There might some local state regs but nothing where I live and in most areas I am familiar with.
Now that doesn’t mean that consumers roll over and take it. They often do as this gentlemen is doing and negotiate it as well as tell everyone they know about what they perceive as unethical or poor treatment. I would also be the first to acknowledge we are hearing one side of the story, but failure to communicate is a huge problem regardless of other issues here. No excuse for that.
In the age of the internet that is quite a club. This is a good example.
I have never had any luck there either.
First issue was water in pitot static system during rainy CPPP. No help available. You would think staff would be on site for CPPP weekend. Other shop on the field called a tech in on a Sunday to help me out. Great service. But wasted CPPP event for me chasing down help.
A couple if weeks ago was in Knoxville again. Had O2 leak on recently recertified O2 tank install. Was told it could take days to figure it out. Continued flight to Naples FL, and had left main blow on landing. Emergency crew had us off the runway in no time. Fantastic crew. This was Friday at 5 and we were there for a week anyway. Non Cirrus Certified Shop had tire fixed and O2 leak found and repaired in couple hours Monday morning. Factory SC should be the go to shop in Knoxville but not for me unfortunately. Hopefully that changes.
I did reach out to Cirrus about this. They provided me some info. I don’t think we need to use the forum as a Private party to manufacturer/ vendor commerce resolution platform. Not because I don’t want to help you. I do.
It was my understanding that the end of your list was not the end of the story.
I was informed that the invoice was adjusted to the amount reflected on the estimate. Was I told that in error?
I don’t want to get too deep here but, again, I was told by a fairly senior person at Cirrus that the narrative does not end at an invoice 174% above the original invoice. Do you maintain that he is incorrect in that understanding?
I will be he first to tell you that I think the Knoxville Service center has some real challenges and can’t possibly be where the company wants it to be.
I am getting some mixed signals. Perhaps, if we take this offline and talk one on one, we can get you and Cirrus management together for a positive outcome.
At the end of the day we want you to be a happy Cirrus pilot. We wouldn’t mind if you joined us as a member too. It’s a great group.
That was prolly Jonathan over at Horizon. He’s a stand-up guy and did the pucks on my SR20 back in the day.
I toured the new Cirrus Service Center at KTYS a couple years ago as they were just opening up. I had a great time chatting with everybody and thought the facilities were gorgeous. It never occurred to me to take my (at the time) geriatric G1 SR22 over to them though cuz I just felt like she wouldn’t fit in(maybe I’m also too cheap). Seems that their staff is really great at managing the basically brand new aircraft that come thru the doors all the time. I got the feeling that the point of this SC was basically to do their own in house work and not try and maintain every SR2X within a 200 mi range.
Their are so many great shops around that specialize in keeping your Cirrus going well into it’s prime and beyond. I think Jim Barker has one of the best reputations around. I used to take my G1 over to see Doug in Greeneville (RIP). Plenty of good shops around to work on your Cirrus that don’t bother to carry the service center logo out front too.
Trip is an amazing guy for stepping in to help out a new member and fellow MS boy.
Thanks for the efforts to help. I can understand hearing a different message, as there is a fundamental difference in our views that is unlikely to be resolved, and they are understandably trying to protect their reputation.
The fundamental difference is that I believe the issues are much more serious than they do. Unfortunately, it appears that a multi-month delay due to a factory defect, returning an aircraft to service in an unairworthy condition putting people at risk for over a year due to an admitted error on their part, and requiring a customer to pay double what was approved to take delivery of the aircraft is viewed as an acceptable way to do business for them. They have offered a ~15% discount on the next event; I believe a 15% discount and the general manner in which they have handled this does not communicate that they see these as major issues. The fact that nothing at all was offered until I communicated that I was not happy with the circumstances is noteworthy as well.
I have been in regular contact with Cirrus and, as a Cirrus owner, will likely continue to be. However, based on my discussions with them, I do not believe this will end with Cirrus taking the action necessary to show that they recognize the seriousness of the errors and that they really care about their customers. The people I have worked with in Knoxville are good people, and I appreciate the individual efforts to get this resolved. It’s time to move on and let this be what it is–a testament to how much Cirrus values their customers.
Thanks to the COPA group for all the responses! I have been able to connect with many Cirrus owners through this and really appreciate the community. As a paying COPA member, I plan to be more involved in the group moving forward and am happy to help if anyone needs anything I can help with in the Houston area.
Hey, Peter I saw you mentioned Doug at GMU in your post so I thought I would let you know I have that service center now and I also hired Dougs mechanic with a lot of experience on Cirrus. Stop by and check us out. I just became CAPS certified and the lead time on parts for that are 6 weeks and over a holiday I can see it taking longer?
+1 for John Pruden (PF Flyers) at KGMU. I stopped there in mid-February with a tire issue. They were very responsive and did a nice job. Even kept my plane in the maintenance hangar for a couple nights while a snow storm (yes, snow in Greenville) blew through. They are a CSC and avionics shop.
Thanks so much for posting. I’ve been considering this service center for a Caps repack, annual and new paint job for my 2010 SR 22. This will give me some information to consider. Not likely to use them.