i think i've upset my local stihl dealer

[Johny Walker]

now that would be a cracking way of doing it

[gensetsteve]

I think the younger generation will be getting their information on line, do not discount forums for there information value, and other on line sources. They won't even bother going to the suppliers, they might Tweet them or look at their facebook page.

 

The information on this site and many others is at the front edge, If a product is not much good you may well see it here first.

 

Adapt and survive.

 

H-A

 

 

You could well be right. We may well end up just box shifting. Adapting and prospering is what I have been doing for 20+ years.

[CJM]

The way I see it is if you bought a car from the biggest ford dealer in the country because it was cheap than your local ford deal then went home found out you had a problem then took it to your local ford dealer, this dealer that's local you might be the smallest dealer in the uk but you'd expect them to fix the issue with the car without a question. I feel this is no different to buying a chainsaw or any other piece of sthil machinery. These guys became sthil dealers to sell quality machinery to professionals we expect a professional service in return.

[H-A]

now that would be a cracking way of doing it

 

It will happen, it only need some one like Screwfix, Argos, or Wickes to get involved.

 

Tesco have click and collect, as does John Lewis. it works very well.

 

Drop your saw off at your local Waitrose, pick it up a couple of days later, all correspondence via email.

 

H-A

[gensetsteve]

The way I see it is if you bought a car from the biggest ford dealer in the country because it was cheap than your local ford deal then went home found out you had a problem then took it to your local ford dealer, this dealer that's local you might be the smallest dealer in the uk but you'd expect them to fix the issue with the car without a question. I feel this is no different to buying a chainsaw or any other piece of sthil machinery. These guys became sthil dealers to sell quality machinery to professionals we expect a professional service in return.

 

I bought a new Nissan Navarra from Dan Perkins in London because they were £1400 cheaper. When I tried to get warranty work done locally they were reluctant and I tried 4 different garages over 3 years.

[GardenKit]

 

I can see a time when a chainsaw develops a fault, you get on your smart phone and book it in for a repair, you then drop it at a collection point on your way home. 48 hours later the fixed saw is returned and delivered to your door or to a collection point of your choice.

 

How does the local dealer get a look in?

 

Films in the 70's showed that we would all be wearing tinfoil suits, live in pods, eat only pills and fly to work in a hovercar by the year 2000. Only some of that has come true.

 

Yes, I do agree that more manufacturers will go down the dealerless route on some items, but only some. It is easy to post a camera, but a stump grinder may prove a little more awkward to drop off at the post office.

 

Others, especially the ones selling bigger kit, and those who realise the need of a 'handover' will stay with the dealers, but possibly those dealers will be bigger and cover a larger area. Their labour rates will also increase dramatically as a consequence(see what has happened in Ag).

 

Whilst these labour rates will not worry the consumer when the problem is covered by warranty, he will be a bit concerned when warranty is over.

 

He will then go searching for a small,local,old fashioned independant dealer to maintain his kit. But he may have difficulty finding one.

 

So be careful what you wish for.

[GardenKit]

The way I see it is if you bought a car from the biggest ford dealer in the country because it was cheap than your local ford deal then went home found out you had a problem then took it to your local ford dealer, this dealer that's local you might be the smallest dealer in the uk but you'd expect them to fix the issue with the car without a question. I feel this is no different to buying a chainsaw or any other piece of sthil machinery. These guys became sthil dealers to sell quality machinery to professionals we expect a professional service in return.

I agree with you on the car issue. If I bought my new car in Exeter, but it broke down in Inverness I would expect to get it fixed there. The car industry know this and work accordingly.

If however I bought my car secondhand with a 90 day warranty it would be a different story, even though it is still a legal warranty.

 

In our industry there are different contracts existing between dealers and manufacturers.

Some manufacturers insist you repair any machine irrespective of where it was bought.

Others state clearly in their terms that the selling dealer is responsible solely for all obligations and that they (the selling dealer) "must not imply to the purchaser that the UK dealer network wil in any way take responsibiity for the supplying dealer obligations"

 

My policy is that I only perform warranty on equipment that I have supplied.

I will however make exceptions when someone comes in who has moved into the area having previously bought his achine from his old dealer.

But the local guy who bypassed me to buy on the net, but then wants me to repair, is generally out of luck.

[ArthurBottlesworth]

I used to work in warranty business.....

 

At risk being a nerd, warranty is quite interesting ......

 

There used to be american analyst who monitored warrantyclaims .....

 

So if sayhusky had average of 3 claims per sale and stihl had 2 youcould guess stihl was better saw ......

 

Also dhl will drop and collect, so they drop off your replacement saw and take the old one back ......if the manufacturer is on the ball the returned bit could go to the saw designer so he could redesign the parts that keep failing

 

Thats how toyota keep their quality up ( and landrover don't)

 

Dhl UPS offer this service globally .......

[Ty Unnos]

So be careful what you wish for.

 

I am not wishing for the end of local dealers - I am just saying that the internet is changing the way things are done and some dealers are not going to be able to adapt.

 

I like my local dealer and will buy for them if they can get close to the right price. I tend to get bigger items like chainsaws from them where I can as I trust them to fix any problems that come up under warranty. But I worry for them! They are deathly slow to get parts and they really struggle to get close to internet prices.

 

Another example: I was recently looking for a drum mower for my tractor. I rang around the local agri-dealers and did a few quick searches on the Internet. I found a guy not far from me that had a good price which seemed to be about the same as everyone else in the UK. Then on a whim I searched on German ebay. I found the same make and model much cheaper - I mean 40% cheaper. I contacted the German company who turned out to be a proper bricks and mortar place - they reply in perfect English and arrange to have the mower shipped from Germany direct to me in under 72 hours. They undercut the local guy by £600 including the delivery and they give a 2 year warranty and full parts backup.

 

So the question is how can the same item cost £600 less in Germany than it does in the UK? Are dealers costs really that much higher in the UK? If you look at prices in the USA they are about half what we pay in the UK so where are the additional costs coming from?

[gensetsteve]

I must be missing something here

 

You buy something it breaks you get it collected they send you a new one ?

 

What if they decide you dropped it, or abused it ?

 

I get the feeling a few people feel the local dealer is a dinasaur but in most cases this is just not true. They are well grounded businesses run with common sense and moving with the times. You may not get what you want this instant but thats life.