Robinson service and sense of responsibility - or lack of it
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Robinson service and sense of responsibility - or lack of it
Been flying R44's commercially for 13 years, some 2.800 hours. Been quiet fun with them ... until now.
Current R44 got new main rotorblades, but after just 34 hours a lot of the yellow or black paint peeled off in big chunks especially the last hour.
Robinson contacted, they are very sorry for the poor paintjob they had done and they are willing to pay for a local painter in Denmark to repaint them.
Then they backtracked when they got the price for the repaint job, and also did not want to guarantee the paintjob if they do not do it themselves.
So now I've got a R44 AOG for additional 3 weeks (4-5 in total), if we are lucky instead of just 1-2 weeks AOG. Thanks Robinson, great service (not really) ...
If they don't want to guarantee a local repaint job for blades they have done a piss-poor job on, they should send us new blades instead of letting the customer wait several weeks for a repaint. They made the faulty blades, not their customer.
This lack of service and lack of responsibility of ones own faults really pisses me off ... if I treated my customers this way, I wouldn't have any very soon.
And we are apparently not the first case. Another Danish R44 had both its paint and primer paint peeling off back in 2017 after just some 30 hours, again Robinson did not want to guarantee a local repaint despite done through a Robinson approved maintenance facility.
Robinson: This is NOT ok especially for a commercial operator that relies on their helicopter(s) !!
Current R44 got new main rotorblades, but after just 34 hours a lot of the yellow or black paint peeled off in big chunks especially the last hour.
Robinson contacted, they are very sorry for the poor paintjob they had done and they are willing to pay for a local painter in Denmark to repaint them.
Then they backtracked when they got the price for the repaint job, and also did not want to guarantee the paintjob if they do not do it themselves.
So now I've got a R44 AOG for additional 3 weeks (4-5 in total), if we are lucky instead of just 1-2 weeks AOG. Thanks Robinson, great service (not really) ...
If they don't want to guarantee a local repaint job for blades they have done a piss-poor job on, they should send us new blades instead of letting the customer wait several weeks for a repaint. They made the faulty blades, not their customer.
This lack of service and lack of responsibility of ones own faults really pisses me off ... if I treated my customers this way, I wouldn't have any very soon.
And we are apparently not the first case. Another Danish R44 had both its paint and primer paint peeling off back in 2017 after just some 30 hours, again Robinson did not want to guarantee a local repaint despite done through a Robinson approved maintenance facility.
Robinson: This is NOT ok especially for a commercial operator that relies on their helicopter(s) !!
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I don't say there is a Danish link. But I can only speak to what I know of, that is the Danish market. If others around the world have experienced similarly, I wouldn't know unless they speak up ..
Consumer law for products with major defects occurring early in a warranty period ordinarily requires product replacement. They should ship you a new set of blades, and pay shipping on the return of your defective blades.
It's not simply that products fail, it's the manufacturer's response when they do that really counts. That paint problem is clearly unacceptable, but maybe it's the paint that's bad, not Robinson.
But that makes no difference to how the customer should be treated. If a customer needs to rely on consumer law to force a manufacturer to do what's right, that manufacturer has lost the plot.
As it is, their response as described is suicidal. Are they determined to lose business? Their product isn't so unique, or desirable, or cheap that they can afford to behave like that.
A replacement set of blades should have been shipped within hours, no ifs, no buts. It's an AOG situation in a commercial operation, isn't it? Plus a proper, urgent, technical investigation into why the paint stripped off like that, with an identified remedial action plan. Just repainting with the same paint/primer/process, in a local approved shop or by the manufacturer, does not cut the mustard.
But that makes no difference to how the customer should be treated. If a customer needs to rely on consumer law to force a manufacturer to do what's right, that manufacturer has lost the plot.
As it is, their response as described is suicidal. Are they determined to lose business? Their product isn't so unique, or desirable, or cheap that they can afford to behave like that.
A replacement set of blades should have been shipped within hours, no ifs, no buts. It's an AOG situation in a commercial operation, isn't it? Plus a proper, urgent, technical investigation into why the paint stripped off like that, with an identified remedial action plan. Just repainting with the same paint/primer/process, in a local approved shop or by the manufacturer, does not cut the mustard.
Last edited by old,not bold; 15th May 2020 at 14:56.
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Not a Robbie guy but I have a few connections....
Welcome to manufacturing in California...where high quality paint is banned and the mediocre paint that the state actually allows has so many restrictions on how/when/where it can be applied that Robinson was nearly forced to send every aircraft to Mexico just to be painted. They instead spent millions of dollars to construct a California state-approved paint shack using California state-approved paint.
This is your California state-approved paint job.
Welcome to manufacturing in California...where high quality paint is banned and the mediocre paint that the state actually allows has so many restrictions on how/when/where it can be applied that Robinson was nearly forced to send every aircraft to Mexico just to be painted. They instead spent millions of dollars to construct a California state-approved paint shack using California state-approved paint.
This is your California state-approved paint job.
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Funny you mention that. Robinson also initially asked that, which I found hilarious asking from the manufacturer, thinking its a Clipper version ..
And the answer is yes, it has flown through a few light showers in VMC conditions ..
And the answer is yes, it has flown through a few light showers in VMC conditions ..
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I was told Robinson cant use paint/ primer of certain types due to California's law, not sure how true it is.
I know some places pre feather the paint on the leading edge of new blades to try and reduce this from happening.
I know some places pre feather the paint on the leading edge of new blades to try and reduce this from happening.
I was told Robinson cant use paint/ primer of certain types due to California's law, not sure how true it is.
What is worrying is that Robinson apparently have not sufficient control over the environmental conditions inside the paint booth or sufficient control on surface preparation.
If they have not this control in the paint system,
What about their resin bonding system?
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Why? You think they used aquarell color?
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And its quiet scary you mention you needed 3" more power than normal, due to contaminated blades we can call them. That is a real safety issue, its not that the R22 is overpowered to start with ...
Last edited by madman1145; 17th May 2020 at 11:02.
