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Missing parts on my quickbuild - Have to 'buy again' from Vans

Moshonsk

Member
OK it's a minor detail but I have to vent. Bought and received the QB wings a couple of years ago. Inventoried and had a few missing parts but Vans fixed them up. Last week I installed the wings and then the flaps and realized I was missing 2 of the 4 rod end bearings (CM-4M) that are required for the flap pushrods. I only inventoried 2 and didn't know then that I needed 4. The other two were supposed have to have been installed when the flaps were assembled in section 22. With the quickbuild there were 2 to be installed in that section and would have been included with the slow build wings I imagine.
Called Vans and they quoted the 30 day window to note any descrepencies and would only sell me the two I was missing. With shipping to Canada their mistake will cost me another $60 or so. Clearly not my fault or doing. C'mon Vans can't you do better than that? It's not the money but how can they expect a builder to try to anticipate and pay for their mistakes?
I posted this so others can learn. Go through the subsequent sections to see if you actually have all the parts to complete assembly once you get to that point. It seems some of the QB parts may not make it through and back to you.
 

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I don't believe there were any rod end bearings installed on my QB flaps but that is about 14 years ago.
However, the inventory sheet shows 2 were suppose to be there and you have marked it as such. If their inventory sheet is incorrect, then clearly it is on them if the plans calls for 4 of them.

Incidentally, I had a number of these issues (slow build) that wrong quantity compared to the plans, and each time they fixed it and sent it without any issues.
 
Yes in the past I've had no problem getting issues like this fixed with a quick phone call. I think this case is simply a lack of awareness and training on the part of a new employee who simply did not understand the concept of how long these builds take. I wasn't going to argue over a couple of two $10 US parts whilst spending $1 a minute on long distance fees (Yes Canada has some of the most expensive cell phone rates in the world) but afterwards the more I thought of the landed cost of the parts at my home, the more annoyed I became.

I called back and talked to the shipping supervisor and he fixed me right up. To his credit Greg Hughes did follow up to make sure everything was resolved.

Good on Vans in the end! It just took a little longer to get there this time.
 
My most recent project was build during the toughest times for VANS and others, but each back ordered or missing parts was handled in the most professional way possible. I can't think of any other business with a friendlier staff than VANS.
 
Just a note of caution. Parts like tie rod ends are pretty common and come in the empennage, wing, and firewall forward kits if not more. Depending on how one sorts and stores their parts bags, it is possible to believe a shortage exists, when one doesn't. In my case it started when a buddy needed to borrow a couple from me and when he returned new ones in kind, the hangar gremlins enticed me into putting the new ones in a different bag than they came from. Later on down the road I thought I was short and got replacements, but at end of project consolidation, I had two extra. DOH!
 
Yes at first I thought that may have been the case here too. I went through all my numbered buns that had at once housed various bags and found nothing there. Then I went through every packing list to see if they were shipped with another kit but I found none.
In the end Vans did step up and have shipped replacements but this time my initial request was frustrating. Arguing the replacement of two $10 parts also did not seem reasonable given I was spending $1 a minute in long distance fees.....
 
I accepted a few minor packaging issues when a company ships out airplane kits with thousands of parts, and in the end, they miraculously fitted together without any jig. I had some issues sometime but always a quick email to tech support would fix the problem. There are literally thousands of stories of the excellent support from Vans and they never elevated to an internet rant. In the totality, are a few weeks of shipping delay or a $60 really affect the schedule and the cost of a finished RV10?
 
Van’s is pretty generous with their 30 day inventory check. I think at this point if you missed that deadline, then that’s on you.
 
What doesn't make sense is how you can inventory the correct number of bearings according to the pack list and then come up short. Does that means Van's is shorting every RV10 QB wing set by two rod end bearings?

I had a mix-up with rod end bearings last year. Vans had packed a few wrong bearings in my wing kit. I never noticed until 2 years later went to build up the aileron pushrods. The breakings look exactly the same from the outside, the only difference is the female thread cut diameter. We did a 1:1 swap for the correct parts.
 
Inventory is one of the under discussed but arguably one of the most important part of building stuff. It depends on good plans and bill of material at the factory, good stock at the factory, good shipping and packing at the factory, good, timely, and accurate inventory by the receiving customer, organized storage by the customer, and good tracking of parts consumed by the builder.
Missing or miss placed parts along the way at any step is frustrating to you but entirely possible. Not saying missing parts are acceptable but Van ships hundreds of kits monthly and us (first time) customers, when we get our first kit, are definitely novice builders not understanding logistics or entire scope of the build. Hopefully The occasional missing parts can easily be resolved with Vans. A timely and thorough inventory when you get your kit is very important. If parts are missing from prebuilt quick built stuff, then notifying Vans is important for them to investigate if there is a reoccurring issue.
I was a design engineer for 37 years at a large airplane factory and always marveled when going to the shop floor how they could stock and assemble all the right parts. Logistics, logistics, logistics.
 
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