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Anyone Else’s Oil Analysis Lost in the Mail?

Lt Dan

Well Known Member
Unfortunately, it’s been about two months now and my last oil analysis with Avlab has still not been received.

Anyone else experience such a problem lately?

I’ve been somewhat satisfied with Avlab but honestly my recent experiences with them have caused me to wonder if Blackstone is the superior company. Next engine I’m going to start with Blackstone and stick with them.
 
no, never lost one yet, despite international shipping... Maybe your probe wasn't lost by AvLab?
And one reason I always keep the canister with the drained oil until I get that report ;)

Been quite happy with AvLab for a few years now, and will continue to use them. On the other hand Blackstone analyses for more contaminants (whatever good it serves), and gives "personalised" debrief :cool:
 
USPS is quite slow since Covid and other things happened in the US.

The oil sample from Europe to BlackStone takes 3-5 weeks.

Parts from the US to Europe takes up to 15 weeks!

Keep on waiting ...
 
Lost mine also

I had one to Blackstone about a year ago that got lost. Mind you it is only about 90 miles north of my location and it still got lost. I filed a report and everything. No joy! Someone from USPS finally did call me and said your SOL! Now I have been insuring them for various amounts so next time they loose one I can cash in? LOL!
 
Blackstone makes note that the post office occasionally has some employees that believe, wrongly, that used oil is hazardous material and therefore can't be sent though the mail. You may drop your sample in the box or hand it to the counter clerk, but that doesn't mean that some handler further down the line might not see the Blackstone address and believe that it's hazardous material and just pitch it.

That, on top of the USPS well-known reliability problems, made worse by the pandemic. Based on the number of orders I've ended up cancelling from Amazon lately for USPS delays, I'd say that's a bigger problem than ever.
 
I sent one off to Blackstone last year that was “misplaced” by someone somewhere. I usually send every other one. No report so I sent in the very next one. Received the report for THAT one. Then a month later received the report for the “lost” one. Just messed with my sequencing. Don’t know who misplaced the first one. Keep on flying.
 
I sent two at the same time last year. One arrived in 2 days. The other was written off after a month or two, but eventually arrived.
 
I've used Blackstone for maybe 7 years, without major issues. I think once I hadn't gotten a report and emailed them and they emailed me one to print out.
 
My last oil analysis with Avlab was never mailed but they claimed to have emailed me my results when I called them. You might check your email junk folder or just call them. They will email you another results response.
 
USPS lost mine 2 years ago. Never heard back

Happened to me twice in recent years. Have since sold the plane so I've quit worrying about it. But I will be concerned for the future oil samoples in the -10 going forward.

I don't imagine an oil analysis on the break-in oil is particularly helpful as I'd expect to see a lot in there the first few hours.
 
save an extra sample

I had the USPS lose one of my Blackstone samples. It wasn't Blackstone that lost it. It was the USPS. Now I pull two oil samples when I change the oil. As soon as I get back my analysis, I clean out the "extra" sample from the same Blackstone sample container and use it again on the next oil change. It's not hard to take two samples so why not? You have too much invested in your engine not to take this simple precaution so you don't "skip" an oil analysis.

I hope this helps.

Jeff
 
Oil Found after Phone Call

Sure enough, after I called them (second phone call) they called me back yesterday and found it. About two months late. They blamed FedEx but this is the second time this has happened to me, the first was before the pandemic.
 
Not lost, but painfully slow

My last two oil samples sent to Avlab have taken multiple weeks for results. Don’t know if I can blame them or USPS, but I’m leaning towards using a different vendor in the future.
 
My Avlab experiences

At my day job, I use Avlab for the big jets. Our company probably does 30 samples per month on the average. I receive all my results via their website , and recently we had some "missed" returns, which can be very expensive to do repeat samples (requires engine runs). After spending some time on the phone with their very helpful support staff, all results were found (I didn't need to re-sample the jet), but had been delivered to historical E-mails/recipients that are tied to a mailing list. I'm sure they have zillions to send out daily since they do every imaginable aircraft type short of spacecraft. While I don't use them for my RV, I will be starting to do so, and expect I can search their result data base at anytime via my user name and engine serial number...Is this how you guys are doing it?, or do you wait for an Email from them?
 
While I don't use them for my RV, I will be starting to do so, and expect I can search their result data base at anytime via my user name and engine serial number...Is this how you guys are doing it?, or do you wait for an Email from them?

Yes. Thats how I check between samples for previous data, or in this case while I’m anxiously waiting to hear back from them. But they do usually email you when a sample is analyzed.
 
I sent in my latest sample to Blackstone on the 23rd (just under two weeks ago), and got my results today. I like the idea of taking two samples in case the first one is lost. Easy and free. I’m going to do that next time, even though Blackstone has never not given me my results in a timely fashion. You never know about USPS though.
 
I purchased my kit from the local FBO Mx shop. I never received the results. When I finally went to the MX shop to find out what could have happened, they found the results there. The results were sent to the FBO, and the FBO never informed me they had them.
 
Just to add my data point....I think Blackstone is very good and very responsive. I did have a problem with not getting my last oil,report, but when I emailed them about it, they said they never received it. I filed a claim with my post office and they,,of course, had no answer. I considered the sample lost and gone. About a month later, I got a call from the post office that they had found my shipment and had forwarded it to the destination. Got my oil report analysis soon after that.
Someone else mentioned that some post office employee might be the stumbling block and I think they are correct.
 
Both the previous owner and I have used AvLab for over a decade, and I used them with my previous RV. I like the service and the online portal. My problem this time is shipping. Using the prepaid box, I shipped it from Brandon, Mississippi to Kenner, Louisiana on April 5. Normally I receive an email pretty quickly with the results. However, today I called them and they did not have the sample yet. Using the tracking from the post office I determined that it took 10 days to travel from Brandon to the FedEx location in Pearl, the next town over. Then it took seven days to get from FedEx location in Pearl to the FedEx location in Memphis. Supposedly it is to be delivered tomorrow, Friday, April 23. The next time I change the oil, I think I will take the sample and fly it to Kenner myself and drop it in the post office at Kenner. Maybe they could deliver it within a couple of weeks.

I believe some of the previous posters have a good ideas about always taking two samples and then ensuring it for a whole lot of money. Probably a better payoff then playing the lottery.
 
My first sample to Blackstone took an exceptionally long time to get there! I just sent another so we will see if it is the same this time.
 
Stalled somewhere in the USPS

I tracked my most recent sample today (Blackstone) and it has been stalled at the same USPS hub for 3+ weeks.
 
I've used Blackstone for a long time. Their most recent sample containers have a pre-paid postage label and you can supposedly just drop them in the mail. I'm always concerned that the small and obvious package would be too easy to lose so I spend a few extra dollars and send it in a larger cardboard box. I've never had any lost. Really happy with Blackstone.
 
I tracked my most recent sample today (Blackstone) and it has been stalled at the same USPS hub for 3+ weeks.

My guess would be that someone at that post office thinks that used oil is hazardous waste, therefore can't be sent through the mail.
 
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