Stihl warranty work?

[Chrisy B]

All,

 

Quick question, just had my MS261 in for some warranty work basically sprocket bearing failed and wore the crank. All replaced under warranty ie new crank sprocket bearings seals etc but took them 2 months to do it, thankfully had another saw to use but was getting mightly pissed off towards the end and they've also managed to get out of 2 months worth of warranty by having it so long.

 

Just wondered if this was normal or my local dealer isnt all that cracking??

 

Cheers

Chris

[Andy Collins]

Don't hold me to this, I may be mistaken, but I'm sure that the warranty period stops while its under repair, and then the warranty restarts once you have it back. I'm sure this is how it was explained to me a long time ago when I had some warranty work done on a saw. Perhaps a dealership can explain better?

[geoff]

A slight tangent,but if it goes again F.R.Jones on here knows the cure for it,it involves fitting a different sprocket & bearing,thats the way I would go with it.

[monkeybusiness]

I think this is standard for MS261s - the fault appears to be impossible to rectify and keeps re-occurring. I know of 2 saws that have seen very little work in their current ownership as the warranty work takes forever (which in itself is almost understandable, as this is an extremely busy time of year for machinery dealers' workshops and I believe warranty work pays them peanuts). I would suggest using the saw regularly now you have it to see if the problem comes back whilst it is still covered by warranty (hopefully it is) - if it does then demand a full refund as the machine is obviously not fit for purpose (and probably steer clear of this model of saw in the future). It's a shame that this design fault exists as the 261 is great in every other way!

[GardenKit]

Don't hold me to this, I may be mistaken, but I'm sure that the warranty period stops while its under repair, and then the warranty restarts once you have it back. I'm sure this is how it was explained to me a long time ago when I had some warranty work done on a saw. Perhaps a dealership can explain better?

I have been a dealer for many years, albeit not a Stihl main dealer.

 

I have never heard of a warranty waiver whilst in for repair, it has always been my understanding that warranty runs from the purchase date regardless.

 

When I was selling ag machines I did come across some 'exceptional' warranty extensions on problem machines, but these were always on an individual basis.

 

I have also never taken anywhere near 2 months to repair a product, warranty or not.

 

In my book, warranty work takes priority over everthing else, and I keep downtime to the minimum, its only fair.

[Guss109]

I've just got my 261 back also as it was in for the same for the second time. Think they even changed out most of the clutch and have changed the sprocket this time to. I think you should have a twelve month warranty on the parts changed. The wife fired of a snotty letter to stihl uk and was told we've no chance of a refund but they are aware of a few saws with problems and will sort them under guaranty as and when they occur. Not much help tho if you ask me

[landroverfanatic]

I fear its going to be the same story with mine. Its currently at the dealers again (has now spent three times as much time at the dealers than in my hand). It had a new carb in January but I think the crank bearing may have gone now. I hope they fix it soon as the warranty runs out on the 16th of may. If they fix I'll have to flog it, can't be doing with this every few months.

[Marsh Monkey]

mine is being done under warranty even though i think it's nearly 5 months out of the end of the warranty i was told that they are sorting them whatever whenever if they are bad and mine was bad

[Stubby]

All,

 

Quick question, just had my MS261 in for some warranty work basically sprocket bearing failed and wore the crank. All replaced under warranty ie new crank sprocket bearings seals etc but took them 2 months to do it, thankfully had another saw to use but was getting mightly pissed off towards the end and they've also managed to get out of 2 months worth of warranty by having it so long.

 

Just wondered if this was normal or my local dealer isnt all that cracking??

 

Cheers

Chris

I think they are all like it . It re- occurs .Take it back demand a refund and buy a different saw . Others have done this as said on here . I am not going to go all H v S but hey ?

[MTCDAZ]

I had two of these machines, both had to go back to Stihl 3 times, always with the same issues .Each time they took 3 - 8 weeks to be returned to me. They finally did the right thing and replaced them with brand new saws ( After many cross words on the phone).

 

I find it very disappointing that even though I paid a premium price for a so called premium product, I would have recieved better customer support if I had of purchased a 'DIY' saw from B+Q!

 

My two replacement saws were fitted with spur sprockets (by Stihl) before I took delivery of them as Stihl themselves cannot be certain that the faulty batch of rim type clutch drums are not still being fitted to brand new saws!

 

This problem has been known to them for over 12 months, why are there still faulty clutch drums being supplied?

 

I have been pitched firmly in the Stihl camp for years now but unfortunately my experience with this warranty claim has left me very reluctant to buy any more of their products.