Arbtalk Members Reponses to Stihl's Online Policy

[Yorkshireman]

interesting and, too many here ,who clearly see this as a very bizarre stance ,

 

to mitigate impact users could prehold stock of consumables as this does support breakdowns , we run Stihl across our both our contracting and training businesses

 

however , I will closely monitor the impacts going forward, especially given the recent and marked improvements made in comparible brands

 

issues for many contributors across the 3 threads currently on the forum,

 

seem focussed especially there is an issue of dealer location & proximity to the operational users as this a detraction,

 

In doing this, does Stihl have in place sufficent geographic network of dealers ??

 

as users will take into consideration the costs in time & money to travel to & from the dealer

i.e. is it cost effective or prohibative ? and does the dealer have sufficent resource and stock levels ?

 

Stihl dealers in my exprience have over the years become more and more isolated with a select few dealers holding a disproportionate slice of the market due to the ease in access of Web orders ,there volume allows them to be more and more competitive ,thereby putting presure on those local dealers whose stock commitment and presence & even the dealers viability has been put in jeapordy due to market forces.

 

many support the stance in relation to machinery sales , and this in my opinion should be promoted especially for hand held or pole chainsaws and others such powered equipment as there are multiple factors re the user awareness of factors which can cause serious injury or medical implication if used in correctly or poorly maintained.

 

though I revert to the issue of dealer location accessibilty and cost implication

 

however when national supermarkets or diy retailers can retail items equaly dangerous I doubt this will have any lasting effect , recent events where an old chap killed him self attempting to get firewood is a sobering reflection of this ..

 

I am aware that there are moves across Europe calling to ban Chainsaws , therefore perhaps this is Stihls attempt to mitigate these calls..

 

though I seriously doubt that restricting access to replacement parts for already purchased equipment will have the desired effect , particularly relevant to those items that are required for the safe operation of that equipment.

 

Iain

[bythamboy]

dear mr Stihl ,

your idea of not selling your products online is some what going against the flow , in these modern times the computer beats the old way of doing things , whether it be promotional advertising ( definitely better than local newspaper ) or sourcing goods and services .

I can totally understand the need to keep dangerous equipment out of untrained hands , but for those of us who are professional users with NPTC 30/31 etc , and production of that once should be enough to satisfy the above reason but if your policy is to protect individual dealer territory because some can't compete or don't have the financial clout to keep the necessary stock levels , that's definitely not justified , I would venture that you will loose market share , then you will listen ! .

[Treeworld]

I have just read this and can not believe it!! What an ignorant decision by an obviously backward thinking board, one way to lose business hand over fist. Seeing as my local dealer is now 20+miles away i'll be looking elsewhere.

[WoodED]

All I can say is a lot of people will move to the dark side

 

 

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[Timbermcpherson]

Dear stihl

 

Of your lineup of powerequipment I own over 33 pro saws, 3 blowers and other machines. (I have spent over 6k on stihl gear this week alone) Basically your policy of trying to handcuff your clients to your dealer network and set up monopolys on parts supply simply stinks.

 

To be honest your products aren't good enough to command this kind of subservience, at least from me. I have been buying more Husqvarna and echo products more recently, and as my business grows, it will not do it being lumbered with stihls anti competition protectionist scheme to squeeze its clients.

[Old Mill Tree Care]

I have a dealer five minutes from home who stocks tools and no spares at all.

When a tool breaks on a job need to be able to go to a dealers website using my smart phone and order for next day delivery.

If I can't order on line I won't be buying another Stihl tool, ever.

By the way, I was just about to buy two new Stihl long hedge cutters. I don't think they will be Stihl now.

 

 

Sent with my iPhone from me, to you!

[Sussex Groundie]

I feel this idea has come from HQ in the USA, our good friends across the pond really do not understand how we work over here, going to cost them lost sales, piles of saws in skips while we change to disposable ones (perish the thought).

 

I was looking at a 362 the other day £700.00 also looked at a green saw 56cc 20"" £199.00, still thinking about that.

 

I used to work for a computer maintenance company, we had a trainer from Compaq in Houston come to the UK to train us on lap top repair. During a coffee break he asked me where my "store" was thinking I was the guy in the white coat out the back who fixed things, he was somewhat taken aback when I said 12 area offices throughout the UK with 400 engineers in cars every day.

[Ian C]

All I can say is a lot of people will move to the dark side

 

 

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We have done.

[WoodED]

We have done.

 

We have,

 

 

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[Al.]

Dear Stihl,

I'd like to thoroughly commend your decision. I've always bought the big H, and now it appears everyone else will too.

Keep up the good work,

Al.