Aircraft Spruce or RC Allen-Who's at fault?

[cathead]

I ordered a "new" not overhauled RC Allen model 22-11F horizon on 06/29/2015 from Aircraft Spruce. It is warranted for 1 year supposedly. This past Monday on a flight it started showing a turn in level flight. It had worked prior to this flight. I talked to Aircraft Spruce and they say it's not their problem. They say I must go through RC Allen even though Aircraft Spruce sold the item to me. RC Allen or now Kelly says I have to send it in. I'll be responsible for paying an A/P to take it out and reinstall it. I'll have to pay the shipping charges and miss my scheduled flight this Monday. They will not send me a new one to install when this one is taken out and then send the defective one back to them. I think Aircraft Spruce should stand behind what their selling and send me a new one then deal with RC Allen for making crappy stuff. Who's at fault here?

[ELT]

RC Allen makes some crappy stuff.  8 years ago I ordered a 2 inch RCA Turn&Bank from Spruce ($1400).  It worked 13 months.  No offer of adjustment from Spruce or RCA. I Replaced it with electric horizon with ball.

 

Good luck

[KSMooniac]

It isn't on Spruce...and I doubt you'll ever find someone to give you a loaner unless you have a good relationship with a local avionics/instrument shop that might have something on the shelf.  Good luck getting it repaired quickly... just another joy of aircraft ownership.

[PTK]

Aircraft Spruce is not the manufacturer and not responsible for warranty claims on a used item!

Even if Kelly replaces this under warranty you are responsible for removal and reinstallation. They need to inspect it and decide if it's covered under warranty and if they repair or replace. They are not just going to send you out another one based on what you say.

 

[Piloto]

16 minutes ago, KSMooniac said:

It isn't on Spruce...and I doubt you'll ever find someone to give you a loaner unless you have a good relationship with a local avionics/instrument shop that might have something on the shelf.  Good luck getting it repaired quickly... just another joy of aircraft ownership.

100% agree with you. Best is to deal directly with the manufacturer. Some shops may provide a loaner after they got your credit card.

[steingar]

Mid Continent did me right.  My AH crapped out after a couple hundred hours in service.  They took it back and shipped mea new one on their nickel.  I pulled the old one out myself under the supervision of an A&P, wasn't what I'd call hard.  Put the new one in too.

[Mooneymite]

I have a friend who had the RC ALLEN gyros in his experimental.  The AI failed after about a year and a half of ownership.  RC Allen's response was, "out of warranty, it will cost you your first born son to repair".  To be fair, it was out of warranty, but the repair charge did not reflect any responsibility by the manufacturer for building a rotten product.

My buddy sold both the AI and DG "as is", at a great loss, but doesn't regret getting away from that manufacturer.

Caveat Emptor.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Mooneymite

[Hector]

My backup AI is an RC ALLEN (electric). 5 years running with no problems to date. Maybe just lucky....

[LANCECASPER]

New products like the Sandia Quattro and the L-3 Genesis will hopefully steer people away from RC Allen. I've never had luck with their products unless you count bad luck.

[Seth]

You may want to check with Alan and see if he has a spare used AH he can quickly sell and send to you so you can have it installed for your upcoming flight.

[N601RX]

Gyro manufactures also put a shelf life on new units, often as short as 6 months unless they are unpacked, ran for 30 minutes and then test every 6 months. 

[carusoam]

Step one:  Get 1965 M20C

Step two: Enjoy....

The AH and all it's instruments ran for many decades.  I sent things in for service and they came back fine...

The RPM gauge had a bad cable.  The MP gauge had a broken aluminum tube connected to the back. The TnB always made 'normal' noise at shut-down...  What is really wrong with your AH?

Stuff wears out.  Or gets dirty. Or ...?

Back to problem solving...   You bought a device that is old enough to be out of warranty.  Try being nice when talking with the people at the instrument house.  They may help you out.  If you go ballistic too soon.  You will probably get shut out.

There are a few vendors of equipment that have reached the wall of shame... Champion spark plugs, Narco radios, and a couple others...

Good luck, you have the right to be angry.  But being angry probably won't get what you want.

Best regards,

-a-

[Mooneymite]

8 hours ago, carusoam said:

Back to problem solving...   You bought a device that is old enough to be out of warranty.  Try being nice when talking with the people at the instrument house.  They may help you out.  If you go ballistic too soon.  You will probably get shut out.

This is great advice for all of us.  Years ago I had a neighbor who was an S Tec field service rep.  This fellow had the final say in what S Tec would do when things broke.  Over beer he would tell me stories of how hard some customers would work at pissing off the only guy who could help them.

S Tec really did want to step up and do the right thing, but certain customers would make the process unpleasant from the first contact.  Needless to say, the outcome was predictable.  

[mike_elliott]

12 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

New products like the Sandia Quattro and the L-3 Genesis will hopefully steer people away from RC Allen. I've never had luck with their products unless you count bad luck.

The guys at RC Allen booth at SNF eluded to they were the devils behind the fabled vaporware KI300 when I spoke with them.

[LANCECASPER]

1 hour ago, mike_elliott said:

The guys at RC Allen booth at SNF eluded to they were the devils behind the fabled vaporware KI300 when I spoke with them.

That makes sense. Aspen had to finish up the certification of the KSN770. Trig makes the KT-74 transponder. I think Freeflight does their ads-b boxes. They must not be doing anything in-house for piston general aviation if RC Allen is doing the KI300.

[Yetti]

It's kind of amazing that a $150.00 tablet can run a program that does a better job at it's task then Bendix King can deliver to the market place.