Plane broke down. Who covers expenses?

We send them a bill for the original quote (Cessna 340 price) and passenger refuses to pay for it saying that he had to wait two hours at an fbo and arrived two hour late to his destination. I knocked off a couple grand off the price, and he agreed to pay it. ( we lost over ten grand that day). What's the standard procedure for this kind of situation?


I'm going to try that next time I'm delayed on an airline, I'm sure that will go far, LOL... too bad the airline makes you pay in advance.

Seriously though, I would think your charter contract would have clauses regarding delays due to weather and mechanical failure that you cannot control. Outside of that, cutting a deal or giving special treatment to customers can be a standard part of doing business, if they are a good customer or you're trying to attract repeat business... but in the end you have to make a profit or you might as well not do the flights in the first place.
 
If I owned the aircraft and was writing the contract, I'd put the cost on me. The customer comes with an expectation that my plane & pilot will get him where he needs to be and on time, reasonable unforeseen issues notwithstanding (weather, for instance). If my airplane breaks, then as a businessman with a reputation to protect, I'll take charge, start with an apology, and then tell him what I'm doing to get him to his destination. I'll lose money on this flight to be sure, but it's my broken airplane that caused the problem in the first place.

I don't want a customer telling the world how my crappy equipment broke, causing him all kinds of delays, problems and expenses, and I left him hanging. I want him saying that happens, but this guy walked through fire to make it right. Most will appreciate that I didn't have any control over the equipment failure, but I controlled everything that happened after that.

<post edited: http://forums.jetcareers.com/threads/profanity-filters-and-you.123330/>
 
I'm going to try that next time I'm delayed on an airline, I'm sure that will go far, LOL... too bad the airline makes you pay in advance.


The airlines frankly don't know a damn thing about customer service or building a business model that has the customer anywhere in the equation. Or employees. Or stockholders. Or cities they serve. Or...
 
If I owned the aircraft and was writing the contract, I'd put the cost on me. The customer comes with an expectation that my plane & pilot will get him where he needs to be and on time, reasonable unforeseen issues notwithstanding (weather, for instance). If my airplane breaks, then as a businessman with a reputation to protect, I'll take charge, start with an apology, and then tell him what I'm doing to get him to his destination. I'll lose money on this flight to be sure, but it's my broken airplane that caused the problem in the first place.

Sounds great, that's exactly what he did, then his customer told him he wouldn't pay him. Welcome to the real world.
 
If I owned the aircraft and was writing the contract, I'd put the cost on me. The customer comes with an expectation that my plane & pilot will get him where he needs to be and on time, reasonable unforeseen issues notwithstanding (weather, for instance). If my airplane breaks, then as a businessman with a reputation to protect, I'll take charge, start with an apology, and then tell him what I'm doing to get him to his destination. I'll lose money on this flight to be sure, but it's my broken airplane that caused the problem in the first place.

I don't want a customer telling the world how my crappy equipment broke, causing him all kinds of delays, problems and expenses, and I left him hanging. I want him saying that happens, but this guy walked through fire to make it right. Most will appreciate that I didn't have any control over the equipment failure, but I controlled everything that happened after that.

<post edited: http://forums.jetcareers.com/threads/profanity-filters-and-you.123330/>

Someone gets it!
 
Well I have low self-esteem, but as a renter I'd be fine with covering my own hotel/car and leave it up to the place I rented from to recover the aircraft at their cost (which I would normally be happy to assist in making easier & cheaper).
If you're dealing with a commercial school paying thru the nose is one thing,
but if there is only 1 person training on a 46 year old aircraft and paying $115 hr wet-
I hope she would call her hubby or Sis to get home.
 
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