I think that most professional relationships are based on a certain level of trust, including medical, financial, mechanical or other. I'd be willing to be there are many more crooked roofing contractors than crooked A&P's.
You might be surprised to know there are two sides to the airplane story, and many cheap, crooked and manipulative aircraft owners only choose to remember (and re-tell) the parts of the story that are favorable to them.
I spend a high percentage of most weeks in a building that houses an aircraft maintenance shop, and see this drama play out on a continuing basis. During the past month I have personally witnessed the culmination of an airplane owner refusing to honor a written agreement and purposely cheating a service provider out of ~$500,000.
The bottom line is that airplane owners don't like the fact that airplanes are expensive to maintain (I don't like it either) and many are constantly on the lookout for a cheaper way to skin the cat. The high cost is primarily due to the se the FAA-required inspections that in most cases aren't necessary and in some cases create more problems than they solve. Sometimes the new problems are the fault of the mechanics doing the inspections, sometimes they aren't. An unfortunate fact of life at the airport is that some shops stay in business as a result of the excellent service they provide to their customers and some stay in business in spite of any evidence that they do so.
When you ask an honest A&P for his side of the story, he will quickly tell you that all shops make mistakes, his included. He will also tell you that the difference between good shops and bad shops is the number that they make and their approach to handling them when they occur. The good ones 'fess up, fix the problem and eat the cost. The others don't. If you're looking for perfection, the repair manual isn't the book you should be reading.
P. S. Coffee sounds good to me. Let me know when and where. I have stronger arguments than this with friends of 40 years.
Well, my experience with A&P's has only been at arms length. I just haven't been overly impressed. I'm sure its like any industry where doing the bare minimum will qualify you but doesn't necessarily mean you are the best or even competent for that matter.
When I read stories about people buying a plane or upgrading something they always mention to find a mechanic you can trust. That tells me that many people have been taken advantage of or had a bad experience.
P.S. Wayne, I live in N. Texas and would be happy to buy you a cup of coffee if you swing thru town. No hard feelings on my part.
