Grove Gear Contact

SuperCubDriver · #1 03-25-2015, 04:45 AM

I bought an airfoiled landing gear for my -8 which was supposed to be ready by the end of February. I did e-mail them several times with no reply. Does anyone know they are still online or have they changed their contact details?

izzybear · #2 03-25-2015, 06:40 AM

They haven’t changed their contact info at least in the past few months that I have been dealing with them. The phone number is still 619-562-1268 http://www.groveaircraft.com/ and seems to be the best way to contact them. Gail Austin will probably answer the phone – she will know the status of your order. They had some problems with the heat treater and their testing equipment which slowed everything down. I was supposed to get my gear in mid-January but it finally arrived this week. I think things are back on track now but you can call and find out from Gail (she’s a good one!) BTW – the gear is gorgeous, worth the wait!

mill2978 · #3 03-25-2015, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperCubDriver

I bought an airfoiled landing gear for my -8 which was supposed to be ready by the end of February. I did e-mail them several times with no reply. Does anyone know they are still online or have they changed their contact details?

I spoke to them last week to get on the list for the next run of airfoil gear for my -8. I used the contact info on their webpage, very friendly.

N546RV · #4 03-25-2015, 07:35 PM

I have a pair of the airfoil legs in the current production run as well. When I originally ordered them back in December, they said I'd probably have them in early March. I called again a couple weeks ago to check on the status of the order and the new date I was given was "around the end of the month." Given that Jim just got his pair, presumably from the same production run, I imagine I'll be hearing from them soon to get my final payment and shipping info.

Bottom line, as Jim said, give 'em a call. I've found Gail to be very upfront and helpful.

SuperCubDriver · #5 03-26-2015, 10:55 AM

Thanks all - I did call Gail Austin and she said the gear should be ready mid April. I also got another e-mail address which should work.

SuperCubDriver · #6 07-08-2015, 03:37 PM

Now here is an update for my gear order:
Since my last post I called about 10 times and every time I was given a later delivery date. I paid the balance at the beginnig of May after receiving the invoice. At one day two months ago I was told the gear is there and will probably ship the same evening, but nothing happened. No info, no e-mail, no explanation. Several calls later on 19th June I was told again the gear will ship next Wednesday, 24th June. Again nothing happened. Finally I asked a friend who?s English is better to clarify things. She called on Monday 29th June. The lady at Grove hung up the phone. On the second call she said the gears are presently wrapped and will be shipped. Again nothing happened! My next call was after the holiday on 6th July asking for her boss because I didn?t want to hear any other delivery date. The boss was not available on this day. The next day call he was in a meeting. I said I will call again today which I did and was told he is not at the shop today and tomorow!
I now got a tracking number and hopefully the gears are shipped. I have no confidence that I get what I ordered til I see it in front of me.

I assume that I was pushed back to the next production batch early this year already. I have no problem beeing delayed when there is a reason and when it is communicated. Nothing happened, e-mails were not answered and on the phone I was not told the truth to express it this way. No apology either after so many wrong delivery dates.

This was a very bad experience so far and I don?t know what I did wrong to be treated like this. What if I need any help later or spares?

I still like to talk to Robby to clarify things, so if anybody has his contact details - not the official Grove number - I would be happy to receive it. I really like to know whether he is aware what happened and is standing behind it.

Sorry for the long post.

xblueh2o · #7 07-08-2015, 06:18 PM

I am in essentially the same boat and have received more or less the same response when I contact Grove directly by phone.

ArlingtonRV · #8 07-08-2015, 06:29 PM

I called yesterday about the order I placed in December. I was told that my gear legs are done, they are just waiting for the wheels. I was told my order will ship next week. Since I've been told that since March I'm not holding my breath.

jdearborn · #9 07-08-2015, 09:49 PM

This is worrying. I was planning on buying Grove products for my -8 at Oshkosh. . . maybe not.
Vans standard gear is better than no light weight gear and lost money.
Does anyone have anything good to say about Grove?

N546RV · #10 07-08-2015, 10:45 PM

Based on what I've read about Grove and their reputation, I don't personally have any doubts that I'll get my gear...eventually. I have, however, given up on knowing exactly when they'll get here. I guess it's kind of like the second coming of Christ, no man can know the exact day...

I'm not especially bothered that this production run took far longer than expected, but I'm a little disappointed with the lack of proactive notification of the delay. I never knew there were any major delays in the first place until I read this thread, and since then I've only called a couple times.

The most recent call was last week, when Gail told me that my legs were back from heat treat and would "hopefully" be shipped out that Thursday (the 2nd). I assume that didn't happen, since a) I haven't been sent a tracking number and b) I haven't been asked to pay the balance on the legs. Now I'm a little concerned that they're going to ship at the perfect time to show up while I'm gone for a week for Oshkosh. If that's the case, I hope they contact me first so I can have them ship to my office and not my home.

So yeah, I'm a little disappointed too. I was considering wheels and brakes from Grove as well, but I'm second-guessing that now. It's now been over six months since I ordered the gear, four months since the original "you should have them by" date, three months since the second revised "you should have them by" date.

Again, I don't mind delays. I do mind having to keep asking for updates, only to get what seem to be continually inaccurate estimates.