American Arborist Supplies, Inc.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:  Business owner states from "customer account of events" which did not exist.  When I walked in the door and told them that the chainsaw caught on fire, then proceeded to tell me what I did.  I never confirmed or denied their version of the story because I could not confidently state exactly what happened.  Their visual inspection of the chainsaw was done after I had been looking at it at my house after the fire.  Nothing they saw at the shop had any bearing on how the saw was handled at my home.  However, this did not change their story about the course of events.  Once again, if they were so sure a fire would ensue if I followed a set course of operational procedures, why was that not explained in my demo.  They have never denied that they did not tell me this very important piece of information.  They also failed to address why I was not told about the $27.50 fee to look at the saw.  Obviously, when they have no answers, they simply ignore the problem.  Through their negligence and omissions, I was sent home with a power tool that caught on fire and could have caused tremendous damage or bodily injury.  Who would want to own such a power tool or purchase it from this type of a dealer?
Regards,
[redacted]

February 8, 2018 . Response from retailer:At the time of purchase, customer was provided an Operators Manual with his new chainsaw. Additionally, the retailers employee showed customer the proper start procedure.  Point of purchase start demo is by no means complete training on...

“proper use” of a chainsaw as customer stated in his complaint. That information is covered in more detail in the Operators Manual.Operators Manual page 20 shows the same ?nish to the start procedure demonstrated to customer.  Speci?cally “... Pull the starter handle with your right hand and pull out the starter cord slowly until you feel a resistance (as the starter pawls engage) then pull ?rmly and rapidly until the engine starts ..... .. As the chain brake is still engaged the speed of the engine must be set to idling as soon as possible, this is achieved by quickly disengaging the throttle lock. This prevents unnecessary wear to the clutch, clutch drum and brake band." Emphasis added.From the customers account of events and visual inspection of the chainsaw, we can ascertain the following: Customer started the saw with the chain brake engaged properly. He then neglected to bring the saw back down to an idle (improperly.) Then walked away from the running chainsaw for some period of time, massively improper and extremely dangerous. The wearing of metal parts described as "wearing of clutch, drum and brake band” in the Operators Manual continued for an extended time , continuing to build heat until ?re began. The customer claimed knowledge of chainsaws and stated that he owns others currently. Any saw the customer owned or has used that is of a recent vintage (late 1990's forward) would likely have a chain brake, and a mechanism for setting a higher start speed. Leaving any of these saws running unattended with the chain brake on and the engine running at the higher start speed would cause excessive metal wear and heat build up and likely result in ?re given sufficient time.Also from the customers account, his intent in allowing the saw to run so long unattended was to “get the fuel out of it.” We suggested that removing the ?ller cap and pouring it out of the saw, preferably into an approved container was a much safer approach. A number of operator errors caused very substantial damage to the unit. American Arborist Supplies sees no issue justi?ying replacement by retailer or manufacturer. During evaluation our mechanic did make a phone call to the manufacturer asking if there was anything at all that they could “do for this customer”. The manufacturers response was no.Should you have any questions regading this matter, pleae contact: Dave F[redacted]s at the address or phone number above, or at [redacted]@arborist.com.