gkainz said:
So, I'm still toying with a career change ...
As an informal poll, what things would make you give an avionics shop a thumbs up?
An effort to keep the customer "in the loop" during the installation (vs providing "surprises" at the end).
A clean workspace where it's obvious that the planes will be treated with care.
Competent technicians that actually understand what they are doing and take pride is good work.
Competitive pricing on equipment and labor.
Good estimates on cost and schedule.
A willingness to install customer supplied equipment.
An option to mark all new wiring and provide a wiring diagram for the installation and other changes.
Sloppy wiring.
Insufficient effort to protect the interior and exterior from damage.
Tech's that know less about avionics and troublshooting than I do.
Invoices that are significantly higher than original quotes without any discussion of same until the work is completed.
Missing promised completion dates.
Waiting until the last minute to order items that were known to be required at the start.
What services would make you say "I wish MY shop offered that?"
Honestly, the one thing I wish I could change about the shop I've used the most is there location (about 180 nm from me). If they were closer I'd be able to stay more involved with the project and taking the plane back for the inevitable finishing touches would be less of a hassle.
A local shop that I've also used has been pretty good as well except the last time they did work for me, the result was several new malfunctions of existing equipment. To be fair many but not all of the problems were due to a problem that Garmin AT has with their connectors on the back of a GPS, but some was due to sloppy work as well (connections unrelated to the work were separated and left that way).
