Why I will never buy Stihl again

[bcorradi]

Ok sounds good I'll stop there....whats the purpose of the yankee reference?

 

[spacemule]

Ok sounds good I'll stop there....whats the purpose of the yankee reference?

Just to see if it would piss you off.

 

[bcorradi]

I see you added more...I don't doubt you take an hour to eat supper.

 

[bcorradi]

Naaa it don't piss me off...

 

[spacemule]

I see you added more...I don't doubt you take an hour to eat supper.

That includes cooking, and I eat slow. Actually, I arrived home at 11:20, and it's only now 12:20, so it was quite a bit less than an hour.

 

[bcorradi]

Ok yeah you look like your quite a chef....I bet it takes you a while to fix a meal.

 

[bcorradi]

You must have finished eating supper.....

 

[dingeryote]

about bad apples.

seems latley there may be far more bad ones then good.

customer service is going out the window in this country.

I gotta agree, but Stihl shops, at least the smaller ones that aren't multiple venue affairs, are still usually a darn safe bet.

The ones that get me are the so called "Tractor dealer" outfits that are right on the outskirts of some big city. Full of CUT tractors and lawn mowers, and a bunch of weed whackers and blowers with just a couple saws.. LOL!!

I have learned to steer clear instead of spontaniously stopping in to eyeball impliments,saws and prices, and maybe shoot the breeze if things are slow.
Bieng told what my tractor needs are, by some guy that ain't ever seen a busted lynchpin gets me laughing in a bad way and they wont leave ya alone to eyeball the Saws.

Gimme a small shop with a grumpy PITA but humorous old school proprietor that knows his :censored:, and will ##### with ya about local politics and a busted chain.
Then bust yer balls for wearing a Husky hat behind enemy lines.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Interesting thread......I bought a 290 2 yrs. ago, other than a fuel line replacement (hehehe!), and a seemingly long time to break in, it runs great. as far as dealers.....we've heard the same horror stories before,but FPC, I'll say this if no one hasn't...you can take THALL's comments to the bank, he knows his stuff.

 

[fpc310]

fpc,
Have ya talked to your Regular dealer about it yet?
He's likely gonna be upset if he didn't get a chance to help you.
Mine would...It would mean I swore off Stihl because of an issue he had no hand in rectifying, and he loses my $$$$ on future purchases.

Dingeryote

My regular dealer is the first one to say none of this sounded right. The plan was to pick it up from the bad dealer and drop it off to my regular shop. The plan changed when Bryan offered to ship it to their shop to look into it themselves. I think my regular shop understands that I work 6:00am to 6:00pm and I had to get my saw fixed somehow.

 

[jburlingham]

From my vast experience in job hopping, "idiot" and "manager" can be used
interchangeably.

It would be cute to see how many different jobs I have actually held, I
have a bad history in that department. Upper management cannot handle
too much truth or criticism

That is the gods honest truth, the best people rarely get promoted, but the idiots seem to move up, in every industry.

 

[Fish]

Well callem tomorrow and see if its as they say Left The Building. If dead Elvis ,the 290, is still in that building call that rep man again and asked nicely whats the deal on my saw. Don't letem drag their feet but don't be a bonehead on the phone either, tellem you got wood to saw and you need your saw. That will getem going if they haven't already sent that saw out.

I starting to side with you more and more and I'll tell you why. My ole rep was one of the best techs in the biz. He would look at your saw while its right where is it and make a decision as to repair it, replace it or call the shot its not the saws fault, no need to ship it anywhere. This shipping thing baffles me, there's no need for it when the saw can be judged out with less than 10 minutes of checking it out...

The saw is likely still at the dealership, the area rep would come by and look at it and likely call the customer from
there.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=56525


Here is a thread along some similar lines, I don't know
if the causes are the same or not.

 

[peter399]

The good thing in all this is, a seized 290 is just as good as a running 290

 

[046]

what a crock of ####! Time to call BS.

dealers are independent.... how in the world is Stihl responsible for ALL actions of their dealers. you've already been informed by some VERY knowledgeable techs on how to verify what caused your engine damage.

if your saw has scorch marks on intake and exhaust both. this is proof positive saw was run without oil.

it's looking more and more like the only reason you registered at AS is to smear Stihl.

much like this person that attempted to smear Speeco. When we all know Speeco gets great feedback by taking care of their customers. after a bit of digging ... it turns out OP is the cannot be made happy type and is a commercial woodlot selling 300+ face cords a season using a home owner class splitter.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1491770#post1491770

Like I said before... the manufacturer chooses the dealer so they are ultimately responsible for their conduct. I am bashing stihl for this and because it is the only brand saw not working for me right now. If they want to make it "good" then they need to support their product from the dealer up.

Hello,

I have a Stihl MS 290 Farm Boss that is less than 1 year old. All things considered, this saw has been awesome..... until it stopped running.

Let me preface by saying that I am not new to 2-cycle engines and I've been using Stihl saws for at least a decade without any real problems with the equipment itself.

I had this 290 quit on me after cutting into 3 or so cords over a 2 day period. At first, it would only quit at idle. I originally suspected a carb problem on the low side since it would run fine on the high. Naturally I took the saw into the closest Stihl dealer / servicer since I am no intellicarb genius... AND it is still under warranty.

To my surprise, the dealer called back a few days later saying I had a seized valve. I was shocked. I was even more shocked when the dealer suggested this seizure was due to improper lubrication! I am most certainly the guy who has Stihl brand underwear along with my Stihl 2-cycle and bar oil. And wouldn't you know that I also mix 50:1 with always fresh higher octane fuel as well.

This is where I get even more mad. The dude at the dealer even suggested that maybe I used straight gas myself or loaned the saw out to someone who would use straight gas. First... nobody borrows a $400 saw from me. Second I know the difference between my Stihl mixture and other fuels. I asked them to investigate it, test the fuel, do anything at all. They would only suggest that it was improper lubrication and would not attempt to investigate it further. They told me to take it back where I bought it. Sorry, i thought I was at an authorized service center? Yeah.. I was. I told the owner of the shop, respectfully, that I would expect to hear from his Stihl territory manager if I were him. His response was "go ahead... he is a good friend of mine".

Naturally, I am nauseated at this point. My Pulan Pro toy saw lasted longer than this! I called the regional distributor and eventually got them to order a UPS pickup so they could investigate it properly to see if there is a defect of some kind. This is most certainly something I would expect the dealer / servicer to do in the first place, right? I guess not.

I understand there are some people out there who treat their equipment like dog crap. I am honestly not rich enough to treat a $400 saw like it is disposable. I personally don't like people suggesting I do without even an attempt to investigate.

To all of you Stihl service professionals out there: I would be angry that your peers conduct themselves in such a way. To the manufacturer, I would be ashamed that you would allow such people to represent you. If I am, by some crazy chance, running coleman lantern fuel in my saw, then I deserve to buy another one at my own expense. Otherwise, STIHL should be thinking hard about buying me a saw that works. Maybe... a Poulan Pro?

Either way, I will likely never buy another Stihl again after this experience. Even a new or repaired saw would only keep me from driving to the corporate offices to see this guy's dealership revoked and given to someone who is up for the job.

 

[nmurph]

welp, i have finished my morning AS reading assignment. time to find better threads. not that this one is not interesting, it just has too many useless inputs. it was chainsaw froturism: gets you all worked up for something that never happens.

 

[Saw Dr.]

Stihl must have a manufactring problem. I have 4 fried 290/310/390's in my basement right now. :monkey:





Good thing too. Those cylinders are very hard to ruin, and the sawz are cheap (sometimes free) and easy to fix. Usually, the clowns that burn them up have not used them enough to damage anything other than the chain.

Just have to watch out for the siezed valves and cracked intake boots......

 

[THALL10326]

MY my, look what I got

5 seconds pulling the rope, no compression.
30 seconds to remove the muffler.

 

[THALL10326]

2 seconds to see she is cooked.

 

[THALL10326]

Packed air filter, not being nice to his saw, another 5 seconds.

 

[porky616]

far out i never seen a cleaner packed so tight he needs a pineapple real bad