REFLECTOR: Crossflow Aero Engine Debacle

[Andy Millin]

Doug,
 
Sounds like a difficult situation.
 
I don't know where Crossflow is located and how far it is from you to
them.  It sounds to me like a trip to their shop is in order.  I would
get them to commit to a delivery date and let them know that you WILL be
there personally to pick up the engine.  It would make it very hard for
them to lie about an engine when you're standing there saying "where is
it?"
 
I would be prepared to stay a few days.  If they say "why, here it is.
... it is almost assembled."   You can say "great, I want to help finish
it so I can take it with me.  I'm not leaving without my engine."  I'm
sure you could arrange for shipping back home and make sure it gets on
the truck.  You can do all of this with a smile on your face and
determination in your heart.
 
You might also want to ask an attorney for advice if you can find one.
Unfortunately, some of the best are too busy serving the needs of senior
Texans.
 
Best of luck,
 
Andy
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of DOHAYES at aol.com
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 1:16 PM
To: reflector at tvbf.org
Subject: REFLECTOR: Crossflow Aero Engine Debacle


Dear Reflectorites -
 
I noticed that Crossflow Aero has been advertising in Sport Aviation
with increasingly larger and more prominent page space, which is nice,
because it means they are at least pretending to be in business. Has
anyone out there ever ordered and received an engine from them, or even
know anyone who has? Did anyone see their booth at Oshkosh? Do they even
have an engine to show, much less to sell? Are there any Canadians out
there, who live near Toronto, who know a way to put pressure on them? I
ordered my engine in October of 2001. Has anyone else had to wait three
years for an engine?
 
As some of you may remember, I brought this up a few months ago, and
have so far only received numerous promises that it will be shipped in
two weeks. When nothing shows up, I call and am very calmly given
another date, with no mention of what happened to the last one. I tried
the firm approach, but it only got me shock and dismay at my rude and
offensive behavior for a response. My current patient approach doesn't
seem to be working either, so I need to try something else.
 
I'd appreciate any help or advice anyone can provide in this matter. I'm
thinking of sending portions of this letter to Sport Aviation's
advertising department, in case Crossflow is in fact only in the
business of taking money. They can hardly be expected to make any
guarantees about their advertisers, but I think they'd like to know if
something bad was happening. I suppose Crossflow could be experiencing
backlogs or technical difficulties, but repeatedly making promises they
can't keep is hardly the way to handle that.
 
For those who are interested, here is a little more background: The
engine was supposed to be delivered six months after placing the order,
but there was nothing in the contract to that effect, so that's really
only a starting point. They asked for the second payment in February of
2002, so at that point everything seemed to be on track. Around that
time, my painter completely ruined my Velocity, abandoned half of it in
a hangar two hundred miles away, and left town. As I had no use for an
engine while I was sanding off paint, I didn't put any pressure on
Crossflow when I didn't hear from them during the rest of 2002. Once, I
called to make sure they were still in business and some tech told me
that they had lost their reduction unit provider and were building their
own. As that seemed reasonable, I forgave them for the delay, but not
for the fact that they didn't bother to tell me. In the later part of
2003, my next painter seemed to be closing in on fixing the mess the
first one had made, so I called Crossflow to check on the status of my
engine. No one who knew anything was there, but Jorge called back and
expressed his surprise that I had been waiting for so long without any
explanation, apologized, and promised that my engine would be shipped in
two weeks. A month or so later, Anna, who had taken my initial order,
told me that Jorge was wrong, but that they would have my engine ready
in two weeks. She is very pleasant, and we discussed what had happened
up to that point, including the fact that other than not being told what
was going on, I wasn't particularly upset about not having my engine,
due to problems with painters. A couple of months later, after several
more two week delivery dates came and went, I tried my firm approach,
attacking their completely lack of communication with their customers
and inability to live up to numerous promises on delivery dates, in a
letter even longer than this one. Anna was shocked and dismayed, called
my statements appalling, slanderous, and untrue, and said she couldn't
believe I would say such things considering the pleasant and
professional relationship we had built up over the years. When she
calmed down, her only explanation was that she thought I didn't want my
engine until my painter was finished and that she was waiting for me to
let her know when I was ready. Seeing that I would get nowhere being
firm, I told her I was ready, and she asked for the final payment in
April of 2004. According to the contract, the final payment is to be
made when the engine is ready for shipment. Once she had the payment she
told me they would ship my engine in two weeks. She has said the same
thing many times since April, and still no engine. The last promised
shipment date was in July, but she added that they were getting ready
for Oshkosh and that they were waiting for Velocity to provide them with
some dimensions. I realized then that she was lying about the delivery
date, and decided to come up with a new plan before calling her again.
Obviously, I have made several mistakes in dealing with them, including:
admitting I didn't mind the initial delay, trusting them, and sending
the final payment without some kind of guarantee that they were actually
going to send me an engine in return. But these are hardly mistakes that
harm Crossflow, so I don't know what they could blame me for, other than
causing a misunderstanding or two.
 
To anyone who has made it this far: any suggestions?
 
Doug Hayes
Velocity 173FG (in limbo)
Boulder, CO

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