Stihl GB Reviews 

The battery life on this powertool renders it as good as useless. I was looking for a mini chainsaw to cut up firewood, nothing too taxing, but something that would save my shoulders from sawing by hand. The Stihl GTA 26 seemed to tick all the boxes. Granted, this is a solid, well made piece of kit but it is entirely let down by its battery life. What is the point in producing anything in this day and age with a 10 minute battery life? I get about four cuts in, five if I'm lucky, then the thing dies and it takes an hour to recharge, minimum. After looking into this I discovered that the battery life has been called out by lots of customers although rarely mentioned in reviews. I'm at a loss how a supposedly reputable brand can sell something so unfit for purpose. It's a ripoff, basically.
Edit: 1749 BST 24.10.22. I decided to be a bit more scientific with this and set a stopwatch. This time the saw managed 11 cuts of extremely rotten scaffold board. The battery lasted for a staggering ...
6 minutes and 26 seconds (this includes the time it took for me to shift the wood into position after each cut so the actual operating time is even lower). This is with a fully oiled chain as Stihl recommends prior to each and every use.

Invested in a HLA86 cordless long handled hedge trimmer in August last year along with the associated battery charger and batteries. Considerable cost. These trimmers are sold as robust commercial use trimmers. Despite being meticulously looked after they failed to operate whilst cutting my hedge just short of a year after purchase. Under the terms of the warranty I handed them into my local Stihl dealer for repair. Despite their best efforts (5 separate attempts to locate and fix the fault) they haven’t identified or rectified the fault. Now they have been shipped to Stihl technical HQ for them to examine. That’s now 7 weeks and counting I have been deprived of my machine during the very period I had bought them for. I understand the need to determine what the fault is but surely after such a protracted period of time and an apparent inability to fix it a replacement machine fit for purpose should be a priority for the customer?
Absolutely disgusted and angry!

I was originally pleased with Stihl's new electric strimmers for environmental reasons plus the FSA 57 is light, quiet and easy to use.
Unfortunately the trouble started after only one year of occasional use in dry conditions on my allotment when it cut out and would not restart; it wasn't the battery. The local Stihl dealer and repair shop, said the circuit board was corroded so I must have been storing / using it in damp conditions, and this apparently invalidated the two year warranty. It had been kept in a dry shed.
I took this up with Stihl UK but they were insistent that they didn't believe me and wouldn't honour the guarantee even though I complained that this product is actually designed and sold for garden use so should be able to withstand some wet conditions including being kept in an outdoor garden shed!
Under no circumstances spend £200 on such a feeble item produced by Stihl as the guarantee isn't worth the paper it's written on.

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.