beware of "warranty" R&R labor costs

Hi all,

I recently had a $1700 SigmaTek bootstrap gyro installed in our airplane
and figured I'd relate this story.

This gyro exhibited excessive precession since the day it was
installed....in other words, it was defective. I called my avionics
tech and asked him to order a new gyro. No problem. 5 weeks later it
shows up and is installed (they build these things to order because, as
we all know, gyros that sit on the shelf risk bearing problems and
premature failure).

Then I get the bill. What's this? 1.0 hour labor ($75) to R&R the
gyro? I talk to my avionics tech and he says that while SigmaTek covers
the DG itself under warranty, they don't cover R&R labor. WTF? I think
to myself it's one thing if it failed in service at some point, but this
was broken from day 1. Even though SigmaTek tagged this equipment, it's
pretty clear it didn't go through sufficient "burn in" and general QC to
be put in an airplane.

So, I called SigmaTek today and they basically told me "tough...that's
our policy and we're not changing it". They even tried to pat
themselves on the back and say that they went over and beyond the call
by doing a swap with a new unit when refurbishing the original is
"strict policy". When I point out that I paid for a NEW gyro, so I
would naturally expect nothing less than a NEW gyro, they are still not
convinced that this is merely adequate post-sale support.

Since my issue was never with the Avionics shop, I paid their invoice,
but SigmaTek is now on my $hit list. While I positively LOVE their
gyros, I HATE their post-sale support.

Apparently (my avionics tech tells me) this is a common gripe with many
avionics/systems vendors. He said that he had many customer complaints
regarding the JPI engine analyzers, for example, and R&R labor was
getting out of hand, so now in his quotes for those systems he
explicitly states that R&R labor is not covered. I recommended he make
that boilerplate in all quotes so people are not surprised to learn that
they might have to pay for a manufacturer's mistake.

So, I suppose the moral of the story is Caveat Emptor. If you're
getting something installed, be sure to ask about who is responsible for
what if the unit/equipment needs to be taken out of the airplane for
so-called "warranty" service. A gyro is pretty simple to remove, but a
some other system intertwined with the aircraft's innards? Could amount
to BIG bucks.

Safe flying,

-Doug

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Doug Vetter, CFIMEIA

http://www.dvcfi.com
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