Parts Counter Rant

big a · Sep 27, 2013

Bought a really nice little Stihl 015L at an auction last Saturday. Owner died about 5 years ago, and carb all gummed up. Used to work for Stihl dealer about 10 years ago, and know my way around Stihl stuff.
Went into local dealer in the town where I work, to order a carb kit. Was told they are NLA, kid the. Tried to sell me a complete carb...until he declared them NLA also.
Frustrated, I called a friend who owns Stihl dealership 75 miles away. 5 minutes later, he tells me he has it in stock, along with other stuff I needed. Wife had to run up there to meet a client, so sent her by to pick up. All in all, got a nice little saw for about $30 total, but this parts thing has me ticked off.
Any time I go to this dealer, a big Agco chain, they always tell me things are no longer available, only to find out they are.
Doesn't anyone know how to look up parts anymore? I'd go elsewhere, but they are the only one anywhere close.
Ok, done venting now!

Phil in Pa · Sep 27, 2013

I have an 015 that I bought used in about 1980 and
used it up till several years ago.

It was hard to get parts for even 10 years ago, I
finally had to give up on it and get a new climbing
saw. That 15 was a great saw.

J.Wondergem · Sep 27, 2013

This week I went to Advance Auto Parts for a couple of filters as I had a rebate card for them. Told the older fellow I needed filters with a NAPA number. Said he could cross reference them. Told him the number, said the number was no good. Gave him a number in Hasting. Nope number no good. I said forget it. Went to Greenville Advance, the young lady said how many do you want. I think some folks are too lazy to look, or too dumb.

NY 986 · Sep 27, 2013

I don't know either dealer in your story but having worked for
dealers I do know that not all use the same vendors. The dealer
that found the part for you may have a source that the first is
unaware of. A lot of this comes by experience. It's possible the
dealer had the NLA part already in stock and really did not care
whether you knew it was NLA. It's possible that the carb part
was sourced outside of Stihl when the saw was made and the
second dealer knew who actually made the part and knew how to
source it. The only way the kid is going to learn is from
experience and he needs owners that will provide support along
the way. One the problems Central Tractor had while it was
going is it could not figure out the best way to use employee
resources to take care of customers. Paying an employee ten
dollars an hour to help an able bodied customer to push their
shopping cart around because the same customer would abuse
the toll free complaint line was one of their biggest failings

Bus Driver · Sep 27, 2013

I find lots of parts for the small 2-cycle equipment on eBay. Shipping cost often seems high until I figure how much it costs me to drive 40 miles round trip the big city where most of the dealers are located. It is 80 miles if I must leave it to be repaired and go back to get it later.

big a · Sep 27, 2013

I knew parts availability for the 015 was sketchy, it's that way with any Stihl over about 10 years old. Pretty much that way with anything anymore. Part of the fun, I guess.
Buddy told me kit IS available, and what I got was in a Stihl package.
I just wonder why I keep trying this place.

cole in mo. · Sep 27, 2013

Awhile back I wanted a stihl pole saw, went to the local place, had two of the larger ones. Only difference is one has a little bigger engine, it was priced at $648. Smaller one was $588. I asked if he could make me a deal, nope, stihl sets the price, we have to sell at that. Went to another dealer, same prices, same story, third place, same prices, but he did give me a deal, saved $75.00 on the saw, and $17.00 on the 6 pack of super oil mix.

rrlund · Sep 27, 2013

Could be some of this stuff is NLA to order,but is available if someone has it in stock?

JayinNY · Sep 27, 2013

My fs 80 stihl string trimmer had a carb problem this spring, I bought a new stihl carb off eBay less than $30 bucks, unbolted the old one threw it out and bolted on the new one really fast and simple. Not even worth rebuilding them anymore.

JayinNY · Sep 27, 2013

Ment for above poster.

Anonymous-0 · Sep 27, 2013

I think lazy is a big part of it. The counter clerks get the same money sale or no sale and I have overheard managers at parts stores tell clerks to tell someone the item is "dealer only" and go to the next customer.

Ralph Bauer · Sep 27, 2013

Our local green dealer in SW Oklahoma does pay salary and "a very small %" on the sales done by the clerks to them as part of the salary (quoting a parts clerk here). He is the local big one, with at least 7 or 8 dealerships.
Ralph in OK.

Billy Shafer · Sep 27, 2013

I went to get an oil filter for my 2004 Grand Am. Kid told me we don"t carry that filter. Because not many people own Grand Ams. I told him he needed to look in the parking lot. Because I see eight of them out there. That was Auto Zone never went back.

Pair-a-dice farm · Sep 27, 2013

I agree that it may just be inexperience on the part of the kid. I have the same problem with the local NH dealer. They pay cheap wages and nobody stays there long enough to learn much. I buy most of my NH parts online and it's delivered right to my door. I save the trip and usually get it in about the same time since nobody seems to want to keep parts in stock.

Anonymous-0 · Sep 27, 2013

I'd take the part numbers back to the local dealer and ask if they were available just out of curiousity and then if they are ask him why he didn't sell them to me the other day. Guys at the local JD dealer know better to try that with me. I straightened them out more than a few times on part availability. chris

big a · Sep 27, 2013

The parts aren't NLA, The parts kid was incompetent. That is what I'm mad about!
I bought it knowing I could source most common items without much trouble.

ericlb · Sep 27, 2013

a lot of it is the younger kids dont know how to look stuff up, if its not on their computer screen they dont have the training to get the books out and do some reading and find out where the part is,nor do they care, some cant even read above a 3rd grade level , i dropped a homelite trimmer off the have the carb adjusted after i repaced it for a friend who left it full of fuel over 2 years, the trimmer had less than 10 hours since new, the kid 'mechanic' calls me up and tells me the cylinder is worn and scratched and the piston is bad, i know the real story is the kid is lost and doesnt know what to do,ive heard this same excuse many times before on equipment that a competent mechanic can fix in a jiffy, got it back, guess what the engine had never been apart so how does the kid determine the condition of the internal componets thru a assembled engine

oldtanker · Sep 28, 2013

(quoted from post at 16:13:01 09/27/13) Bought a really nice little Stihl 015L at an auction last Saturday. Owner died about 5 years ago, and carb all gummed up. Used to work for Stihl dealer about 10 years ago, and know my way around Stihl stuff.
Went into local dealer in the town where I work, to order a carb kit. Was told they are NLA, kid the. Tried to sell me a complete carb...until he declared them NLA also.
Frustrated, I called a friend who owns Stihl dealership 75 miles away. 5 minutes later, he tells me he has it in stock, along with other stuff I needed. Wife had to run up there to meet a client, so sent her by to pick up. All in all, got a nice little saw for about $30 total, but this parts thing has me ticked off.
Any time I go to this dealer, a big Agco chain, they always tell me things are no longer available, only to find out they are.
Doesn't anyone know how to look up parts anymore? I'd go elsewhere, but they are the only one anywhere close.
Ok, done venting now!

Gotta wonder about the AGCO part. We had a real good dealer here. They (brothers) decided it's time to retire. Another dealership snapped it up. Their service and parts are now a joke. I wrote to AGCO and told em they were going to loose this area due to the new companies policy to try to sell you something new instead of the parts or a repair. Guess AGCO doesn't care. Never herd back from them. That's why my round baler is going down the road this winter. I will not buy anything supported by AGCO again, nor am I going to drive 120 miles round trip for parts. You may have the same thing going there on the chainsaws. They may figure that they can make more selling new saws than parts to fix old ones.

Rick

ss55 · Sep 28, 2013

Have you tried another local Stihl dealer? We have four Stihl dealers in a nearby town of just 12,000 people. The long-time time parts guy at our local lawn and garden dealer is much more knowledgeable than the high school kids working part time evening shifts at the local hardware store. Both are Stihl dealers.

Anymore I buy carb kits and small parts online. The shipping costs are usually less then $5. At 50 cents per mile plus the value of my time, I can't drive very far for that same $5
shipping charge.

Tx Jim · Sep 28, 2013

Could be the parts person who told you the parts were NLA wasn't taught to read the parts descriptions which sometimes contain part sub numbers or footnotes. Sometimes JD part numbers are hidden in the same places. When I first started selling JD parts back in the 60's I was instructed by dealer more than once to always read the parts descriptions & footnotes.

Anonymous-0 · Sep 28, 2013

Walbro k10-hdc, bout 10 bucks

NEKS · Sep 28, 2013

Loaned my bother my 041 Stihl. Some how he broke the handle bracket. Bother went to the local Stihl dealer here in town to get the part. The kid that repairs them said that saw is old throw it away. Not worth fixing. I went to a friend that used to be a small engine repair man and he got the part. Will not buy another Stihl product in that store.

Wile E · Sep 28, 2013

It is possible that the kid is just a lazy punk and just put you on hold for 3 minutes so that he could play with his handheld game. Then after 3 minutes tells you that it is NLA.
Young kids these days need to be slapped....Hard.

If I was you, just go to the manager or owner and tell him what is up.

Anonymous-0 · Sep 28, 2013

Odds are, the manager--if it's a chain store--is an underpaid, overworked guy who has little control over anything related to catalogs OR inventory...as those decisions are usually made at the corporate level.

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