William Slaughter

William Slaughter

Well Known Member
Yesterday I discovered a boo-boo on my RV-8QB fuselage as discussed in

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=12409

I'd intended to call Van's tech support today, but couldn't get loose during the appropriate times. When I got home today, I was delighted to find an email from Scott Risan waiting for me, in which he offered to furnish me the new parts to make it right. While I'd certainly felt that I'd be able to get it worked out, I didn't think it would be taken care of before I even had a chance to call it in!
Thanks, Scott.
Thanks, Van's.
You guys are the best.
 
Its good to know

Its good to know that the Van's people actually read this stuff. Talk about a good way to get to know your customer base.....

I think this is a step in the right direction for Vans.

Hope this kind of proactiveness continues!

Barb was also more than helpfull getting me my one missing bag of rivets and a new gasket that was torn when I recieved my wing kit.
 
Shout out to Ken Scott & Ken Krueger

I thought I'd post my recent positive experience with Vans, in case it might help anyone "on the fence" about the company or the kits.

In a burst of stupidity (which will not be described here ;) ) I managed to damage one of my rear spars after it was already part of the wing skeleton. I felt awful and figured I was in for a whole bunch of work.

I emailed Ken Scott, described the problem, and asked for advice from Vans Engineering. He promptly forwarded my situation to Ken Krueger. The next day, Ken emailed me two repair options. Each was described in words and came with a CAD drawing. After a couple more prompt emails, I chose one of the options and made the repair.

Long story short, the spar is fixed (and is stronger than the original) and the repair is undetectable. The effect on me as a builder has been profound - I have gained a lot of confidence through this experience. The process of making a significant repair correctly, including manufacturing my own parts, has shown me that even if I make a "big" mistake, I can fix it.

To anyone who is "on the fence" about building one of these wonderful kits, go for it. The kit is great, and the support network (both online and official from the factory) really makes a difference.
 
Factory Support

Vans Aircraft is really interested in selling a good kit, I have come to know some of the people that work there over the years and for my time with them, I can say to you, you can't go wrong with a Vans Kit.
 
Not all roses...

I recently (within the last two months) ordered an antenna, battery, oil cooler and a couple other parts. Later that day I found I also needed some replacement bolts. I called Van's and asked if they had processed my order yet. The customer service 'sales' lady said they had not. I then asked if I could include in my oder the four bolts I needed, whereupon she said 'No' because she had already sent my order 'up' to be filled. I asked where 'up' was and she said 'up stairs'.

Long story short, she said she could NOT/would NOT go and track down that order and if I needed the bolts she would have to make a NEW order which would be sent in their own packaging and cost an additional $8+ in shipping/handling....

GRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! After spending over $50,000 in this project so far, most from Van's, I was NOT happy with that service and ordered the bolts from Spruce instead. Incidentaly, received an email four days later from Van's that they were sending my order out that day.....which was a record having waited over two weeks for some rivets I ordered earlier in the year....

So they are great kit manufacturers but not perfect quite yet in the CS department...
 
Jetj01 said:
snip...So they are great kit manufacturers but not perfect quite yet in the CS department...
Click to expand...
(didn't catch your name),

In all fairness, whose customer service is perfect? Insert comment here about maybe AC$ not having the most perfect history, either ;). I'm just sayin' is all...no real slam intended...just pointing out that all organizations have workflow process hiccups.

I've always been pretty pleased with the service at Van's. Considering the rate of growth, I'm impressed it's stayed as good as it has.

Best,
Doug
 
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good and bad everywhere

When it comes to customer service, this is really a function of an individual employee. I think most businesses have a mix of people who are really good at it, and those who aren't. With any company, one day you can talk to someone who is friendly, helpful and willing to make any reasonable effort to help you as a customer. The next day you can talk to someone who is bored, tired, cranky, and makes you feel like you're just too much of a bother to them.
Agreed, businesses should try to encourage good customer service and actively discourage poor customer service, but ultimately it's difficult to control and police this, and you will have a mix of good and bad.
I've had mostly very good experiences with the folks at Vans... but also couple of experiences I would not rank as so good.
 
My experiences with Vans have been excellent. All the guys I've talked to in builders' help have been knowledgable, helpful, and patient. The parts shippiing isn't quite as fast as AS, but always well within my "zone of acceptability". Moreover, I continually marvel at the quality of the kits. I'm nearly done with the fuse, my tail kit is log ago done... and my grand total missing parts have been 2 - 7/16" washers, and 2 - #10/32 screws. I couldn't be happier with them. :D

Rupester
9A; fuse almost done
 
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