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STH0201
MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION
October 2012
STIHL MD issues warning on fakes
The MD of STIHL SA, Hayden Hutton, has personally cautionedall South Africans, especially those in the Gauteng region, to beware of criminals posing as STIHL employees and selling counterfeit STIHL products.
A spate of e-mail reports from Gauteng residents in recent days havetoldsimilar stories: a middle-aged man, posing as a STIHL director from Germany, hasapproached motorists and offered to sell them “STIHL”-branded chainsaws from the back of his car.
One of the near-victims managed to take a photograph of these chainsaws – and STIHL SA has identified them as counterfeit goods.
“Counterfeit chainsaws resemble original STIHL products, particularly because of their orange and light-grey colour scheme, and sometimes even carry forged ‘STIHL’ brand labels and STIHL model designations,” Hutton says.
“People can be sure that no genuine STIHL employee will ever sell our chainsaws from the back of a vehicle on the side of the road. That is simply not the way we do business,” Hutton said.
He added – as a general warning – that unrealistically low prices are almost always an indication of forged, poor-quality, high-risk power products.
STIHL sells its world-renowned products exclusively through specialist dealers, guaranteeing authenticity, technical service and advice. Customers can be absolutely certain they receive 100% STIHL quality and not cheap copies.
Counterfeit, inferior quality chainsaws are a worldwide problem, even in first-world countries. In England, counterfeit chainsaw hawkers have been arrested, while the German CID has also been pursuing the matter.
STIHL’s network of authorised dealers stretches throughout South Africa. Genuine STIHL products come standard with a world-class and dedicated backup service from these dealers. A full list of these authorised dealers is available on the STIHL website,
Caption for photograph: (STIHL fake 013)
Counterfeit chainsaws can resemble original STIHL products, with their orange and light-grey colour scheme, and sometimes even carry forged ‘STIHL’ brand labels and STIHL model designations, but the genuineSTIHL product (below in photograph) will only ever be sold at authorised STIHL dealers.
Issued on behalf of:For further info please contact:
Stihl South AfricaBrooke Browde Communications
Contact: Priscilla SavilleContact: Alan Browde
Tel: 033 846 3839Tel: (011) 485.5800
E.Mail: :
Website: