Customer service - was direct orders

[Atwood, Mark]

I'd like to say they're not ALL that way... I started flying the Revolution Pro earlier this year from Composite-Arf.  The plane was delivered without issue and the shipping was $89.  

I flew about 35-40 very happy flights on it before it suffered some structural failure in part of the fuselage (it buckled), without crashing the plane.  Contacted them regarding the problem and had a new fuselage (these are all composite planes pre-painted in the mold) sitting on my porch in 4 days, WITH a lengthy apology, explanation of what they felt the manufacturing defect was and how it was being remedied, and equally lengthy instructions on how best to repair the existing fuselage so that I would have a spare.  

These are expensive airplanes...and I think we should expect this kind of customer service.

We have since negotiated a discounted price for an additional set of wings and stabs so that I will have two complete airplanes, one slightly heavier due to the repair.

I guess what I'm saying is I agree with part of what Mike is saying...we need to support those that support us.  Whether they be American or not...good service warrants good patronage.

-Mark




-----Original Message-----
From:	mike mueller [mailto:mups1953 at yahoo.com]
Sent:	Thu 10/2/2003 9:04 AM
To:	discussion at nsrca.org
Cc:	
Subject:	RE: direct orders

 With all the problems and the high costs to ship and buy these planes from Europe you can see why I think more of us should boycott them. If they want to sell us planes then they should make it easier for us to get them in a resonable manner. I'm sticking with the US and Canadian offerings. There are plenty of good planes available here at half the cost. The more we support our guys the more they will make. Mike 

Woodward James R Civ 412 TW/DRP <James.Woodward2 at edwards.af.mil> wrote:Touchy subject: I have just gone through this with PLProd. The Lazulite I
ordered was 4 months late, and missing the nomex landing gear plate, and
wheel pants. The box looked a little dirty, but not overtly damaged. The
fuselage, although not "through-cracked", had about 5 noticeable creases on
the left side. These creases were like depression veins in the gel coat or
something. Basically, this was a kit that I paid full price for, and about
$450 in shipping to get, that I would have never purchased had I been able
to view this fuselage in person. Being that I could not view it in person,
they still felt fine to ship it to me though. 

So, I had to drive 85 miles to one shipping office and pay another $90 in
paperwork, then drive to customs near LAX and spend another $10 in
paperwork, then go to another shipping office where the actual package was.
I gained a new appreciation for what the hobby shops deal with for us in
these matters!!!
Jim W.
PS - they did send the wheel pants afterward. However, the MK packaged
wheel pants are of terrible quality and certainly not ready to paint. The
1/2s of each wheel pant are either not the same size, or off-set during
gluing. The Bolly pants I've seen are 200% better than these MK pants, and
the ZN line pants are definitely better than these MK/PLProd wheel pants. 


-----Original Message-----
From: Koenig, Tom [mailto:Tom.Koenig at actewagl.com.au] 
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 1:57 PM
To: 'discussion at nsrca.org'
Subject: RE: direct orders


Oh dear..this is what I was fearing Troy. I am really quite concerned. I did
contact PL immediately upon opening the box..I took pictures too.

Man this could turn out to be a nightmare!!!!



> ----------
> From: Troy Newman[SMTP:troy_newman at msn.com]
> Reply To: discussion at nsrca.org
> Sent: Thursday, 2 October 2003 6:35
> To: discussion at nsrca.org
> Subject: Re: direct orders
> 
> Tom,
> 
> PL is not the best thru such an event. Their attitude if you have not
> already received it is "you signed for the box" meaning the box was in an
> undamaged state. If the box was damaged why did you sign for it?
> Therefore
> it is up to you and the freight company. The freight company will tell you
> the same and since the box was signed for in an un-damaged state the
> contents should be undamaged as well if packaged properly. This becomes a
> big issue in that the boxes are not packaged very well.
> 
> Here in the USA Central Hobbies repackages the kits and does a pretty good
> job of dealing with the issue. The problem is our planes are
> fragile...especially these French fuses. If not packaged properly the UPS,
> FedEX and so on will break, bust, crush, damage, and puncture anything
> they
> get their hands on.
> 
> 
> This is the great reason to go through the local distributors...I
> understand
> you are in a bad position being there is not a continental distributor for
> you. Perhaps this will advise others of the issues at hand. Good Luck with
> your issue. I hate to say that it doesn't sound good from those who have
> received kits direct here in the USA.
> 
> 
> TN
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Koenig, Tom" 
> To: 
> Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 4:12 PM
> Subject: RE: direct orders
> 
> 
> >
> > How was Pl through out all this Steve?
> >
> > Tom
> >
> > > ----------
> > > From: Patternrules at aol.com[SMTP:Patternrules at aol.com]
> > > Reply To: discussion at nsrca.org
> > > Sent: Thursday, 2 October 2003 5:55
> > > To: discussion at nsrca.org
> > > Subject: Re: direct orders
> > >
> > > I had 2 Smaragd fuses damaged the 3rd one was in great shape I had the
> > > distributor pack as my specs and paid extra to make sure that it would
> > > come in OK and it is a no brainer to deal with freight ins. was my
> > > experience anyway, time getting another fuse will probably be the big
> > > thing.
> > >
> > > Steve Maxwell
> > >
> >
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