beware of "warranty" R&R labor costs

Doug Vetter wrote in message v.net...

Then I get the bill. What's this? 1.0 hour labor ($75) to R&R the
gyro? I talk to my avionics tech and he says that while SigmaTek covers
the DG itself under warranty, they don't cover R&R labor. WTF? I think
to myself it's one thing if it failed in service at some point, but this
was broken from day 1. Even though SigmaTek tagged this equipment, it's
pretty clear it didn't go through sufficient "burn in" and general QC to
be put in an airplane.

I wouldn't be miffed with SigmaTek. I'd be miffed at the avionics
shop. My avionics and regular maintenance shops have a policy that
they'll do the warranty R&R for free if you bought the unit from them.
They get a cut of the parts cost, so they act accordingly. If you
bring in some outside part, they'll be happy to install it, but if it
needs to come back out, R&R is on your tab.

This is a fairly common policy at aviation shops. I'd expect my
shop to provide some added value for their cut of the parts price.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)