Husqvarna Chainsaw Fiasco

I have heard similar tales regarding car warranty work. Only selling dealer will do the work.

Mom'nPop fight back against the BORG.

Maybe you can get a bid for the repair from the shop and they can bill Husky the normal warranty price and you can pay the small extra. That should take care of parts and some of labor. That may be your best option.

Derek

Nor any other new vehicle I've had. I had a comment once on the Ford and told them, "No, I didn't buy it from you because you wouldn't deal with me on it." "Is there a probklem with you doing the warranty work since Ford pays you whatever you ask?" They did the work!

Rich,

Sounds like you need to return the saw to the internet seller for repair or replacement.

Here in British Columbia, I believe a dealer risks his franchise if they were to hassle you over servicing a vehicle not purchased from them

James Barley

Not if it's a Saturn...

-- Chuck *#:^) chaz3913(AT)yahoo(DOT)com Anti-spam sig: please remove "NO SPAM" from e-mail address to reply. <

September 11, 2001 - Never Forget

This is why I will purchase equipment from a local dealer whenever possible, even if it is a few dollars more. Before retirement, I owned a small business and got quite upset when people bought stuff from the large discount stores and then brought it to me when they had a problem, saying the large store had lousy service. My small business always backed up anything we sold, but that cost $$. A manufacturer's payment to repair a defective item seldom covers the true and total cost of the repair. That's why stuff is cheaper on the internet or large discount stores. We can't have it both ways.

That's not to say I don't buy via the internet. I do, at times, but I know the risk is in after sale service.

Sorry, for the rant, but I've been there on the other side of the counter.

Earl

No I just post for fun and profit. hehe.

I am not bashing Husqvarna but I am posting to my 3 favorite groups. It would be 4 groups but I dont think that alt.bread.recipes cares about 9hp chainsaws.

If I was more aware of the dealer / mfgr situation I would of bought locally on this purchase as this saw could require alot of service. I am using it to mill lumber with an alaskan jig. But in the end I am glad I did not buy from the dealer as he is really a jerk to deal with. I called the owner personally and we had an amiable discussion but he still had the opinion that I was just out to wreck his business by buying over the cursed internet. I've since called other dealers and they are happy to look at it or work on it warranty if it needs it. Only difference is I have to drive 20 miles instead of 2.

Personally I would rather have the dealer prove himself worthy of my future business than lip service and still get bad service after buying at dealer prices. That happened to me with John Deere.

For that I'll take the discount online, if all I have is thieves and liars to deal with then I'll take the lowest price, just like at the car dealer. hehe.

Rich

PS( My Lowes Poulon 49cc 20 inch saw is kicking butt. I've cut down about 19 palm trees, 1 oak and 1 hackberry plus other trimming jobs etc and I am amazed it works so well. I did not expect much out of it so I guess I am happy with whatever I get!)

Everything is catch 22. When you buy some thing ususally in the paper work is some thing to the effect " don't return it to the dealer call us. Here is a list of our warenty repair places." To me if the dealer is contracted as a warenty repair shop, it shouldn't matter where the item was bought. He is representing the parent company and doing the repairs for them. Most of the time I take it back to the dealer and get a new one or my money back.

I agree with Rich's perspective above. The internet and the Borg's are the biggest reason why the local dealer should extend every courtesy possible. Within reason of course. While noone can deny that there are those that will go for the lowest price everytime, a certain number of people will return to the service oriented dealer. This guy just guaranteed he will make no profit from Rich. And, as someone else pointed out, if this guy lost money on warranty work, he wouldn't do it. If they do, they're stupid. I would venture to guess, the profit just wasn't big enough for the guy. Which is one of the reasons we have the Borg's. The big retail profit centers may be monopolistic in nature, but one thing they do NOT have a monopoly on...is greed. This is, of course, just my opinion.

Spaz

I agree. I like to support the local guy. I really do. But what do you do when you consistently get reamed by him. I went down to the local Ace to get a

30 amp 2 pole breaker. The breaker is behind a locked glass and is blister packed. It's $26. I go to Home Depot, 4 miles away, the breaker is open in a bin, I can look at it, and it's $8. Where the fsk are you going to buy your breaker?

I live in a somewhat upscale college community. The local equipment rental place charges a hefty daily charge including Sunday on everything. If I drive 5 miles to the largely ag community down the road, the shop of the very same rental chain charges 30% less and gives Sunday free if the equipment is returned by 8AM monday. Where would you rent?

Both the Ace store and the rental shop seem to be quite busy so I assume their business model works for them. It sure doesn't for me.

snip---

I needed a brush hog. Local dealer wanted $800 for a 40" model, a perfect fit for my small Kubota. A 100 mile drive yielded a brush hog for $500, and no sales tax. Difference? 2" narrower, otherwise the same hog. No big deal, especially when I saved $300, plus 7.7% sales tax on the $800 price. No sales tax paid on the $500 purchase.

Some folks see every sale as a retirement plan, so I can't get too excited about supporting them. I purchased common seals from the local dude because I was in a bind. $12 each for $6 seals. His screw the consumer prices are outrageous, always well above market value. It's clear that some folks do little to earn your patronage. I've tried to be a faithful customer, but I can't afford to be. I now shop everywhere except for his store.

Harold

I have my own business and I've been in business for about 7 years. My wife and I make a comfortable living at it, we have some control over our destiny and we get to *mostly* make our own rules. The three main rules are 1) build something that works and doesn't hurt someone. 2) tell the truth to customers, vendors and each other. 3) price our products so that we can make a comfortable living. I've learned that this gets us the most consistent revenue stream and generally keeps our customers from switching to another company that may introduce a product with a slightly lower price. I've tried setting a higher initial price and dropping it later to try to get market share. It doesn't work. The damage has already been done. On the other side of it, I've turned down a couple of big customers because I couldn't make a comfortable living meeting their terms. The ability to say no is just as big of a negotiating tool as the ability to say yes.

We can all find exceptions. It pays to be a smart consumer and do some homework. I can also give exceptions the other way around. I needed a refrigerator part for the ice maker. Big store wanted $60 for the part, Internet was $55, local guy was $40 not for the part but for a hole new unit. Ed

Yep! The key to this whole scenario is to shop. Often I've been pleasantly surprised to find the best deal at the least likely place. and that includes the guy you'd swear would not compete.

When you live on SS, you don't toss your money around like it's from a bottomless well. Our lifestyle is a humble one, but we live as comfortably as we choose, and do it on minimum money by not being wasteful or stupid in how we use what we have. In order to do that, we have learned to shop before we buy. It always pays benefits.

Harold

You will, of course, pay the appropriate tax on your out-of state purchase, though?

I know I always do....

I could use a brush hog too, but first the hydraulics for the front blade. Dragging snow is tougher than pushing it.

. Then, in the last go-'round, when

Done deal, and for ever. Any time I find a business that has that kind of attitude, I not only don't patronize them, but I make sure that others understand their attitude. There's nothing like negative advertising to sink a business, and it's the cheapest and easiest advertising a person can get, with plenty to go around. All it takes is a go-to-hell attitude displayed to the consumer like the example above.

Small wonder!

Interestingly, a local hardware store recently learned how to sharpen their pencil. A few years back I needed some damp proofing for the foundation of the shop. They wanted double the price asked at Home Depot. The 50 mile drive one way was worth the trip because we needed a few pails. Of late, however, they seem in tune with more reasonable pricing and we've been spending our money with them. Smart business people don't rely on screwing the consumer if they want to be in business tomorrow. All too many of them chase business away that way. For the most part, they're now getting a wakeup call in our community. HD is going to open a local store, and Wal-Mart has one of the largest stores in the western US near us. There's considerable bitching, but it's going to get things on an even keel here. In the end, more of the local dollars will remain here, instead of going to other communities where prices are reasonable.

Harold