i think i've upset my local stihl dealer

[Rob D]

The idea that a distant internet retailer cannot provide good customer support is flawed.

 

 

I'd agree with that - I buy all my saws off Jonsie - if there's a problem I send them back, they get repaired and sent back to me.

 

 

It's painless and easy - I suppose because I'm used to using couriers... but courier sites are getting better and easier to use to send parcels...

 

 

What happens when a large dealer offers a free pick up/free postage back service with a max turnaround of 5 days or similar? Or less time even?

 

 

I know that won't cover mowers/ride ons but it can't be far off - there's plenty of sites that let you send chains back for a quick turn around on a sharpening service...

 

 

 

 

[Warners]

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.

 

We buy all our kit from our local dealers, that goes for handheld power tools and mowers, etc. i do this because i want the support from my dealer and to build up a working relationship with them. i know if i bought a tool from a different dealer or online i'd find it embarassing to take in a machine for a warranty issue with a different dealer name on it. I suppose if you do buy a machine from a different source then you should expect support from the supplying source and not to clog up your local dealer. I don't include paid for repairs in this....

[gensetsteve]

Sending a saw by post must cost £8 ea way. Not to mention the enviromental impact of sending stuff by road all over the country. If this extra £16 was payed to the local dealer I am sure they would be more willing to repair kit sold elsewhere.

[sasha.p]

I have had the same response from my local dealer husqi one I am refferring to stuck in their ways and cant be more open to the fact there are more business out there than just theirs I have only purchased two machines there over the years first one was a good purchase second one I had to buy as my hedge cutters packed up in the middle of a job but I had to take my saws in for a few parts here and there and every time I got the you didnt buy this from us thing going on makes me reluctant to go back at all .

 

But I would like to say thanks to abbey garden sales for helping me find the part for my husq blower earlier fantastic customer service there

[ArthurBottlesworth]

Been thinking about this today

 

If local stihl agent refuses to repair a saw because you didn't buy it from him, whats the point of him being an agent?

 

Eventually people will stop buying stihl because ' it's just too much hassle '

 

But I can see the fitter at stihl agent doing a few ' foreigners ' for friends , and eventually he'll realise he can make more money working from home ......and then your local stihl agent will have created his own competition

[Steve Bullman]

Been thinking about this today

 

If local stihl agent refuses to repair a saw because you didn't buy it from him, whats the point of him being an agent?

 

Eventually people will stop buying stihl because ' it's just too much hassle '

 

But I can see the fitter at stihl agent doing a few ' foreigners ' for friends , and eventually he'll realise he can make more money working from home ......and then your local stihl agent will have created his own competition

 

Stihl agents aren't refusing to repair saws though

[gensetsteve]

Been thinking about this today

 

If local stihl agent refuses to repair a saw because you didn't buy it from him, whats the point of him being an agent?

 

Eventually people will stop buying stihl because ' it's just too much hassle '

 

But I can see the fitter at stihl agent doing a few ' foreigners ' for friends , and eventually he'll realise he can make more money working from home ......and then your local stihl agent will have created his own competition

 

I think the problem the dealers have is the labour rate for warranty work is about £20-25 an hour which is tight when you have over heads. Now you dont mind if its for a year on a piece of kit you supplied and made a profit on but if someone is box shifting and killing your business why should you clear up their mess. People often bring stuff in for free repairs but when the years up do their own so its not like you are building a long term relationship with them. I have no axe to grind as we dont serve the public of the streets. I can see it from both sides but people work the system to suit their own needs. Buy cheap long distance get repaired free on the doorstep.

[eggsarascal]

If I didn't service or repair pumps for people' that were bought from else where I'd sit at home three days a week.

[felixthelogchopper]

Surely if the agents have confidence in the brand of machines they represent then they won't be worried?

[CJM]

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.

 

That's a fair point and I agree, but in the long run if you fix a saw that you didn't sell but it was still under warrenty you'd instantly build of trust with that customer and it's opened to door to future custom and he'll give you a good review to his other arb/forestry mates. Obviously I'm speaking as a customer and I have no idea how to run a shop/dealership I also try my best to make my saws last (it's an expensive affair to replace haha) so I have limited dealings with warrenty. But saying that the crank seal on my 560xp has went and it's leaking oil so I might find out about warrenty sooner than I would want.