I know it's been moaned about before, but I'm going to add my 2p's worth anyway.
Stihl / Viking mowers....they cannot be be relied upon to support you in your business.
We ordered a Stihl hedgecutter. It took no less than 5 weeks to appear.
Strimmer heads, 3 weeks. Machine unuseable whilst waiting.
I bought a Viking MB4RT mower in the spring, touted as a professional mower. This has had a very busy year and a month ago was booked in for a comprehensive service. One month on we are STIHL waiting for it to be serviced, Stihl / Viking, the big shiny corporation doesn't have a part it needs. How pathetic is that ?
Obviously one swallow does not make a summer, but had we needed the mower we would have been up the creek. Luckily it's autumn and we don't.
But I have learned a lesson here. Stihl / Viking, despite their self congratulatory websites are not a brand the professional can rely on for customer service. They are complacent and over confident in their position - a dangerous condition.
No matter how wonderful their products may be (IMHO they are good but far from perfect), if you have to jump through hoops to get one in the first place, or if it breaks and cannot be fixed in a timely manner, it's fit only for ebay and one must factor in the cost of hire / purchase a back up machine for such eventualities.
So a Stihl / Viking costs more to buy, and you may well need a second machine to cover periods of non availability waiting for parts !!!!! How do they get away with it ? There are better options out there I now realize.
Premium prices should mean premium service. So on that basis STIHL / Viking are way overpriced.
So from next spring we are switching back to Honda mowers for better parts availability and later, another brand, to be decided (suggestions welcome), for strimmers / brushcutters / hedge cutters. We are looking at Pellenc, despite the cost. We don't cut large hedges, our tree surgeons (Stihl..) do this for us, so battery power in gardens may be a viable long term option.
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I think you might have been unlucky with your Stihl dealer regarding Stihl items and general customer service..... don't know anything about Viking parts/service. I have 3 fairly local Stihl dealers....... they all have shelves laden with all the models and you just pick it off the shelf, they start it up and check it over,hand over the cash and you're away. Spares... never had the slightest problem. Anything I've requested has been available easily within a week... usually less. Routine items such as strimmer heads and regularly requested items are always instantly available. As you have all the equipment, it might be worth persevering with Stihl but change dealer.... Even if you've got a "perfect" dealer, its always worth having some backup machinery.... doesn't matter how good the machinery is, things fail.
Andrew,
I encountered the same problems getting hold of parts from STIHL - parts you would think they had plenty of but unfortunately for me, all my local dealers told me that it would take 4 to 6 weeks to get hold of. All of the required parts were off their latest products and I firmly believe were of poor quality compared to their older products. Viking parts were the same - 5 weeks!
Personally, I wouldn't rush to get a Honda mower, I believe their build quality has also gone down hill and their parts whilst readily available are very expensive.
Looking back over recent threads shows the general perception is that Stihl's latest generation of equipment does not exhibit the same build quality. Various people have mentioned that Stihl now 'builds' some of it's models in new, low costs countries.
We've had mixed results with Stihl gear over the last two years, some silly stuff, some major.
We use two Dealers (and I suspect Graham and I share one of those Dealers, who could probably - if allowed - walk across the road to Stihl GB and try and get spares :0). Some stuff seems to take ages to come in when ordered, whether it be spares or machines. I will say our Stihl Technician at our main dealers is fantastic and has often gone further than one might expect to fix faults.
Given we run multiple teams, each team is fully equipped with Stihl gear, therefore I often see common issues occurring across bits of Kit.
Again, many on LJN know there have been multiple attempts to engage with Stihl on here. It is my understanding that current UK Management do not wish to engage on forums or social media -shame, such a missed opportunity to support Contractors. This is totally different to Stihl USA who totally engage with their professional contractors via FB, Twitter, magazine articles and local road shows.
In respect of Viking, we have never chosen to run their mowers commercially - so can't comment on them.
Viking aren't professional machines, and I didn't think Stihl sold them as such? What's the commercial warranty, always the best guide!
I've only had one Stihl part hard to get in 20-odd years. That was an unusual failure, as in I dropped it and it hit an awkward corner and broke the inlet manifold, and I waited for a whole three working days over a bank holiday weekend. That can't be considered unreasonable, as every machine has a different one and the repairer can't stock everything. He does keep most of the parts that I need, and will fit while-you-wait.
I know Stihl have dropped their quality dramatically, but let's be honest. Have the other manufacturers not done the same?
Andrew, 5 weeks to get a hedge cutter from a Stihl dealer? Find a better supplier: he won't be much use supporting the machine if he can't even keep it in stock! I've never known a trade dealer who doesn't carry the basic machines ready to go.
Down time of tools is the cost to my business not the price of parts in my opinion
Does your dealer have stihl in stock ?
Regards prices I negotiate hard most dealers beat internet prices if pushed
So my dealer can take dec jan feb for all I care to service my mowers so long as it's ready for march !
I sympathise you bought a Viking machine I nearly did this year but glad I didn't
Thanks for all the replies. The local dealer I use does seem to be on a second tier when it comes to who gets new machines, I'm not sure about parts. In my book, if you're a dealer, you're a dealer - every customer should receive equal treatment.
In the 2013 Viking catalogue, the M4RT, along with the 7 series is repeatedly advertised as being 'for professional' usage, with ruggedised construction (!). The warranty for pro use is one year for all Stihl mowers.
I have moaned to my dealer who has contacted Stihl, but Stihl UK cannot speed up parts delivery, allegedly. He has offered to extend the warranty outside the norm for me, so is trying to help.
Interesting that Stihl / Viking have the parts for fitting to new machines though.
I put the mower in for a service before the end of the season as it desperately needed some TLC. We haven't needed to use a mower in the last 3 weeks (we have others anyway), it's the principle of being messed around with that I object to. What if I needed parts in summer. I was thinking of buying a Viking ride on (good price, extended warranty), but now there is not a chance when I see what the Stihl / Viking back up service is from Stihl UK !!!
Andrew: You might also be interested in this previous post
http://www.landscapejuicenetwork.com/forum/topics/do-stihl-uk-gb-ca...
Mowers: Viking 7 Series are designed for commercial/professional use. That's the story at our dealer and is reflected in their warranty. Lower Series models are not as far as I can remember.
Stihl: Irrespective of next day parts delivery, Stihl do not always have spares in stock and you can wait. Again with our stihl gear, we have had this situation from our Main/Trier one dealer. One example was for an ignition module, IIRC
Re: comment about repairs: Surely, when mowers develop a fault or is misbehaving you book them in for service or you get them fixed somehow - to wait until end of season is only possible if you a fleet of mowers that can substitute.......
What is clear, Stihl is not what it was before........
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