardest part is telling the customer that his saw is D.O.A.
and not worth fixing. Some insist I waste time finding part
numbers and prices and give estimates on the repair. Some
act like I should have a grief counseller on hand with kleenex
and a chaplain. I do not charge the customer a dime to
go through this, as that would just piss them off. One old
pioneer owner was real difficult to get rid of, I had to spend
15 minutes just to get him to leave.
When they whine and say,"It has been the best saw for
20 years, can't you get her going again?", I say "Well, Lincoln
was a great president, but they still had to bury him!"
Had a Husky that was locked up, piston would only come
up part way until something hit. I was guessing that the piston
pin moved out and was hitting the side port, so I put the
muffler and starter cover back on and gave the saw back to
the customer, and just told him it isn't worth pursuing. The
saw looked new, but it was constructed like an 029, so just
getting the cylinder off is not too easy, and most people
ask when I tear one all the way down, "Well, aren't
you going to put it back together?" So I try not to waste too much time anymore.
I had one guy stop me at the grocery once, and ask if he could
get his saw. I didn't remember the saw. He said," I left it with you when your shop was up in town". "That was 8 years ago!"
I replied. "What did I tell you 8 years ago?"
"Well, you said that it was burnt up and not worth fixing."
"Can I have it back?"
Sorry about my early morning holiday rant.
Have a good Thanksgiving.
For our brothers in Canada, get to work!
Or is it a holiday up there too? Bastile day? Boxer rebellion day?

 

[stihltech]

bedside manner

Ever had a customer actually cry over a dead saw?
Stihl 040. Piston scored and bearings gone. Took a half hour for him to decide it was not worth it, 2 days to decide to get a new saw. Now THAT's loyalty. Maybe he should have a talk with my dog.

 

[JimL]

I had a guy bring in an 015L that was toasted. On the ticket it said wont start and the handle wobbles. It didnt take long to figure out he didnt have an airfilter on it.
I gave him and estimate for something like 200 bux and said it wasn't worth fixing. He came by to get it and was more worried about geting the mounts fixed. I looked at him and said "the saws junk wont run again unless you pour a boatload of money in it"

Some guys don't let them die.

Another fella had a weedeater brand trimmer, old as dirt, curved shaft with the handle on top of the powerhead. Guy put 300 bucks worth of parts in it just to get it going. He said it was the only trimmer that would reach down close to his pond. lol
Oh well. cant win them all.

 

[pea]

fish,
I have this old Poulan. I bought it new in about 1988 for $89.00 I have used that little saw so much. Over the years I have had to spend a little on it. I'm sure have have spent more than it is worth. I just really love it because it is small an light. I guess it just makes me feel good because I have had it so long.
Have a nice Thanksgiving!

 

[logcutter429]

When i know its serious, i tell to check it out if its trashed, i want it back cause you never know when you got to have spare parts.

 

[Fish]

Yeah, those cheap little Poulans really were a good value.
Also, I find it impossible to throw away any saw, as spare parts
are great to have.

 

[Tony Snyder]

The hardest part seems to be that I do not have good parts sources on brands they want me to work on.

Second hardest thing is probably working on Stihls. But I can see that one could come to thinking it is easy if you do it every day and have easy parts availability.I know I'm bound to offend someone, but just hate to see an 031 come in the door. It can take several Miller Lights to work thru one of those things.

 

[Dennis]

I get the very same thing, "why cant you fix it?" Well, I can, but it will cost you more than the 99 bucks you paid for it! And as Tony said...some of the brands you see these days...never even heard of some of them...

Tony, I will also second you on the 2nd hardest..lol...I am getting more in tune with the 044/046/066's but man...I just would rather work on a Husky or Jonsered...I dont mean to start this debate again..but I grew up working on the red and orange, and I know them inside and out...Stihls just seem more difficult to work on.

 

[Greg Carberry]

Yep its amazing how people will hold on to an old saw so long. My grandfather had this old Pioneer for 30 yrs half burned up in a fire knobs all melted carb diaphragm hard as brick. He kept crippling that thing along. Finally gave it to me and got a Craftsman I fixed the Pioneer good as new

You can get the obsolete ones going just have to scrounge for the parts. I should know running Pioneers exclusively and Jeep trucks,wagoneers I can sure understand thats not feasible for a business though.

Fish,
You get anybody in with Pioneers tell em I'll give em $5.00 a saw

 

[Methoss084]

It just breaks my heart when I have to tell the loyal owner of an 031 that I can't get that coil anymore. Or that loyal 041 FB owner, that the rear handle assembly is NLA. you always get that sad puppy dog look. And its tuogh to put an old Stihl on the scrap/parts pile. But what pisses me off is when a customer comes in for just part numbers and prices, I'll give you the prices, but not the P/N. I know they are just gonna go down the road to the next dealer to compare prices on parts anyway. Very Happy Turkey Day to all on here.

 

[Fish]

It is not feasible as a business to fool with them.
I used to get my hands on some good ones because the
customer was told that the saw was burnt up, but the person
that told them that did not realize the saw had an auto-
compression release, and removing the muffler was a chore.
The latest Pioneer had a good looking piston, but the muffler
was loose and broken, and the air filter cover was partially
melted, and the coil had the insulation burnt off of the wire.
Yeah, it could be made to run again, but the cost and my
time prohibited it. I liked the bars with the wheel nose,
kind of a neat idea.

 

[Fish]

Yeah Methoss, that is why I gave up on selling parts online,
I did the legwork, then they went elsewhere to order the parts.
I still dole out free advice, but just as a drinking hobby.

 

[Rotax Robert]

I too have taken in more than my share of Basket Cases, generaly though for the local oldtimers I just get thier old trusty wore-out saw running for them again often with help/parts from people like Jokers, Kd and others. They could not afford to pay for the time it often takes to chase down the parts and time spent on the fix or rebuild so for these old Veterans of the woods and Wars I say no charge. Sometimes a smile and a handshake is more than payment enough.

Besides I can always charge the dumb punk down the road double just for being stupid with saws.

 

[Greg]

If I owned a saw shop I'd buy up a bunch of these "new in box" poulan saws on ebay that you see for about 90 bucks, then you could sell them to the homeowners who come in with the dead saws. There will always be a market for a cheap $100 saw. I guess the only problem is that you'd need to keep them under a tarp or somthing so your serious customers wouldn't think you are a joke.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I'm different, I guess. I like it when a saw is worn out, that means I get a new one! The new models are always a liitle nicer, faster, more ergonomic, and what's 6 or 7 hundred dollars, when it's the bosses?

 

[jsikkema1]

Lets face it we live in a throw away era... too costly to repair- just get a new one. Maybe someday this will change but I don't see the end to it now

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Well lets see, 30 years ago, the cheapest saws were about $139 right?

Now fast forward 30 years, figure inflation, and the cheapest ones are $79

Dont know how you guys can make it. I just bought some LP from my dealer and he was mumbling about how it was the same price 25 years ago...

 

[Greg Carberry]

Originally posted by jsikkema1
Lets face it we live in a throw away era... too costly to repair- just get a new one. Maybe someday this will change but I don't see the end to it now

lol guess I didn't catch on to that way of thinking. I throw nothing away, works for me just fine

 

[D]

When I was in the business of repair, I worked on nothing but Husky, Echo, Stihl or Jonsered. I really don't know why anyone would even bring in a Homelite, Mac, Ryobi, weedeater, poulan or any other "off" brand to work on. You are just asking for a big pain in the ass and more than likely a complaint you put 50 bucks into a POS. Or if you did bring it in you have to hunt down a dollar part. I think all dealers have a duty not to service junk. They usually ended up buying a nicer unit from me that you could see putting a few bucks into it if it did break. All dealers seem to think they need to help everyone. They don't. I'm not saying tell them to get lost. I am saying educate them on why you don't service junk. Not only that but if you have 10 different lines, thats 10 different lines you have to sell parts for. It's all about turns. I wouldn't even stock a part unless I sold 2 a year consistantly. I have been in shops with huge parts inventories. I had 10 shelves in my shop that sold more than all that old junk. I actually took old stock and junked it to avoid inventory tax. The reason most shops go out of business isn't because they are bad mechanics or jerks its because they are stupid on what they buy. BTW-Junk saws are good if you are doing shop jobs, but I wouldn't consider selling used parts either. Way more of a pain in the butt than its worth.

 

[tony marks]

i deal with the same thing as some in here mentioned. 2 wks ago i met a lady at her double wide . she wanted the water leaks around the door repaired and the damaged floor inside replaced.
told her what it would cost and put her on the schedual for this coming tuesday.
i was driving by there yesterday so thot id stop and make sure of every thing i needed for the job.guess what she did what i told her i was going to do.
and from the looks of it she or her husband did it themselves. well im out the job ,but they didnt even get close to a good job. in fact it looks like what they did is goin to cause all the water to be channeled in to the walls. knowing that kinda made up for losing the job. pay me now ,or pay me later.. i would guess u chainsaw mechanics get a lot of saws in that the owner has fixed[so its just about impossible to fix.