Zeftronics customer service

cowman

cowman

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Cowman
I thought this was worth making a new thread over. I've got a failed Zeftronics voltage regulator I bought earlier this year. I've been calling and calling them all week trying to even find out if I can get it replaced under warranty.

Each call ended with them promising to contact my mechanic, or call me back, or email me an RMA#. As far as I can tell they never did or attempted to do any of these things. My mechanic tried them directly this morning, again he was promised they'd email him an RMA# and it was never sent.

Airplanes are expensive to own and simply keep and the downtime is really worse than the monetary value of the regulator. For any company to give a customer the runaround like this is bad enough but in aviation it's even worse IMO. At one point I offered to simply pay for a new unit to be sent to me so we could get the plane going and let them determine whether or not to refund me when we sent in the old one. I was told to go reference some line in the warranty agreement as to why they wouldn't do this. Seriously.

My mechanic and I agreed it wasn't worth waiting any longer and I've ordered a new Plane Power regulator. I can't really speak to the quality of the Zeftronics product as I've only got the one data point... but their customer service is abysmal and I would recommend others avoid them based on my experience.

If they ever reach out to me and try to make things right I'll update. Not holding my breath.
 
File a smalls claims case in your local jurisdiction. They wont show.
 
Unit74 said:
File a smalls claims case in your local jurisdiction. They wont show.
Click to expand...

I feel like at this point I've sunk more time into the whole thing than the dollar amount is worth. I just want my airplane to work and to warn my fellow plane owners of what they might have to deal with if they buy something from this company and have an issue.
 
Thanks for sharing. I for one will never use them as I’ve been following your saga since your trip out west. Hope you get back in the air soon, winter is around the corner!
 
I actually just installed one in March as well. Hope I don't need any warranty work. But I can tell you this, I would be much more aggressive than you have time for for the principle and because I have the time. I'd also file a complaint with the state AG thy operate in as well as mine. Warranties are legal contract between you the buyer and they the manufacturer. I'd wear them out out of spite and principle.
 
Another thought.....

Jim Irwin is active on Beechtalk. He is the owner of Aircraft Spruce. If you bought it through Spruce, which is probably where it was sourced, send him a message and let him know how his vendor is treating Spruce customers. That might get you some leverage.
 
I put a Zeftronics VR in my Sport a few years ago. It has worked flawlessly. They helped with the 337 as it is STC'd for other Beechcraft, not the Sport. No complaints here. Sorry you had a bad experience with them, sure hope I don't run into a problem like that in the future.
 
Well well well.... late last night an email with an RMA# popped into my inbox. However, in this email they also are telling me it has to be sent through the "original buyer" which would appear to be the aircraft supply company that the shop I bought it from in AZ got it from. So to recap I, the final buyer of a new part, must go through the shop that installed it, then they have to go though the supplier they bought it from in order for these guys to warranty the part. :|

So now am I supposed to just send it back to them... or do I have to contact the supplier or the shop and hope they're willing to take it then forward it on, then forward it on again? Then are they going to send any replacement on to the supplier and leave me hoping the supplier and original shop will forward that on to me?
 
Sounds like a circle jerk in the hopes you won't do it. I seen better service from "home warranty" companies, and that ain't saying much.
 
Unit74 said:
Sounds like a circle jerk in the hopes you won't do it. I seen better service from "home warranty" companies, and that ain't saying much.
Click to expand...

That's my impression as well. Seemed like every contact I had they would just say something to get me off the line and I only actually talked to two people, it was usually the same guy answering the phone. I wonder if this is their actually policy and intent or if they have employees who just don't care.

In this day and age intentionally jerking around the consumer is a terrible way to run a business especially in such a niche market with a tight-knit community. I already know they lost my mechanic's business over this and potentially a lot of you folks reading this.... and anyone who puts their name into google and finds this discussion. That regulator is about $225 on aircraft spruce, their actual cost is going to be lower. It's also costing their employees time to keep giving me the runaround and quote technicalities out of the warranty.

The really stupid thing about this is if they'd just said no back on Tues when I first talked them I'd have been quite annoyed but I'd have at least known and had another part on the way. Chances are I'd have done some flying this weekend.... possibly a significant cross country. Instead I'm here on the internet giving them a terrible review.
 
Ask for the manager until you get high in the chain of command, if you still care at this point. If you get to the president of the company and you get no satisfaction then you know they don’t care.
 
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