A funny story about by Stihl dealer

[George Zarifis]

About 9 months ago, I went to my local stihl dealer to buy my first saw. After searching around on the Internet for about a year, I had settled on the MS 261. I visited my local stihl dealer and said I would like to order this saw (as they didn't have it in stock). The employee looked at me and asked: "Are you sure you need such a big saw? What are you going to do with it?" Of course, that didn't change my mind, especially since every place on the Internet I had visited called the 261 a "small" or "backup" saw, which I believe every professional chainsaw user will agree on. Then he showed me the price. That was 820€ with an 18" bar. On the stihl website, however the price was 760€. I asked about the price difference and he really didn't know. Then, he noticed the letters "C-M" But even after asking everyone else in the store, none of them really knew! At the time, I wasn't aware of the M-Tronic system. So I went back home and found out about it.
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The next day I went back and ordered the MS 261 C-M. After about a week, the saw arrived. I went to the store where they told me they were going to show me a few things about my new saw. To that time, I had done a lot of research on the saw I had ordered an I knew all its features. First, the employee removed the sprocket cover. To his great surprise, the nuts were captive, so he said "Oh, how strange! I've never seen that before. This must be the new system..." Then he went to remove the engine cover. But when he reached for the three bayonet screws he was just as surprised as he was before... After that, he tried to start the saw and he almost broke the multi function lever! He looked at me and said: "How does that even work? The lever has just three positions and it stays on the "run" position all the times. A minute or two later he managed to start the saw. He ran it for a few seconds and then I asked about breaking in the motor. Of course he didn't even know what that even meant. Finally, before giving the saw to me, he said: "This must be a very new saw and I've never seen anything like that before. However I suppose it must be very good. I'm sure you'll figure out how to use it..." I paid for the saw, took it and left.
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This is a 100% true story and I didn't make any parts of it up. It just shows some of the disadvantages of living on an island in Greece. I hope you enjoyed it and made you laugh.     

[Logger RK]

That's a good investment. Chaps & helmet also good to have.

[DelawhereJoe]

When I went to pick up my 362 c-m I had  the same deal as you, due to my work schedule all the other stihl dealers are closed when I have to go. The local Ace hardware here sells Stihl equipment, at the end of the night it was only 3 late teen girls working there. They were completely clueless about any of the power equipment, couldn't find anything. They didn't realy know how to try to start the saw, they asked me to stop back the next day to get all the things they couldn't find when the man who knows all about them would be there. Next day on lunch I stopped back and in one minute the guy collected everything they couldn't find told me all the things they didn't know.

[Ianab]

To be fair, you have to wonder how many Pro grade Stihl saws they actually sell an the average Greek island?  ;)

The 261 isn't a big saw, but it's a professional grade machine. Locally we might use something like that for pre-commercial thinning of plantations. Might only be 6-10" trees, but using the saw all day. If you don't have a lot of trees and forestry in the area, I can quite believe that's the first one your local dealer has seen. Chances are they specialize in garden equipment?

But anyway, you have a good saw 

If you want to blow their minds, go and oder a MS880. They will probably put your picture on the wall  :D

[George Zarifis]

That's a good investment. Chaps & helmet also good to have.

Thanks! Actually, I do have both chaps and a helmet. I bought them a few months after I got the saw...

[George Zarifis]

To be fair, you have to wonder how many Pro grade Stihl saws they actually sell an the average Greek island?  ;)

The 261 isn't a big saw, but it's a professional grade machine. Locally we might use something like that for pre-commercial thinning of plantations. Might only be 6-10" trees, but using the saw all day. If you don't have a lot of trees and forestry in the area, I can quite believe that's the first one your local dealer has seen. Chances are they specialize in garden equipment?

But anyway, you have a good saw 

If you want to blow their minds, go and oder a MS880. They will probably put your picture on the wall  :D

Thanks for the joke! It was really funny! Rhodes doesn't have that many trees anyway. Most people either buy Chinese saws or at most a MS 170. The store I got my saw from sells mostly seeds and fertilizers. The keep something like 5 stihl chainsaws and a couple of trimmers. They stock mostly on echo's and other chinese stuff. I consciously got a professional saw as I wanted something I could rely on and have for many years to come.