Stolen equipment register for chainsaws and other arb equipment

[Steve Bullman]

Back in 2014 I developed the Arbsafe stolen equipment register. This was the first of its kind that I am aware of that specifically targeted equipment in our industry, and to this date is still the only register that I am aware of.

 

Despite it being free it proved nearly impossible to get wide scale adoption and as a result it has been sitting quietly in the background doing nothing. A recent post on Facebook by a local police force saw them comment that they were unaware of a database for stolen chainsaws, which I find quite astonishing. 'Stolen chainsaw database' brings up Arbsafe at the top of google, so I can only assume they didn't bother looking.

 

I am considering either having one last big push on this or just putting it to bed for good, so would like some feedback as to why you think people are hesitant to register their gear.

A quick outline of how Arbsafe works:

 

• Registration is free
• Equipment is listed in your user account and remains private on a secure server
• If you have any equipment stolen you can log in to your account and mark it as stolen
• Once marked as stolen the one item (or more) become publicly searchable

 

I understand this was never going to change the world, but security is all about adding layers, and this is one more layer to add. Unlike nearly all other layers you could choose to add, this one is 100% free.

 

The idea is that people purchasing stolen equipment can search the database prior to purchasing a piece of second hand equipment, that is if they have a mind to.

 

Beyond that though, over the past 8 years the site has been live, I have been approached on a number of occasions by police forces looking to reunite kit with its rightful owners. Most of this kit has still had the serial numbers intact, however no means of identifying who it belongs to. Had the kit being listed on Arbsafe, it would have been reunited with its owner, instead it was likely sold off at auction, or who knows what.

 

Please take your time to answer the poll or reply to the topic, thanks!

 

Home :: Arbsafe

ARBSAFE.CO.UK

 

 

 

[waterbuoy]

Thanks for the prompt Steve

 

Whilst I am far from a professional I have four saws and a chipper, together with brush cutters and hedge cutters plus a 1.8 tonne digger.  I will try to collate the details of the saws and list it on the register - if nothing else so I have a record for if/when it does get nicked.

[Steve Bullman]

I suspect thefts are only going to get much worse in the coming years.

 

For all the complaints about the police force the fact remains they do recover quite large hauls of stolen equipment from time to time.

[GarethM]

I do have a question tho, whenever I buy say a Stihl product. They do fill in details which I assume go to Stihl, does that have any success?

[waterbuoy]

Is that not for warranty purposes?

 

[GarethM]

Yeah I get that part, but surely that's a start point for tracking?. Kinda why I asked.

[Steve Bullman]

4 minutes ago, GarethM said:

I do have a question tho, whenever I buy say a Stihl product. They do fill in details which I assume go to Stihl, does that have any success?

I believe they are supposed to, but this hinges on the vendor actually doing so. I expect this falls down a bit with online sales, or with lesser brands that aren't subject to quite the same rules the bigger companies impose on their dealers. Thats speculation though. Either way, with Arbsafe you are taking the responsibility into your own hands.

[adw]

Just a note Steve, any Husqvarna auto tune saw can have the owners name and address entered into the unit itself, so even if the ser no. is removed it will always remain with the saw, in an ideal world the selling dealer would do this at point of sale, but as you are finding out there seems little will to do this.

[pleasant]

1 hour ago, GarethM said:

I do have a question tho, whenever I buy say a Stihl product. They do fill in details which I assume go to Stihl, does that have any success?

As a Stihl dealer we are required as part of our agreement to register all new machines  via its unique serial number to the ORIGINAL purchaser with Stihl on a dealer only secure portal. This not only registers the machine for warranty purposes (so you don't need a receipt if you take it back with an issue OR you do have an issue but take in back to the non supplying dealer- again without a receipt, although proof of ID will be required that matches the details on the Stihl database in all cases where a receipt is not available) but also allows for customers to be notified of any safety issues/recalls. This is an EU directive and operates much like car recalls.

 

It is also used by authorised parties to establish ownership- such as the police, should equipment be retrieved.

 

For these reasons IF you decide to purchase online OR purchase a new machine via online auction sites, DON'T be fobbed off by the retailer/seller stating it is up to YOU to register it. It is NOT the consumers responsibility- indeed the portal and means to register is NOT accessible to the public. You may save £100 or so by buying a new machine from an auction site, but come problems it WON'T be registered and warranty is voided. As a dealer we are incentivised via a rebate to register machines, and it is worth noting warranty is NOT transferable- no matter what an online seller selling a nearly new machine will tell you.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by pleasant

[Steve Bullman]

23 minutes ago, pleasant said:

As a Stihl dealer we are required as part of our agreement to register all new machines  via its unique serial number to the ORIGINAL purchaser with Stihl on a dealer only secure portal. This not only registers the machine for warranty purposes (so you don't need a receipt if you take it back with an issue OR you do have an issue but take in back to the non supplying dealer- again without a receipt, although proof of ID will be required that matches the details on the Stihl database in all cases where a receipt is not available) but also allows for customers to be notified of any safety issues/recalls. This is an EU directive and operates much like car recalls.

 

It is also used by authorised parties to establish ownership- such as the police, should equipment be retrieved.

 

For these reasons IF you decide to purchase online OR purchase a new machine via online auction sites, DON'T be fobbed off by the retailer/seller stating it is up to YOU to register it. It is NOT the consumers responsibility- indeed the portal and means to register is NOT accessible to the public. You may save £100 or so by buying a new machine from an auction site, but come problems it WON'T be registered and warranty is voided. As a dealer we are incentivised via a rebate to register machines, and it is worth noting warranty is NOT transferable- no matter what an online seller selling a nearly new machine will tell you.

 

 

Do you have any experience with other manufacturers such as Husqvarna or Echo? I know its already been mentioned that the newer autotune saws register the owners name.

 

Also as a dealer, whats your opinion of Arbsafe?