Stihl being sold in box stores now.

[Long Bar 60]

So my 40+ years of actually servicing and taking care of customers doesn't amount to squat?

What you do amounts to my livelihood.
What the guy in the plumbing department who also works in the chainsaw department (and has never done any plumbing nor "chainsawing" (LOL)) is put .404 sprockets on saws with 3/8 bars and chains.
In the same breath, I've been into authorized Stihl Servicing dealers where the guy from the plumbing department would have been revered for his knowledge of Stihl saws.
I guess it's all about who you get in any given store.

I'm glad that plumbing guy was there on that Saturday afternoon. I needed that saw.

I'm also glad for my local "pro" saw shop that worked on that 084 into the middle of the night and then brought it over to my house and set it on my doorstep so I could take it to work at 4:00 AM the next morning.

I don't know you but I thank you for your 40+ years.

 

[sundance]

What you do amounts to my livelihood.
What the guy in the plumbing department who also works in the chainsaw department (and has never done any plumbing nor "chainsawing" (LOL)) is put .404 sprockets on saws with 3/8 bars and chains.
In the same breath, I've been into authorized Stihl Servicing dealers where the guy from the plumbing department would have been revered for his knowledge of Stihl saws.
I guess it's all about who you get in any given store.

I'm glad that plumbing guy was there on that Saturday afternoon. I needed that saw.

I'm also glad for my local "pro" saw shop that worked on that 084 into the middle of the night and then brought it over to my house and set it on my doorstep so I could take it to work at 4:00 AM the next morning.

I don't know you but I thank you for your 40+ years.

We've got two somewhat local dealers. The closest we went looking at weed whackers 40+ years ago. In the midst of going over them with the salesman someone else came in. He ad vised us "I've got a paying customer" and left. I have not darkened their door since.
The second spent a good bit of time with us and made the sale. I've bought several saws, leaf blowers and a new whacker since. Plus parts (he is well stocked) and repairs over the years. He has become a friend. Rural King has taken a chunk of his business on sales, he gets a lot of the warranty repairs which don't pay well. It's had a major impact on his business viability.
If I'm buying Stihl he gets the business. Buy the occasional jug of bar oil, etc. just to help his sales volume.

 

[elee26101]

Same here in Indiana. They do have a repairman on site however. I've talked to him, seems to know his way around..

I had to buy my last saw a year ago at rural king - 3 261cm’s in stock and had been on a waiting list for one at 2 local servicing dealers and the factory was sending them out to box stores only.?

 

[A100HVA]

So my 40+ years of actually servicing and taking care of customers doesn't amount to squat?

seems my 45 years is the same. what an education my suppliers & customers have given me!

 

[Bill G]

So my 40+ years of actually servicing and taking care of customers doesn't amount to squat?

Unfortunately not to some and it sure does not to Stihl who sold out their dealers when they crawled in bed with Deere. I have watched Stihl screw over long time dealers left and right. It is sad. Locally in a town of 22,000 there were two Stihl servicing dealers. They each were good folks and did good business. About 20 years ago Stihl allowed a third dealer to setup within 0.5 mile of the one that had been there for decades. When the long time dealer got wind of this he put up his middle finger and told Stihl to come get their stuff. He told them some stuff that cannot be typed and I know he actually said it to them. Well the new dealer went out of business because he knew nothing. Then when Stihl crawled in bed with Deere that was another screw to the last servicing dealer. To make matters worse they then allowed Farm and Fleet to sell Stihl. That is a 100% box store cash and carry place. They have a "small engine desk" only in namesake to say they provide service but I will assure you they do nothing. They do not carry ANY parts whatsoever.

I do support and always have supported my last surviving local servicing Stihl dealer.

 

[Andy K]

Before Stihl changed their sellers, we had a dealer in our local CoOp and they had an actual repairman onsite who knew his stuff and carried the parts needed. This is in Rural West TN. Then Stihl moved to the JD dealer and they carry some parts and do have a repairman, came with the folks from the CoOp. That is in a rural area where service is what keeps them in business!

 

[Seachaser]

There's a chain of "fleet farm" style stores around here called "Runnings" that have sold Stihl since they started opening stores in the area.

Frankly I don't know what the big deal about "can't service them" is. Neither can the "small dealers." Well, in their cases, they just don't WANT to. You walk in to the dusty, poorly lit lean-to scabbed on to the front of an old cow barn, and there's an old man sitting in a chair reading a newspaper. Doesn't even acknowledge you. You stand there. Nothing. You look at the three saws he has on the shelf. He turns the page. You stand at the parts counter. He reaches out and takes a sip of his coffee. You say "Morning" and if you're lucky, you'll get a curt "Morning" back. Time to leave. It's clear your business is neither wanted nor needed.

I have not found one that isn't like that. It's clear that these "dealerships" only exist as a place for the owner to "hold court" with his cronies, act like a big shot because he's a big time Stihl dealer. If you aren't in the club, you don't get a chainsaw.

The Stihl counter at Runnings on the other hand, someone is either at the desk, or appears out of the woodwork if you venture into the area. Ready to help. Knowledgeable about the product, or willing to look something up for you.

Stihl HAD to do something. Stubbornly sticking to their "small local dealer" business model was going to be the end for them once all the old Stihl zealots die off here in a few years.

Ours is nothing like that. He and his staff have been trained, highly lit store, tons of inventory, friendly, and knows chainsaws. Even carrys guns I can look at while I wait. He dropped Husky because he said you can get them anywhere and then they want him to teach them how to start and to work on them.

 

[bwalker]

When they started losing online sales to Echo and Husky.

That ship sailed 20 some years ago. Husky was always available cheaper online.

 

[bwalker]

So my 40+ years of actually servicing and taking care of customers doesn't amount to squat?

To be honest the service part doesn't matter to me at all as I work on my own stuff. Although to many guys a good saw tech is pretty important.
What matters to me is having a servicing dealer that knows what parts to have on hand. That's huge to me.

 

[bwalker]

True Value and Ace hardware stores also have been selling them for years. I go to the "real" Stihl dealer at the John Deere tractor store! I only bought a $17,000 tractor but it helps. They know me, I'm in the computer.

The local Ace is where I buy my Stihl stuff. They have an excellent service department that's ran by a old woodtick named Jerry that knows his stuff.

 

[bwalker]

There's a chain of "fleet farm" style stores around here called "Runnings" that have sold Stihl since they started opening stores in the area.

Frankly I don't know what the big deal about "can't service them" is. Neither can the "small dealers." Well, in their cases, they just don't WANT to. You walk in to the dusty, poorly lit lean-to scabbed on to the front of an old cow barn, and there's an old man sitting in a chair reading a newspaper. Doesn't even acknowledge you. You stand there. Nothing. You look at the three saws he has on the shelf. He turns the page. You stand at the parts counter. He reaches out and takes a sip of his coffee. You say "Morning" and if you're lucky, you'll get a curt "Morning" back. Time to leave. It's clear your business is neither wanted nor needed.

I have not found one that isn't like that. It's clear that these "dealerships" only exist as a place for the owner to "hold court" with his cronies, act like a big shot because he's a big time Stihl dealer. If you aren't in the club, you don't get a chainsaw.

The Stihl counter at Runnings on the other hand, someone is either at the desk, or appears out of the woodwork if you venture into the area. Ready to help. Knowledgeable about the product, or willing to look something up for you.

Stihl HAD to do something. Stubbornly sticking to their "small local dealer" business model was going to be the end for them once all the old Stihl zealots die off here in a few years.

The first saw shop I was ever in as a boy was called Leo's saw shop in Clio, MI. That place was a rat hole and just about what you described. However the guy that ran it knew his stuff , they stocked any part you would ever need and service was excellent/prompt should you need it.
Years latter I bought my first Husky saw from a very small shop called Honkala's saw shop in Upper MI. Very small shop out in the middle of no where, but he did a decent business service loggers and selling and installing Boss snow plows. Again the guy stocked all sorts of parts and if you got in a pinch he would pull parts off a display model for you.

 

[Dennis Gauge]

So my 40+ years of actually servicing and taking care of customers doesn't amount to squat?

You'd be the rare exception to the rule in my experience.

Unfortunately your peers have left a bad taste in my mouth for the "small local dealer" that we're supposed to support.

 

[Modifiedmark]

When I went to the nearest JD dealer here I needed a fuel line for an ms660 so I was aiming to get it and a few other small parts if they had them. The parts man looked at my list and said he doubted he had any of it ( and he had nothing of it ) and if he had to order it it was automatically an extra $20 to the price of the part no matter what the original cost. Piss on that when they have 10'S of millions of dollars or more of equipment and parts in stock and can't stock an $15 fuel line for 1 of the most popular pro saws professional use. Have no intention of going back to them tractor or saw related. I don't believe they all are that bad but they have several dealers that go by green mark.
Do the JD dealers charge the same for saw labor as tractor?

John they are all pretty much like that in our area. They wanted me to not only pay shipping, they wanted me to drive over and pay for the part up front before they would order it. This was a dealer who knew me too.

Its to the point I won't hardly work on a Stihl for anyone anymore. If I do, they chase the parts, not me. I got a 026 here now thats been here a while. Just waiting on a sprocket bearing, a rim sprocket and a air filter. If it wasn't for a friend I would have refused to even look at it.

 

[Catfish044]

Yeah sure do Vermeer Midwest in our area being a stihl dealer they dropped stihl when they started in with all the big box stores - they always had parts In stock as being asplundh and other big tree services where there daily … lucky for me I was there picking up parts for one of the trenchers and my buddy was behind the counter bought 2 -20inch bars , 2- 18 inch bars , 2 loops of each for them . For the 192 2 -12 inch , 2 -16 inch bars and six loops of chain for 12, 14, 16 for the little guy plus a dozen a filters $90 out the door they wanted all the stihl stuff gone

 

[Zaedock]

The Stihl counter at Runnings on the other hand, someone is either at the desk, or appears out of the woodwork if you venture into the area. Ready to help. Knowledgeable about the product, or willing to look something up for you.

I've found the same to be true at the Runnings near my daughters house in Putnam CT. Knowledgeable guys ready to help.

Back in the apex of covid, they were trying to find me a 20" Light bar. They couldn't get one, but called me every other day to check in and let me know. I ended up going with an Oregon Versacut, but just recently picked up a Stihl Light 04.

 

[Catfish044]

I've found the same to be true at the Runnings near my daughters house in Putnam CT. Knowledgeable guys ready to help.

Back in the apex of covid, they were trying to find me a 20" Light bar. They couldn't get one, but called me every other day to check in and let me know. I ended up going with an Oregon Versacut, but just recently picked up a Stihl Light 04.

That’s service makes a guy wanna spend he’s hard earned money at a place like that

 

[Bubster]

That ship sailed 20 some years ago. Husky was always available cheaper online.

Exactly,and Stihl failed to follow . In todays world of I want it cheap and delivered right to my door, we will soon see the China clones and $99 65cc saws takeover the homeowner and farm/ranch market. Stihl selling in the big box stores is just a way to survive, and honestly I don't blame them.

 

[Lawless]

Rural King near me (same type store) has been selling Stihl for several years.

Mine too and they do have MS261s and 362s in stock along with non-pro saws.

 

[Finn1]

Our grocery store carrys a fair amount of Stihl saws. Better selection that the local Stihl/Husky dealer.

Prices seem to be msrp less any current factory incentives.

Honey… I’m going to the grocery store for milk and eggs. Ok if I pick up a new saw?

Actually, they have a fairly good hardware section, too. They claim to work on saws, but after talking to the guy who does the saw work, I’m not sure I would trust them.

 

[joe25DA]

Stihl is sold at Ace hardware now, no pro line saws but in my town they sell the biggest back packs in the lineup. The big independent hardware store carries Stihl electric, no gas stuff.