A DPE review website?

surreal1221

surreal1221

Well-Known Member
What do you guys think?

This is in slight response to Aloft's recent thread about DPE gouge's in the SLC area.

Something similar to the AME review site, where you can find, write a review, about a AME that you have visited / used.

I've been thinking about registering a new domain name and web hosting to take on this endevour, but I'm just not sure if it would really be beneficial to the training pilot community?
 
Men in black suits and dark sun glasses will ransack your house, sodomize your dog, and steal your computer if you do.
 
Great idea I think. I'm done sending guys to DPE's in the PHX area after this Tuesday and I'll give the good and the bad to anyone who want's my unabashed, biased opinion about 'em down here...
 
Well if that had been around 9 months ago, we could have probably saved $900 and 4 months. So I think it sounds like a good idea. However, I'd be a little concered about people who just don't want to admit they messed up, and they'd post bashings against the examiner to get pay backs. Would it be something where the DPE's would find out, and you'd let them have a chance to reply? Or would this all be anonymous and they wouldn't know who said something against them? Maybe if it was just made clear that a person should stick to the facts of what happened and not get too personal or emotional? I don't know.
 
There's a few add-on modules for Joomla which I can look into and get it up and going.

The basic problem that I see is with specious reviews -- basically, someone bombs a check ride for legit reasons but then goes on a "THIS IS THE WORST DPE EVAR!!111oneone" campaign, kind of like some of the flight school threads.

It shouldn't be too hard though.
 
Would you have it be anonymous Doug? I'm just thinking about the one we would have liked to know about...one of those "could come back to haunt you later on things", because he also has other positions that may cross paths w/ my husband and he might hold a grudge, KWIM?
 
Here's the million dollar question.

If you make it anonymous, there's a certain element of people that will post erroneous information in order to get back at the DPE who failed them.

If you make it username-based, it may become a secretarial nightmare because people are going to write me email months later wanting their information amended/deleted -- much like the forum.

If you tell the truth, there's nothing to worry about.

But if the reviewer embellishes their experience, there needs to be a device of sorts for the "reviewed" to rebut potentially false claims.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Here's the million dollar question.

If you make it anonymous, there's a certain element of people that will post erroneous information in order to get back at the DPE who failed them.

If you make it username-based, it may become a secretarial nightmare because people are going to write me email months later wanting their information amended/deleted -- much like the forum.

If you tell the truth, there's nothing to worry about.

But if the reviewer embellishes their experience, there needs to be a device of sorts for the "reviewed" to rebut potentially false claims.
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Could you do it positive comments only. Then when I check for my DPE and DONT see anything that means either nobody has used them, or not a good report.

Might be a Mod problem to watch and delete negatives.....
 
Here's the million dollar question.

If you make it anonymous, there's a certain element of people that will post erroneous information in order to get back at the DPE who failed them.

If you make it username-based, it may become a secretarial nightmare because people are going to write me email months later wanting their information amended/deleted -- much like the forum.

If you tell the truth, there's nothing to worry about.

But if the reviewer embellishes their experience, there needs to be a device of sorts for the "reviewed" to rebut potentially false claims.
Click to expand...
That's kind of what I was thinking, but at the same time, a reviewer that tells the truth and it's obvious who the user is, may face unjustified retaliation later on in life.
 
ComplexHiAv8r said:
Could you do it positive comments only. Then when I check for my DPE and DONT see anything that means either nobody has used them, or not a good report.

Might be a Mod problem to watch and delete negatives.....
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I wouldn't think a positive experience would be as significant as a negative one, KWIM? A warning is far more valuable IMO. Just trying to figure out how to do it though so that it doesn't hurt the reviewer when they are honest and doesn't hurt the examiner when the reviewer wasn't honest.
 
That's kind of what I was thinking, but at the same time, a reviewer that tells the truth and it's obvious who the user is, may face unjustified retaliation later on in life
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Ehh, gotta be a man about it sometimes, ya know? :) A poor review is a poor review, big deal -- but if you're giving a poor review and not acknowledging your own failures (there's always something WE could have done differently) and playing it up to destroy his/her business simply because you're mad and the examiner didn't give you a free balloon, perhaps you should write the review after coming to your senses.

I think it's all in the follow-up. If you had a bad experience, write about it, but also write about what you did to rectify it. Lots of people say "THIS FLIGHT SCHOOL SUCKS! THEY KEPT MY DEPOSIT!!!!1111oneone" but strangely leave out details on how often they've no-showed, showed up unprepared, etc.

Like "what was wrong", "what I did to rectify it", "their response", etc.

Take a peek in some of the flight school forums and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Could you do it positive comments only. Then when I check for my DPE and DONT see anything that means either nobody has used them, or not a good report.

Might be a Mod problem to watch and delete negatives.....
Click to expand...

Gotta have both positives and negatives though.

I think we'd largely have to depend on the 'honor' system again trusting that people are going to be honest with their review. Perhaps even an option for the 'reviewed' to issue a rebuttal. However, I can probably say that most DPE's aren't going to have any interest in rebutting specious claims with an anonymous former customer.

Almost like "Doug Taylor versus 'The Masked Private Pilot'" -- when someone is posting anonymously versus someone who uses their real name, it's not a level playing field at all. Especially when the DPE can't say, "Fred Thomas -- ahh! remember, I didn't pink slip you because you wore a red tie, you were pink slipped, as noted on the form, for failing to perform within PTS standards on steep turns"
 
Even better. I'll tinker around with some modules later on this evening!
 
One feature that would be nice is a place for recomending instructors to give input. A CFI has a better perspective than a PPL applicant.

I try to sit in on all my students checkrides, and can give feedback regarding the DPE.


Another idea would be the ability to submit "good/fair/bad" comment without any comments, but comments must be reviewed by a moderator.

I can talk to a DPE to see what they would think.
 
You may also have to approve each individual post, prior to letting it go on the board. If a review says "This guy sucked" and thats it, then probably shouldnt be published. Maybe you could have several fields that must be filled in and answered prior to being published. If someone isnt serious about a dpe, they might be too lazy to go and answer all those questions.
 
USMCmech said:
One feature that would be nice is a place for recomending instructors to give input. A CFI has a better perspective than a PPL applicant.

I try to sit in on all my students checkrides, and can give feedback regarding the DPE.


Another idea would be the ability to submit "good/fair/bad" comment without any comments, but comments must be reviewed by a moderator.

I can talk to a DPE to see what they would think.
Click to expand...

I was going to make much the similar suggestion. I get feedback - unbiased direct from the DPE. I know what their weaknesses are after having trained them and have had concurrence by the DPE to that effect. I also know which ones I will not send students to because of specific reasons.
 
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