gotta say........

[clogs]

Had an odd job guy in today for work around the garden.......we supply the tools.....
Well the diaphram on my Echo chainsaw died......
needed something urgent but not another £400 pounds worth of machine....
So took a chance with a Lidil's offering.....
Gotta say not as well finished as the Echo but a great machine for €129......and a 3 year warranty...
Starts easy....has a great chain....haven't needed to sharpened it the whole day....
well pleased......
when she went to buy it they were going of the shelf very quickly......

 

[baldkev]

Ive got an echo timberwolf, great saw

 

[mwinfrance]

I've got 4 of their chainsaws, very impressed.The only thing is that the chains are not anti-kick, so if the buyer isn't expecting it, and doesn't have much arm strength, could get messy.End of this month they are doing a light weight petrol driven 25cc model with single handed "on top" handle. I'll defo' get one ( or two ), if they are actually in the middle aisle as the law here saws that that config can only be sold to professionals ( I have the pro paper work required ) but strictly speaking Lidl France ( nor anyone else ) should not be selling them to "Jean publique".Lidl's is at €110.oo which is nearly 5 times cheaper than the equivalent Stihl, yeah chalk and cheese, but makes a cheap back up, My main use is sculpture and firewood, I've got ones for dropping trees and tydying them, but also have mates with saw mills and who are tree surgeons so haven't had to drop many trees up here to get my wood yet.

I've also got Stihl ones too, but parts are stupid prices here, and frequently are "order in only". unless I order direct parts from Farmertec in China, then prices are faar more reasonable, and worth about the same wait.

 

[Noel]

I've got 4 of their chainsaws, very impressed.The only thing is that the chains are not anti-kick, so if the buyer isn't expecting it, and doesn't have much arm strength, could get messy.End of this month they are doing a light weight petrol driven 25cc model with single handed "on top" handle. I'll defo' get one ( or two ), if they are actually in the middle aisle as the law here saws that that config can only be sold to professionals ( I have the pro paper work required ) but strictly speaking Lidl France ( nor anyone else ) should not be selling them to "Jean publique".Lidl's is at €110.oo which is nearly 5 times cheaper than the equivalent Stihl, yeah chalk and cheese, but makes a cheap back up, My main use is sculpture and firewood, I've got ones for dropping trees and tydying them, but also have mates with saw mills and who are tree surgeons so haven't had to drop many trees up here to get my wood yet.

I've also got Stihl ones too, but parts are stupid prices here, and frequently are "order in only". unless I order direct parts from Farmertec in China, then prices are faar more reasonable, and worth about the same wait.

The type you refer is called a top handle but it is not a “single handed” saw. It has two handles which should be used as much as possible. It’s designed for close quarter use when climbing and not for any other use, certainly not felling for example. In a kickback situation you will have very little leverage to stop the bar coming up compared to a traditional rear handle saw.
Good to hear that the Lidl saws are good value.

 

[Adam W.]

I've got 4 of their chainsaws, very impressed.The only thing is that the chains are not anti-kick, so if the buyer isn't expecting it, and doesn't have much arm strength, could get messy.End of this month they are doing a light weight petrol driven 25cc model with single handed "on top" handle. I'll defo' get one ( or two ), if they are actually in the middle aisle as the law here saws that that config can only be sold to professionals ( I have the pro paper work required ) but strictly speaking Lidl France ( nor anyone else ) should not be selling them to "Jean publique".Lidl's is at €110.oo which is nearly 5 times cheaper than the equivalent Stihl, yeah chalk and cheese, but makes a cheap back up, My main use is sculpture and firewood, I've got ones for dropping trees and tydying them, but also have mates with saw mills and who are tree surgeons so haven't had to drop many trees up here to get my wood yet.

I've also got Stihl ones too, but parts are stupid prices here, and frequently are "order in only". unless I order direct parts from Farmertec in China, then prices are faar more reasonable, and worth about the same wait.

I order my Stihl parts directly from Germany on either Amazon.de or ebay.de, never an issue with delivery.

I used to buy from suppliers in the UK but stopped that nonsense with the "new and improved" requirement of having to pay double VAT and import charges to the mainland.

 

[mwinfrance]

re "single handed" Here, I was translating what they are referred to in the vernacular as here.
Stihl DE won't let you import directly from them to here, prices at the local agents are ridiculous, when they admit that models exist.I asked them about the "top handle" models when I bought my 211c about 15 or 20 years ago, they point blank denied that Stihl made one,.When I showed them the images.."maybe available in Allemagne, but not available in France". was the retort.Frequently conversations with exclusive importers or French offices of multi-natiionals go like that .( see my comments re 3M France and powered masks ).Stihl parts here from an official dealer cost near double the German price.

Good saws ( but the older ones were more solid ), but unless you are dropping trees all day, Parkside are a better value deal. Example an electronic ignition module on my 211c - I have two 211cs , nice medium size sculpture saws ) costs me more from Stihl France than the biggest chainsaw that Parkside sells.The Stihl is guaranteed 2 years, Stihl original replacement parts 1 year. Parkside guarantee 3 years.

Last time I ordered an ignition module ( they seem as most parts on modern Stihl, to be very "fragile" )from Stihl France they wanted close to €150.oo, not in stock, 3 to 4 weeks lead time from DE ( meaning they didn't want to pay Stihl DE to send it, they'd rather wait til they have enough of an order for it to be carriage paid ).Farmertec ( China ) sent me a perfectly good one ( has already lasted longer that the Stihl one did for under €20.oo inc postage.It arrived after 15 days.

Another example ( not chainsaws, but shows you how it goes for things from Germany into France ).I use a a fair amount of heavy re-inforced plastic tarp material, the kind of stuff that is used on "curtain siders", some of it is upto 900gsm, I use mostly 400gsm and 600gsm.I get through about 500 sq metres per month, sometimes double that.I buy in from Germany.Because the cheapest supplier in France ( who my German supplier has assured me buys from them ) charges 6 times the price I pay, and has probably less stock than I do.I no longer have the space, nor the inclination, to become the official French importer of this stuff from Germany.Nor do I wish to sell wholesale ( I sell it in retail "made up goods", I have the industrial sewing machines for it and others for heavy leather ).Germany sends it to me at €18.00 for a 30kg ( small order size box ) it arrives via La Poste ( french post office, Royal mail equivalent ) .if I want to send the same box to my German supplier, it will cost me €90.oo to do the identical journey , but in the opposite direction.Even if I send 100 boxes per month, the best "quote" from La Poste is around €60.oo per box.

Why does the wholesaler in France and La Poste work with margins like these?

Because they can, because French people are on the whole not good at other languages, and so have no idea what things ( goods and services ) cost elsewhere. Nice country to live in ( see my comments elsewhere )..( albeit horrible to be self employed in ) but being able to deal directly with other countries makes it very much better.

Today France is on strike, maybe day one of a prolonged strike.SWMBO isn't on strike, how does one explain to an 80 year old with Alzheimers that the usual person is not coming today due to a strike.She'll be back at 20.30 having begun at 08.00 , two hours extra due to covering for others in her service who are on strike and who don't care who it affects.

 

[Adam W.]

I realise you meant here=France. I live on the other end of Germany and getting stuff from there is never an issue.

 

[mwinfrance]

I know Adam My comment / explanation was more for others.. France is "special". Can be great, but is always extremely frustrating.
In the preface to one of his books ( I think it might have been "The sands of Mars", but I don't have it to hand , it is still in a box waiting for me to build yet more shelves ) Ray Bradbury ( who had lived in Paris ) wrote something like "people speculate about whether there is life on Mars, I tell them of course there must be, they, the Martians, have an embassy on earth, we call it France"

 

[Dibs-h]

I order my Stihl parts directly from Germany on either Amazon.de or ebay.de, never an issue with delivery.

I used to buy from suppliers in the UK but stopped that nonsense with the "new and improved" requirement of having to pay double VAT and import charges to the mainland.

Not too long ago, I needed some Stihl parts (service kits etc) and checked on Google & eBay and also rang my local (commercial dealer) and his prices beat online out of the water.

Popped over and even more surprised when he gave me the invoice - 22% discount. Been back since and must have got set up on the system with that discount level.

 

[mwinfrance]

Will he ship to France ?

 

[Dibs-h]

Will he ship to France ?

You mean my local Stihl dealer? Probably not - but I'd help a fellow out assuming what you want isn't the size of a suitcase.

 

[mwinfrance]

Cheers , I may well be back to you on that when "la Bise" is done and it stops b***** raining here ( it never does but by about May it rains less, only place I know where it rains more than back home in Ireland ).While the weather is carp, I'm ( when my slipped discs are better ) going to chip all the plaster of the kitchen wall prior to building cupboards in, insulating and cutting two windows in the wall. Renovation can appear never ending.

I get trade discount ( varies from 30 to 40% here ) from most places here just be showing them my business registration number and my business bank account number, but even with that, local Stihl only offers 15 to 20% and still ( sorry ) leaves them expensive compared to the rest of EU or UK.

 

[Tris]

Had family living in northern France through the 90's and I remember buying Stihl equipment on visits as it was about ⅔ the UK price back then. I remember people complaining about price hikes after the euro came in but this thread has been quite an eye opener

 

[mwinfrance]

I think the Stihl becoming stupidly expensive here comes down to the "iphone" :"iMac" *phenomena, both are easy to identify ( in Stihl's case due to their colour combo, Festool use this effect too ), so in the minds of "Jean Publique", the thinking goes "I see a lot of these being used by / in the hands of professionals, they must be worth paying a premium for" they become almost a status symbol ( a bit like owning a Merc or a Beamer" became ).Stihl France noticed and thought .." Hmmm, we can charge extra on the back of this" so they do. A lot of foreign companies allow their french agents to be exclusive as any disputes must be dealt with in France, in french, which means paying for very expensive french speaking lawyers, who also speak the "parent company's language". Even Lidl's german head office has admitted to me that they pretty much let their french operation run itself as they can only communicate with some of their top staff ( and that in english ) here.French Lidl stuff is frequently more expensive than german or belgian Lidl prices.

The French fire service uses Sthil, good PR for Stihl France, whereas they could use Dolmar or Husky. I discovered a local builders supplier sells Dolmar, and with their 40% business / trade discount to me, it makes Dolmar and Husky cheaper than Stihl for me.They also sell french sausages and cooked meats ( si, si !! , my neighbour asked me to go with him so he could take advantage of my discount to buy his meat.I hadn't been before so I didn't have an account there.Now I do..He is a happy man, so am I they also are Makita and Dewalt agents .Makita make some nice gear, modern Dewalt I'm not so keen on. My family doesn't eat the kind of meats etc he does ( we are not veggies, but eat no offal, 'cos I spent half my childhood on our farm in southern Ireland and know what goes in it, we raised and slaughtered our own animals ) he eats andouille ( the kind that smalls of carp , it smells of carp for obvious reasons ), I wouldn't touch it with somebody else's 10 foot barge pole. He has already had colon cancer, he eats a lot of charcuterie, as do most french.