A Cautionary Tale to Prospective New Owners

[Schllc]

On 9/6/2023 at 2:21 PM, Yooper Rocketman said:

I run a Heavy Duty Truck Dealership with three different departments providing service work.  I can't fathom a shop tearing down your engine, especially with the parts availability we are dealing with in today's world, and not inspecting every component that might need replacement or repair at the time of the initial tear down?  Finding the need for more parts this late in the game in my business would be a real issue with ME and MY CUSTOMERS. 

 

I would be amazed to find a shop that operated this way, it just doesn’t seem to be common in aviation. I attribute it to the captive element in aircraft maintenance. 

I brought a plane a few years ago to a shop that many on this site believe to be one of the gold standards.
They told me months prior to annual, that they could turn my plane in 3-4 days (they did the prior years annual). I was shocked and questioned them several times all the way up to the day before I left to bring the plane, and reminded them I was planning to stay in town rather than return. 
They assured me they were on it and we were good as planned. 
I landed on Wednesday morning and they told me to leave it at the fbo.
They didn’t even pick up the plane until the following Monday, this was after me visiting the shop twice a day and offering to bring the plane to them and reminding them that I was staying in town and waiting.
Once I realized how this was going to go, it was out of annual so I went home. 
No one returned my multiple phone calls, or emails and about six weeks later I get a text with a 10 second video of an issue with a turbo. No text, no message, nothing, just the video.  
Two days later I finally got a return call saying I needed to overhaul a turbo. 
6 weeks after this I showed up to pickup my plane. 3 months later the annual completed. 

Then once I arrived I t took an entire day of me going back and forth with them about squawks or things not done that were on the list, some which were a direct result of their work, others just not addressed. 
When I asked what happened, and why no one answered phone calls or emails I was told “they didn’t have time for that crap”.  
Once again, having proper expectations is the key.  In spite of this experience, there are certain things could come up and I would still consider using that shop, but now I know what I’m getting into. 
 

[Yooper Rocketman]

On 9/7/2023 at 6:14 PM, Schllc said:

I would be amazed to find a shop that operated this way, it just doesn’t seem to be common in aviation. I attribute it to the captive element in aircraft maintenance. 

I brought a plane a few years ago to a shop that many on this site believe to be one of the gold standards.
They told me months prior to annual, that they could turn my plane in 3-4 days (they did the prior years annual). I was shocked and questioned them several times all the way up to the day before I left to bring the plane, and reminded them I was planning to stay in town rather than return. 
They assured me they were on it and we were good as planned. 
I landed on Wednesday morning and they told me to leave it at the fbo.
They didn’t even pick up the plane until the following Monday, this was after me visiting the shop twice a day and offering to bring the plane to them and reminding them that I was staying in town and waiting.
Once I realized how this was going to go, it was out of annual so I went home. 
No one returned my multiple phone calls, or emails and about six weeks later I get a text with a 10 second video of an issue with a turbo. No text, no message, nothing, just the video.  
Two days later I finally got a return call saying I needed to overhaul a turbo. 
6 weeks after this I showed up to pickup my plane. 3 months later the annual completed. 

Then once I arrived I t took an entire day of me going back and forth with them about squawks or things not done that were on the list, some which were a direct result of their work, others just not addressed. 
When I asked what happened, and why no one answered phone calls or emails I was told “they didn’t have time for that crap”.  
Once again, having proper expectations is the key.  In spite of this experience, there are certain things could come up and I would still consider using that shop, but now I know what I’m getting into. 
 

That's not how Kubick Aviation here at KIMT "normally" works.  I have picked up NUMEROUS pilots after repairs on their planes, flying them back to our airport (at no cost to the owner) and a few ran over on estimated down time.  One particular one was a Mooney owner on this site who's recently posted a picture of his ride in my Lancair Turbine and had the unfortunate untimely luck of serious avionics work scheduled at the time Chad's top avionics installer quit.  I know Chad was personally talking with him and I was following the progress, since I had recommended the shop in the first place.   I've seen Chad fly out at night and weekends taking care of good customers that are AOG at their home base.  Just looking at the distance some aircraft owners fly from to get service here indicates exactly what I see.  His shop does good work, treats the customer well, keeps them in the communication loop, and they exercise good judgement in reviewing all work required to solicit parts procurement to keep down time minimized.  Our own @aviatoreb , on a cross country stopping for an overnight at my home, arrived just before closing time on a Friday afternoon with an A/P problem.  I asked them if they could squeeze him in and they kept a tech late until he arrived, and it was fixed before that tech left for the weekend!  They also opened their parts room on Saturday morning so I could get a tube to fix a flat Erik had the next day.  They would have called in a tech if I had not been available to repair it for him (or shall I say "assist with the owner approved maintenance"). 

Sorry to hear stories about some of these shops.  There are good ones out there.

Tom

 

[Schllc]

1 hour ago, Yooper Rocketman said:

Sorry to hear stories about some of these shops.  There are good ones out there.

 

There are good shops out there. They seem to be more the exception than the rule. 
And to be clear, I am not speaking to the mechanical/expertise ability of the shops I have experienced.
I am speaking mostly to the customer service, communication and scheduling aspects. I’m convinced it’s how the whole industry is regulated. Once you are down at a shop, your options are extremely limited. Whether the business chooses to exploit this or not, it influences their decisions. It’s inevitable. 
I was told my Aerostar needed 4 months for the avionics and misc work I wanted done , and it’s been there going on 13 months. The two shops involved just don’t care, but it’s not like I can do anything about it but wait.  Finally supposed to get it next weekend, but it can be incredibly frustrating. 
fortunately I still have my Mooney to fly so I am very grateful to have the options, had I been grounded this whole time I probably would have crossed the line to anger from frustration 

[hubcap]

I give the folks that take care of the maintenance on Myrtle 5 BIG STARS. I have absolutely zero complaints.
 

The folks that did my avionics have zero customer service and I will not recommend them to anyone. It seems they don’t expect any repeat business from you so they don’t have to make you happy. They have your plane, it’s not like you can take it somewhere else when’s it’s laying in pieces on their hangar floor.

[Schllc]

2 hours ago, hubcap said:

The folks that did my avionics have zero customer service and I will not recommend them to anyone. It seems they don’t expect any repeat business from you so they don’t have to make you happy. They have your plane, it’s not like you can take it somewhere else when’s it’s laying in pieces on their hangar floor.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  

this exactly

[aviatoreb]

7 hours ago, Yooper Rocketman said:

That's not how Kubick Aviation here at KIMT "normally" works.  I have picked up NUMEROUS pilots after repairs on their planes, flying them back to our airport (at no cost to the owner) and a few ran over on estimated down time.  One particular one was a Mooney owner on this site who's recently posted a picture of his ride in my Lancair Turbine and had the unfortunate untimely luck of serious avionics work scheduled at the time Chad's top avionics installer quit.  I know Chad was personally talking with him and I was following the progress, since I had recommended the shop in the first place.   I've seen Chad fly out at night and weekends taking care of good customers that are AOG at their home base.  Just looking at the distance some aircraft owners fly from to get service here indicates exactly what I see.  His shop does good work, treats the customer well, keeps them in the communication loop, and they exercise good judgement in reviewing all work required to solicit parts procurement to keep down time minimized.  Our own @aviatoreb , on a cross country stopping for an overnight at my home, arrived just before closing time on a Friday afternoon with an A/P problem.  I asked them if they could squeeze him in and they kept a tech late until he arrived, and it was fixed before that tech left for the weekend!  They also opened their parts room on Saturday morning so I could get a tube to fix a flat Erik had the next day.  They would have called in a tech if I had not been available to repair it for him (or shall I say "assist with the owner approved maintenance"). 

Sorry to hear stories about some of these shops.  There are good ones out there.

Tom

 

I will echo what Tom said - I was sooooooooo impressed with the kind service and community of his team - which the shop really makes the pilot experience a team experience - and the speed with which they diagnosed and fixed my autopilot and on a Friday just at closing time....was stunning to say the least.  Having a flat the next morning to add to that - was not just a non event with all the help - but really made merry able experience of kind help at your airport.

[Pinecone]

OTOH, my avionics shop has great customer service, and they have not done my install yet.  I had a problem with the EA-100 in my plane (converts Aspent to KAP-150.  When I called, he said he had a used one he took in trade.  Then he said, well, yours in coming out in a few months, so I will just LEND you this one.  When I went to have it swapped out, he could not find the used one, so he LENT me a new one.

I use two shops.  The one at my home field and Byron (JetDriven here on MS).  Both are pretty good about communicating and with overall customer service.

[William Munney]

Oh boy.  Bad timing for me on this thread.  Just made an offer on an Ovation.  Sheesh.