Stihl GB Reviews 

I bought this strimmer 5 years ago in April 2017.It gets used about 4 times a year.

Since then it has spent more time being repaired than it has doing anything useful in our garden.

A week ago it was fitted with a new cutting head by my local Stihl dealer-the third this year.The previous two could not be removed and had to be cut off by the dealer.

Today I used it for the first time since then.After 5 minutes of use the head which had cost me over £25 a week ago flew off and disappeared into the undergrowth to be seen no more.The drive cable also detached itself from the engine.

I am absolutely fed up with this strimmer.I bought it because I thought Stihl was a good make but I will never ever buy a Stihl product ever again.(I have just bought a chainsaw for which the starting point was anything but Stihl).

The strimmer is going to the tip.

I left a review of the Sthil RT4082 below which had failed after about 20 mins. My dealer gave me a replacement machine which has now failed. Not good at all!

Having moved to a smaller place I have invested in new battery kit, slow to arrive which I understand but loving all of it.

Helpful Customer Service team when I called direct to check what my dealer was telling me.

Stihl 4082 ride on mower, failed within 30 minutes
Been with dealer and stihl for over 6 weeks and still not fixed.
They haven’t even had the decency to replace it as I told the dealer I was rejecting it.
Have had to pay contractors to cut my grass had the Honda equivalent for 10 years and it was still good when I sold it

Number 1 reliable brand in the industry although prices are on the up due to covid & the upcoming recession 🤦‍♂️

After years of buying & using Stihl machines I’ve just had to switch brands due to unreliable supply. Getting hold of new machines is very problematic as is servicing. Now had a ride on mower inoperative for over 5 weeks awaiting parts & that’s after similar experience with chainsaws. Very disappointing & not good for Stihl’s reputation.

I have just taken delivery of a Stilh FSA 45 rechargeable battery powered strimmer (replacing a similar Flymo model) and so far so good. It was easy to assemble (even for somebody as engineeringly challenged as I am), cut well and was fairly quiet to operate. The instruction to soak the plastic blades for 12 to 24 hours before use seems odd - but I did as I was told. The strimmer comes with a small activation key which you take out when the strimmer is being stored or being worked on. This is a sensible safety device - but the key could easily be lost. Stihl should consider providing an 'onboard' storage compartment for the key when the strimmer is not in use.

Bought a MT181 chainsaw direct a month ago and it’s been fantastic, starts in the button and the chains cutting life goes on and on. Highly recommend!

The Shredder - a GE105 model is around 5 years old.
The problem is that it has been used just once a year - for about an hour a time to shred apple tree pruning's. So out of warranty but with rubbish components if they only last for a few hours.
This year, it stopped working and upon opening the feed tube to make sure there were no branches trapped, the rotating chipper blade was difficult and clunky to rotate and could not be turned easily. This suggests a dislodged segment in the motor commutator, which is unfixable - at least by me.

The other Stihl equipment I have has served me well, but this shredder is a real disappointment and I has put me off Stihl products for good.
I could buy a cheap and cheerful piece of kit from Screwfix and not have my expectations ruined when it failed. I could have had 3 of the cheap ones for the price of the Stihl one, so in future I won't be buying this brand.

Customer service, although polite, just said "take it to a dealer". Nope, not worth the bother and/or cost of investigation and repair - if that is indeed possible.

Th old mantra of "buy cheap, buy twice" has something going for it. At least BOSCH offer a fixed price repair and servicing deal on 20 year old equipment.

Edit. See reply below which is unhelpful. The cost of investigation and possible repair is likely to be more than the cost of a cheap replacement. If Stihl want to pick up the bill, I will get it to the place I purchased it from in Louth, Lincs. If not, then the scrap heap would be the best option.

I have owned many Stihl products over the last 30 years, including four chainsaws of various sizes, two hedge cutters, a leaf blower and several brush cutters.
All have been excellent quality, do the job they are intended for efficiently and will last a lifetime if used and maintained correctly.
Initial purchase price is on the high side and some items a little heavier than cheaper competitors, but thats the price of quality plus ongoing availability of spare parts, manuals etc.
I can still get any part I need for my old '029' chainsaw either ordered in store from a dealer like Charlies, or on line from L&S Engineers.
And this old saw is still worth as much as I paid for it...

I bought a Stihl GTA 26 after experiencing problems with a much cheaper Chinese model. However, the following comments explain why I have been very disappointed with this Mini Chain Saw.
1, Its much heavier than the cheaper one, so my Wife cannot use it.
2. The Battery only lasts a very short period. of time.
3. It comes with only only Battery, whilst the Chinese on has two.

The performance is OK but soon runs out.

My MS290 has been with our local dealer for 6 months awaiting parts - it may be a good saw but useless if parts unavailable. Despite regular enquiries to dealer, nothing materialises! Help.

Update
Quick response from Stihl, problem identified with dealer, hopefully have saw back by weekend! Thank you to Stihl customer service for resolving so speedily!

Update
Full marks to Claire in Stihl customer services for facilitating and resolving problem speedily.

I purchased a stilh lawnmower Rm655rs end of March this year, had a major engine fault in August, took it to local dealer for warranty repair, was away for 6 weeks, got it back last week, engine now smoking and keeps throwing the drive belt, took it back yesterday. Not happy will not buy Stilh again.

I purchased a Stihl chainsaw but the chain blunted much quicker than I thought it should. I complained to Customer Services who then starts a long and clearly well rehearsed series of questions: where was it purchased; when was it purchased; more reference details; the Stihl agent you went to get the chain sharpened must be confused, try another (I did and got the same answer); send copy invoices...and so on.
In the end they got the result they wanted - I gave up
So a warning to other customers...expect nothing from Customer Services!

I purchased a HSA 56 Hedgecutter from one of Stihls distributors, F R Jones, which happened to stop working after 30 minutes of its first outing, (this was after a 6 week wait for delivery). When I contacted F R Jones they asked me to return for an inspection, and then told me I had damaged the blade and wanted to charge me for the repair and return carriage. This was after I had cut a hedge with an item sold as a hedgecutter for all of 30 minutes. If that isnt NOT being fit for purpose I dont know what is. I contacted Stihl about this issue who got the distributor to offer to pay for the repair as a 'measure of goodwill', but at that point I was so appalled by the lack of customer service, I refused the repair and asked instead for a full refund which the distributor is refusing and Stihl have not since replied. I am left to go through Citizens advice and look for eventual resolution through the small claims court. The distributor even tried to tell me today that this item was a hedge trimmer and not a hedge cutter and only meant for 'twigs' even though their website lists it as a hedgecutter with all their other hedgecutters. I purchased this item because I thought Stihl had a reliable brand for garden equipment, but after this experience I would never buy from them again and urge everyone else to go elsewhere for a brand that works for longer than 30 minutes and values their customers

I guess poor service starts at the top here. Contacted their MD for Great Britain a few days ago but had no response.

The retailer that I have ordered from has had several (5+) broken promises from Stihl for delivery since May of this year.

If the products weren't so good, I would be pleased to walk away.

Bought a petrol chipper with the intention of then buying the shredder kit. Unfortunately, Stihl still had it on their website even though it was no longer orderable by any of their dealers. Initially poor response from customer service but I kept escalating. Final result was someone trawling every dealer for the last shredder kit in the country which was shipped straight to me by Stihl. Problem should never have happened but the resolution couldn't have been better. People kept their word and contacted me when they said they would.

I bought a Stihl strimmer purely on the strength of the company reputation.
There is no problem with the motor and body, but the new strimmer head and spool are a disaster.
The strimmer came with a C5 Autocut head.
It worked well but was a so and so to fit new line to it.
The new C6 head is completely the opposite - easy to refill with line, once you've negotiated the excruciating instructions and watched the Stihl (USA) YouTube video.
Now, the cutting head lasts a few minutes on grass and wild flowers, before it stops cutting.
Every time, there is no line showing.
Either it has rewound itself, or the Stihl genuine line isn't up to the job.
The unhelpful response from Stihl UK was to go back to the distributor and let them have a look at it.
Drive 26 miles in the middle of a job, for what?
A solution to the problem?
I doubt it.
There have been reports from other users of the same problem which Stihl needs to address.
Personally, I would not recommend anyone buying a strimmer from Stihl if it has this head fitted.
Another example of a company improving something that worked and now doesn't.
Poor customer service from the manufacturer who should be fixing this fault and a feeling that they don't believe you, aren't interested.
I expect if I were a local grass-cutting contractor in the market for a dozen strimmers, it might be different.
They certainly wouldn't put up with this sort of service.

I bought a new GHE 105 shredder, from Oakleys near Shrewsbury, it is supposed to gut a branch 35mm thick, it wouldn’t, its the worst shredder I have ever tried.
I have took it back to the retailer and he wouldn’t refund me, or give me proof that they have the machine back. We only bought it on July 6th and I took it back today on July 6th. I wouldn’t recommend the retailer or the product.

Stihl FSA 56 cordless strimmer.

Some of these tools have a adesign defect, whereby grass gets above the cutting head, which is impossible to clean as it requires the removal of the the head and on this model it’s a workshop job to do this.
The grass slowly builds up and causes resistance on the spindle which in turn causes the aluminium drive cog on the motor to strip the teeth from the plastic/nylon drive cog on the spindle.

Update: A big thank you to Dan at Stihl.

My machine has now been repaired with a modified motor assembly. After confirming that there had been other instances of this problem and a that the new FSA 56 has been modified mine was repaired and upgraded under warranty. It’s worth noting that due to the modifications any recent ones should now be ok.

I have therefore upgraded my rating to three stars. I have not gone for any higher yet as I want to see what the future holds. I don’t know how the motor assembly has been modified or if the modification has done the trick, my concerns are that I might have had more confidence if the head had also been modified to make it easily removable for cleaning.

It should not have been so difficult to get to this point but I am confident that stihl have taken something away from my experience and I thank them for doing so.