Complain about a product or service

STIHL Blowers

Charles of Rockaway, NJ January 6, 2010

Attached are photos of my Stihl SH 85 vacuum/blower illustrating how dangerous it has become to use. The large diameter vacuum suction tube falls off frequently because the guide ways on the tube and the mounting lugs on the machine have worn down within a year. It is now dangerous to use because there is no safety shut off when the tube and the intake screen falls off also within seconds of each other. Leaving the operator is exposed to the uncovered spinning blades.

I have always bought Stihl equipment assuming I was purchasing quality equipment. However this particular tool is so bad that my local dealer is no longer selling it. In fact he has elected to only sell the Stihl chainsaws.

My local dealer repaired this problem under warranty. However the problem has recurred again, as soon as the warranty ended. I feel that that Stihl is obligated to repair it again because the problem occurred during the warranty and continues to reoccur. Especially because the nature of the malfunction is a safety hazard, exposing the operator to spinning metal blades.

The user is exposed to the blades because both the suction tube and intake screen fall off simultaneously. The two aforementioned parts seem to fall off because the plastic material that the machine body wears quickly and the mounting castings wear away and can no longer hold the aforementioned parts onto the machine.

Neither the local dealer nor Stihl USA has responded to my several requests over the last 4 months to review the hazards in operating this particular equipment model. However they have been notified prior to this correspondence of the dangerous malfunctioning of the Stihl SH 85 vacuum/blower that has been sold to me as new equipment. The equipment cost $267.50

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