How did Stihlโs GTA 26 12V Garden Pruner give rise to the yearโs biggest scam? Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and in Stihlโs case, their must-have miniature chainsaw gave people ideas that have lacked integrity.ย
If youโre not familiar with the Stihl GTA 26 Garden Pruner, itโs a 4-inch battery-powered chainsaw thatโs incredibly handy. When your hedge trimmer or pruners canโt cut it, and a chainsaw is inconvenient, this little chain pruner is a great tool to have on hand.
Unfortunately, the design is so enticing, and it has been so hard to find them in stock, that knock-off versions and some questionable advertisements have been luring people into various scams.
What the Stihl Garden Pruner Scams Look Like
One of the most popular ones takes you to a page that looks legit and seems to offer the pruner at a crazy-good price of $20 to $50. But when you order, you wait weeks or even months to find out that itโs a cheap knock-off. It looks the same, and itโs even the same color scheme. Itโs just not a Stihl and is much lower quality.ย
Another one makes it look like youโre ordering the saw from start to finish, but if you miss the fine print, you miss that youโre only ordering a chain.ย
A couple of other folks reported to us that they ordered one of theseโor thought they didโand then received a hand sawโnot a power tool, and definitely not a Stihl.ย
Folks left comments that they arenโt getting responses to email inquiriesโand, in some cases, the website they ordered from has shut down.ย
And the problem goes far beyond this product. Websites keep popping up with kayaks, knives, computers, and more with super-low prices and a short timeframe that make it very tempting.ย
What Should We Take Away From This?
If it looks a little sus, trust your instinctsโdeals that are too good to be true usually are. And if youโre not sure, ask someone else to take a look at it with you before pulling out your credit card.ย
When it comes to Stihl specifically, they are a 100% dealer network company, and you can only buy authorized Stihl tools from one of those dealers. If youโre interested in the GTA 26, start at the StihlUSA website, where you can visit their dealer page to find somebody who sells Stihlโfor realโin your area.
We hope this helps clear up some of the confusion thatโs out there. If you have any feedback or questions for us, leave them in the comments below, and as always, thanks for reading!
After this, check out our best garden hose recommendations next!
