What makes you think work orders go to corporate?
Stihl sucks at customer service
- Thread starter Dave P 71801
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Dave P 71801
ArboristSite Operative
Ebay sales are not doing that well I sell saw parts on ebay I have anywhere from 30-50 listings and im lucky to sell 5 items a week
Dave P 71801
ArboristSite Operative
Dave P 71801
ArboristSite Operative
Ive got the emails between the dealer and the guy from stihl southwest where my dealer did the failure anayalis and requested a replacement saw and stihl southwest told him to only replace the piston and cylinder and where he sent in the report of tge 2nd failure and everything all together 20-25 emails
Corporate, corporate, corporate
Buhler, Buhler, Buhler
Buhler, Buhler, Buhler
Justin Taylor
ArboristSite Guru
What’s your eBay username?
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Yeah, let's see your listings. We'll see if we can give you some pointers.
Justin Taylor
ArboristSite Guru
I might even buy something
edrrt
ArboristSite Operative
I guess one of the big questions I have based on this would be: In a year or two will there even be any reason to pay the extra for big name saws at dealers anymore?
If you are paying 4x the price but don't get anything for it... why do it? My dealer even says the new stuff with my states emission laws is so bad that the fuel kills the saw in a matter of weeks. And its not covered.
Waiting in line "it was bad gas. Not covered under warranty. That'll be $180." Was something I heard 3x before I got to the counter.
I get the QC is supposed to be better... but the cost of repairs after the warranty period is so high these days practically any saw seems like a throw away now unless you do the work yourself. Clone or not they will all require maintenance.
I had $600 saw that needed a new top end. The dealer quoted me $500 for a cylinder/piston/parts/ install. Is that normal?
Idk if failure rates are any higher on clones than the name brands they are knocking off these days.
But if margins are getting so tight no one stands behind the product anyway, the parts are made overseas anyway, and the repair cost is so high they can't be worked on professionally anyway... are the dealers/ manufacturers gonna end up taking a big hit as China starts ramping up clone output?
I have bought $20k worth of power equipment from my dealer. But after 2 trips to the dealer, waiting days, quoting me $500 for a repair and then trying to sell me a new one for $1200. That 660 clone delivered next day amazon prime for $300 doesn't look so bad.
I can't be the only one thinking this.
If you are paying 4x the price but don't get anything for it... why do it? My dealer even says the new stuff with my states emission laws is so bad that the fuel kills the saw in a matter of weeks. And its not covered.
Waiting in line "it was bad gas. Not covered under warranty. That'll be $180." Was something I heard 3x before I got to the counter.
I get the QC is supposed to be better... but the cost of repairs after the warranty period is so high these days practically any saw seems like a throw away now unless you do the work yourself. Clone or not they will all require maintenance.
I had $600 saw that needed a new top end. The dealer quoted me $500 for a cylinder/piston/parts/ install. Is that normal?
Idk if failure rates are any higher on clones than the name brands they are knocking off these days.
But if margins are getting so tight no one stands behind the product anyway, the parts are made overseas anyway, and the repair cost is so high they can't be worked on professionally anyway... are the dealers/ manufacturers gonna end up taking a big hit as China starts ramping up clone output?
I have bought $20k worth of power equipment from my dealer. But after 2 trips to the dealer, waiting days, quoting me $500 for a repair and then trying to sell me a new one for $1200. That 660 clone delivered next day amazon prime for $300 doesn't look so bad.
I can't be the only one thinking this.
Justin Taylor
ArboristSite Guru
Homeowner Stihl saws are throw away saws unless if you work on your own saws but the pro saws are still worth fighting fixing
I learned this the hard way. Many moons ago, I was given a husqy 435 Ford a birthday present from my mom and dad. I had been saying i wanted a smaller saw for limbing and small tree work. Of course they went to lowes and bought it, with the 4 cans of premix fuel to extend the warranty. Now I knew this was a homeowner grade saw, and didnt expect much from it. So I kept it to light duty work. About 3 tanks in it started running lean. Figured it was new and under warranty. Dropped it off at my local dealer. Whom I did all my business with. They called about a week later and said it was a carb issue and i had run bad gas in it. This was funny as i was still running the premix fuel that inwas given with the saw. I told them that. Silence on the phone. I told the guy I'd like to speak with the manager. He got Paul on the phone for me. I told him what i was told, and I have been running the husqy fuel that was purchased with the saw, so any issues should have been on them. Paul again said they didnt cover fuel system issues from bad gas. I ended up going in the next day with the 3 remaining containers of fuel. Including the one I was using. Long story short the clam shell sealant had failed. Nothing wrong with the fuel or the carb. It's not just stihl dealers. They all can be funky about fixing stuff.
cranman1951
ArboristSite Operative
I would never buy a new saw.....last new saw was 1980....still running strong...266 Se..that said, so many saws for cheap cause of ethanol, or poor mixthre or whatever....I'll never pay more then $50 for a saw , and then it's got to be a good model Stihl or Husky.
KrAzY
ArboristSite Lurker
I have had a ms261cm with the mtronic since 2017 and had no problems with it what so ever and i know alot of firefighters that use the 462's and had no issues and they are used to cut up roofs,nails and other crap you or i would never put to our chain and still running strong so to say 6 mtronics went bad in a year i find very suspect imo seems like user errors to me and misuse but i'm no expert on them by any means it is my first mtronic saw and i also at first was skeptical but across many forums it seems the mtronics seem to be mostly positive in reviews.
Now i don't know if my 2017 ms261cm is the older mtronic that others have posted had some issues or if it is a newer one i am not sure i believe the 2017 was the new revision with different side cover so maybe newer mtronics also that year? But i know it has been reliable and always starts and runs perfectly every time i use it for the last 3 years and i have cut up well over 10 cords of wood per year with it easy but i also only use the stihl motomix in it even though it is expensive i just trust it over station gas even ethonol free doesn't mean it is contaminant free other things in bad gas kill saws too
But on another note i have had some bad dealings with stihl as well after being loyal stihl for over 20 years also with a bad saw they woudn't stand behind the warranty which was a homeowner ms251 wood boss. The saw had no power and would bog as soon as you put it to wood and took it back repeately and they said it cut fine in their testing...So i asked what are you testing it with? And they said "cutting pallets in the back". I shook my head and said any peice of $%^& will cut a pallet lol try cutting some real wood! To make a long story short the difference between my story and daves is i raised hell and went above the dealer and ended up talking to someone higher up in stihls manufacturing or engine department i forget exact title he had but he forced them to refund it and have them send him the saw for testing, Which later he contacted me and said it was a clearance issue between piston and cylinder and that the tollerances were too tight from the factory on this saw even after break in it was not right. So they will stand behind a product i like to think if you talk to the right people but i agree they seem to be getting cheaper made all the time it is times like this i am glad i keep my old homelites in service as well maybe i should buy a couple more lol.
Now i don't know if my 2017 ms261cm is the older mtronic that others have posted had some issues or if it is a newer one i am not sure i believe the 2017 was the new revision with different side cover so maybe newer mtronics also that year? But i know it has been reliable and always starts and runs perfectly every time i use it for the last 3 years and i have cut up well over 10 cords of wood per year with it easy but i also only use the stihl motomix in it even though it is expensive i just trust it over station gas even ethonol free doesn't mean it is contaminant free other things in bad gas kill saws too
But on another note i have had some bad dealings with stihl as well after being loyal stihl for over 20 years also with a bad saw they woudn't stand behind the warranty which was a homeowner ms251 wood boss. The saw had no power and would bog as soon as you put it to wood and took it back repeately and they said it cut fine in their testing...So i asked what are you testing it with? And they said "cutting pallets in the back". I shook my head and said any peice of $%^& will cut a pallet lol try cutting some real wood! To make a long story short the difference between my story and daves is i raised hell and went above the dealer and ended up talking to someone higher up in stihls manufacturing or engine department i forget exact title he had but he forced them to refund it and have them send him the saw for testing, Which later he contacted me and said it was a clearance issue between piston and cylinder and that the tollerances were too tight from the factory on this saw even after break in it was not right. So they will stand behind a product i like to think if you talk to the right people but i agree they seem to be getting cheaper made all the time it is times like this i am glad i keep my old homelites in service as well maybe i should buy a couple more lol.
Dave P 71801
ArboristSite Operative
It very well may have been user abuse they were owned by the tree service I worked for the only thing I'm almost sure it was not is fuel and thats because I usually mixed it I never witnessed abuse but I wasn't able to watch all the guys all day every day I had my job to do. You know how it goes when the boss is around everything is used properly and everyone has all their ppe but as soon as I pull away I know those guys took their chaps off especially in the summer so the same could probably be said about how they run the saws its one way when I was there and a total different way when I wasn't but still 6 saws in a year seems suspect to me and thats why I have put a lot of the blame on the mtronic system.
Best post....sums up this thread.
I am glad some are starting to see the BS spread across this thread. Lawyers promising the OP a new truck & trailer, can't feed kids but has lawyer on speed dial. Last time I asked my lawyer what it cost to ask 2 questions he said, "$500 dollars, now what's the next question". Too many things simply don't add up & make any sense at all.
Dave P 71801
ArboristSite Operative
My attorney is my brother
Well if you think your going to end up with a new truck, trailer & several thousand dollars cash out of this, maybe you ought to sack him. Did he really say all that?
